Monthly Archives: March 2018

FLORIDA: FBI Raids Home Of White Supremacist Leader Who Claimed To Have Trained Parkland Mass Shooter

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Jordan Jereb was led away in handcuffs from his mother’s Tallahassee home Wednesday after the FBI searched for evidence in connection with misinformation he gave regarding the shooter in last month’s Parkland school massacre. Jereb was arrested on charges of violation of probation by the Florida Department of Corrections Probation office. He was on probation for …

Read More »

REVEALED: McCabe Oversaw Criminal Probe Of Jeff Sessions For Lying About His Contacts With Russians

ABC News reports: Nearly a year before Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired senior FBI official Andrew McCabe for what Sessions called a “lack of candor,” McCabe oversaw a federal criminal investigation into whether Sessions lacked candor when testifying before Congress about contacts with Russian operatives, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly accused Sessions of …

Read More »

Trump Attacks His Predecessors In Defense Of Putin Call: We Need Russia’s Help In The “Coming Arms Race”

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized his three predecessors in defending his recent congratulatory call to President Vladimir Putin of Russia — a move that’s been widely criticized in the wake of news that Trump was specifically instructed not to congratulate Putin on his reelection. Reports emerged on Tuesday night that briefing materials prepared for Trump’s call specifically …

Read More »

Mueller’s Already On Cambridge Analytica’s Trail

ABC News reports: As questions have mounted about data firm Cambridge Analytica’s alleged misuse of Facebook data from up to 50 million user profiles, it has not only caught the eye of Congressional investigators but also the special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team for the last several weeks has had a growing …

Read More »

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Breaks Silence On Stolen Data Scandal, Lays Out Three-Point Response

USA Today reports: Facing growing criticism of his leadership of the social media giant he co-founded, CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally broke his silence on the escalating crisis over how Facebook handles people’s private information. Zuckerberg took responsibility for what he called “a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to …

Read More »

YouTube Bans Guns Sales And Tutorial Videos

Engadget reports: Gun videos may be a thing of the past on YouTube, with the Google-owned company updating its policies on firearms-related content. Videos can no longer sell guns or accessories via direct sales or even have links to sites that sell them. Videos also cannot have instruction on manufacturing firearms or associated items like magazines or silencers. Accessories banned …

Read More »

Insiders Predict Dems Will Pick Up 30-45 House Seats

Back in 2010 political analyst Stuart Rothenberg predicted that the GOP would pick up “55 to 65 House seats” in that year’s midterms. The GOP ended up gaining 63 seats. From his column today: The problem for Republican congressional candidates this year is that there are plenty of clouds hanging over the president and the country despite the strong economic …

Read More »

POLL: NRA Favorability Rating Hits 18-Year Low

Business Insider reports: For the first time in nearly two decades, Americans have turned against the National Rifle Association, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The poll found that 40% of people surveyed had a negative view of the NRA, while 37% had a positive view. That represented a significant drop from April 2017, when the same poll …

Read More »

MISSISSIPPI: Gov Appoints Ag Commissioner To Fill US Senate Seat Vacated By Retiring Sen. Thad Cochran

Roll Call reports: Mississippi Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith will be coming to the U.S. Senate next month. GOP Gov. Phil Bryant formally tapped the Republican former state senator to fill the unexpired term of Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, who is poised to go out with a win on an omnibus spending bill before resigning effective April 1. …

Read More »

BRITAIN: Disgraced Anti-Gay Cardinal Who Confessed To Sexually Preying On Young Priests Dies At Age 80

The BBC reports: Cardinal Keith O’Brien, formerly the Catholic Church’s most senior cleric in Britain, has died at the age of 80. The cardinal, who resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in 2013 after apologising for sexual misconduct, was hurt in a recent fall. His successor administered the last rites on Friday, on the eve of the cardinal’s …

Read More »

Top House Judiciary Dem Calls For Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg To Testify On Cambridge Analytica Scandal

The Hill reports: Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is calling for Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on reports that a political research firm connected to President Trump’s 2016 campaign improperly accessed data for 50 million Facebook users. Cicilline, the top Democrat on the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, sent a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) asking that he …

Read More »

KENTUCKY: Liberty Counsel Files To Block State From Paying ACLU Attorney Fees Awarded In Kim Davis Case

Via press release: Liberty Counsel filed a brief today in Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis’ appeal of attorney’s fees awarded to the ACLU for suing Davis in 2015 when she stopped issuing marriage licenses while seeking an accommodation for her religious beliefs. Davis previously won her fight for religious freedom when U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning issued an …

Read More »

Lousy Smarch Weather: 3700+ Flights Cancelled

The New York Daily News reports: The fourth New York City nor’easter of the month arrived Wednesday, bringing the familiar litany of woe: Massive airport delays, whipping winds and the threat of up to 15 inches of snow. The first flakes began falling during the morning rush hour, with the effects felt immediately at La Guardia, Kennedy and Newark Airports …

Read More »

Feds Name Austin Bomber: Mark Anthony Conditt

Heavy.com reports: The suspect in five bombings that left two people dead and five others injured in Austin, Texas, has died after a confrontation with police in Round Rock, authorities said Wednesday morning. He has been identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, NBC News reports, citing two federal law enforcement sources. Conditt, a 24-year-old white male, was identified as the serial …

Read More »

OOPS: Breitbart Readership Plummets By 50%

Politico reports: Breitbart, the alt-right news site whose executive chairman Steve Bannon was pushed out in January after feuding with President Donald Trump, has lost about half its readership according to comScore, raising questions about its future. The site dropped from 15 million unique visitors in October, per comScore, to 13.7 million in November, 9.9 million in December, 8.5 million …

Read More »

RNC Spent $271,000 At Trump Properties Last Month

The Washington Post reports: The Republican National Committee spent roughly $271,000 at President Trump’s private businesses in February, according to documents filed Tuesday evening. The majority of the RNC’s spending at Trump’s private properties last month paid for venue rental and catering at the Trump National Doral Miami resort in Florida and the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Of about …

Read More »

Court Tosses Carter Page’s Suit Against Yahoo News

The Associated Press reports: A New York judge has tossed out a defamation lawsuit brought by a former adviser to President Donald Trump against a media company. Federal Judge Lorna Schofield said Tuesday that the lawsuit against Oath Inc. over a September 2016 Yahoo News article lacked sufficient factual allegations to proceed toward trial. Page filed the lawsuit in Manhattan …

Read More »

Coachella Founder Donates $1M To Elton John AIDS Foundation After Years Of Funding Anti-LGBT Groups

Variety reports: Phil Anschutz, chairman of the live music giant Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), has taken no small amount of criticism since it was revealed that his private family foundation had donated to organizations with anti-LGBT agendas. But today the Elton John AIDS Foundation announced that Anschutz has donated $1 million dollars to support its LGBT Fund. According to Freedom …

Read More »

Trump Again Slams Special “Council” Robert Mueller

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump returned to criticisms of the special counsel investigating Russian election meddling Wednesday, this time quoting Alan Dershowitz on Fox News mounting a vigorous attack on Robert Mueller, saying he never should have been appointed and that there was no evidence of a crime. The tweets come as even Republicans in Washington have become concerned that …

Read More »

ILLINOIS: Dem Billionaire Wins Gubernatorial Primary, GOP Incumbent Squeaks By Right Wing Challenger

The Chicago Tribune reports: Democratic billionaire J.B. Pritzker will take on wealthy Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in November, a race expected to easily shatter Illinois campaign spending records and make a run at the national mark. Both candidates enter a nearly eight-month general election campaign needing to unify their respective parties following bruising primary campaigns. More than half of Democratic …

Read More »