Obama's DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson: 'We are truly in a crisis' at southern border

Jeh Johnson, homeland security secretary during former President Barack Obama's second term, declared Friday the southern border is in a "crisis" state, a claim the Trump administration first made late last year. "We are truly in a crisis," Johnson told MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski.

"On Tuesday there were 4,000 apprehensions. I know that 1,000 [apprehensions] overwhelms the system and I cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like," he said. U.S. Border Patrol agents on the southwest border took more people into custody Monday than in any day in the past 10 years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday. Federal law enforcement agents made more than 3,700 apprehensions across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas on Monday. A senior Border Patrol official told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday 1,100 of those apprehensions took place in Eagle Pass, Texas, which is part of the Del Rio Sector.

CBP Chief Operating Officer John Sanders told attendees of the Border Security Expo this week a major reason for the recent surge in border apprehensions is due to large numbers of people illegally crossing together, rather than a handful at a time. In fiscal 2017, CBP documented two groups of 100 people or more. The number of group apprehensions jumped to 13 in 2018 and have spiked to 93 just in the first six months of fiscal 2019. Sanders said CBP is on track to have taken 100,000 people into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border the month of March. More than one-third of that number is expected to be children.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/obamas-dhs-secretary-jeh-johnson-we-are-truly-in-a-crisis-at-southern-border

Trump’s reported pick for State Department representative heads consulting company with Trump critic

President Trump’s reported pick for State Department representative, Morgan Ortagus, heads a consulting company with a regular critic of the president. Sam Vinograd, who served in the Obama administration’s National Security Council and is a national security analyst for CNN, has argued that Trump’s call to "reclaim" American heritage is analogous to language employed by Adolf Hitler. "Preserving your heritage, reclaiming our heritage — that sounds a lot like a certain leader that killed members of my family and about 6 million other Jews in the 1940s," Vinograd said in an interview with CNN earlier this month.

The comments by Vinograd — who did not immediately respond to a request for comment — came after Trump told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March that those in the audience were “on the front lines of protecting America’s interests, defending America’s values, and reclaiming our nation’s priceless heritage." In the same interview, she claimed Trump "sounds a lot like despotic leaders that have talked about white heritage and white nationalism around the world and is putting resources in the wrong place, and pretending that there are foreign people trying to influence our country in a way that just isn’t accurate." Vinograd, who is also a senior adviser at the University of Delaware's Biden Institute, has also argued that Trump has spread misinformation and conspiracy theories and has said “things that really looked like Vladimir Putin scripted his speech.”

Meanwhile Ortagus, a former Fox News contributor and active U.S. Naval Reserve Officer, has been selected by Trump to serve as the next State Department spokeswoman, according to media reports. Ortagus did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She and Vinograd are listed as co-founders and managing directors of the firm Global Opportunity Advisors. The firms offers policy and regulatory guidance, brand identity, and other services to clients. Ortagus would succeed former Fox News anchor Heather Nauert, who was tapped as Trump’s nominee for United Nations ambassador. However, Nauert eventually withdrew her name from consideration and is no longer in the running for the position. Ortagus would not need Senate confirmation for the position. The Trump White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trumps-reported-pick-for-state-department-spokesperson-heads-consulting-company-with-trump-critic

Outed CIA spy Valerie Plame set for Senate run as Democrat

Valerie Plame, the former CIA officer who shot to fame when she was outed during George W. Bush’s presidency, is poised to run for U.S. Senate in New Mexico. The ex-spy told the Washington Examiner Friday that she would run as a Democrat and would "like another opportunity to serve my country." An early problem for Plame, 55, will be a 2017 anti-Semitism scandal. The subject will be tricky to navigate after the recent controversy involving anti-Semitic comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., which led to Speak Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., warning of "bigoted or dangerous ideologies masquerading as policy."

Plame was forced to apologize after sharing on Twitter an anti-Semitic article from the UNZ Review entitled "America's Jews Are Driving America's Wars." The article stated that Jews "own the media," that they should wear labels while on national television, and that their beliefs were as dangerous as "a bottle of rat poison." Her initial response was: "First of all, calm down. Re-tweets don't imply endorsement. Yes, very provocative, but thoughtful. Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish." But she later added: "OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest." She later apologized and resigned from the board of the Ploughshares Fund, which provides grants for projects aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. But in the space of three years she had posted nine UNZ articles including one titled "Why I Still Dislike Israel" and another about "Dancing Israelis" on 9/11.

Plame has been a strident critic of President Trump, launching a GoFundMe effort to buy a stake and ban Trump from the platform. It raised $89,719 toward its $1 billion goal. She has been active in Democratic politics since moving to Santa Fe, N.M., in 2007, after the scandal over the leak of her identity. She hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s super PAC in 2014 and another fundraiser for Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2015. Conservative columnist Robert Novak revealed Plame’s identity in a 2003 column, attributing the information to “two senior administration officials.” Plame maintains that the leak of her name was “payback” from the Bush administration for her then-husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, writing an op-ed questioning the validity of the administration’s intelligence used as a basis for the Iraq War.

Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted in 2007 of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection to the leak of Plame’s identity. It emerged that former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the primary source for Novak’s story, but he was never charged. Donald Trump pardoned Libby in 2018, saying he was treated unfairly. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted in 2007 of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection to the leak of Plame’s identity. It emerged that former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the primary source for Novak’s story, but he was never charged. Donald Trump pardoned Libby in 2018, saying he was treated unfairly.

Democratic New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2020, opening up the field in a state that leans Democrat. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., is expected to announce his candidacy next week. New Mexico's Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and freshman Democratic Rep. Deb Haaland said in tweets that they are also considering running for the seat. On the Republican side, businessman and former U.S. Senate candidate Mick Rich said he is thinking about jumping into the Senate race. Former Rep. Steve Pearce and former Lt. Gov. John Sanchez are also rumored to be considering a run.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/former-cia-spy-valerie-plame-eyes-senate-run-as-democrat

>>5965417

This will probably blow the Scooter Libby thing wide open.

>>5965425 Clowns have been running for offices all over the country, not that anyone should trust them but there are those blind enough to.

>>5965446

Agreed they have be doing it, some are successful others are not.

>>5965521

Kek, I was looking for it too! Thanks!