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RNC chair: 'Alarming' that no 2020 Democrat candidates came to AIPAC

The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, said Thursday the absence of Democratic presidential candidates at The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC’s) annual policy conference earlier this week shows the party is “anti-Israel.”

“One of the things that is so crazy is Nancy Pelosi is now the moderate in the Democrat party. The San Francisco liberal is now the most reasonable member in her caucus,” McDaniel said on Fox & Friends.

At AIPAC, Speaker of the House Pelosi, D-Calif, said Israel has bipartisan support, looking to distance the Democratic Party from any suggestion it was anti-Semitic after freshman lawmaker Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., publicly criticized Israel and its leadership.

PELOSI, IN VEILED SWIPE AT OMAR, SAYS ANTI-SEMITISM IS 'UN-AMERICAN'

“Support for Israel remains ironclad and bipartisan,” Pelosi said when addressing the pro-Israel lobbying group’s annual policy conference in Washington. “Assistance to Israel is vital because if you care about America’s security, you must care about Israel’s security.”

Pelosi stressed that no one should be allowed to make Israel “a wedge issue,” adding “to be anti-Semitic is to be anti-American.”

Pelosi’s remarks undercut Omar, a Somali-American and one of two Muslim women in Congress, who has encountered a wave of backlash over repeated anti-Semitic comments.

TOP 2020 DEMOCRATS SNUB AIPAC CONFERENCE WITH LITTLE OR NO EXPLANATION, MARKING FAR-LEFT SHIFT ON ISRAEL

Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and others did not attend AIPAC’s annual policy conference, a move that coincided with a moneyed progressive advocacy group’s call to boycott the event.

MoveOn.org, a group that spent around $3.5 million in the 2018 midterm elections, called on the 2020 Democratic candidates to skip the conference, even though in the past all presidential candidates viewed the AIPAC gathering as a crucial campaign stop.

“It is very alarming to see that the 2020 Democrats, none of those presidential candidates showed up to AIPAC,” McDaniel said Thursday. “AIPAC is bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan, it doesn’t prefer one party or the other. They won’t even show up. The Democrat party is now anti-Israel.”

“It is very alarming to see that the 2020 Democrats, none of those presidential candidates showed up to AIPAC. AIPAC is bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan, it doesn’t prefer one party or the other. They won’t even show up. The Democrat party is now anti-Israel.”

— Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee

“The president has shown that he is a president that stands with Israel every step of the way,” McDaniel continued. She brought up several examples including the signing of the order this week recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

“Here’s the concern. If you allow this anti-Israel, anti-Semitism to seep into your party, (if) you don’t pounce it out the second that it comes in, this is dangerous for our country,” said McDaniel. “The Democrat Party is now saying 'this can coexist peacefully in our party.'”

Josh Orton, an aide to Sanders, told media outlets that the leading candidate among the Democrats did not attend because “he’s concerned about the platform AIPAC is providing for leaders who have expressed bigotry and oppose a two-state solution” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Other candidates provided no explanation for their decisions not to attend the conference. Gillibrand and Harris, however, did meet with constituents representing AIPAC on Capitol Hill. Harris even posted on Twitter a picture of herself standing with AIPAC leaders.

The tweet said she met with California AIPAC leaders to “to discuss the need for a strong U.S.-Israel alliance, the right of Israel to defend itself, and my commitment to combat anti-Semitism in our country and around the world.”

The tweet resulted in some negative comments on the social media platform.

McDaniel also spoke out about President Trump pivoting to health care on Fox & Friends Thursday.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BACKS TOTAL OVERTURN OF OBAMACARE, WILL SUPPORT STATES CHALLENGING THE LAW

The Trump administration on Monday told a federal appeals court that the whole Affordable Care Act must be abolished, reviving the battle to repeal and replace it with something else and setting a path for a clash between President Trump and 2020 Democratic candidates embracing a “Medicare for All” system.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Capitol Hill Wednesday, “The president wants to go back to repeal and replace again. Make our day. The Republicans here in the Senate tried over and over and over again to deal with repeal and replace, they couldn’t because they have no replacement.”

“I think the president’s watching Democrats say to the American people ‘Medicare for all, Medicare for all’ what it really is, is a government takeover of your health care,” McDaniel said on Fox & Friends in response. “The president is saying there are things we do need to do to lower health care costs. We know ObamaCare is broken, the Democrat solution is a government takeover. The president is saying ‘let’s reduce the price of prescription drugs, let’s make sure we restore the doctor-patient relationship.’ These are the things that the American people want, that’s going to lower the cost of health care and he’s focused on that.”

Justice Department attorneys filed a letter with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans asking it to effectively strike down the ACA in its entirety, agreeing with the landmark ruling made by a federal judge in Texas last year.

The latest effort to completely invalidate the law may prove Congressional Democrats right, after they warned during the midterm election last year that Republicans are trying to repeal the law, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, while Republicans denied such plans.

McDaniel called the president a “bold leader” and said he recognizes that the American people are currently concerned about health care. “Deductibles are still high, insurance prices are still high,” she said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“The president absolutely will make sure that we have pre-existing condition coverage,” McDaniel continued. “Democrats know it’s broken, too, that’s why they are saying ‘Medicare for all.’ That is not the solution.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Trump: Census ‘Meaningless’ Without Citizenship Question

President Donald Trump on Monday injected himself into one of the most consequential cases of the current Supreme Court term, saying the nation's 2020 census would be "meaningless" without adding a citizenship question to the questionnaire.

The comment on Twitter came ahead of an expected ruling from the Supreme Court on whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' decision to add the citizenship question violated federal law.

"Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question," Trump tweeted. "Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!"

The citizenship question is among a series of White House policies signaling tighter control over immigration.

These include Trump's declaration in February of a national emergency to obtain funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and his threat to close the border as soon as this week, disrupting legal crossings as well as trade.

The U.S. Constitution requires a census every 10 years, with results used to draw political boundaries, allocate seats in Congress and at the state and local level, and distribute roughly $800 billion of federal funds.

Critics have accused Trump of encouraging an undercount by dissuading immigrants from participating in the census, more likely hurting Democrats than Republicans.

When Ross announced the addition of a citizenship question in March 2018, he said it was in response to a Department of Justice request for data to help enforce the Voting Rights Act, which protects eligible voters from discrimination.

Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections. Non-citizens comprise about 7 percent of the 328.7 million people living in the United States. Census questionnaires have not included a citizenship question since 1950.

"The census is the administration's new front on its war on immigration and, sadly, the president's tweet today bears out that concern," said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director on the House census oversight committee who now advises groups seeking an accurate 2020 count.

The Supreme Court is reviewing a Jan. 15 by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan, finding that the addition of the citizenship question was illegal, and that Ross' decision to add it was "arbitrary and capricious."

Oral arguments are scheduled for April 23, with a decision expected by the end of June.

Furman said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross broke a "veritable smorgasbord" of federal rules by including the question, and that enforcement of the Voting Rights Act was a "pretexual" rationale for adding it.

The judge said adding the question would cause many states to lose federal funding, while Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas would lose Congressional seats.

Furman, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, stopped short of a finding that Ross intended to discriminate against immigrants.

The decision came in a lawsuit brought by 18 U.S. states, 15 cities and a variety of civil rights groups.

In urging the Supreme Court to overturn Furman's ruling, Solicitor General Noel Francisco said Ross had discretion to add the citizenship question, and that there was a "long pedigree" in the census for asking about citizenship or country of birth.

He also said other democracies including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom ask about citizenship on their censuses.

Another federal judge, Richard Seeborg in San Francisco, on March 6 also declared the citizenship question illegal.

Following that ruling, the Supreme Court said it will also decide whether Ross' actions violated the Constitution's Enumeration Clause, which sets out terms for counting people.

Adding the citizenship question could lead to an undercount of 4.2 million Hispanics alone, the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy estimated last month.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Rights group denounces ‘unfree and unfair’ Egyptian vote

An international rights group says the referendum approved by Egyptian voters that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to extend his rule to 2030 was held in an "unfair and unfree" environment and has "no pretense to legitimacy."

Human Rights Watch says the three-day vote, which concluded Monday, was "marred by serious flaws," including reports of citizens being forced to vote or bribed with food and money.

Michael Page, the group's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, says el-Sissi, who has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent, "is re-creating the impoverished and repressive political environment that drove Egyptians to revolt against former President (Hosni) Mubarak in 2011."

Authorities said Tuesday the amendments were approved by 88.83% of voters, with turnout of 44.33%.

Source: Fox News World

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GOP Lawmakers Push Back at Dems' Net Neutrality Bill

House Republicans pushed back at Democrats' proposed net neutrality bill Tuesday, calling it "extreme" and overly partisan, and predicting it will be dead on arrival in the Senate, The Hill reported.

Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, ranking member of the House Commerce technology subcommittee, called the legislation a "nonstarter," pointing out it opens up the broadband industry to regulations Republicans have long opposed, the news outlet reported.

"Instead of engaging with us to try to solve the problem, my colleagues have retrenched back to the most extreme position in this debate," Latta said, The Hill reported. "[The bill] has no chance of even passing the Senate or being signed into law."

The Save The Internet Act, introduced by Democrats last week, would restore Obama-era regulations on the broadband industry.

The bill would codify the Federal Communications Commission's 2015 Open Internet Order into law, reigniting a debate over whether the FCC should have the legal authority to enforce net neutrality rules.

Under the Democrats' bill, the broadband industry would be classified as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act — a designation that allows more stringent regulations of the industry by the FCC and which has been a sticking point for Republicans.

Republicans at the hearing repeatedly promoted a trio of bills recently introduced by Reps. Latta, Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Wash., that would reimpose some net neutrality rules without using "Title II."

Meanwhile, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed interest in net neutrality rules that would prevent internet service providers from blocking, slowing down or speeding up any content, The Hill reported — though both parties remain deeply divided over how to prevent that.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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North Korea says embassy raid in Spain was a ‘grave terrorist attack’

FILE PHOTO: A Spanish National Police car is seen outside the North Korea's embassy in Madrid
FILE PHOTO: A Spanish National Police car is seen outside the North Korea's embassy in Madrid, Spain February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File Photo

March 31, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – A break-in at the North Korean embassy in Spain last month was “a grave terrorist attack”, a representative from North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Sunday in the North’s first official comment on the incident.

The foreign ministry representative also called for an investigation and said North Korea was closely watching rumors that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and an anti-North Korea group were behind the raid.

“An illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of extortion are a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated over the globe,” the North’s state-run KCNA news agency quoted the representative as saying.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Soyoung Kim; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: OANN

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Iran hunts for more ships to keep its oil flowing

FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf
FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo

March 13, 2019

By Jonathan Saul and Parisa Hafezi

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran is discreetly scouring the globe for second-hand oil tankers to replace its ageing fleet and keep crucial crude exports flowing as U.S. sanctions start to bite, Iranian and Western sources said.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in November, exploratory talks with South Korea for up to 10 new supertankers have stalled, Panama has removed at least 21 Iranian tankers from its registry and Tehran is now looking for extra vessels in places such as Vietnam, the sources said.

Washington has put restrictions on Iran’s port, energy and shipping sectors but it has given waivers to the country’s eight biggest oil customers, which include China, India and Japan, so they can keep buying Iranian crude.

With oil exports accounting for an estimated 70 percent of Iran’s revenues, maintaining an effective fleet of tankers to store and move that oil is crucial for Tehran.

But potential sellers of used vessels are more wary this time round after a Greek network that helped Iran buy tankers under previous sanctions was blacklisted. Western insurers are also steering clear, complicating Iran’s attempts to export crude to U.S.-approved buyers.

If Iran runs into difficulties exporting its oil it could have a significant impact. Besides the importance of oil for its budget, Iran is estimated to produce about 2.8 million barrels a day, more than 9 percent of OPEC’s output.

“Whatever sector you look at, companies will keep in mind being cut off from the U.S. financial system when deciding whether to trade with Iran,” said Mehdi Varzi, an independent oil consultant who has previously worked at the state-run National Iranian Oil Co http://en.nioc.ir/Portal/Home.

‘HAPPY TO DO BUSINESS’

Israel warned this month that its navy could take action against Iran, which it said was smuggling oil using clandestine measures similar to those employed during the previous round of sanctions.

According to maritime specialists, methods used for skirting sanctions in the past have included changing the names of ships, switching off AIS (Automatic Identification System) location transponders and conducting ship-to-ship transfers of oil.

Since the previous round of sanctions in 2012, ship tracking has become more sophisticated and more available. Washington has also cracked down on more Iranian networks, making it riskier to get involved with Iran, according to bankers.

Iran reached an agreement with world powers in 2015 over its nuclear program which led to the lifting of sanctions in 2016 but Trump pulled out of the deal in May last year and reimposed U.S. restrictions in November.

“Many big oil traders are very worried about going into Iran due to Trump, and even the Chinese are trying to comply with what the Americans want,” said Varzi, who is based in Britain.

A senior Iranian official played down the threat to its oil exports because of pressure on its fleet.

“Plenty of countries are happy to do business with Iran,” the official said. “As we have done in the past, there are several ways to overcome the shortage, including using tankers of other countries.”

MORE SCRUTINY

A second Iranian official said discussions with South Korea over the possibility of ordering as many as 10 supertankers, each able to carry up to 2 million barrels of oil, had been delayed by U.S. sanctions.

“We are working on it,” the official said.

A South Korean government official had no comment on the matter.

After Western sanctions were lifted, Iran also started talks with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. <042660.KS> about forming a joint venture to establish a shipyard in Iran.

A spokesman for Daewoo said it signed a preliminary agreement with Iran in December 2016 to cooperate on developing the shipyard, but said no progress had been made since then. A third Iranian official said talks were still ongoing.

According to one shipping source, Iran has been searching for more ships in places such as Vietnam and two sources said it had also been looking for middlemen in the Greek market, one of the main hubs for second-hand ship deals.

“Iran has been looking for ships, but this time round it is going to be harder – there is so much more scrutiny now. It is going to take them longer,” one of the shipping sources said.

When asked about Iran’s efforts to secure ships, a third Iranian source said they were looking at all options.

Vietnamese officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Iran has more than 50 tankers, but needs them for both transporting oil and storing unsold stocks in its territorial waters – given its limited onshore storage capacity.

Data based on AIS tracking by shipping intelligence platform MarineTraffic showed 12 Iranian tankers, or more than a fifth of its fleet, were being used for floating storage in March.

‘FLOATING LIABILITY’

Iran is struggling to keep its ships flagged to foreign registries too. All commercial ships have to be registered – flagged in a particular country – partly to comply with safety and environmental laws.

Following the reimposition of sanctions, Panama, the world’s leading flag state for commercial shipping, decided to de-flag Iran’s ships, a fourth Iranian official said. Shipping data shows nearly all Iran’s tankers had been registered with Panama.

A source at Panama’s flag registry said the cancellation, “affects approximately 60 Panama registered ships that are related to Iranian and Syrian owners”. The source did not provide further details.

A U.S Treasury spokesperson said: “We intend to fully enforce these sanctions and we encourage the cooperation and compliance of our allies and partners.”

Renewed U.S. sanctions have also meant Iran has been unable to secure vital certification services from foreign providers to ensure its ships remain seaworthy, shipping officials said.

Shipping records show that 16 of Iran’s tankers are at least 19 years old – and three of those vessels have been in service since 1996.

Iranian tanker Sanchi sank off China in 2018 after colliding with another vessel while five of the eight tankers Iran bought via the Greek network under previous sanctions have since been scrapped, adding to the need for more ships to fill the gaps.

U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, described Iran’s tanker sector as a “floating liability” in November.

IRANIAN FLAG

Shipping data showed at least two Panama flagged tankers – the Sarak and the Sobar – were re-flagged to Iran on Jan. 1. The owners of the vessels, who were listed in the British Virgin Islands, could not be contacted.

More than 20 other tankers in Iran’s fleet have been reflagged to Iran this year.

Having its tankers flagged in Iran rather than a third country such as Panama presents further problems for Tehran, even if it can secure more vessels and approved buyers for its oil, shipping experts say.

Besides China, India and Japan, Washington also gave South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece the green light to keep buying Iranian oil, although it’s unclear whether these waivers will be renewed when they expire in May.

Dealing with Iran’s flag registry raises compliance issues for counterparties as there is a risk they might interact with individuals or entities blacklisted under U.S. sanctions.

And with few buyers now willing to take all the commercial risks involved in oil sales, Iran is also having to cover the shipment of cargoes, including securing insurance in most instances, shipping sources said.

Mike Salthouse with the International Group https://www.igpandi.org, which represents companies that insure about 90 percent of the world’s commercial shipping, said Western insurers were very unlikely to do business with Iranian shipping companies.

“The biggest problem for insurers these days is finding a bank willing to handle a payment for goods or services where the beneficiary is designated by the U.S.,” said Salthouse, chairman of the International Group’s sanctions sub-committee.

“Banks will not engage when you mention the Iran word.”

(Additional reporting by Jane Chung in Seoul, James Pearson and Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Elida Moreno in Panama City and Michelle Nichols in New York; editing by David Clarke)

Source: OANN

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1 killed, 3 wounded in residential speakeasy shooting

Officials say shots fired at a residential speakeasy in New Jersey has claimed the life of one person and wounded three others.

Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said the gunfire happened at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday in the after-hours club in Camden.

He says one person died and another was reported in critical but stable condition. He said two other people had non-life-threatening injuries.

Keashen said arrests have been made and a suspect is in custody. There was no further information.

Source: Fox News National

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A Baha’i advocacy group has expressed concerns over the fate of minority Baha’is at the hands of Yemen’s Houthi rebels ahead of the appeals hearing for one of the community leaders sentenced to death.

The Baha’i International Community said in a statement Friday that the hearing for Hamed bin Haydara, detained in 2013 and sentenced to death last year on espionage and apostasy charges, is due on Tuesday.

The statement quotes Bani Dugal, the Baha’i community representative at the United Nations, as saying the prosecution hasn’t addressed Haydara’s appeal but is instead making “absurd, wide-ranging accusations.”

International rights groups have decried the prosecution of Yemeni Baha’is by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Iran has banned the Baha’i religion, which was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by followers.

Source: Fox News World

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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