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Alex Jones Psychosis: Infowars Star Blames Distrust on Sandy Hook Talk

Facing defamation lawsuits for his claims the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, Infowars' Alex Jones blames his "psychosis" on "trauma" caused by the media "lying so much" that he distrusts everything, according to a deposition.

"And I, myself, have almost had like a form of psychosis back in the past where I basically thought everything was staged, even though I'm now learning a lot of times things aren't staged," Jones said in a contentious March 14 video deposition posted on YouTube.

Jones faces eight lawsuits over sharing a conspiracy theory the killing of 27 people, including 20 Sandy Hook Elementary school children, was a staged event and parents of the victims lied about the deaths.

"Well, sometimes people claim they've been hurt when they haven't been," Jones told lawyers. "So, you have to look at the agenda behind things. You have to balance things about why has the mainstream media lied so much, why our government's lied so much, the fact that the public doesn't believe what they're told anymore."

The three-hour video deposition was posted on YouTube on Friday by Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, LLP, a Texas law firm.

"Well, I'm just saying that the trauma of the media and the corporations lying so much, then everything begins – you don't trust anything anymore, kind of like a child whose parents lie to them over and over again, well, pretty soon they don't know what reality is," Jones said.

"So, long before these lawsuits, I said that in the past I thought everything was a conspiracy and I would kind of get into that mass group think of the communities that were out there saying that. And so now I see that it's more in the middle. All right? So, that's where I stand."

Source: NewsMax America

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YouGov Poll: American Majority Supports Legalized Marijuana

Most Americans think recreational marijuana should be legalized and think it will be legal in the entire U.S. within the next 10 years, according to a YouGov poll released Monday.

The vast majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, while half think it should be legal for recreational use. People who have used marijuana recreationally in the past are far more likely to support legalization.

  • 72 percent support medical marijuana.
  • 10 percent oppose medical marijuana.
  • 12 percent neither support or oppose medical marijuana.
  • 50 percent support recreational marijuana.
  • 31 percent oppose recreational marijuana.
  • 13 percent neither support or oppose recreational marijuana.

YouGov notes recreational marijuana has been legalized in 10 states and for medical use in 33 states.

  • 62 percent said recreational marijuana will be legal nationwide in 10 years.
  • 52 percent said marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.
  • 49 percent said they prefer using natural remedies for medicine rather than pharmaceuticals.

YouGov polled 1,269 adults in the United States online from April 5-8.

Source: NewsMax America

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Chicago Fraternal Order of Police: 'Baffled' Smollett charges dropped, 'interested in having federal authorities' look into case

The president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police is “baffled” after Tuesday’s announcement that all charges were dropped against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, and is asking federal authorities to look into the situation.

“We are interested in having the federal authorities look into what occurred here because we're baffled by what has happened,” Kevin Graham told “America’s Newsroom."

"We also think that it's a little strange that she never that no one ever told the police department, the F.O.P, the mayor's office that they were going to dismiss the charges in this case.”

LATE NIGHT HOSTS ON JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHARGES BEING DISMISSED: R. KELLY, FELICITY HUFFMAN ARE 'FREE TO GO'

On Tuesday, the Cook County State's Attorney dropped 16 felony counts against Smollett that stemmed from him allegedly filing a false police report about a hate attack he claimed to have suffered in January.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and the Chicago Police Department were also stunned and outraged by the dramatic change of course.

Graham believes there will be accountability and hopes the federal government brings charges against Smollett.

“John Lynch, who is the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, is known to be the law and order attorney. I actually believe he will look into this,” Graham told co-host Sandra Smith.

KAMALA HARRIS 'COMPLETELY CONFUSED' OVER JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHARGES BEING DROPPED

“And you have to remember that Mr.Smollett claimed that there was a letter, a threatening letter sent to him. And so that is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.  And so certainly charges could be brought by federal authorities in this matter and we are hoping that that occurs.”

Graham added, “We also think that it's unprecedented to seal the case so that nobody can find out what occurred. We certainly are shocked by it.”

Fox News' Jessica Sager contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Showdown in Congress over Trump's national emergency declaration; Mystery Mueller case revealed

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Developing now, Thursday, March 14, 2019

TRUMP NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION SHOWDOWN: The Republican-led Senate is set to vote Thursday on President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border to obtain funding for his long-promised wall ... There may be enough Republican opposition in the Senate to block the emergency declaration, which could prompt Trump to issue his first veto while in office. In an interview set to air on "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning, Vice President Mike Pence urged Republicans to back the president’s emergency declaration.

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BOEING 737 MAX JETS GROUNDED: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday ordered two Boeing 737 Max jets — one model of which was involved in the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people — to be temporarily grounded in the U.S. ... The agency said the decision was made to ground both the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 models "as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed." Boeing has suspended its entire global fleet of 371 737 Max jetliners. Worldwide, 69 commercial airlines and airline leasing firms use the Max 8 and Max 9 models. Among the U.S. airlines that have Boeing 737 Max planes among their fleet are Southwest Airlines, which operates 34 Max 8 planes, American Airlines, which operates 24 Max 8 planes, and United Airlines, which operates 14 Max 9 planes. Airlines in other countries, including the entire European Union, Ethiopia, China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and Iceland, grounded the jetliner on Monday.

EXCLUSIVE: HILLARY CLINTON INVESTIGATORS TOLD OBAMA DOJ 'NOT WILLING TO CHARGE HER': An internal chart prepared by federal investigators working on the so-called "Midyear Exam" probe into Hillary Clinton's emails, exclusively reviewed by Fox News, contained the words "NOTE: DOJ not willing to charge this" next to a key statute on the mishandling of classified information. The notation appeared to contradict former FBI Director James Comey's repeated claims that his team independently decided that Clinton should not face criminal charges. Comey stated publicly that his FBI conducted the Clinton email investigation honestly and was not swayed by outside influences. However, President Trump and longtime Republican critics have argued that anti-Trump political bias in Comey's FBI and the Justice Department tainted the Clinton investigation.

SINGING THE 'VARSITY BLUES': One day after Lori Loughlin was ensnared in a bombshell college admissions investigation, the "Full House" star has been released on a $1 million bond ... Loughlin and "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman are among the more than four dozen people have been charged in the nationwide bribery scam, which is alleged to have placed students in top-tier schools like Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, the University of Southern California, UCLA and the University of Texas. The federal investigation into the matter – dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues" – has been ongoing for more than a year.

Loughlin, her famed fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli and Huffman are all ordered to appear in federal court in Boston on March 29 for a preliminary hearing. In light of the national college admissions scandal, the University of Southern California (USC) on Wednesday announced it will "review" students and graduates who may be linked to the investigation.

MYSTERY MUELLER CASE REVEALED: Documents filed with the Supreme Court and unsealed on Wednesday revealed definitively, and for the first time, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the party seeking a grand jury subpoena and subsequent contempt citation against an unnamed, government-controlled foreign corporation that has resisted prosecutors' efforts at every turn ... The proceedings are believed to be linked to attempts by Mueller's team to secure information to present to an empaneled grand jury in the special counsel's Russia investigation.

BETO 'BORN' TO RUN? - Beto O'Rourke all but announced his 2020 presidential candidacy in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday in Vanity Fair magazine, confidently saying he was "just born to do this" ... The move seemed inevitable Wednesday night. El Paso’s KTSM-TV reported it received a text message from O'Rourke earlier in the day saying he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination, writing: "I'm really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents. It's a big part of why I'm running. This city is the best example of this country at its best."

THE SOUNDBITE

TUCKER CALLS OUT MEDIA MATTERS PRESIDENT - "[MSNBC anchor Chris] Hayes’s political views aren’t very interesting: Cringing hipster sensitivity, burnished with low-grade academic buzzwords. Pretty banal. But Hayes always seemed like a decent guy personally. He didn’t seem like a hater. It was hard to imagine him promoting open racism and anti-Semitism. Or at least it was, until the other night. That’s when Hayes invited a man called Angelo Carusone onto his show. Carusone runs Media Matters. Almost every day, he issues outraged press releases accusing other people of bigotry. And yet, because everything is irony, Carusone is himself an enthusiastic bigot. We know this because he’s written about it extensively." – Tucker Carlson, on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," pointing out Media Matters President Angelo Carusone's past hateful comments in an old blog.

TODAY'S MUST-READS
Stuart Varney: Ocasio-Cortez is so far out of line that she must surely be a 'bubble.'
Kellyanne Conway’s husband rips Trump for ‘pathological’ lying, claims president has ‘disorder.'
Connecticut man who got phone call of support from Trump dies.
Manafort sentenced, then indicted in New York City on mortgage fraud, other state charges.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS
Trump's grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets trims stock market gains.
British lawmakers reject no-deal Brexit in any circumstance.
Fiat Chrysler recalling nearly 863,000 U.S. vehicles that don't meet EPA standards.

STAY TUNED

On Fox Nation:

What Made America Great, Season 2
Brian Kilmeade travels to historic places and relives the biggest events that shaped our amazing country on "What Made America Great." Watch a preview of the show now.

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Fox Nation is a subscription streaming service offering daily shows and documentaries that you can’t watch anywhere else. Watch from your phone, computer and select TV devices.

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: Vice President Mike Pence; Newt Gingrich; Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren; Fox News' Pete Hegseth tours a border protection training facility with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4 p.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla. and John Barrasso, R-Wis.

Fox News @ Night, 11 p.m. ET: Lt. Randy Sutton, host of Blue Lives Radio.

On Fox Business:

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Karl Rove, former White House senior adviser to President George W. Bush; Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor.

Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Schools Must Change After Admissions Scandal" - Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz discusses "Operation Varsity Blues" and how colleges can uncover and fight back against admission scams. Transcripts of closed-door testimony of former FBI attorney Lisa Page have been released, and they reveal some new details of the 'insurance policy' she discussed with former FBI agent Peter Strzok. Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial analyst, discusses the released transcript. Plus, commentary by Leslie Marshall, Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor.

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: The grounding of Boeing jets, Operation Varsity Blues, Manafort's new legal trouble, Trump's national emergency declaration and more will be discussed with the following guests: Kathleen Bangs, Steve Doocy, Chris Wallace, Andy McCarthy, Stuart Varney, Dr. Jeff Gardere.

The Todd Starnes Show, Noon ET: Todd Starnes speaks with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., about President Trump's call all for a national emergency at the border and American Family Radio host Bryan Fischer about how to raise the next generation of men.

The Tom Shillue Show, 3 p.m. ET: Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov discusses Operation Varsity Blues and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent comments on impeaching President Trump.

Benson & Harf, 6 p.m. ET: An interview with Howard Schultz, 2020 presidential candidate and former chairman and CEO of Starbucks.

#TheFlashback
2018: Tens of thousands of students across the country walk out of their classrooms to demand action on gun violence and school safety, one month after the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
1990: The Soviet Congress of People's Deputies hold a secret ballot that elects Mikhail S. Gorbachev to a new, powerful presidency.
1962: Democrat Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy officially launches his successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts once held by his brother, President John F. Kennedy. (Ted Kennedy would serve in the Senate for nearly 47 years.)

Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Have a good day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Friday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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German police raid 16 homes of suspected Islamic extremists

German police are searching 16 homes of alleged Islamic extremists in central and western Germany.

Frankfurt prosecutor Nadja Niesen said Thursday that authorities were acting on the suspicion that the extremists were planning an attack. Niesen said she could not give any further details because the searches were still ongoing.

Authorities raided 15 homes Thursday morning in Ruesselsheim, Biebesheim, Raumheim in the state of Hesse as well as one home in Kerpen in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Source: Fox News World

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UK police: Stabbing near London is far-right terrorism

British police say a stabbing west of London in which a man attacked a teenager with a baseball hat and knife while hurling racist abuse is being treated as a terrorist incident "inspired by the far-right."

A 50-year-old man from the village of Stanwell, near Heathrow Airport, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of attempted murder and racially aggravated public order offenses. A 19-year-old man was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Neil Basu, head of counter-terrorism policing, said Sunday that while the investigation was just beginning, the incident had "hallmarks of a terror event." He added "police are committed to tackling all forms of toxic extremist ideology."

No further details were immediately available.

Source: Fox News World

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Democratic Leaders Are Positive That Everything’s Perfect

Democratic Leaders Are Positive That Everything's Perfect

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

“You guys have it all wrong,” Nancy Pelosi told reporters at the end of her press conference Thursday morning, mostly unprompted, on the second day of the House Democratic retreat at a northern Virginia resort.

Read Full Article »

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Alex Jones – Info Wars

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FILE PHOTO: Naqvi Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos
FILE PHOTO: Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court case to extradite Arif Naqvi, founder of collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group, to the United States on fraud charges was adjourned until May 24, a court official said on Friday.

Naqvi was remanded in custody until that date, the official said. A former managing partner of Dubai-based Abraaj, Sev Vettivetpillai, was released on conditional bail to appear again at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 12, the official said.

Under the U.S. charges, both men are accused of defrauding U.S. investors by inflating positions held by Abraaj in order to attract greater funds from them, causing them financial loss, the official said.

Vettivetpillai could not be reached for a comment.

Naqvi, in a statement released through a PR firm, has pleaded innocent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Naqvi and his firm raised money for the Abraaj Growth Markets Health Fund, collecting more than $100 million over three years from U.S.-based charitable organizations and other U.S. investors.

Naqvi and Vettivetpillai were arrested in Britain earlier this month. Another executive, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court on April 11.

Abdel-Wadood appeared at the Manhattan hearing and pleaded not guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his 2020 candidacy
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in this still image taken from a video released April 25, 2019. BIDEN CAMPAIGN HANDOUT via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his first interview as a Democratic presidential candidate, said on Friday that he does not believe he treated law professor Anita Hill badly during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Biden had joined the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field a day earlier.

Biden’s conduct during those hearings, when he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, became a renewed subject of controversy after the New York Times reported that Biden had called Hill earlier this month in the run-up to his presidential bid and that Hill was dissatisfied with Biden’s expression of regret.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Biden largely defended his actions as a senator almost 30 years ago, saying he believed Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment levied at Thomas and tried to derail his confirmation.

Activists have long been unhappy that Hill was questioned in graphic detail by the all-white, all-male committee chaired by Biden.

“I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated,” Biden said, but later, he asserted, “I don’t think I treated her badly. … How do you stop people from asking inflammatory questions?”

“There were a lot of mistakes made across the board and for those I apologize,” he said.

Biden praised Hill as “remarkable” and said she is “one of the reasons we have the #MeToo movement.”

Asked why he had not reached out to Hill earlier, Biden said he had previously publicly stated he had regrets about her treatment and that he “didn’t want to quote invade her space.”

That seemed to be a reference to another controversy that looms over Biden’s presidential run: allegations by several women that he made them uncomfortable by touching them at political events.

Biden also addressed that criticism, saying he was now more “cognizant” about a woman’s “private space.” But he maintained that he had been “trying to bring solace.”

He suggested he was still trying to sort out the guidelines for his conduct going forward.

“I should be able to read better,” he said. “I have to be more careful.”

Pressed by the show’s panel for an apology to his accusers, Biden would not entirely capitulate.

“So, I invaded your space,” he replied. “I mean, I’m sorry this happened. But I’m not sorry in a sense that I think I did anything that was intentionally designed to do anything wrong or be inappropriate.”

Biden, 76, served as former President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms. He is competing with 19 others for the Democratic presidential nomination and the chance to likely face President Donald Trump next year in the general election.

His first public event as a presidential candidate is scheduled for Monday in Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s stock slumped over 4% on Friday to its lowest price in two years, rounding out a rough week that included worse-than-expected quarterly results and a pitch by Chief Executive Elon Musk on autonomous cars that failed to win over investors.

With investors betting Tesla will soon raise capital, the stock has fallen 13% for the week to its lowest level since January 2017, before the launch of the Model 3 sedan aimed at making the electric car maker profitable.

One positive development for Tesla: a U.S. District Court judge on Friday granted a request by Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission for a second extension to resolve a dispute over Musk’s use of Twitter.

On Wednesday, Tesla posted a worse-than-expected loss of $702 million for the March quarter. Musk said Tesla would return to profit in the third quarter and that there was “some merit” to raising capital.

Musk is still battling to convince investors that demand for the Model 3, the company’s first car aimed at the mass consumer market, is “insanely” high, and that it can be delivered efficiently to customers around the world.

Tesla ended its first quarter with $2.2 billion, down from $3.7 billion in the prior quarter, and the company is planning expansions including a Shanghai factory, an upcoming Model Y SUV, and other projects.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s cash – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DyJjX6)

On Monday, Musk hosted a self-driving event, where he predicted Tesla would have over a million autonomous vehicles by next year. Some analysts perceived the presentation as a way to deflect attention from questions about demand, margin pressure, increasing competition and even Musk’s ongoing battle with U.S. regulators.

Tesla’s stock has now fallen 29 percent in 2019 and the company’s market capitalization has declined to $41 billion from $63 billion in mid-December.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s declining market cap – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dwd62r)

Analysts now expect Tesla’s revenue to expand 19% in 2019, compared with 83% growth in 2018 and 68% growth in 2017, according to Refinitiv.

Following Tesla’s quarterly report, 12 analysts recommend selling the stock, while 11 recommend buying and eight are neutral. The median analyst price target is $275, up 16% from the stock’s current price of $236. Berenberg analyst Alexander Haissl has the most optimistic price target, at $500, while Cowen and Company’s Jeffrey Osborne has the lowest, at $160, according to Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said Friday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s rare public criticism of the Obama administration was a “soft” way of accusing the previous administration of covering up Russia’s attempts at hacking the 2016 presidential election.

While speaking Thursday in New York at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, Rosenstein said that the Obama administration “chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to Russia’s broader strategy to undermine America.”

During an appearance on “America’s Newsroom” Friday morning, Huckabee called the comments an “unusually candid moment for Rosenstein.”

“I thought it was a soft way of him saying there was a cover-up,” Huckabee said. “They knew the Russians were attempting to influence the election and attempting to hack the election but they didn’t fully disclose that to the American people and certainly didn’t disclose it to the Trump campaign.

SWALWELL NOT CERTAIN TRUMP ISN’T A ‘RUSSIAN ASSET’

“Instead they tried to set a trap for them. It failed. The Trump team did not take the bait. And that’s the one conclusion that we can certainly come away with from the $35 million worth of investigation,” Huckabee continued.

Next week, Attorney General William Barr will testify before Congress and is expected to answer questions about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump, which found that there was not adequate evidence to conclude that President Trump and his administration colluded with Russia, though the president could not be exonerated in terms of the possibility that he obstructed justice.

Barr will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday and to the House Judiciary Committee the following day.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG 

“It is going to be a theater, an absolute show,” Huckabee said of the hearings. “Just like the Kavanaugh hearings were and like everything else is in Congress. We ought to close the curtain on them and can’t come back until after the election. They aren’t doing their job anyway. We aren’t paying them because they’re doing a wonderful service to the country and spare us the hypocrisy of thinking they’re interested in getting to the bottom of the facts,” he continued.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ultimately, Huckabee argued, if Americans “took their partisan hats off,” they would see that President Trump was exonerated by the investigation.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Sri Lanka's former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake
Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

April 26, 2019

By Sanjeev Miglani and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said on Friday he would run for president in elections this year and would stop the spread of Islamist extremism by rebuilding the intelligence service and surveilling citizens.

Gotabaya, as he is popularly known, is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two led the country to a crushing defeat of separatist Tamil rebels a decade ago after a 26-year civil war.

More than 250 people were killed in bomb attacks on hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that the government has blamed on Islamist militants and that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.

Gotabaya said the attacks could have been prevented if the island’s current government had not dismantled the intelligence network and extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and later on.

“Because the government was not prepared, that’s why you see a panic situation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Gotabaya said he would be a candidate “100 percent”, firming up months of speculation that he plans to run in the elections, which are due by December.

He was critical of the government’s response to the bombings. Since the attacks, the government has struggled to provide clear information about how they were staged, who was behind them and how serious the threat is from Islamic State to the country.

“Various people are blaming various people, not giving exactly the details as to what happened, even people expect the names, what organization did this, and how they came up to this level, that explanation was not given,” he said.

On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said the government led by premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should take responsibility for the attacks and that prior information warning of attacks was not shared with him.

Wickremesinghe said earlier he was not advised about warnings that came from India’s spy service either, presenting a picture of a government still in disarray since the two leaders fell out last October.

Gotabaya is facing lawsuits in the United States, where he is a dual citizen, over his role in the war and afterwards.

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project, in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld, filed a civil case in California this month against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor.

In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father.

Gotabaya said the cases were baseless and only a “little distraction” as he prepared for the election campaign. He said he had asked U.S. authorities to renounce his citizenship and that process was nearly done, clearing the way for his candidature.

‘DISMANTLE THE NETWORKS’

He said that if he won, his immediate focus would to be tackle the threat from radical Islam and to rebuild the security set-up.

“It’s a serious problem, you have to go deep into the groups, dismantle the networks,” he said, adding he would give the military a mandate to collect intelligence from the ground and to mount surveillance of groups turning to extremism.

Gotabaya said that a military intelligence cell he had set up in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with Arabic language skills and that was tracking the bent towards extremist ideology some of the Islamist groups were taking in eastern Sri Lanka was disbanded by the current government.

“They did not give priority to national security, there was a mix-up. They were talking about ethnic reconciliation, then they were talking about human rights issues, they were talking about individual freedoms,” he said.

President Sirisena’s government sought to forge reconciliation with minority Tamils and close the wounds of the war and launched investigations into allegations of rights abuse and torture against military officers.

Officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings.

Muslims make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, which is predominantly Buddhist.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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