FDA sues soap company that claims to protect against Ebola

The Department of Justice has filed a civil complaint against a hand soap and sanitizer company for claiming that its products will protect customers from diseases.

The move, filed on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, seeks to block California-based Innovative BioDefense Inc. from selling its Zylast products, which include not just hand sanitizers but lotions and handwashes as well. The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, also cites Colette Cozean, the company’s president and CEO.

FDA is going after the company on the grounds that it has falsely claimed that its products can protect from deadly illnesses including the flu, Ebola, and norovirus.

BioDefense says Zylast starts killing germs 15 minutes after use and that the protection lasts for six hours. The product also appeared in a 2018 list of hand-sanitizing measures by Becker's Hospital Review, a leading trade publication for the industry.

Federal law prohibits companies from selling products that falsely market medical benefits or that market benefits without showing regulators that their products work. Several steps are involved in allowing regulators to put a stop to the practice. The FDA and the Federal Trade Commission first sent a warning letter to the company in June 2015, under the Obama administration, but BioDefense continued to sell its products.

"Despite being warned by the FDA about their unproven claims, this company has continued to market their products as a tool for preventing infection from serious disease-related pathogens, without adequate evidence to support these uses," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. "We’re concerned that people potentially exposed to pathogens may use these products with a false sense of safety."

People may wash their hands less or protect less against infection as a result of using the products, he said.

If the court grants a permanent injunction, the company would need to go through FDA approval to sell its products again. BioDefense would have to receive certification that the products protect against the illnesses that it claims in its marketing materials.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/fda-sues-soap-company-that-claims-to-protect-against-ebola

House to vote on slew of opioid bills

Dozens of bills to combat the opioid crisis will receive votes on the House floor during the next couple of weeks, Republican leaders have announced.

“It will take us two weeks to finish this process, but at the end of the day, we'll continue to make America safer and more secure and more prosperous,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said when announcing the schedule.

McCarthy did not release a final list of bills that will be taken up for a vote, but at least 57 were passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Lawmakers have been working on the bills for months in the face of mounting deaths from opioids, which include illegal drugs such as heroin and prescription painkillers. Latest-available data, from 2016, show that more than 42,000 people died of such overdoses.

Given the multifaceted reality of the crisis, lawmakers have been considering a variety of approaches, and have said repeatedly that they expect to turn back to the issue even if legislation is agreed upon by both chambers and signed by President Trump.

One of the provisions would repeal a law that does not allow hospitals to have more than 16 substance abuse and mental health beds in order to be reimbursed by Medicaid. The rule, which was created in 1965, intended to promote the expansion of smaller community-based centers. The centers didn't materialize, and patients instead are placed on long waiting lists.

Other bills that may be considered would expand treatment for people who entered prisons with addictions to opioids, give the Food and Drug Administration more authority to intercept illegal drugs that are trafficked through the mail, and allow the agency to bring more nonaddictive treatments for pain to market.

A Senate opioid bill was passed out of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but a floor vote has not yet been announced.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/house-to-vote-on-slew-of-opioid-bills

Apple CEO Tim Cook: Government regulation of tech companies a 'fair' question due to privacy risks

Though Apple CEO Tim Cook is not a fan of the idea of government regulation of tech companies, he admits discussion about it is "fair" because data privacy is a burgeoning issue.

“Generally, for me, I'm not a big fan of regulation, I think self-regulation is the best," Cook said in a CNN interview Monday night. "But when it's not working, and in some cases it's not working, you have to ask yourself what form of regulation might be good. And I think it's a fair question many people are asking at this point."

Cook added that Apple’s stance is that “privacy is a fundamental human right.”

"The privacy thing has gotten totally out of control," Cook said. "I think most people are not aware of who is tracking them, how much they're being tracked, and sort of the large amounts of detailed data that are out there about them."

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this year while testifying before Congress that he was open to governmental regulation on Facebook and other social media and tech companies, as long as it was the right regulation.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/technology/apple-ceo-tim-cook-government-regulation-fair-question-privacy-risks

Judge says feds can't cut grants to Philadelphia over 'sanctuary city' policy

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot withhold grants to the city of Philadelphia for its policies on undocumented immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson wrote in a 93-page memo that the administration's treatment of the situation is unconstitutional, "arbitrary and capricious," and said that Philadelphia's policies are appropriate and reasonable.

The ruling prompted Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, who this week called President Trump a "fragile egomaniac" after the Philadelphia Eagles got disinvited from a White House celebration, to break into a song and dance, according to the local NBC-affiliate.

In its response, the Department of Justice said it found the ruling to be a "victory for criminal aliens in Philadelphia, who can continue to commit crimes in the city knowing that its leadership will protect them from federal immigration officers."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in July that any city or state receiving public safety grants must give U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a 48-hour notice of any scheduled release of so-called prisoners of interest so that immigration officials have the opportunity to interview them while in custody. Philadelphia responded that it can not turn over immigrants to ICE without a warrant signed by a judge since it is a "sanctuary city."

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/judge-says-feds-cant-cut-grants-to-philadelphia-over-sanctuary-city-policy

Judge in the Brock Turner case recalled by California voters

California voters haven't forgotten about Brock Turner.

Two years after Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sparked widespread outrage for sentencing the Stanford University swimmer to only six months in jail, he was tossed from office in a recall election.

Persky's recall, decided by voters on Tuesday, marks the first time a judge in the Golden State has met that fate since 1932. His sentencing of Turner, who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a Palo Alto fraternity house, sparked an uproar back in the summer of 2016, fueled by the victim's viral reaction to it. Turner was convicted that spring of sexual penetration with a foreign object of an intoxicated person, sexual penetration with a foreign object of an unconscious person, and intent to commit rape, and prosecutors had sought a six-year sentence (the maximum was 14 years). Per his own request, Persky subsequently stopped hearing criminal cases to mitigate distractions amid the intense public backlash.

But even among legal experts who understood concerns that Turner's sentence was too light, there was apprehension about the recall efforts. Writing in Vox on Wednesday, Oakland public defender Rachel Marshall argued, "Long before this week’s vote, the recall campaign’s impact had been felt in courtrooms across the country, where judges became increasingly cautious about exercising discretion, worried that they might be punished for leniency."

"When judges are looking over their shoulders, worried about losing their jobs if they enrage the public, the fairness of our system is compromised. Judicial independence is especially important because the public is often wrong, particularly on a local level," Marshall contended.

In a 2016 statement, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, "While I strongly disagree with the sentence that Judge Persky issued in the Brock Turner case, I do not believe he should be removed from his judgeship. I am so pleased that the victim's powerful and true statements about the devastation of campus sexual assault are being heard across our nation. She has given voice to thousands of sexual assault survivors."

As the Los Angeles Times reported this week, "The legal community has largely opposed the recall, calling it a threat to judicial independence."

"More than 90 California law professors, including 20 from Stanford’s law school, have signed a statement opposing it," according to the Times. "They say it will encourage judges to give tougher sentences and perpetuate mass incarceration."

Persky was cleared of misconduct by an independent state agency in 2016.

Dueling letters from Turner's victim and his father created a powerful juxtaposition at the time of his sentencing, fanning the flames of outrage. While Turner's father framed his son as a victim, the actual victim wrote that Turner "pushed me and my family through a year of inexplicable, unnecessary suffering, and should face the consequences of challenging his crime, of putting my pain into question, of making us wait so long for justice."

Sixty percent of voters on Tuesday cast ballots to recall Persky, with 40 percent voting in his favor.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/aaron-persky-judge-brock-turner-recalled-california-voters

ACLU sues Trump administration over census citizenship question

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration Wednesday to challenge its decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Filed on behalf of five immigrants’ rights groups in federal court in Manhattan, the ACLU suit argued the Department of Commerce committed statutory and constitutional violations by including the question. The ACLU is asking the court to keep the question off the census form.

“[T]he addition of the citizenship question is a naked act of intentional discrimination directed at immigrant communities of color that is intended to punish their presence, avoid their recognition, stunt their growing political power, and deprive them and the communities in which they live of economic benefits,” the complaint stated.

The lawsuit argued that the addition of a citizenship question will “sow enormous fear in immigrant communities of color” that will discourage participation and lead to an undercount. An undercount, the group argued, will lead to a reduction in federal funds allocated to states and local communities with large immigrant populations.

It said that because states use census data to draw congressional, state, and local districts, an undercount would cause immigrant communities to be underrepresented in their districts.

The ACLU also accused the Trump administration of harboring an “undisputed and undisguised animus toward” immigrants, and cited recent immigration enforcement actions, its decision to end temporary protected status programs for people from five different countries, and its push to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as evidence of that hostility.

“President Trump is adding the citizenship question into his toxic stew of racist rants and draconian policies in order to stoke fear, undercount, and strip political power from immigrant communities,” Sarah Bannon, managing attorney for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said in a statement.

The Department of Commerce announced in March the 2020 census would include a citizenship question, which the administration said was needed to ensure proper enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.

The decision from the Commerce Department came after the Justice Department called for the question to be added to the census in a letter to the agency in December.

In addition to the lawsuit from the ACLU, a coalition of more than a dozen states is also suing the Trump administration over the citizenship question.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/aclu-sues-trump-administration-over-census-citizenship-question

>>1655420

>>1655432

I have been saying for a while that most of what he does and says will be determined by the courts, mainly SC, because the lower courts seem to be comped.

State Department: ‘A number of people’ in China may have suffered mystery attack

U.S. officials are checking “a number of” State Department personnel in China who may have suffered from the same kind of mysterious attack that caused brain injuries to two dozen Americans in Cuba, the department’s top spokeswoman announced.

“The medical screenings are ongoing for any personnel who have noted concerning symptoms or wanted baseline screening,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a Wednesday evening statement. “As a result of the screening process so far, the Department has sent a number of individuals for further evaluation and a comprehensive assessment of their symptoms and findings in the United States.”

Nauert’s statement followed a report that the State Department “evacuated at least two more Americans from China on Wednesday,” according to the New York Times. That revelation follows Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement that an official in China had been stricken with ailments “consistent with what happened to American officers” in Cuba. One of the officials evacuated complained that the State Department didn’t alert the team on the ground immediately upon learning of the first incident.

“In an email sent to the entire staff of the consulate, he complained that the first employee was evacuated in April, but that no one was told of the health concerns until a month later — after doctors in the United States had found evidence of brain trauma,” the New York Times reported.

Nauert implicitly pushed back against that criticism, noting that Pompeo mobilized a medical team “as soon as” the department linked the incident in China to the attacks in Cuba.

“The State Department has been and will continue to be diligent and transparent in its response to our employees' concerns,” she said. “US medical professionals will continue to conduct full evaluations to determine the cause of the reported symptoms and whether the findings are consistent with those noted in previously affected government personnel or possibly completely unrelated.”

The cause of the incidents remains a mystery, but the emergence of symptoms in both China and Cuba raises fears of a far-reaching threat to American diplomats.

“The public evidence we have is consistent with two theories that are diametrically opposed: One is the Chinese are behind this, and the other is somebody is trying to frame the Chinese,” a Senate Republican aide told the Washington Examiner. “Are the Russians capable of screwing with our diplomats in Cuba and China in order to paint the Cubans or the Chinese? Of course they are. But are the Chinese capable of screwing with our diplomats in Cuba and [China] because they don't like us? Of course they are.”

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/state-department-a-number-of-people-in-china-may-have-suffered-mystery-attack

Europe asks US for exemptions to Iran sanctions

A group of European allies asked President Trump for exemptions to the U.S. sanctions aimed at isolating Iran's economy in a newly-released letter to the administration.

“As allies, we expect that the United States will refrain from taking action to harm Europe’s security interests,” officials from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France wrote June 4. “[A]s close allies we expect that the extraterritorial effects of U.S. secondary sanctions will not be enforced on EU entities and individuals, and the United States will thus respect our political decision and the good faith of economic operators within EU legal territory.”

The letter, addressed to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is the latest step in an international effort to keep the Iran deal in place despite the U.S. withdrawal. But the Europeans conceded that their companies won’t be able to do business with the Iranians if the U.S. takes an aggressive approach to punishing such deals.

“In their current state, U.S. secondary sanctions could prevent the European Union from continuing meaningful sanctions relief to Iran,” the officials wrote.

That’s the key to the Trump administration’s strategy.

“After our sanctions come in force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive,” Pompeo said during a recent speech at the Heritage Foundation. “We understand that our reimposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends . . . But we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.”

European allies credit the agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with defusing an Iranian nuclear crisis. “We are still convinced that the JCPOA is the best means through which we can prevent a nuclear-armed Iran,” the top European finance and diplomatic envoys wrote in the June 4 letter. “There appears to be no credible alternatives at this time. As such, an Iranian withdrawal from the JCPOA would further unsettle a region where additional conflicts would be disastrous.”

Pompeo believes, to the contrary, that the deal empowered the regime to finance military aggression against its neighbors and U.S. allies. “[T]he bet that the JCPOA would increase Middle East stability was a bad one for America, for Europe, for the Middle East, and indeed for the entire world,” he said in May. “It is clear that the JCPOA has not ended Iran’s nuclear ambitions, nor did it deter its quest for a regional hegemony. Iran’s leaders saw the deal as the starting gun for the march across the Middle East.”

With transatlantic allies at such an impasse, a refusal by the administration to grant the exemptions will contribute to European frustration that the U.S. is dictating their foreign policy.

“We have been clear with the U.S. in our intention to uphold the JCPOA, including through ensuring Iran continues to feel the benefit of sanctions relief,” a British government spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “This letter is part of our wider discussions with the U.S. on the need to make allowance for economic ties between Europe and Iran – including legitimate UK business — to ensure we can meet our obligations under the deal.”

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/europe-asks-us-for-exemptions-to-iran-sanctions

Trump should give the Europeans 90 days to reach a new Iran nuclear deal or face secondary sanctions

President Trump should inform European governments that they must reach an improved nuclear deal with Iran within 90 days or face sanctions on their corporations doing business in Iran.

Trump's timely action is relevant considering the letter sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin by their British, French, German, and European Union counterparts. Sent on Monday and first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, that letter requests the Trump administration suspend plans to introduce secondary sanctions on European businesses that are operating in Iran.

It is clear why the Europeans are concerned.

They believe that if European businesses operating in Iran are sanctioned, Iran will withdraw from the nuclear agreement and recommence high-percentage nuclear enrichment. At least in that assessment, I believe the Europeans are correct. Iran's more-moderate governing elements aligned under President Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Javad Zarif must show Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the economic dividends of continued participation in the nuclear deal if he is to authorize its continuation. Khamenei is presently taking a tough line toward Rouhani, suggesting that the hardliner revolutionary guards are persuading him that the deal's continuation is incompatible with the Islamic revolution.

A 90-day window to renegotiate the deal would balance U.S. national security interests alongside the possibility of a positively renegotiated deal. In specific terms, it would give the Europeans and Zarif time to agree new safeguards against Iranian ballistic missile and covert warhead research. But it would also offer an olive branch to close U.S. allies in Britain and France.

There is an important caveat here. Namely Mike Pompeo's recent speech on Iran, which suggested that the Trump administration may be seeking the Iranian government's overthrow rather than an improved nuclear agreement. If that is the case, the Europeans are whistling in the wind here. But if President Trump is serious about getting a better nuclear deal, a 90-day window offers a time-sensitive, albeit hard-edged, olive branch towards that objective.

Europe can take that olive branch and make something happen, or their Iran-operating companies can suffer U.S. sanctions.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trump-should-give-eu-90-days-reach-new-iran-nuclear-deal-face-secondary-sanctions

Yes, D-Day was good for Germany

Heather Nauert is right about D-Day's positive historical dimension in the U.S. relationship with Germany.

I note this in reference to Nauert's comment on Tuesday, when the State Department acting undersecretary of state for public affairs suggested that the D-Day landings were evidence of a strong U.S. relationship with Germany. Considering that the D-Day landings directly led to the collapse of the German government in power at the time, Nauert's comment raised some eyebrows.

But as I say, Nauert is right.

Because in coordination with the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 and the ensuing invasion of southern France in August 1944, D-Day led not only to Germany's liberation from Nazism, but also its salvation from total Soviet annihilation.

To understand why most German historians would now speak fondly of D-Day, recall the situation on June 5, 1944. On the eastern front, the German army was under relentless pressure. While its army groups were holding territory with remarkable effectiveness, hundreds of massed Soviet divisions meant the outcome was inevitable. Evidencing as much, two weeks after D-Day, the Soviets began Operation Bagration. With vast numerical advantages in forces and equipment, the Soviets had broken the back of Germany's Army Group-Center by August and began the final envelopment of Germany.

But if that envelopment would be the ultimate cause of Nazi Germany's collapse, the advancing Allied armies who had landed at D-Day would be the German people's salvation. After all, the disparity between Soviet treatment of German prisoners and civilians and the U.S. and British treatment of the Germans was wide indeed. Infuriated by their extraordinary war losses at German hands and only temperamentally restrained by their commanders, Soviet ground forces killed, looted, and raped their way through millions of Germans. My grandfather was a U.S. Army noncommissioned officer in Berlin after the war (as shown below: a photo of him playing baseball in Berlin in 1951!), and today at 93 years of age, he is still moved by the stories women in Berlin told him.

Were it not for Allied group commander Omar Bradley and his aggressive army commanders George Patton and Courtney Hodges, the Germans would have suffered much worse than they did. Evidencing as much, the widespread westward defection of German forces and civilians towards Allied lines in the latter stages of the war was not coincidental.

So, yes, D-Day led to the end of a despicable German government. But it also led to most Germans being saved from the Red onslaught. The defensive lines created by the partition of Germany would maintain a democratic peace in western Europe for the next forty-five years.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/yes-d-day-was-good-for-germany

>>1655667

>>1655671

I believe it's about time they did sweat it out, they have been glad handed long enough.

George Soros-Backed District Attorney Candidate Loses Big in San Diego

Billionaire handed rare defeat after dropping $1.5 million into PAC backing Geneviéve Jones-Wright

Liberal billionaire George Soros was dealt a rare defeat in San Diego, Calif., as his preferred candidate for district attorney in that city's race was soundly defeated.

Summer Stephan, the current district attorney of San Diego County, won by 28 points. Stephan garnered 237,227 votes (64 percent) to Geneviéve Jones-Wright's 134,753 votes (36 percent).

Soros poured $1.5 million into the California Justice & Public Safety PAC, which was established by Whitney Tymas, a longtime Soros consultant, to bolster Jones-Wright, the Washington Free Beacon previously reported.

Jones-Wright, who claimed during the election that she has never met Soros, appeared at last fall's investment conference of the Democracy Alliance, a liberal dark money donor network cofounded by Soros. The conference took place at La Costa Resort, located just 30 minutes outside of San Diego.

The Free Beacon was present at the resort and obtained documents that showed that Jones-Wright was on a panel cohosted by the billionaire discussing district attorney race efforts for 2018.

Soros's involvement was part of his quiet efforts to overhaul the criminal justice system across the United States by funding far-left candidates for district attorney. Jones-Wright also received the backing of other liberal PACs such as the Real Justice PAC, a committee cofounded by Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King and former staffers of Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign.

Unlike past district attorney candidates who were on the opposite end of Soros money, Summer Stephan's campaign strategist, Jason Roe, made it a central point to focus on the outside cash flowing into the county from the liberal financier.

As part of the effort, Stephan's campaign launched ThreatToSanDiego.com to draw attention to Soros's involvement. The DA regularly talked about Soros during local and national television interviews.

A large group of Los Angeles-based California deputy district attorneys also came out in opposition to Soros dumping money into the state, calling his efforts an "assault on the criminal justice system."

Soros, who spent hundreds of thousands on activities to support Jones-Wright, http://freebeacon.com/politics/george-soros-backed-district-attorney-candidate-loses-big-san-diego/

Soros has spent millions funding district attorney candidates in numerous states. Prior to the San Diego, Soros-backed candidates have lost only two out of 14 races.

http:// freebeacon.com/politics/george-soros-backed-district-attorney-candidate-loses-big-san-diego/

Sanders-Backed Candidate Comes Up Short in Iowa Primary

A former top aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I., Vt.) faltered in his bid for a U.S. House of Representatives seat on Tuesday, despite receiving extensive political backing from the self-described Democratic socialist.

Pete D’Alessandro, who was instrumental in helping Sanders wage a credible challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, finished third in the contest for the Democratic nomination in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, according to the Des Moines Register.

From 2015-2016, D’Alessandro served as Sanders' campaign coordinator in Iowa. His efforts on behalf of the senator resulted in a nail-biting race between Sanders and Clinton in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses, with the former secretary of state winning the state by the closest margin in the contest's history.

When announcing his run in April 2017, D’Alessandro initially looked as though he would be able to build off Sanders strong support in the Hawkeye state. The candidate ran a progressive style insurgency campaign, similar in mold to Sanders' 2016 effort, by emphasizing his support for the senator's hallmark policy agenda. D'Alessandro ran on his support for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, tuition-free college, and Medicare-for-all.

D’Alessandro, however, failed to repeat Sanders' initial success at the ballot box. On Tuesday, he garnered only 15.6 percent–8,595 votes–of the total 55,247 vote primary electorate. The candidate's vote total placed him firmly in third place behind the race's front-runner, Cindy Axne.

The poor showing was compounded by the considerable political capital Sanders expensed in support of D’Alessandro's bid. The senator journeyed to Iowa in February to host a rally on D’Alessandro's behalf and utilized his sweeping donor network to solicit money for the candidate. In May, when polling showed D’Alessandro falling behind his two primary competitors, Sanders stepped in to bolster the fledgling campaign by recording his only tv ad of the 2018 election cycle.

The Vermont senator wasn't alone in his efforts. Our Revolution, the political advocacy group that spun-off from Sander's 2016 campaign, endorsed D’Alessandro early in the primary process and attempted to underwrite his candidacy through building grassroots support.

Axne, a small business owner and prior Iowa Democratic official, is set to face incumbent Republican Rep. David Young in the general election this November. Young has represented the 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses Des Moines and its southwest suburbs, since 2014. Although the district is marginally Republican on paper, President Donald Trump carried it over Clinton by a close margin of 4 percentage points in 2016. Young, in comparison, was overwhelmingly re-elected the same year by 14 points.

http:// freebeacon.com/politics/sanders-candidate-iowa-primary/

>>1655817

I agree this is awesome! Need Moar! kek

Republican Fitzpatrick Holds Sizable Lead Among Potential Voters in PA 1

A new poll released this week shows Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick leading his Democratic opponent by 7 points among potential voters but also indicates a tight race if turnout is better for Democrats than in previous elections.

The Monmouth University poll shows 49 percent of voters saying they support Rep. Fitzpatrick while 42 percent say they support Democratic challenger Scott Wallace. Monmouth also found 53 percent of potential voters had a favorable view of the congressman while 22 percent had an unfavorable view and 25 percent had no opinion. Thirty-two percent said they had a favorable view of Wallace while 15 percent had an unfavorable view and 53 percent had no opinion.

Haley Bova, a spokesperson for the Fitzpatrick campaign, said the poll was evidence that the congressman's approach to bipartisanship resonated with voters in the southeastern Pennsylvania district.

"The poll goes on to state that ‘Fitzpatrick would be a shoe-in if he was running in a political vacuum,'" she said. "This is a direct result of the fact that the Lugar Center at Georgetown University identified Brian Fitzpatrick as the number-one most bipartisan freshman congressman in the nation, which is exactly what our community wants in our representative."

Bova said the poll showed that spending by Wallace in the Democratic primary did not produce good results.

"It is remarkable that, after Scott Wallace spends $2.5 million on his primary race, that his numbers are as poor as they are," she said. "Perhaps this is due to the fact that he spent those millions viciously attacking the character of the only female candidate in the race [Rachel Reddick], who also happens to be a military veteran."

She went on to criticize Wallace for his decision to relocate from his homes in Maryland and South Africa in order to run for Congress in Pennsylvania.

"Scott Wallace magically appeared in our community just this year from his multimillion-dollar estate in South Africa in a shameless attempt to buy an election with his hundreds of millions of dollars," Bova said. "To make matters worse, the first time he’s ever voted in our district was for himself just this year. Our community will see right through Scott Wallace’s fraudulent campaign and will see for themselves that this man is dishonest, disconnected and dangerous for our community."

The Wallace campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but in a fundraising email to supporters it highlighted the results of the Monmouth poll's likely voter screens.

"A new poll confirms that this race is a statistical dead heat—Scott is running neck and neck against Brian Fitzpatrick, one of Trump's key congressional enablers," the campaign told its supporters. "With the race so close, it's going to come down to which side gets voters to turn out on Election Day."

Monmouth found that depending on whether or not Democrats turn out at a higher level than usual in a midterm election, which remains an open question, the race may be closer to a tossup with either candidate enjoying just a one-point advantage.

"The race is much tighter using two different likely voter models," Monmouth University said in a statement about their polling. "A historical midterm model gives Fitzpatrick a negligible 48 percent to 47 percent lead, while a model that includes a turnout surge in areas where President Donald Trump is unpopular gives an insignificant edge to Wallace at 48 percent to 47 percent."

Wallace, who made a splash early in the campaign by calling for a new ban on certain guns and attacking the National Rifle Association, warned his supporters that the polling could mean more money spent on ads attacking him in an effort to "steal this election."

"Our race could make the difference in taking back the House this fall, which is why this poll is only going to motivate the GOP to spend more money in negative attacks against Scott," Wallace's fundraising email said. "We can't allow special interests like the NRA or billionaires like the Koch brothers to steal this election from working people."

http:// freebeacon.com/politics/republican-fitzpatrick-holds-sizable-lead-among-potential-voters-pa-1/

>>1655900

Wrong target, anon, kek

Trump on Midterm Elections: There ‘May Be a Big Red Wave’

President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised Republican candidates for their success in California's primary election Tuesday night and predicted there "may be a big red wave" come November.

Democrats have been long-predicting there will be a major "blue wave" in the midterm elections this fall, but Trump pushed back by saying Democrats are "easy to beat."

"Great night for Republicans! Congratulations to John Cox on a really big number in California. He can win. Even Fake News CNN said the Trump impact was really big, much bigger than they ever thought possible. So much for the big Blue Wave, it may be a big Red Wave. Working hard!" Trump tweeted.

Great night for Republicans! Congratulations to John Cox on a really big number in California. He can win. Even Fake News CNN said the Trump impact was really big, much bigger than they ever thought possible. So much for the big Blue Wave, it may be a big Red Wave. Working hard!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2018

GOP gubernatorial candidate John Cox came in second in the primary election, securing a spot to face off against the Democratic frontrunner, current Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. In California's "jungle primary" system, the top two candidates in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

Trump later added his congratulations for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R.), the incumbent in California's 48th Congressional District race who won the primary on Tuesday. Rohrabacher will face a to-be-determined Democrat in the November general election.

Congratulations to Dana Rohrabacher on his big California win. We are proud of you Dana!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2018

Trump also tweeted about voter turnout in California's jungle primary races, saying, "more Republican voters showed up yesterday than the Fake News thought possible."

"Many more Republican voters showed up yesterday than the Fake News thought possible. The political pundits just don’t get what is going on out there – or they do get it but refuse to report the facts! Remember, Dems are High Tax, High Crime, easy to beat!" Trump tweeted.

Many more Republican voters showed up yesterday than the Fake News thought possible. The political pundits just don’t get what is going on out there – or they do get it but refuse to report the facts! Remember, Dems are High Tax, High Crime, easy to beat!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2018

The Washington Post reported that Democrats "barely" avoided a disaster in three Orange County-area House races that are critical for them to take back the House in November. While results show Democrats will most likely finish second in the primaries for three Republican-leaning races — the 39th, 48th and 49th districts – thus ensuring a Democratic candidate will be on the ballot come November, it's not clear the party will be able to get every win it's looking for.

http:// freebeacon.com/politics/trump-midterm-elections-big-red-wave/