Debate Commission Co-Chair Says Moderator and Former Biden Intern Steve Scully’s Twitter Account Was “Hacked” After Anti-Trump Tweet

Steve Scully, the moderator of the second scheduled presidential debate that was set for October 15 in Miami.

That was until the debate commission changed it from an in person to virtual town hall Thursday morning which prompted President Trump to cancel in protest of the unannounced change.

On Thursday night Steve Scully tweeted publicly a question to Trump-hater Anthony Scaramucci, asking, “Should I respond to Trump?”

Screenshot of the tweet because he deleted:

It looks like the CPD is going with the old Joy Reid ‘hackers’ defense.

“Apparently something now that’s being on television and on the radio saying that… he’s been talking to #Scaramucci. He was hacked. It didn’t happen,” CPD co-chair Frank Fahrenkopf said on Brian Kilmeade’s radio show.

Update: C-Span released a statement regarding the s-called “hack” of Steve Scully’s Twitter account.

“The Commission on Presidential Debates has stated publicly that the tweet was not sent by Scully himself and is investigating with the help of authorities.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/10/bs-debate-commission-co-chair-says-moderator-former-biden-intern-steve-scullys-twitter-account-hacked/

Bill Barr Gives China Joe a Kiss: AG Tells GOP Leaders DOJ Investigation into Obamagate Scandal Won’t Be Released Until AFTER Election

Maria Bartiromo opened up her Sunday Morning Futures program in late September with the breaking news that US Attorney John Durham will NOT release his report before the 2020 election.

According to Bartiromo, a debate had begun within the Department of Justice as US Attorney John Durham’s criminal investigation is concluding. Sources said it was now too close to the election for the release and it could be viewed as politically motivated.

Upon hearing the news Senator Ron Johnson erupted saying NOT releasing the report on Obama spying on the Trump campaign and the attempted coup of President Trump is a politically motivated decision.

Senator Johnson is right!

Now it’s official.

Via Alayna Treene at Axios:

Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department’s sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election, a senior White House official and a congressional aide briefed on the conversations tell Axios.

Why it matters: Republicans had long hoped the report, led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, would be a bombshell containing revelations about what they allege were serious abuses by the Obama administration and intelligence community probing for connections between President Trump and Russia.

“This is the nightmare scenario. Essentially, the year and a half of arguably the number one issue for the Republican base is virtually meaningless if this doesn’t happen before the election,” a GOP congressional aide told Axios.

Barr has made clear that they should not expect any further indictments or a comprehensive report before Nov. 3, our sources say.

The Justice Department declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

What we’re hearing: Barr is communicating that Durham is taking his investigation extremely seriously and is focused on winning prosecutions.

According to one of the sources briefed on the conversations Barr said Durham is working in a deliberate and calculated fashion, and they need to be patient.

The general sense of the talks, the source says, is that Durham is not preoccupied with completing his probe by a certain deadline for political purposes.

Behind the scenes: Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Barr and the Justice Department for not moving more quickly on the investigation.

Read the rest here.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/10/bill-barr-gives-china-joe-kiss-ag-tells-gop-leaders-doj-investigation-obamagate-scandal-wont-released-election/

Barr is comped

Nancy Pelosi Calls For 17-Member 'Standing Committee' On Presidential Fitness

Update (1015ET): Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Raskin unveiled new legislation that would create a standing commission of lawmakers which would help Congress and the Vice President handle the invocation of the 25th amendment when the president isn't able to serve.

The proposed panel, called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, would be "the body and process called for in the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution," Pelosi and Raskin's offices said in a joint statement.

Insisting that this is "not about Trump" (the voters will judge him imminently, Pelosi said), she nevertheless claimed that Trump's infection set off a "crisis" which has underlined just how critical this type of a commission is. She added that it would be

"This is not about Trump…but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents."

The inspiration for the bill comes from Section 4 of the 25th Aamendment, which empowers Congress to set up an independent body to determine whether the president is fit to serve and help guide the VP to invoke the 25th amendment powers without the president's consent.

Pelosi tried to make it sound like she and Raskin were merely trying to tie up an important loose end before the start of the next Congress.

"A president's fitness for office must be determined by science and facts" Pelosi said. "This legislation applies to future presidents. With this bill, Congress upholds it's resposibility to protect the Constitution and the people."

Rep. Raskin, a constitutional scholar said that the standing 25th amendment panel in Congress has never been set up before because it's a cumbersome process, but "in times of chaos, we must hold fast to the constitution." The 25th amendment was passed by overwhelming majorities, and added that "the 25th amendment is designed to guarantee the peaceful transfer of power in our government," Raskin argued.

"The 25th Amendment is all about the stability of the presidency and the continuity of the office," Raskin said, adding that the 25th Amendment was inspired by the assassination of JFK.

The law would establish a "16 member committee that could act in an emergency" with a 17th chosen by the group to act as its head.

Ultimtaely, the Commission would act alongside the Vice President, who is "the key actor" according to Raskin. They both tried to emphasize that the committee - which, again, wouldn't be set up until the next presidential term - would serve at the behest of the VP.

Asked about critics who are accusing her of going around the voters to try and depose Trump, Pelosi said that timing right now is imperative, and that it has "nothing to do with politics."

This panel, called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, would be "the body and process called for in the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," Pelosi and Raskin's offices said in a statement on Thursday.

Raskin previously introduced a similar bill in 2017 to impanel a group of physicians and retired public officials to determine whether a president was mentally and physically fit to serve.

While refusing to directly comment on Trump's "fitness to serve", Pelosi repeatedly noted that he's "under the influence of medication" and that Trump appeared to be acting erratically.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-live-nancy-pelosi-outlines-plan-25th-amendment-coup

Pakistan bans TikTok over ‘immoral & indecent’ content

The media watchdog in Pakistan has blocked TikTok, citing the video-sharing app’s failure to moderate “immoral and indecent” content. The ban came into effect immediately, with users reporting trouble accessing the service.

The decision was announced by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Friday.

The watchdog said it had repeatedly urged the platform to moderate inappropriate content, yet TikTok failed to “fully comply”. The tech company has been repeatedly reported to the PTA by “different segments of society” for “immoral/indecent” videos shared through the application.

“Keeping in view the complaints and nature of the content being consistently posted on TikTok, PTA issued a final notice to the application and gave considerable time to respond and comply with the Authority instructions for development of effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content,” the agency said in a statement.

https://www.rt.com/news/503065-pakistan-immoral-tiktok-ban/

Anonymous Officials Unleash On Trump For Wanting Afghan Pullout By Christmas

On Wednesday of this week President Trump tweeted a promise to bring American troops home from Afghanistan, the country's longest running war now at 19-years, by Christmas.

The statement which no doubt is also related to the November election lead-up and possible looming foreign policy debate (which may or may not actually happen) took many defense officials by surprise.

But further, it now appears there's a coordinated effort to stymie such withdrawal plans before they ever get off the ground, with anonymous officials immediately telling the major networks that they disapprove.

We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020

Here are the usual "anonymous officials" slamming Trump's statements to Fox News on Thursday:

U.S. officials told Fox News that the sudden pronouncement, which appeared timed to help Trump in the presidential election, will make it harder for his negotiators and the Afghan government, who are currently in tough talks with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

And more:

Several officials close to the negotiations said the declaration may have even jeopardized the delicate talks. Counterterrorism officials said this may lead to a victory for the Taliban, and the collapse of the Afghan government and a “major shot of adrenalin” to the global jihadist movement.

So Trump's declared intent to bring the troops home by Christmas was met with howls and shrieks inside the beltway, to the point they are now warning it would hand over "a victory for the Taliban" but even more absurdly would boost "the global jihadist movement".

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/anonymous-officials-unleash-trump-media-wanting-afghan-pullout-christmas

Twitter Adds New Restrictions To Crack Down On Spam, 'Misinformation' Ahead Of Election Day

Following in the footsteps of Facebook, which last month announced plans to launch its long-promised "oversight board" before Nov. 3, Twitter has announced that it's planning a raft of measures, including making it more difficult for tweets to go viral ahead of the vote, to ensure that social media doesn't contribute to any election day violence.

According to a blog post published around noon on Friday, one of the 'speed bumps' being implemented by twitter will prompt users to add a "comment" when they go to share - or retweet - a tweet. The move is designed to slow the rapid-fire retweeting of others" - a behavior that President Trump, one of the world's most famous Twitter users, has occasionally exhibited.

Twitter's recommendations and trends features will see "new curbs" added to try and prevent abuse.

"Twitter has a critical role to play in protecting the integrity of the election conversation, and we encourage candidates, campaigns, news outlets and voters to use Twitter respectfully and to recognize our collective responsibility to the electorate to guarantee a safe, fair and legitimate democratic process this November," company officials said in a blog post - written by Vijaya Gadde, the Legal, Policy and Trust & Safety Lead at Twitter, and Kayvon Beykpour, its product lead - published at noon Friday.

Politicians, including President Trump, will be subjected to new restrictions if they start to share "falsehoods" according to Twitter. If they continue sharing "false" information - aka information that challenges the Democratic narrative - the accounts will be hit with "additional warnings and restrictions".

Twitter will also intervene to block any premature claims of victory. Any tweet deemed to "interfere" in the electoral process, according ot a panel of moderators, could be removed. Starting Friday, new limits on content from people users don't follow will be imposed in an effort to help SJWs avoid that sting of discomfort that comes when their views are challenged in any way.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/twitter-adds-new-restrictions-crack-down-spam-misinformation-ahead-election-day

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

>>10998893

that has been my view for over a month now