Thursday 5/30/19: Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, Caroline Glick, Joe diGenova, Phelim McAleer and The Federalist's Sean Davis
6am – A/B/C INTERVIEW – TOM FITTON – President of Judicial Watch reacted to Mueller’s statement (in studio)
As Mueller bows out, more Democrats call for Trump’s impeachment. If Robert Mueller thought his only public remarks since being appointed special counsel would put the Russian collusion allegations and Democrats’ calls to impeach President Trump to rest, he was mistaken. If anything, Mueller’s statement Wednesday may have assured that the debate over whether to impeach Trump will be a dominant issue heading into the 2020 president election. Speaking from the Justice Department, Mueller announced the closing of his office and told reporters he did not plan to testify before Congress. He explained that his team did not have the “option” to charge President Trump with a crime, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted. However, Mueller also stressed that there “was not sufficient evidence to charge a conspiracy” with regard to whether members of the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.
‘Turning The Rule Of Law On Its Head’ — Judicial Watch President Calls For Investigation Of Robert Mueller. (Daily Caller) – Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton called for an investigation into Robert Mueller for suggesting “wrongdoing by an innocent person without any foundation.” “Well, I don’t know what reputation he had that deserved any credence until now, but it’s no longer there,” Fitton said. “He’s really destroyed whatever reputation he’s had with this political attack on the president, turning the rule of law on its head, suggesting the president is guilty and, because he can’t prove otherwise, we should conclude that he should be impeached.” Calling it “an abuse of power,” Fitton said that Attorney General Barr has been “too deferential” to Mueller and should have “shut down” the “report before it was even written.” “[I]t’s been abuse piled on top of abuse targeting President Trump,” Fitton said. “And this Mr. Mueller, he needs to be investigated as well. The office of professional responsibility should be asking, ‘Why did this Justice Department prosecutor come out and suggest wrongdoing by an innocent person without any foundation?’ Because there is no foundation. If there was a foundation, there would have been indictments or requests for an indictment while highlighting that. Outrageous.”
6am – D INTERVIEW – CAROLINE GLICK – veteran Israeli journalist, author of “The Israeli Solution: A One State Plan for Peace in the Middle East” and was a Knesset candidate – discussed the election chaos happening in Israel.
After Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a new government, the country’s parliament voted to dissolve and Israel will hold a new election in the fall.
Netanyahu fails to form new government, forcing new election. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not secure support from far-right lawmakers. TEL AVIV — Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a ruling coalition late Wednesday night, becoming the first elected prime minister in Israeli history to stumble in forging a working government. As the clock struck midnight on Netanyahu, the Israeli Parliament voted to dissolve itself, forcing a Sept. 17 election. The vote was 74 to 45 in favor of dismantling the Knesset. Up until the final moments Wednesday night, Netanyahu seemed to be on the brink of hammering out a deal with ultra-religious parties. But he couldn’t seal the deal amid demands from far-right lawmakers led by Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party on military draft exemptions “We will run an election that is clear in which we will win,” Netanyahu said after the vote. Netanyahu, 69, seemed to be in the clear for a fifth term in April after his conservative Likud party fended off a spirited challenge from centrists led by Benny Gantz. The Likud and the opposition Blue and White each won 35 Knesset seats, which seemed to be more than enough for Netanyahu, who had counted on far-right backing. Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party has only five seats but suddenly became kingmakers in the final moments Wednesday night. Netanyahu’s suddenly precarious hold on power was exemplified by the Labour Party claiming it had been offered a role in a Likud coalition. But the center-left opposition said it rejected the offer, though the Likud refused to confirm the unusual offer.
6am – E Mystery over USS John S. McCain ‘out of sight’ directive as Meghan McCain blasts Trump. A mystery continues to surround a reported U.S. military email that called for the USS John S. McCain to be “out of sight” during President Trump’s recent visit to U.S. troops stationed in Japan, where the ship was docked. On Wednesday, both President Trump and acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan denied any knowledge of the order, which led to the ship’s name first being covered with a tarp and then being obscured by a paint barge prior to Trump’s visit over Memorial Day weekend. The Wall Street Journal, which reported the story, directly contradicts Shanahan. The Journal cites an unnamed U.S. official as saying that Shanahan was aware and approved measures to ensure the ship did not interfere with the president’s trip. The ship is named for the father and grandfather of the late U.S. Sen. John S. McCain III, with whom Trump had feuded prior to the Arizona Republican’s death from cancer last year at age 81. The Journal feature apparently infuriated Meghan McCain, daughter of the late senator, who tweeted, in part, the following: “Trump is a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads [sic] incredible life … Trump won’t let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him.”
6am – F MOCO FUNDS FOR IMMIGRANTS:
FLASHBACK: EARLIER IN MAY: Fairfax County votes to approve budget for legal fund for illegal immigrants fighting deportation. FAIRFAX, Va. (FOX 5 DC) – Fairfax County has approved a budget item that will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to help illegal immigrants fight deportation by the federal government. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the pilot program to be included in its budget, which will come at a cost of $200,000 for taxpayers.
CASA de Maryland and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Greater Washington will receive $1.3 million from the MoCo Council. (Bethesda Magazine) — Montgomery County Allocates Grants For Immigration Assistance. CASA de Maryland, Catholic Charities receiving $1.3 million. The Montgomery County Council, in approving a $5.8 billion operating budget last week, allocated $14.5 million for 335 individual grants to community nonprofits. The largest share of funding will go toward immigration assistance programs. The Latino immigrant advocacy organization CASA de Maryland received $673,830, which will be used for eight separate grants for programs such as legal assistance for immigrants, vocational training and capital improvements to the Rockville Welcome Center, which is one of three job training sites the organization runs in Montgomery County. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Greater Washington received $652,196 from the council, some of which will go toward pro-bono legal assistance for immigrants that have survived domestic violence as well as education programs for low-income immigrants. Other grants for the organization will go toward its Community Companions program, which provides child care to children with disabilities. Hispanics and Latinos made up nearly 20% of the county’s population in 2018, according to the Census Bureau.