Kevin McCarthy fires back at Pelosi: Clinton campaign paid for Steele dossier

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy hit back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's criticisms of President Trump saying he would possibly accept opposition research from foreign governments and not inform federal authorities.

Pelosi said Trump's statements show he does not know the difference between right or wrong.

"I watched in the last campaign the Democrat presidential campaign spend $6 million to a foreign entity to travel the world to try to find something when they could not find it, they made false accusations, salacious accusations at that," McCarthy said at a press conference on Thursday. "Drove this country into a special counsel lasting more than 22 months. Using this false information, sending it to the FBI that went and got a FISA court. Then to spy upon Americans and took us Lou something we should never have to live again. "I did not hear the Speaker be appalled at that. Or to have a chair of the House Intel Committee think that he’s knowingly speaking on a phone to a foreign entity, to supply some other false allegations. And what action did he take? Those are the things I’m appalled about that actually did happen," he said.

McCarthy was referring to when California Rep. Adam Schiff took a phone call with Russian pranksters calling Schiff saying the Russian Federal Security Service had naked pictures of Trump. Schiff informed law enforcement about the call before and after the conversation took place. The Steele dossier was a report compiled by ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele after being hired by Fusion GPS. He provided the report to the U.S. government and journalists. The report contained many accusations of Trump in the report remain unverified. "You’re saying that the DNC made up the entire Steele dossier," a reporter asked. "Did they pay a foreign entity to go around and create it? I believe they did," McCarthy said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/kevin-mccarthy-fires-back-at-pelosi-clinton-campaign-paid-for-steele-dossier

Recap: Trump gives interview,(hook)

Pelosi wants to make a law, (line)

McCarthy fires back with this (sinker) BOOM!

White House attacks DOJ agency demanding Kellyanne Conway be fired over Hatch Act violations

The White House swiftly rejected an oversight office's call for Kellyanne Conway to be fired for violating the Hatch Act, saying the U.S. Office of Special Counsel violated her right to free speech. The independent oversight office, which is led by Trump-nominated Henry Kerner, blasted Conway's "persistent, notorious, and deliberate Hatch Act violations" in a report Thursday, citing instances where Conway commented on political campaigns, which the law prohibits certain officials from doing.

White House spokesman Steven Groves said in a statement that the office's “unprecedented actions against Kellyanne Conway are deeply flawed and violate her constitutional rights to free speech and due process.""Others, of all political views, have objected to the OSC’s unclear and unevenly applied rules which have a chilling effect on free speech for all federal employees," Groves said. "Its decisions seem to be influenced by media pressure and liberal organizations — and perhaps OSC should be mindful of its own mandate to act in a fair, impartial, non-political manner, and not misinterpret or weaponize the Hatch Act.” Conway, who often helps shape White House messaging, bruskly refused to comment when a reporter approached her moments after the report was made public. "Can you leave, please?” Conway said to Eamon Javers of CNBC, pointing to a door. She added: “I have no reaction. Why would I give you a reaction?“

In a press release and letter to Trump, the independent Office of Special Counsel called on Trump to fire Conway, who served as Trump's final campaign manager in 2016. Unlike most other campaign-era advisers, Conway has retained a close relationship with Trump, who routinely fires aides. Conway's alleged violations of the law include tweets and interview statements in support of Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections and comments on the 2020 election, including referring to Democratic front-runner Joe Biden on Twitter as "Creepy Uncle Joe." "Like with other presidential appointees, the President has the authority to discipline Ms. Conway for violating the Hatch Act. Given that Ms. Conway is a repeat offender and has shown disregard for the law, OSC recommends that she be removed from federal service," the office said in a press release.

In an 11-page open letter, White House counsel Pat Cipollone rebutted the OSC's 17-page report, saying that office did not give Conway a required opportunity to respond and made flimsy assumptions — including that the law even applies to a presidential surrogate as senior as Conway. Cipollone defended Conway's media interviews as "simply commenting on an individual who is running for office" and defended Conway's tweets, writing, "Ms. Conways does not, in fact, use her Twitter account for any 'official purpose'." OSC's 'call' upon the President 'to remove Ms. Conway from her federal position immediately' is as outrageous as it is unprecedented," the White House counsel wrote.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/white-house-attacks-doj-agency-demanding-kellyanne-conway-resign-over-hatch-act-violations

>>6742256

>No. Actually it was originally paid for by republicans. Also, there is a huge difference between accepting info on opposition and uncovering it, which is what the Steele dossier did. Uncovered trumps treason. But keep worshipping your God trump and see how far it gets you.

>>6742320

They have been working to get her out of there from day 1, they want anyone close to him out.

>>6742326

NOTABLE

It Only Costs Google $20 Million A Year To Control The U.S. Government

Google has fired six of its largest lobbying firms in an attempt to overhaul its global government affairs and policy operations amid greater government scrutiny of its business, according to the Wall Street Journal. Over the last few months, the company has changed its roster of lobbying firms, as well as its Washington policy team, and lost two senior officials who helped build its "influence operation" into one of the largest in the nation's capital. The company had been paying about $20 million annually for lobbying, and the firms that Google has now let go made up about half of that cost. The shake up is part of a "continuing modernization" of Google's influence operation and it comes at a time when government scrutiny has never been more of a factor. The Justice Department is reportedly getting ready to conduct an antitrust investigation into the company and Congress and state attorneys general are also reviewing its practices. Some politicians are even calling for the company to be broken up.

And so Google is taking the paltry $20 million per year that it has been using to control the government and trying to reallocate it. Among those who are no longer working for the company are "Charlie Black, a longtime Republican strategist, and firms that have relationships with senior Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, including Off Hill Strategies LLC, which has ties to fiscally conservative Republicans." People familiar with the restructuring say that it helps reflect the company's global reach and will help it deal with regulators and lawmakers across regions and markets. The moves are also seen as a shake up by Google's new head of policy and government relations, Karan Bhatia.

Bhatia was brought in last summer to serve as Google's VP of Policy and Government Relations and, since then, he’s been reassessing the company's lobbying needs. Susan Molinari, a former Republican congresswoman, stepped down as Google's head of Washington operations last year and the company has yet to name a successor. Another executive leaving Google during the shake up is Adam Kovacevich, who ran the firm’s public-policy division. He led the company's campaign to head off a 2012 FTC investigation into anti-competitive tactics and also helped launch several advocacy groups to help promote public policy matters that benefited the company.

In 2006, Google was spending about $800,000 on lobbying and had four firms on retainer. By 2018, the company had 100 lobbyists across 30 firms and spent $21.7 million to lobby Washington. This sum made it the largest spender on lobbying among US corporations, despite the relatively small dollar amount for the massive tech giant. The company also spends millions on donations to think tanks, political entities, universities and other third-party groups that generate data and host conferences that help Google shape the debate into its business practices.

Meanwhile, Google employees helped the company become one of the largest sources of donations to the Democratic Party and candidates like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In the 2018 elections, Google's employee funded PAC donated $1.9 million to political candidates in both parties. Employees of the company donated a total of $1.6 million to Clinton's 2016 campaign and after Obama took office in 2012, Google and its lobbying team "scored a string of victories" in Washington, like fending off the FTC from an anti-trust case. Google also won favorable net neutrality rulings from the FCC and secured favorable legislation on self driving vehicles.

But over the last few years the company has continued to hit headwinds from both sides of the aisle while its public image has taken a beating over privacy concerns and critics claiming that it fails to police content. The new lobbying structure has regional leaders in the US, Canada, Asia, the Pacific, Europe and countries that the company views as emerging markets. It also includes teams that will continue to lobby governments in areas like privacy and handling controversial content.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-13/it-only-costs-google-20-million-year-control-us-government-0

'Disorganized' DNC Dives Deeper In Debt As WikiLeaks Bombshells Haunt Party

The Democratic National Committee is once again in financial distress, and it could have a big impact on the 2020 election according to Bloomberg. In the first four months of 2019, the party outspent its contributions - tacking on $3 million in new debt as donor enthusaism has all but dried up.

"It’s trouble, it’s going to affect us," said Cincinnati-based Democratic bundler Allan Berliant, who says the party needs to open offices nationwide and get people mobilized. "All of that starts with fundraising," Berliant added. While some Democratic officials blame the hesitant donors on the distracting field of 23 Democrats who are 'vacuuming up contributors cash,' a few major donors have pointed to the perception that the party is disorganized, and was significantly harmed by hacked emails released by WikiLeaks which revealed that the DNC was working to help Hillary Clinton defeat Bernie Sanders for the nomination while claiming to be neutral. "Debbie Wasserman Schultz really destroyed a lot of confidence in the DNC for a lot of people and for a lot of different reasons," said Orlando based fundraiser and trial attorney, John Morgan.

While donors to the DNC have dried up, Democratic candidates have been mopping up - with 16 of them collectively raising $77 million from January through March 16, which is $3 million more than Trump's committees and the RNC combined. The DNC has also been overshadowed by other Democratic organizations such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) which supports House Candidates. It's Senate counterpart, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is gearing up to try and end the tenure of Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The DCCC has raised over $40 million this year, beating the DNC every month, while the DSCC has raised $18 million.

"There’s a lot of competition for dollars right now," said DNC finance committee member Jamie Ansorge. Planning ahead for 2020, the DNC will use 100 million cellphone numbers bought during the midterms in order to 'reach out' to voters via text message. The party will also train around 1,000 college juniors to hit the ground next year and solicit donations. They have been warned of the consequences for failure…"When we fall short," said DNC Chairman Tom Perez in an email, "the critical work that needs to be done in order to elect Democrats can’t happen, because the money simply isn’t there."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-13/disorganized-dnc-dives-deeper-debt-wikileaks-bombshells-haunt-party

Iran responsible for 'blatant assault' on oil tankers in Gulf of Oman, Mike Pompeo says

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for the "blatant assault" on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier on Thursday. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Pompeo said the U.S. had come to the conclusion based on intelligence, the type of weapons used and the sophistication of the assaults. He charged that Iran is working to disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz and are a deliberate part of a campaign to escalate tension.

His comments came shortly after a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News that it saw an unexploded mine attached to the hull of the Panama-listed, Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous ship, one of the two ships attacked. It is the same type of mine used to damage four oil tankers last month in the same area - an attack senior Pentagon officials blamed on Iran. A spokesman for Taiwan's CPC Corp oil refiner, which chartered the other boat attacked on Thursday morning, the Front Altair, said it was "suspected of being hit by a torpedo", although his not been confirmed. Whether it be a torpedo or mines, Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime security for BIMCO, told the Associated Press that the incident brings the region closer to an armed conflict. “The shipping industry views this as an escalation of the situation, and we are just about as close to a conflict without there being an actual armed conflict, so the tensions are very high,” he said.

Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif said of the latest incident: "Suspicious doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning". But U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that the Iranian regime is posing a credible threat in the Middle East, prompting the Trump administration to beef up security in the region in form of additional bombers and troops. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of American forces in the Middle East, warned during a recent trip to the region of an unspecified “imminent” threat from Iran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, said last month during a surprise visit to Iraq that threats from Iran are “specific” and imminent.” Back in May, the U.S. military was put on alert after reports that Iranian forces loaded missiles into launchers on two Iranian commercial boats sailing around the Persian Gulf, according to the Wall Street Journal. For two weeks, the U.S. shadowed the ships as the tensions continued to rise, according to the report. The ships eventually came back to a harbor and unloaded the rockets, Iranian officials said. “The best way to describe them is a covert, deniable first-strike weapon,” a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence told the newspaper. “The conversion of a merchant ship for an attack in and of itself is a very provocative act.”

Zarif fired back against criticism at the time, saying that the regime had the to right self-defense. “We have a right to defend ourselves, so if we put missiles on our boats, it is our right,” he told ABC News on Sunday. The MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged but Norwegian-owned crude oil tanker carrying naphtha, a flammable petrochemical product, to Japan. The Front Altair came from Ruwais in the UAE, a loading point for the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. International Tanker Management, which operates the MT Front Altair said an explosion had caused a fire onboard. The firm told the Associated Press the incident is still being investigated and it was unclear what caused the explosion. Its 23 crew members were evacuated by the nearby South Korean-based Hyundai Dubai Vessel and are now safe, the firm said. The other tanker, the Kokuka Courageous, said it sustained hull damage and 21 sailors had been evacuated, with one suffering minor injuries. The vessel came from Mesaieed, Qatar, and Jubail, Saudi Arabia, carrying methanol, a chemical compound used in a variety of products.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/highly-likely-iran-responsible-oil-tanker-attack-gulf-oman-defense