"This Is Only The Beginning" - Antifa Vandalizes NYC Republican Club

Antifa just handed the Republican Party yet another messaging victory that will only help propel the simmering backlash to leftist "mob rule". In a gesture that was intended to put New York City Republicans "on notice," members of Antifa vandalized the Metropolitan Republican Club building, located on NYC's Upper East Side, breaking windows and doors and defacing the facade with "anarchist" symbols, according to the New York Times. In a note left with the vandalism suggested that the damage to the left at the scene, the vandals declared that the attack was related to a planned appearance by Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, a conservative group that has publicly battled with leftist groups at rallies, protests and demonstrations across the US.

Members of the club were shocked at the unprovoked act of vandalism, with the president of the club saying it "didn't want to be a part" of helping the vandals get their message out. "I cannot recall something like this," Ed Cox, Chairman of the Republican Party of New York State, told the New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher. "Whoever these people are, we don’t want to be part of getting their message out. They don’t deserve it." In the note left at the scene, the attackers accused the club of committing "treachery against humanity" by inviting McInnes to speak. Ominously, the note found at the club warned that "our attack is merely a beginning." "We are not passive, we are not civil, and we will not apologize," it read.

In a Facebook event highlighting McInnes' speech, the Republican club pointed out that McInnes had been banned from twitter, and that McGinnes has "stood up for Western values" during his political advocacy work. Reached for comment by NYT, McInnes said the event would go on. "I think it’s shameful that these white kids would try to sabotage a ceremony commemorating the heroism of the great Otoya Yamaguchi and the samurais who inspired him," he wrote.

After the incident, Cox demanded that NY Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand condemn the attack. "In recent weeks, Senator Gillibrand described Republican policies as 'rooted in evil,'" Farley said. "It is no wonder people are moved to destructive behavior when our elected officials reduce policy differences with their opponents to good vs evil. Civility needs to start today, not after the election, and I’m calling on Senator Gillibrand to condemn this act."

Police arrived at the scene around 2 am after a neighbor heard a "commotion" outside the building. But surveillance cameras didn't capture images of the vandals, and police have few leads. When police arrived, they found two orange anarchy symbols spray-painted on the building's front doors, as well as two broken windows, two bricks inside the building, glued locks - and, of course, the note. And as long as Democrats continue relying on inflammatory rhetoric that condemns Republicans as evil incarnate, it will be impossible for mainstream politicians to avoid being associated with these fringe groups - which should be good news for Republicans during next month's midterm vote.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-13/only-beginning-antifa-vandalizes-nyc-republican-club

Attorney Pat Cipollone "Filling Out Paperwork" For White House Counsel Role: Axios

Respected D.C. litigator Pat Cipollone "has already begun the process of filling out his necessary paperwork" to replace Don McGahn as White House Counsel, according to Axios. Cipollone, a former DOJ attorney who practices commercial litigation, was reportedly interviewed by President Trump this week, after having advised the President's outside legal time since at least June. He is also close to White House lawyer Emmet Flood, who is helping to handle the Mueller investigation into the 2016 US election and was also under consideration for the job. According to the biography on his firm’s website, Cipollone has practiced in commercial litigation, trade regulation and health-care fraud. He has extensive expertise in defending corporations as well as handling complex federal investigations and “prepublication negotiations” over defamatory media reports. He is a former partner at the law firm Kirkland and Ellis, whose attorneys have included Kavanaugh, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and former George W. Bush administration solicitor general Paul Clement. Cipollone is well regarded among some of Trump’s senior advisers, including the president’s outside attorneys, Jay Sekulow and Rudolph W. Giuliani. -WaPo

"Pat Cipollone is a brilliant attorney,” Sekulow told the Post, adding. "I have had the privilege to work with him and can attest to his skill, integrity and knowledge of the law. If selected by the president, he would make an outstanding White House counsel." Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said "I know both Pat and Emmet very well, and either one would be an excellent choice."

Cipollone has already begun the process of filling out his necessary paperwork, according to one of those sources. (As with any decision in Trumpworld, the president could reverse it or some other obstacle could emerge in the paperwork process. But as of today, it's expected to be Cipollone.) "He's a respected Washington litigator," the source said. "He's not one of the big names in the Washington Republican Bar, but he's respected." "He's not an obvious choice," the source continued. "Not a political guy like Don [McGahn] was. Not tied to the Hill and doesn't know all the senators like Don does… He's done some white collar in the past but is not a big player, like [Emmet] Flood, in the government investigations spot." The source continued that Emmet Flood, the lawyer most heavily touted for the job, "was a perfect choice" to handle government investigations given his private practice and previous White House experience. Whereas Cipollone, who has no previous White House experience, does some of that in his private practice but it's not what he's known for, the source added. Cipollone is primarily known as a civil litigator — for example, when a company sues another company for breach of contract. "But he's a true believer," the source said of Cipollone. "He's a big Trump supporter." Cipollone is a practicing Catholic, having served on the board of the Catholic Information Center. He also holds a leadership position at the Foundation Stone Institute, which aims to strengthen ties between Catholics and Israelis, according to the Post. Cipollone is good friends with conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, who credited him with guiding her as a "spiritual mentor" prior to her 2002 conversion to Catholicism. "I had all this success and still didn’t feel like I was right," Ingraham told the National Catholic Register in 2004, adding that Cipollone was an advisor: "I think God’s reaching out to you. That’s why you’re feeling this way. And he leaves the flock to find the lost sheep, and maybe you’re lost and he’s trying to find you."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-13/new-white-house-lawyer-pat-cipollone-filling-out-paperwork-role-axios

Woman Booted Off Flight After Refusing To Leave With Her 'Emotional Support Squirrel'

The ongoing controversy surrounding passengers' demands to take their 'emotional support animals' with them on long flights took a hilarious turn on Tuesday when a woman was forcibly removed from a Frontier Airlines flight after she was told that her "emotional support" squirrel wouldn't be allowed on board. Passengers were forced to deplane from flight 1612 from Orlando, Fla., to Cleveland on Tuesday when the woman refused to obey a request to leave the flight with her squirrel, at which point the airline called the Orlando Police, who escorted the woman off the plane. The woman argued that she included in her reservation notes that she would be traveling with an emotional support animal - though the airline argued that she did NOT indicate that said animal would be a squirrel, according to the Cleveland Fox affiliate. Frontier said it doesn't allow rodents on its fights. The airline said the passenger noted in her reservation that she was bringing an emotional support animal, but she did not specify that said animal would be a squirrel. Airlines have been struggling to tighten restrictions on so-called "emotional support animals", with Delta saying earlier this year that all requests for passengers to travel with ESAs would be "thoroughly vetted" (no pun intended, we think).

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-10/woman-booted-flight-after-refusing-leave-her-emotional-support-squirrel