Comey, Lynch To Receive Subpoenas From House GOP

The GOP-led House Judiciary committee will issue subpoenas to former FBI Director James Comey and former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch, according to Bloomberg and CNN's Manu Raju. The subpoenas will reportedly be issued on November 29 and December 5, while the GOP says they would prefer them to meet in private but are open to public testimony.

New: GOP-led House Judiciary, in its final days in power, is planning to issue subpoenas to former FBI Director James Comey and President Obama’s attorney general, Loretta Lynch - on Nov. 29 and Dec. 5. GOP wants them in private setting, though they’ve said they would publicly — Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 16, 2018

News of the subpoenaes rattled ranking Democrat Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who is expected to chair the panel next year. "These subpoenas are coming out of the blue, with very little time left on the calendar," Nadler said in a statement, noting that Lynch and Comey had indicated "months ago" that they were willing to answer questions voluntarily. Comey and Lynch were under threat of subpoena earlier this year by Sen. Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (R-IA), only to be blocked by the panel's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California.

In June, the Department of Justice's internal watchdog, the Inspector General, found that Comey defied authority several times while he was director of the FBI, including using personal email (Gmail) for official business. The former FBI Director has also come under fire for mishandling classified information when he leaked an internal memo to the press documenting what he felt was President Trump obstructing the FBI's probe into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn - which was conducted by the FBI under dubious circumstances, and for which evidence may have been tampered with. Comey's memo was a key component in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's decision to launch a special counsel investigation headed by former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

In addition, Comey was head of the FBI during a multi-agency counterintelligence operation against the Trump campagin in which campaign aides were spied on and misled by FBI/DOJ agents. Loretta Lynch, on the other hand, was dinged in the IG report over an "ambiguous" incomplete recusal from the Clinton email "matter" despite a clandestine 30-minute "tarmac" meeting with Bill Clinton one week before the FBI exonerated Hillary Clinton.

Developing…

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-16/comey-lynch-receive-subpoenas-house-gop

GOP wins Georgia governor's race as Abrams gives up fight

While claiming “democracy failed Georgia,” Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Friday she will no longer stand in the way of officials, certifying Brian Kemp, the Republican, as the winner. “This is not a concession speech,” Ms. Abrams said, delivering a fiery speech to supporters saying the voting process was poisoned from the start by Republicans — and in particular Mr. Kemp, who had been secretary of state until he resigned after the election. State officials can certify the results at any time now that a 5 p.m. Friday deadline has passed.

Mr. Kemp holds a lead of about 60,000 votes over Ms. Kemp — and is some 17,000 votes above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Ms. Abrams had been hoping to uncover enough votes to narrow that gap, bring Mr. Kemp below the majority point, and force a runoff.

Ms. Abrams had been bidding to become the first black woman to hold a governorship in the U.S. “I don’t want to hold public office if I need to scheme my way into the post,” she said.

Earlier Friday her team had floated to local reporters the possibility of mounting a long-shot legal bid to overturn the results of the election. That would have required her to prove enough “misconduct, fraud or irregularities” that the outcome was sufficiently put in doubt. She had amassed a team of nearly three dozen lawyers working on the plans, The Associated Press reported. But the move drew fierce criticism, with Georgia Republicans saying she had long passed the point of being a gracious loser.

With her decision not to fight any longer, Ms. Abrams moves from candidate to Democratic martyr — joining Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke as election losers who still emerged with a massive following and a major national profile. Ms. Abrams said her next step will be to create an organization dedicated to overhauling Georgia’s elections system. She said the group’s first step will be a federal lawsuit challenging the way this election was run.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/16/brian-kemp-wins-georgia-governors-race/

Texas Democrat is a leader in the anti-Pelosi movement

U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has been basking in the election victories that will propel her party to majority status in January, but an activist group within her own caucus is plotting to prevent her elevation to House speaker — and one of the ringleaders is a Texan. U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is working with other House members and members-elect to prevent Pelosi from becoming speaker when the 116th Congress convenes in January. “I’m 100 percent confident that we have the votes to keep her from getting 218 votes on the House floor,” Vela told the American-Statesman on Thursday.

In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Vela and 16 other members and members-elect say they are hard “no” votes against Pelosi as House speaker, according to a Democratic aide to one of the members who has seen the letter but is not authorized to speak about it.

The dissident members, who include Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tim Ryan of Ohio, are part of the party’s younger generation who have complained that Pelosi, 78, and assistant minority leader Steny Hoyer, 79, have led the party for more than 15 years. Pelosi dismissed the challenge, saying she expects to return as speaker, a position she held from 2007-11, the last time Democrats held the majority of seats in the House. “I intend to win the speakership with Democratic votes. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House,” she told reporters Thursday. The new speaker will be elected by the entire House, Democrats and Republicans, when the new Congress convenes in January. Members typically support their party’s nominee, although there are often dissident votes. Democrats will hold at least 230 of the 435 seats in the next House, with a half-dozen races yet to be determined, according to the nonpartisan RealClearPolitics.com.

Pelosi will need 218 votes to be elected speaker, and she has been working to shore up her support among Democrats, making calls and getting party donors and activists to provide testimonials, ahead of leadership votes that will be taken when the caucus meets Nov. 28 and 29.

https://www.statesman.com/news/20181115/texas-democrat-is-leader-in-anti-pelosi-movement