Trump flips the script after Democrats describe US as in a 'constitutional crisis'

President Trump on Sunday pushed back against Democrats who have described Washington as being in a "constitutional crisis" over the White House's refusal to cooperate with congressional follow-up investigations to special counsel Robert Mueller's report. "The “Constitutional Crisis” is the Democrats refusing to work. Let them start by fixing the mess that their Immigration Laws have caused at the Southern Border," Trump tweeted Sunday evening. The claim came as Trump railed against the Democrats' lack of action. "When the Mueller Report came out showing NO Collusion with Russia (of course), it was supposed to be over, back to work for the people. But the Dems have gone “nuts,” and it has actually gotten worse! Hope the Republicans win back the House in 2020, or little will get done!" he tweeted.

Trump has insisted his administration will not comply with House and Senate Democrats' subpoenas because he claims they are politically motivated. The White House has said Trump and his campaign were cleared of collusion and wrongdoing in the special counsel's report. "The Dems have been working overtime to damage me and the Republican Party by issuing over 80 demands for documents and testimonies, and with NO REASON. That's all they want to do - don't care about anything else!" he tweeted Sunday.

However, 750 federal prosecutors recently released a letter stating that Trump obstructed Mueller's investigation, even if it did conclude no illegal action took place during the 2016 election. Trump's Sunday evening tweet accuses liberal lawmakers of not focusing on other issues, mainly the surge of noncitizen families illegally entering and applying for asylum at ports of entry along the southern border in record-high numbers. Republicans have called for asylum law changes and legislative fixes to a 2015 court ruling that only allows families in federal custody to be held up to 20 days before being released into the U.S. without having their asylum claims resolved.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-flips-the-script-after-democrats-describe-us-as-in-a-constitutional-crisis

GOP investigators say classified docs will expose misuse of Steele dossier

Top Republicans talked up classified documents on Sunday they believe will root out FBI misconduct in the early stages of the Trump-Russia investigation. Over the past few days, GOP lawmakers demanded answers about when the FBI was informed about British ex-spy Christopher Steele's "political motivations" before his unverified dossier was used to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, sent letters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to request documents related to a meeting between Steele an Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec on Oct. 11, 2016 — 10 days before the first warrant application was submitted — and admitted he was encouraged by a client to get his research out before the 2016 election on Nov. 8, signaling a possible political motivation. The meeting was described in notes taken by Kavalec that were obtained by conservative group Citizens United through open-records litigation. "In her notes, she indicates that Steele was urging to get the dossier out before the election," Graham, R-S.C., said on "Fox News Sunday." "And she also, in handwritten notes, indicates that it was paid for by the Democratic Party, the Clinton campaign, the dossier. The most important thing is, she transferred that information to the FBI. So the FBI is now on notice on October the 11th that their confidential informant is trying to get the dossier out for political purposes and that the State Department figured out the Democrats paid for it. How could they then go get a warrant based on that same document and not tell the court what the State Department told them?”

Graham, whose committee is investigating alleged FISA abuse, said there is one particular classified document he hopes will provide answers. “There's a document that's classified that I'm going to try to get unclassified that takes the dossier — all the pages of it — and it has verification to one side," Graham said. "There really is no verification, other than media reports that were generated by reporters that received the dossier. So, the bottom line is the dossier has never been independently confirmed. It was used to get a warrant. They knew the author of the dossier was on the Democrat Party payroll. He hated Trump; they got the warrant anyway. Most Americans should be very upset about that. I'm very upset about it. And we're going to get to the bottom of it."

Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also sent letters to Pompeo and FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking information about Steele's meeting with Kavalec and the FBI's behavior once the bureau was informed by the State Department about Steele. The dossier, compiled by Steele, contains unverified claims about President Trump's ties to Russia. The FBI used it to obtain a FISA warrant and three renewals to wiretap Page. Republican investigators allege the FBI misled the FISA Court by not revealing Steele's Democratic benefactors or his anti-Trump bias in the warrant application process.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gop-investigators-say-classified-docs-will-expose-misuse-of-steele-dossier

UAE Says Four Commercial Ships Targeted By "Sabotage" After Reports Of Tanker Explosions

Something odd took place in the Persian Gulf today: early on Sunday, Lebanon's pro-Iran satellite channel Al-Mayadeen, quoting Gulf sources, reported that a series of powerful explosions had struck the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, reportedly targeting seven tankers. State and semi-official media in Iran picked up the report from Al-Mayadeen, which later published the names of vessels it claimed were involved in the incident. According to Al Mayadeen, the blasts took place early on Sunday morning, adding that the seven oil tankers were completely burnt and that firefighters were still trying to extinguish the blaze. As Iran's PressTV adds, some social media activists said that American and French aircraft of unspecified type were flying over the port. Al Mayadeen did not say what had caused the explosions or the fire. Subsequent attempts to validate the report, however, proved futile and as the AP reports, after speaking to Emirati officials and local witnesses, "the report about explosions at the port was unsubstantiated." Despite the UAE government’s denial, witnesses emphasized that the blasts took place and some media sources even went further, identifying a number of oil tankers hit by the explosions by their hull numbers as follows:

AMJAD tanker: No.: 9779800, Marzouqah tanker: No.: 9165762, Miraj oil tanker: No.: 9394741, A.MICHEL oil tanker: No.: 9177674, FNSA10 oil tanker: No.: 9432074

Yet, while this could have been quickly dismissed as just another case of fake news, later on Sunday the plot thickened because after initially denying anything had happened, the foreign ministry of the United Arab Emirates said that four commercial ships off its eastern coast "were subjected to sabotage operations" without causing casualties, however without giving details of the nature of the sabotage. Providing further validation to the previously debunked report, the ministry said that the incident occurred near the UAE emirate of Fujairah, one of the world’s largest bunkering hubs which lies just outside the Strait of Hormuz, even though trading and industry sources quoted by Reuters said operations at Fujairah port ran smoothly on Sunday. “Subjecting commercial vessels to sabotage operations and threatening the lives of their crew is considered a dangerous development,” according to the statement that was carried by state news agency WAM. The statement, which did not identify the vessels beyond saying they were of various nationalities, said the incident did not result in spills. The UAE did not blame any country or other party for the operation. Emirati officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the sabotage or say who might have been responsible; the statement also denied any incident had taken place inside the port, adding the government had taken all necessary measures and launched an investigation in coordination with international authorities. “The international community should carry out its responsibilities to prevent any parties trying to harm maritime security and safety, which would be considered a threat to international safety and security,” it added

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-12/uae-says-four-commercial-ships-targeted-sabotage-after-reports-tanker-explosions