Month: July 2019

The more we learn about the origins of the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election, the more Russian connections link back to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

During an interview with The Hill’s John Solomon, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska acknowledged that he paid Christopher Steele (who was hired through an intermediary by the Clinton campaign to compile the infamous and discredited “Steele Dossier” alleging Team Trump colluded with Russia in 2016) for a research project.

“It was a research project to support one of the cases against me against me in London,” Deripaska told Solomon. “But my understanding was that lawyers trust him for some reason and he was for quite a time on retainer.”

Steele was hired initially by Deripaska in 2012, but the oligarch was unaware he had been working for the FBI. It should be noted that the Trump administration levied sanctions against Deripaska and he is engaged in a legal battle with the State Department over them and his inability to get a visa to come to the U.S.

The suggestion that Deripaska had paid Steele has been around for more than a year. In February 2018, Lee Smith published an article at Tablet Magazine that included a letter from then Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) asking questions regarding Steele’s own connections to Russian officials.

In his follow-up article to the interview, Solomon wrote that Deripaska also confirmed a story he had heard a year earlier from law enforcement sources – that the FBI reached out to him in September 2016 for a “fishing” expedition to get dirt on the Trump campaign. Deripaska was sought because he had previously worked with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. From Solomon:

“I told them straightforward, ‘Look, I am not a friend with him [Manafort]. Apparently not, because I started a court case [against him] six or nine months before … . But since I’m Russian I would be very surprised that anyone from Russia would try to approach him for any reason, and wouldn’t come and ask me my opinion,’ ” he said, recounting exactly what he says he told the FBI agents that day.

“I told them straightforward, I just don’t believe that he would represent any Russian interest. And knowing what he’s doing on Ukraine for the last, what, seven or eight years.”

Solomon noted that Deripaska’s FBI interview was reportedly never given to Manafort’s attorneys. Manafort’s defense attorney, Kevin Downing, said the interview, which would be exculpatory evidence, was not handed over.

“Recent revelations by The Hill prove that the Office of Special Counsel’s (OSC) claim that they had a legitimate basis to include Paul Manafort in an investigation of potential collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian government is false,” Downing told Solomon. “The failure to disclose this information to Manafort, the courts, or the public reaffirms that the OSC did not have a legitimate basis to investigate Manafort, and may prove that the OSC had no legitimate basis to investigate potential collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian government.”

With President Donald Trump talking and acting tougher than ever on Iran, it’s a common reflex in progressive and mainstream media circles to label the commander-in-chief as “reckless.” But let’s consider that one man’s bellicosity is another man’s common sense.

President Trump pulled America out of a nuclear deal that handed the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism over $100 billion in sanctions relief. He’s leading a sterner approach to a nation known for its frequent “Death to America” chants. What’s the problem here?

Simultaneously, President Trump is acknowledging that America has nothing to gain from his predecessor’s rapprochement with a failed state. Renewed U.S. sanctions have crippled the Iranian economy, with the rial’s value plummeting about 60 percent during the past year.

A similar approach is reflected in U.S. relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA). By signing into law and then enforcing the Taylor Force Act, President Trump signaled that the U.S. is no longer squandering taxpayer dollars on a “pay-to-slay” scheme that funnels hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists and their families rather than prioritizing the well-being of the Palestinian people at-large. Although the disputed territories don’t comprise a “state,” the PA’s pay-to-slay policy and infamous kleptocracy are certainly hallmarks of a failed state.

Further, by pulling out of the Syrian Civil War, President Trump affirmed that the U.S. has no business continuously investing in attempts to resolve a foreign conflict that has no end in sight.

America’s failed state wars appear over, for now. But that doesn’t mean the U.S. has exhausted all its options for a leaner, wiser foreign budget.

In the interest of leaving no stone unturned, the Trump administration can take a closer look at policy toward Armenia, which possesses a number of characteristics that meet the profile of a failed state. Armenia has a declining population — and that population displays the greatest prevalence of anger in the world, according to Gallup’s Global Emotions 2019 poll.

Armenians’ anger is partially explained by a bleak economic outlook. One of Armenia’s own politicians has acknowledged that the country is “bypassed by all regional and international routes — transport, railway, oil, gas, any others … we simply do not exist in the Caucasus, and this situation has not changed in last 20 years.” By contrast, Armenia’s neighbor Azerbaijan is leading the $41.5 billion Southern Gas Corridor project, whose three linked gas pipelines will span nearly 2,200 miles across seven countries while permanently transforming Europe’s energy map.

In turn, one of the roots of Armenia’s economic malaise is another failed state attribute: The failure and refusal to negotiate peace. Armenia’s occupation of the internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is the source of a decades-long conflict — and any population mired in a seemingly endless conflict is susceptible to being consumed by it. Upon his election in 2018, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan swiftly exhibited the typical doublespeak of failed state leaders. Pashinyan stated his readiness “to continue peaceful talks” with Azerbaijan, yet simultaneously urged “self-determination” for Nagorno-Karabakh, which the State Department doesn’t recognize as independent. Concurrently, on U.S. soil, the Armenian lobby’s rejection of the Madrid Principles eerily resembles the notorious history of Palestinian rejectionism in the peace process with Israel.

The “Velvet Revolution” led by Pashinyan before his election has failed to deliver on the sweeping changes it promised the Armenian people. Broken promises breed anger, and an angry population lashes out at its minorities — in Armenia’s case, Jews. A Pew survey found last year that 32% of Armenians would refuse to accept Jews as fellow citizens.

Failed states don’t operate in isolation. They act in unison. Armenia maintains close economic ties with Iran and is entangled in the Syrian conflict — drawing the ire of the U.S., which earlier this year rebuked Armenia for its engagement with Syrian military forces under the guise of a “purely humanitarian” mission.

If ceasing to invest in failed states is indeed becoming a Trumpian staple, the administration would be well served to more carefully examine aid to Armenia, as the $6.75 million in requested foreign assistance to Yerevan for the fiscal year 2020 is more than double the $2.7 million request for Azerbaijan. And given its welcome crackdown on aid to the terror-sponsoring PA, it would be consistent policy for the administration to vocally oppose ideas like 35 lawmakers’ proposal of an inexplicably bloated $100 million package for Armenia and the unrecognized territory under its occupation, Nagorno-Karabakh.

Like Wall Street, American foreign policy is too big to fail. That means the U.S. should continue to distance itself from failed states and territories. It’s anything but “reckless.” It’s pure common sense.

Paul Miller is president and executive director of the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center. Follow him on Twitter at @pauliespoint.

Descending to new levels of gut-wrenching darkness, pop singer Miley Cyrus released a new music video for her single “Mother’s Daughter” that features her in a BDSM-style red latex suit while making all sorts of sexually suggestive poses as she sings about feminist platitudes.

“For the video, Miley flashes a number of empowering written messages to fans while repeatedly singing, ‘Don’t f**k with my freedom,'” according to Teen Vogue. “Wearing a red latex suit, Miley dances throughout the clip, as images of her powerful guest stars, including Aaron Philip and Little Miss Flint, are interspersed with phrases like ‘Feminist AF,’ ‘Virginity is a social construct,’ and ‘Not an object.'”

One particular galling moment in the video is when Miley’s mother, Tish Cyrus, makes a cameo as her daughter sings about her emotional support amid interspersed clips of Miley writhing her crotch into the camera. Later, Miley allows herself to shed some tears while singing, ” “I came up to get me some/I’m nasty, I’m evil/Must be something in the water or that I’m my mother’s daughter.”

Miley Cyrus has been campaigning hard for the pro-abortion cause following the passage of the fetal heartbeat bill in Georgia and Alabama’s near-universal ban on the practice as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. Her recent line of hoodies in association with Marc Jacobs donated proceeds to Planned Parenthood and featured such wholesome messages like “Don’t f**k with my freedom.” One particular photo of the singer licking a cake with the words “abortion is healthcare” earned scores of mockery online from pro-lifers.

In a Twitter post announcing the video, Miley Cyrus wrote, “Music makes Movements! We got the power!”

Also on hand for cameos, the video features Aaron Phillip, a black trans person in a wheelchair, and dancer Amazon Ashley.

“As a black girl in a wheelchair who happens to be trans – I just want to have a good life and do good in whatever my endeavors consist of, regardless of what that might mean in the face of oppression,” Philip said in an Instagram post on Miley’s page. “I do not identify or label myself as an activist, but that’s just because I care- and I think everyone should, activist or not. I fight for my freedom by being myself.”

Amazon Ashley said in another post on the page, “Sometimes I feel so helpless and discouraged because there is so much injustice discrimination and hatred in the world we live in…and now in particular under our current administration this dilemma is magnified tenfold! However I still believe there is hope!! We’re living in dark times but “this too shall pass”!! I pray that goodness will win and darkness won’t prevail!!”

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) announced Tuesday morning he has directed the Arizona Commerce Authority to cancel all financial incentives for Nike’s planned manufacturing plant in the state.

Ducey said his decision was made in response to a Wall Street Journal report stating former NFL anthem-protester and Nike pitchman Colin Kaepernick pressured Nike to pull its America-themed 4th of July sneakers featuring the “Betsy Ross” flag because he and others found the design to be offensive. “Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured an old version of the American flag,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to CNN of the decision.

In a series of tweets, Ducey expressed his disappointed in Nike’s decision to nix the shoes and explained his decision to withdraw incentives to the company.

Verifying claims by U.S. border authorities that some illegal immigrants are using children who aren’t theirs to try to enter the United States, Mexican authorities have come forward to assert that illegal immigrants in Tijuana are preying on vulnerable single mothers in shelters by suggesting they sell their children to them.

The Seattle Times reports that Tijuana law enforcement authorities are “warning migrant mothers to keep their children close by and supervised, after reports of men offering to purchase migrant children in order to cross.” The Seattle Times quoted one woman from Honduras confessing, “I can’t go to work because I can’t take my eyes off my boys,” adding that the men have offered roughly $350 to buy children at the Iglesia Embajadores de Jesus shelter in Tijuana. She concluded, “They want to rob our kids so they can cross into the United States.”

Pastor Gustavo Banda, who supervises the Iglesia Embajadores de Jesus shelter and secures the shelter with a chain lock, stated, “These are cases of desperation. Of course, the women have not accepted any of these offers, but clearly this is a huge concern because of the danger to the children.”

When she served as Homeland Security Secretary in 2018, Kirstjen Nielsen was slammed for acknowledging the reality of the problem. She told the National Sheriffs’ Association:

Let me take a minute to walk you through a few of the legal loopholes that DHS must confront every day and the solutions we have requested from Congress. The effects of our broken system are felt in all communities – not just those on the border.

First, under existing law, certain unaccompanied alien children from Mexico and Canada who enter illegally and have no valid claim to stay can be quickly returned home, but unaccompanied children from every other country in the world must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within 72 hours and then released to parents or guardians in the United States. This is a significant pull factor that encourages these children to make the dangerous journey north.

Additionally, when a child is apprehended with their parents, DHS is required – due to various court rulings – to release that child within 20 days. As I mentioned earlier, this effectively creates a “get out of jail free” card for families and groups who pose as families. Unsurprisingly, word of this loophole has spread across the world. From October 2017 to this February, DHS saw a staggering 315 percent increase in illegal aliens fraudulently using children to pose as family units to gain entry into the country, compared to the previous year.

The New York Times admitted, “The numbers Ms. Nielsen cites are correct. Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, told The New York Times that there were 46 cases of fraudulent family claims in the 2017 fiscal year, which began in October 2016 and ended in September 2017. In just the first five months of the 2018 fiscal year, there were 191 cases — a 315 percent increase.” But then the Times countered, “But those instances of family fraud are a tiny fraction of the total number of families apprehended at the southwestern border: 0.06 percent of nearly 76,000 families in the 2017 fiscal year and 0.6 percent of 31,000 families apprehended in the first five months of the 2018 fiscal year.”

A military jury has found Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher not guilty on almost all counts, including the killing of a wounded ISIS fighter.

He was only found guilty on one count related to taking a photo of the ISIS fighter’s corpse, which carries a maximum sentence of four months, sources told Breitbart News.

As Gallagher has served nine months in pre-trial confinement, it is likely he will not serve any time in jail at all, sources said.

On Tuesday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, announced that the state would be withdrawing financial incentives promised to Nike over the company dropping an American flag-style shoe, reportedly at the behest of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

“The Betsy Ross Flag” edition shoe was kicked to the curb by the athletic gear giant after Kaepernick complained about the new sneakers, allegedly calling them “offensive.” The former QB, who famously took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before NFL games, claiming to protest police brutality and racial injustices, signed a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Nike, last year.

“Words cannot express my disappointment at this terrible decision. I am embarrassed for Nike,” Gov. Ducey posted in a string of tweets on Tuesday morning. “Nike is an iconic American brand and American company. This country, our system of government and free enterprise have allowed them to prosper and flourish.”

“Instead of celebrating American history the week of our nation’s independence, Nike has apparently decided that Betsy Ross is unworthy, and has bowed to the current onslaught of political correctness and historical revisionism,” the thread continued. “It is a shameful retreat for the company. American businesses should be proud of our country’s history, not abandoning it.”

“Nike has made its decision, and now we’re making ours,” announced Ducey. “I’ve ordered the Arizona Commerce Authority to withdraw all financial incentive dollars under their discretion that the State was providing for the company to locate here. Arizona’s economy is doing just fine without Nike. We don’t need to suck up to companies that consciously denigrate our nation’s history.”

“And finally, it shouldn’t take a controversy over a shoe for our kids to know who Betsy Ross is. A founding mother. Her story should be taught in all American schools. In the meantime, it’s worth googling her,” the Republican concluded.

The shoe protested by Kaepernick included a U.S. flag with 13 white stars in a circle on the heel of the sneaker, “a design created during the American Revolution and commonly referred to as the Betsy Ross flag,” noted The Wall Street Journal in a Monday report.

Nike reportedly planned on investing $185 million to open a manufacturing facility in Goodyear, AZ, which would employ about 500 people, according to city records, the Journal noted, adding that the Goodyear City Council, on Monday, “approved a package of incentives that would reimburse the company about $1 million in planning fees and about $4,000 per full-time employee Nike hires, according to city records.”

Related: Nike Pulls American Flag Sneaker After Complaint From Colin Kaepernick