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Friday, February 07, 2020

Trump takes his revenge: Gordon Sondland is ousted as EU Ambassador just hours after Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman was FIRED

Gordon Sondland has become the second impeachment witness to be fired by President Trump, less than 48 hours after the Commander-in-chief was acquitted by the Senate on two charges.

Sondland, who was Ambassador to the European Union, released a statement Friday evening, which read: 'I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately'.

The statement continued: 'I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve, to Secretary Pompeo for his consistent support, and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the U.S. Mission to the European Union.

'I am proud of our accomplishments. Our work here has been the highlight of my career.'

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Patients at Wuhan's coronavirus hospital are given TURTLES for dinner after contracting the deadly disease spread to humans from wild animals

Patients at one of Wuhan's coronavirus hospitals have been given turtle meat for dinner while being quarantined, it has emerged.

'Today's meal includes softshell turtle meat,' one person in isolation claimed in a video released by Chinese media.

The contagious disease, which has killed 638 people, was passed onto humans from wild animals - especially bats and snakes - through other animals, experts believe.

Chinese scientists today suggested that pangolins might be the link which allowed the virus to spread from bats to mankind.

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Pancakes For Our Playground TOMORROW


Coronavirus - China's Lies affect us all

Elizabeth Warren apologizes after 6 women of color quit her Nevada campaign

Sen. Elizabeth Warren apologized Thursday night after six staffers of color working in the early-voting state of Nevada left her campaign amid complaints of feeling tokenized and having to deal with a toxic work environment.

The staffers, all women, have all left Warren’s 70-person Nevada team since November, with three of them saying they felt marginalized and that their grievances were not addressed despite taking them to their superiors or to human resources staff, Politico reported Thursday.

“During the time I was employed with Nevada for Warren, there was definitely something wrong with the culture,” Megan Lewis, a field organizer who joined the campaign in May and departed in December, told Politico. “I filed a complaint with HR, but the follow-up I received left me feeling as though I needed to make myself smaller or change who I was to fit into the office culture.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/women-of-color-quit-elizabeth-warrens-campaign-in-nevada-report

Acquitted Forever

Glenn Beck unveils money laundering scheme linked to Hunter Biden and Burisma

In a Thursday night special, BlazeTV host Glenn Beck laid out the evidence implicating a possible international money laundering scheme linked to Ukrainian gas firm Burisma and former Burisma board member Hunter Biden.

The links provided by Beck show that $1.8 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars sent to Ukraine during the Obama administration is unaccounted for — and raises the question: Why hasn't Congress launched an investigation into how those funds were spent?


What are the details?

During the special, Beck explained that in 2014, $23 million was sent to a bank in London via wire transfer by Mykola Zlochevsky, the head of Burisma. British authorities immediately froze the accounts and began tracing the funds back to their origins.

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FBI, DOJ Say China Is America's Greatest Threat

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday said that Chinese technology theft is rampant, and that "no country poses a greater threat than Communist China" right now, according to Reuters.

"As I stand here talking with you today, the FBI has about 1,000 investigations involving China’s attempted theft of U.S.-based technology in all 56 of our field offices and spanning just about every industry sector," Wray told conference attendees at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Wray noted China's aggressive push to exploit US academic openness to use "campus proxies" for the theft of technology, as well as establishing "institutes on our campuses."

Attorney General William Barr also spoke at the conference, saying that China is now America's "top geopolitical adversary," pointing to Beijing's emerging dominance in next-generation 5g telecommunications technology.

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Creepy Hands Biden Makes Mad Dash For Young Girls at New Hampshire Event

Biden is stumping in New Hampshire after taking a punch to the gut in Iowa.

Joe Biden looked defeated this week after he came in last place in the Iowa caucuses.

New Hampshire isn’t looking good for him either.

But the former VP looked really excited at the site of a bevy of young girls and made a mad dash to sit in the middle of the group!

More/Video

FISA court dodges GOP questions about 'clearly biased' Obama official who worked on reforms

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court dodged questions posed by Republican congressmen concerned about its selection of Obama official and longtime FBI defender David Kris to advise it on FISA reforms.

Judge James Boasberg, the FISA court’s presiding judge, did not mention Kris’s name in the two-page letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, but said the input the court would receive from the hand-picked adviser, known as an amicus curiae, is “purely advisory, and it is the court, not the amicus, that oversees each matter and determines its outcome.”

Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina sent the FISA court a letter in mid-January, asking specific questions about which candidates aside from Kris the spy court had considered. In their letter, the lawmakers asked whether the court had considered biased writings and statements Kris made about the matter he was asked to about Trump campaign associate Carter Page, his criticisms of former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, and his defenses of the FBI’s Trump-Russia actions.

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Trump endorses bill allowing victims of illegal immigrant crimes to sue sanctuary cities

President Trump centered the immigration portion of his State of the Union speech on "sanctuary cities," calling for Congress to pass a Senate bill that would allow victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants to sue the local or state government if it is a sanctuary.

"The United States of America should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans — not criminal aliens," Trump said in his speech at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday evening. He called for the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, to be passed "immediately."

The president highlighted the story of Jody Jones, whose brother Rocky Jones was killed in December 2018 by a man who had been deported twice but illegally reentered the country.

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Treasury Dept Hands Over Highly Sensitive Financial Records About Hunter Biden to Expanding GOP Senate Probe

The Treasury Department has complied with GOP Senators and handed over highly sensitive financial records on Hunter Biden and his associates.

GOP Senators Grassley (IA) and Johnson (WI) this week requested the official travel documents of Hunter Biden from the US Secret Service.

The Senators are expanding their investigation and just received “evidence of questionable origin” from the Treasury Department.

The Senate committee is also seeking documents on Hunter Biden from the State Department, Justice Department and the National Archives.

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Ex-Romney spokesman: Impeachment vote 'motivated by bitterness and jealousy'

The former press secretary for Sen. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign claimed envy motivated the Utah Republican to vote to convict President Trump on abuse of power.

“I believe Mitt Romney is motivated by bitterness and jealously that [Trump] accomplished what he has failed to do multiple times,” Rick Gorka, who is now a communications director for the Republican National Committee, tweeted Wednesday.
“He has betrayed his Party and millions of voters,” he added.

These are the same people that hated Mitt in 2012 and they will hate him again when they are done with him. It is sad to see that Mitt has not learned the lessons from 2012. Now he has betrayed his Party and millions of voters.— Rick Gorka (@Rick_Gorka) February 5, 2020
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Pa. Man Found Not Guilty Of Attempted Murder In Boardwalk Stabbing

SNOW HILL — Just how much force is the appropriate or valid amount appears to have been the deciding factor in an attempted murder trial this week as the jury found a Pennsylvania man guilty of reckless endangerment for stabbing juveniles on the Boardwalk during a fight last summer.

For three-plus days, a Worcester County jury heard testimony in the cases against Harold Nunez-Dominguez, 19, of Harrisburg, Pa., who was charged with two counts of attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment for his role in a major melee on the Boardwalk last June 9. After deliberating for three hours, the jury returned late Thursday afternoon with a guilty verdict on the reckless endangerment count.

Nunez-Dominguez was acquitted on the most serious counts, including attempted second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault. Each of the reckless endangerment convictions carries a maximum sentence of five years, although the sentencing guidelines for Nunez-Dominguez fall in the range of probation to two years incarceration. Following the jury verdict, a pre-sentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the facts in the case, a major fight broke out on the Boardwalk at Caroline Street around 12:30 a.m. on June 9 involving a friend of Nunez-Dominguez and a larger group of individuals including the eventual two victims. Defense attorney Richard Brueckner argued during trial this week the larger group was beating the defendant’s friend to the point Nunez-Dominguez feared for his friend’s life.

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February 7, 2020 Corona Virus


Appeals court rules Democrats can't sue Trump over emoluments claims

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., threw out a lawsuit accusing President Trump of illegally profiting off his private businesses while in office, ruling that the Democratic lawmakers who brought the suit lack legal standing.

A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday did not rule on whether the president was violating the Constitution by profiting off foreign governments' spending at his hotels. The judges unanimously said in a brief 12-page decision that the dispute centering around the Constitution's emoluments clauses has no place in the court system.

"The Members can, and likely will, continue to use their weighty voices to make their case to the American people, their colleagues in the Congress and the President himself, all of whom are free to engage that argument as they see fit," the judges wrote. "But we will not—indeed we cannot—participate in this debate."

Two of the three judges were appointed by Republican presidents and the other by a Democrat.

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Mild winter weather means ticks might be more active than usual

If this mild winter weather has you spending more time outdoors, a Maryland professor wants you to keep in mind that you may be sharing nature’s beauty with ticks.

“With all this crazy warm weather we’re having this year … ticks are going to be active even in the middle of winter,” said “Bug Guy” Mike Raupp, a professor of entomology at the University of Maryland.

He said without a host, such as a deer to latch on to, ticks go dormant when temperatures stay in the 20s and 30s. But when temperatures reach about 45 degrees, dormant ticks become active again.

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‘Saved By The Bell’ Reboot To Feature Transgender Teen In Lead Role

The hotly-anticipated “Saved by the Bell” reboot is moving forward with Josie Totah as its star.

Totah will play Lexi, described in press notes as “a beautiful, sharp-tongued cheerleader and the most popular girl at Bayside High” who is both “admired and feared” by her classmates. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news early Monday.

Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley, who starred in the original incarnation of “Saved by the Bell” from 1989 to 1993, will reprise their roles as A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano respectively in the revival. The new series will explore what happens when California Gov. Zack Morris (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the original) closes many of the state’s low-income high schools and reassigns affected students to higher-performing schools, including Bayside High.

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CRA/LA Agrees to Pay $3.1 Million to Resolve Alleged Misuse of Federal Funds for Inaccessible Housing


CRA/LA agreed to pay $3.1 million to resolve allegations that its predecessor violated the False Claims Act by knowingly failing to comply with federal accessibility laws when it financed and assisted in the development of affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles supported by federal funds, the Department of Justice announced.

CRA/LA is the successor of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, a local redevelopment agency that financed and assisted in the development of multifamily affordable housing using local tax monies and federal community development grants. In June 2011, the State of California dissolved all redevelopment agencies. CRA/LA is winding down the affairs of its predecessor.

“Today’s settlement demonstrates our continuing vigilance to ensure that developers receiving federal grant money for affordable housing satisfy their legal obligations to make such housing accessible to people with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Grant recipients who knowingly discriminate against people with disabilities using taxpayer money will face serious consequences.”

“Despite millions of dollars of federal taxpayer money sent to Los Angeles to create affordable housing over many years, the CRA opted to lie about its failure to ensure that these projects were accessible to everyone,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna for the Central District of California. “This settlement resolves only a small portion of this case, and we are prepared to litigate additional allegations that the City of Los Angeles covered up its failure to comply with federal laws enacted to protect the civil rights of all citizens.”

Stephanie Grisham: 'Democrats should be held accountable' for 'corrupt' impeachment

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham suggested that President Trump may take action against lawmakers and others who attempted to remove him from office.

Grisham appeared on Fox News on Thursday to discuss the president and his administration’s plans after the Senate acquitted him on two impeachment articles that the House passed last year.

"People should be held accountable. The Democrats should be held accountable for not only what they did to the president and to his family and the administration but the country," she said.

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State Police Investigation Leads To Theft Charges In Princess Anne


(PRINCESS ANNE, MD) – A Maryland State Police investigation leads to a suspect charged with theft from the town of Princess Anne.

The accused is identified as Deborah Hrusko, 56, of Salisbury, Maryland. Hrusko was issued a criminal summons on February 5, 2020 formally charging her with theft and theft scheme of $25,000 to under $100,000 from the town of Princess Anne from January 1, 2019 through January 10, 2020.

The Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division Lower Shore began the investigation into the theft allegations on January 17, 2020, at the request of Chief Timothy Bozman of the Princess Anne Police Department. The ensuing investigation led to the discovery of evidence supporting the allegations of theft of up to $66,287 from the town of Princess Anne.

Investigators are consulting with the Somerset County State’s Attorney as the investigation continues. For further information calls are being directed to the Town of Princess Anne at 410-651-1818.

The investigation is active and ongoing.

Punkin Chunkin Seeks Shore Return

BERLIN — After a one-year hiatus in Illinois, the popular World Championship Punkin Chunkin event is seeking a new venue and a return to Delmarva.

For decades, the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association hosted the iconic fall event in rural areas of neighboring Delaware, but had been without a home since 2016 when a television producer was injured and later sued. That case was ultimately dismissed and the association was cleared, but finding a new home remained a challenge.

Last year, the WCPCA pitched the idea of hosting Punkin Chunkin at the Inlet in Ocean City in October, and despite logistic and safety concerns associated with launching pumpkins thousands of feet into the ocean from downtown Ocean City, resort officials at least entertained the idea. Instead, the association moved the event to a rural area in Illinois last year.

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Killing of man set to testify against MS-13 gang members sparks controversy

The killing of a man who was set to testify against MS-13 gang members in open court has ignited debate about New York state's new criminal justice reforms.

Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez was found dead Sunday outside his home on Long Island, police said. Rodriguez had intervened as gang members were threatening two boys when he was stabbed and beaten in October of 2018.

New York's controversial new discovery law, enacted on Jan. 1 with a slew of other criminal justice reforms, dictates when prosecutors can release information about individuals involved in crimes, including identities. Weeks before Rodriguez's death, a judge ordered prosecutors to disclose his identity to the lawyers representing the gang members accused of attacking him.

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The Democratic Party is telling millions of pro-lifers to get out

Until recently, I spent much of my time working hard to elect Democrats to public office — but the early presidential campaigning pushed me away from the party, as well prompting my resignation from the board of Democrats for Life, where I had served since 2014.

For someone who is progressive on most issues, this decision doesn’t come easy. Like most Democrats, I believe government has an energetic role to play to support women, families and children. I support paid family leave, help with unaffordable child care, labor-union rights, the Affordable Care Act, child and adoption tax credits and much else of the kind.

I’m worried about climate change. I’m an outspoken vegetarian. I believe in welcoming refugees and immigrants. I oppose needless wars.

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ICE slams California sanctuary city laws after data shows thousands of criminal illegal immigrants released in one county

Immigration and Customs Enforcement praised the sheriff of Orange County, California, for speaking up about the problems caused by the state’s sanctuary city laws.

Sheriff Don Barnes released a report this week that indicates the number of inmates in his county with ICE detainers has increased thanks to sanctuary city laws, specifically SB 54, which severely restricts communications and coordination with ICE in the release of criminal illegal immigrants.

The data shows that more than 2,000 illegal immigrants were released from custody in Orange County alone in recent years, and more than 400 of them re-offended in that county.

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Brian Griffiths: In Maryland, death is treated differently based on how you die

Here in Maryland, the issue gets treated differently depending on the political circumstances surrounding it.

Last week, hundreds of activists descended on Annapolis to support draconian new restrictions on private gun ownership. Ostensibly they support this legislation to save lives, even if the evidence is questionable.

In 2013, Maryland banned capital punishment. Ostensibly, this was not just to ensure that the state did not executive an innocent person, but also because it was immoral for the state to take a life.

Just last week, Anne Arundel County declared suicide a public health crisis. The resolution sponsored by County Councilman Nathan Volke identified suicide as a crisis and directed the county Health Department to take “immediate steps to identify residents living with mental illness and offer treatment and services to help those affected by mental illness and at risk of death by suicide.”

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Wicomico Conservation Easement Approved

SALISBURY – Officials in Wicomico County approved the acquisition of a conservation easement on Porter Mill Road this week.

On Tuesday, the Wicomico County Council voted to approve a Rural Legacy Area easement acquisition on Porter Mill Road.

Frank McKenzie, chief of technical services and environmental planning for Wicomico County, said the landowners will receive $405,000 in exchange for a conservation easement that limits development potential on the property.

“What we are requesting tonight is your approval for us to proceed with this acquisition to purchase the easement of 270 acres,” he said.

As part of the easement agreement, the property owners will be allowed to retain an existing dwelling unit and establish one new single-family dwelling and one accessory dwelling unit on existing parcels. However, they would forfeit rights to any further subdivision activity on the site.

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Joe Biden's brother Frank owes dead man's family $1 MILLION for 80mph car crash

Joe Biden's brother is a scofflaw who is defying paying almost $1 million in compensation to the family of a young single father killed in a horrific car crash more than 20 years ago, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Frank Biden has failed to pay a dime to the family of Michael Albano despite having defaulted on a lawsuit filed against him for the death, our investigation uncovered.

And even though Albano's orphaned daughters pleaded more than a decade ago with Joe – then a senator - for help recovering the money from his brother it was to no avail, telling them he had 'deep sympathy' but his brother was penniless.

Since then Frank Biden has reportedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from a series of positions that appear to trade heavily on his family name - but Joe appears to have done nothing to persuade him to pay his debts.

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County Worried Over Immigration Detention Bill

SNOW HILL – Worcester County could lose more than $5 million a year if a bill prohibiting Maryland counties from participating in immigration detention is passed.

House Bill 677, introduced Jan. 30, would prohibit counties from contracting with the federal government or any other entity to take in immigration detainees. Worcester County currently brings in more than $5 million a year by housing detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“It’s something we’re looking at very seriously,” said Commissioner Joe Mitrecic. “There’s a lot of ramifications to this.”

The commissioners agreed this week to send the Eastern Shore Delegation a letter expressing their opposition to the bill, which was introduced Jan. 30 by Montgomery County Del. Vaughn Stewart. The bill states that the enforcement of civil immigration laws is the exclusive responsibility of the federal government.

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Thank God It's Friday


What will you be doing this weekend?

Tucker Carlson: Criminals would be protected from deportation under bill AOC and other House Democrats back

At this moment there is a bill pending in Congress called the New Way Forward Act. It’s received almost no publicity, which is unfortunate as well as revealing.

The legislation is sponsored by 44 House Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. At roughly 4,400 words, it’s almost exactly as long as the U.S. Constitution.

Like the Constitution, this legislation is designed to create a whole new country. The bill would entirely remake our immigration system, with the explicit purpose of ensuring that criminals are able to move here, and settle here permanently, with impunity.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-criminals-would-be-protected-from-deportation-under-bill-aoc-and-other-house-democrats-back

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