The Front Page Cover
~ Featuring ~
Is Trump Entering a Kill Box?
by Pat Buchanan
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Scaramucci Spouts Off About Leaks
"Who leaked that to you?" White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci demanded to know of Ryan Lizza, a reporter for The New Yorker. Scaramucci was immediately concerned with information about a certain dinner, but his broader concern is about the leaks plaguing Donald Trump's White House. Lizza refused to disclose his source, as just about any reporter would, and he recorded the ensuing phone conversation this way:
[Scaramucci] responded by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff. "What I'm going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we'll start over," he said. I laughed, not sure if he really believed that such a threat would convince a journalist to reveal a source. He continued to press me and complain about the staff he's inherited in his new job. "I ask these guys not to leak anything and they can't help themselves," he said. "You're an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I'm asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it."
Scaramucci appears to be particularly aiming for Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who he suspects of the leaks and of "c— blocking" Scaramucci's appointment sooner. That's where his remarks got extremely, er, "colorful" as he later explained. "Reince is a f—king paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac," cried Scaramucci. In fact, he continued, "What I want to do is I want to f—king kill all the leakers and I want to get the president's agenda on track so we can succeed for the American people."
Pleasant fellow. Leakers aren't the only target of his ire, though. Lizza records, "Scaramucci also told me that, unlike other senior officials, he had no interest in media attention." He then quoted Scaramucci saying, "I'm not Steve Bannon, I'm not trying to suck my own c—." Bannon is Trump's chief strategist and comes from Breitbart News. "I'm not trying to build my own brand off the f—king strength of the president. I'm here to serve the country."
Maybe this kind of language still plays well among some of Trump's base — drain the swamp at all costs! — but it is pathetically uncouth and degrading for the White House. It's disgraceful. And from the communications director no less. Let's get one thing straight, though. Scaramucci was hired to be Trump's "heavy" — the muscle who will knock some heads together. That may be necessary, and Scaramucci may be gone in a month or two when the job is done.
The smart guy in this debacle is former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who had the good sense to resign upon Scaramucci's hiring. When asked how he felt after departing, Spicer said, "How do I look like I'm feeling? Relieved." The upside: Scaramucci may actually upstage Trump's stupid remarks.
Finally, after the interview was published, Scaramucci tweeted, "I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again." That would imply he trusted reporters to begin with. What planet is he from? ~The Patriot Post
Top FBI LAWYER Under COMEY MUELLER
Investigated As Deep State CLASSIFIED Leaker
by rickwells.us
{rickwells.us} ~ Sara Carter of Circa News dropped a bombshell in an interview on the Sean Hannity program. She’s learned and verified through three different sources that have direct knowledge of the facts that James A. Baker... the current General Counsel for the FBI, is alleged to be under investigation for leaking national security classified information to the media. She says she hasn’t yet been able to learn the specific as to the information leaked, but notes that if the allegations are true, it will be devastating for the FBI. She notes that currently within the FBI they’re scouring through everything in search of leakers, that they really want to clean house, a high profile rat inside would be a crippling blow. They’ve got a lot of high profile rats, in a series of dirty cops, from Mueller to Comey to McCabe and surely many less notorious other deep state operatives filling out their ranks under their corrupt direction. He worked closely with both Robert Mueller and James Comey for the entirety of their tenures at the FBI...http://rickwells.us/top-fbi-lawyer-comey-mueller-investigated-deep-state-classified-leaker/
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Lebanon Is Another Name for Hezbollah
by Tony Badran
{defenddemocracy.org} ~ During his joint press conference with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday, President Trump gave expression to the inherent paradox in America’s Lebanon policy... On the one hand, the president voiced appreciation and support for Lebanon and its Armed Forces (LAF) for their supposed “impressive” role in the fight against ISIS and Al-Qaeda. On the other hand, he had strong words for Hezbollah, calling it a menace to the Lebanese state and the entire region and noting its role in fueling the catastrophe in Syria. Specifically, the president added, the group threatens to start a conflict with Israel, as it continues to increase its arsenal in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. At the same time Hariri is visiting Washington, however, the LAF is taking part in a joint military operation with Hezbollah in northeastern Lebanon, targeting a pocket of Syrian armed groups — Including the group formerly known as the Nusra Front—on the Syrian border...http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/lebanon-is-another-name-for-hezbollah/
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How Trump should handle Iran
by Eric S. Edelman
{defenddemocracy.org} ~ Last week, the Trump administration recertified that Iran is complying the nuclear agreement, setting off predictable debate between who those want to exit the deal immediately... and those who see it as his predecessor’s signature foreign policy achievement. But for all the will-he-or-won’t-he attention on Trump’s decision, the focus on the nuclear deal is missing the point: The administration’s real agenda on Iran doesn’t hinge on the nuclear agreement—a dangerous deal that puts the U.S. in a impossible situation. Instead, the Trump administration’s priority should be restoring leverage against Tehran, so that we can dissuade Iran from sprinting toward a bomb and create far more favorable circumstances to negotiate an agreement that—unlike liar-nObama’s deal—actually prevents a nuclear Iran. Abiding by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement is known, will only enable a nuclear and hegemonic Iran. It provides Tehran significant financial, military and geopolitical benefits, both upfront and over time, in exchange for minimal, reversible and temporary concessions on its nuclear program... http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/eric-s-edelman-how-trump-should-handle-iran/.
Reince Priebus Out, John Kelly
In as Trump’s Chief of Staff
by Charles Fain Lehman
{freebeacon.com} ~ President Donald Trump changed his White House chief of staff on Friday, replacing embattled Reince Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly... Priebus left the White House in the latest of a series of high profile resignations or departures, as Trump had judged him "not strong enough" to continue to hold the role, the New York Times reports. Trump tweeted out the announcement of Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, as Priebus' replacement on Friday afternoon...http://freebeacon.com/politics/priebus-kelly-chief-staff/
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liar-Hillary Clinton Calls at Private Fundraiser for Infrastructure Bank to Resemble
liar-Clinton Global Initiative
by Alana Goodman and Lachlan Markay
{freebeacon.com} ~ liar-Hillary Clinton told donors at a private fundraiser in New York last Thursday that she plans as president to create a "national infrastructure bank" modeled on the Clinton Global Initiative... according to a recording of her remarks obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. This was the first time that liar-Clinton, who has long supported the formation of a government-controlled bank to invest in national infrastructure projects, cited the liar-Clinton Global Initiative—the flagship arm of her family’s controversial foundation—as an investment model for her proposed bank. liar-Clinton said CGI’s "public-private" partnership with labor unions has created tens of thousands of jobs, and argued that a federal infrastructure bank could take on this type of project...She will never be a president of the USA. http://freebeacon.com/politics/leaked-audio-hillary-clinton-calls-at-private-fundraiser-for-infrastructure-bank-to-resemble-clinton-global-initiative/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=ee1789189f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-ee1789189f-45611665.
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Trump understands this. Reports of his frustration and rage suggest that he knows he has been maneuvered, partly by his own mistakes, into a kill box from which there may be no bloodless exit.
What Trump needs is a leader at Justice who will confine the Mueller investigation to the Russian hacking, and keep Mueller's men from roaming until they hit prosecutorial pay dirt.
Consider now Trump's narrowing options.
He can fire Jeff Sessions. But that will enrage Trump's base to whom the senator is a loyal soldier. And anyone Trump nominates as AG would not be confirmed unless he or she pledged not to interfere with Mueller.
He could direct Rosenstein to fire Mueller. But Rosenstein would assume the Elliot Richardson role in the Saturday Night Massacre, when that AG refused to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, resigned, and was canonized as a martyr by the Never-Nixon media.
Even if Trump finds a Justice Department loyalist to play the role of Solicitor General Robert Bork, who carried out Nixon's orders and fired Cox, this would only mean Mueller's departure. Mueller's staff of prosecutors and investigators would still be there, beavering away.
When Archibald Cox was fired, Nixon ordered his entire office shut down. Yet, within days of the firestorm, it was up and running again with a new special prosecutor. And impeachment resolutions were blossoming in the House.
Another Trump option would be to leave Mueller alone and hope for a benign outcome. But from reports of his rage at the recusal of Sessions and unwillingness of Rosenstein to restrict Mueller to the Russian hacking scandal, Trump seems to sense that an unrestricted investigation represents a mortal threat to his presidency.
And all the talk of impeachment and pardons suggests that this city can also see what lies over the next hill. After all, we have been here before.
From his history, Mueller is not a man to be intimidated by charges of bias. These will only steel his resolve to pursue with his subpoena power every document he wants, including tax returns, until he has satisfied himself.
The president is unlikely to view this process with indulgence, and patience does not appear to rank high among his virtues.
We are headed for a collision between President Trump and Director Mueller.
Is Trump Entering a Kill Box?
by Pat Buchanan
{townhall.com} ~ Given the bravery he showed in stepping out front as the first senator to endorse Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions deserves better from his boss than the Twitter-trashing he has lately received.
The attorney general has not only been loyal to Trump and his agenda, he has the respect and affection of ex-colleagues in Congress and, more broadly, of populists and conservatives nationally.
Trump's tweets about Sessions are only demoralizing his base.
Yet the president is not wrong to be exasperated and enraged.
A yearlong FBI investigation into Russian hacking has failed to produce a single indictment. Yet the president watches impotently as a special counsel pulls together a lethal force, inside his own administration, whose undeclared ambition is to bring him down.
Trump's behavior suggests that he sees the Mueller threat as potentially mortal.
How did we get to this peril point when there is no evidence that Trump or any senior aide colluded in the hacking?
As for the June 2016 meeting with the Russians, called by Donald Trump Jr. when told by a friend that Moscow had dirt on liar-Hillary Clinton, even that was no crime.
Foolish, yes; criminal, no. So, again, how did we get to where talk of impeachment and presidential pardons fills the air?
First, Attorney General Sessions, as a campaign adviser and surrogate for Trump who had met with the Russian ambassador, had to recuse himself from the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein then assumed oversight authority.
Trump then fired FBI Director James Comey and boasted to Russia's foreign minister about having gotten the "crazy nut job" off his case. His Oval Office comments leaked. Comey then leaked notes of his meeting with Trump. Rosenstein then washed his hands of the mess by naming a special counsel.
And he chose a bulldog, ex-FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Hence, where are we? Despite zero evidence of Trump or his aides colluding in the hacking, a counterintelligence investigation is evolving into a criminal investigation. Mueller is now hiring veteran investigators and prosecutors specializing in white-collar crime.
This is not a witch hunt. It is an Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn, where the most colorful eggs are likely to be the tax returns and the financial records of Trump, who built a real estate empire in a town where winners brag about how they gutted the losers.
Every enemy of Trump is going to be dropping the dime on him to Mueller. Moreover, there is no history of special counsels being appointed and applauded by the press, who went home without taking scalps.
{townhall.com} ~ Given the bravery he showed in stepping out front as the first senator to endorse Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions deserves better from his boss than the Twitter-trashing he has lately received.
The attorney general has not only been loyal to Trump and his agenda, he has the respect and affection of ex-colleagues in Congress and, more broadly, of populists and conservatives nationally.
Trump's tweets about Sessions are only demoralizing his base.
Yet the president is not wrong to be exasperated and enraged.
A yearlong FBI investigation into Russian hacking has failed to produce a single indictment. Yet the president watches impotently as a special counsel pulls together a lethal force, inside his own administration, whose undeclared ambition is to bring him down.
Trump's behavior suggests that he sees the Mueller threat as potentially mortal.
How did we get to this peril point when there is no evidence that Trump or any senior aide colluded in the hacking?
As for the June 2016 meeting with the Russians, called by Donald Trump Jr. when told by a friend that Moscow had dirt on liar-Hillary Clinton, even that was no crime.
Foolish, yes; criminal, no. So, again, how did we get to where talk of impeachment and presidential pardons fills the air?
First, Attorney General Sessions, as a campaign adviser and surrogate for Trump who had met with the Russian ambassador, had to recuse himself from the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein then assumed oversight authority.
Trump then fired FBI Director James Comey and boasted to Russia's foreign minister about having gotten the "crazy nut job" off his case. His Oval Office comments leaked. Comey then leaked notes of his meeting with Trump. Rosenstein then washed his hands of the mess by naming a special counsel.
And he chose a bulldog, ex-FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Hence, where are we? Despite zero evidence of Trump or his aides colluding in the hacking, a counterintelligence investigation is evolving into a criminal investigation. Mueller is now hiring veteran investigators and prosecutors specializing in white-collar crime.
This is not a witch hunt. It is an Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn, where the most colorful eggs are likely to be the tax returns and the financial records of Trump, who built a real estate empire in a town where winners brag about how they gutted the losers.
Every enemy of Trump is going to be dropping the dime on him to Mueller. Moreover, there is no history of special counsels being appointed and applauded by the press, who went home without taking scalps.
Trump understands this. Reports of his frustration and rage suggest that he knows he has been maneuvered, partly by his own mistakes, into a kill box from which there may be no bloodless exit.
What Trump needs is a leader at Justice who will confine the Mueller investigation to the Russian hacking, and keep Mueller's men from roaming until they hit prosecutorial pay dirt.
Consider now Trump's narrowing options.
He can fire Jeff Sessions. But that will enrage Trump's base to whom the senator is a loyal soldier. And anyone Trump nominates as AG would not be confirmed unless he or she pledged not to interfere with Mueller.
He could direct Rosenstein to fire Mueller. But Rosenstein would assume the Elliot Richardson role in the Saturday Night Massacre, when that AG refused to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, resigned, and was canonized as a martyr by the Never-Nixon media.
Even if Trump finds a Justice Department loyalist to play the role of Solicitor General Robert Bork, who carried out Nixon's orders and fired Cox, this would only mean Mueller's departure. Mueller's staff of prosecutors and investigators would still be there, beavering away.
When Archibald Cox was fired, Nixon ordered his entire office shut down. Yet, within days of the firestorm, it was up and running again with a new special prosecutor. And impeachment resolutions were blossoming in the House.
Another Trump option would be to leave Mueller alone and hope for a benign outcome. But from reports of his rage at the recusal of Sessions and unwillingness of Rosenstein to restrict Mueller to the Russian hacking scandal, Trump seems to sense that an unrestricted investigation represents a mortal threat to his presidency.
And all the talk of impeachment and pardons suggests that this city can also see what lies over the next hill. After all, we have been here before.
From his history, Mueller is not a man to be intimidated by charges of bias. These will only steel his resolve to pursue with his subpoena power every document he wants, including tax returns, until he has satisfied himself.
The president is unlikely to view this process with indulgence, and patience does not appear to rank high among his virtues.
We are headed for a collision between President Trump and Director Mueller.
