Former Rep. Darrell Issa likely to return to Congress

Former California Rep. Darrell Issa, once among the fiercest Republican foes of the Obama administration, is a step closer to returning to Capitol Hill. Issa, on Tuesday, finished second in the all-party primary for California's 50th Congressional District, which takes in central and northeastern parts of San Diego County and a small part of Riverside County. Issa, 66, is ahead of his main Republican competitor Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City councilman and radio talk show, host by 5,000 votes. The leader in this jungle primary, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, took advantage of the split between both Republicans and earned 34% of the vote.

But the district leans strongly Republican, a rarity in deep-blue California. President Trump in 2016 beat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton there 54% to 40%. The seat is open because its occupant for the past 11 years, former Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr., resigned in January, after entering a plea agreement with federal prosecutors for misuse of campaign funds. Issa, a car alarm magnate and one of the wealthiest members of Congress during his 2001-2019 tenure, previously represented a coastal district in northern San Diego and southern Orange counties. But political ground shifted in the longtime GOP stronghold, and after a close call in his 2016 reelection bid, Issa called it quits after 2018.

Running in more solid Republican ground, he's the favorite for November over Campa-Najjar, a former Obama administration official who lost to Hunter in 2018. "Still counting going on and we need to be sure that every vote is counted. But the results so far are extremely encouraging and I’m humbled by the tremendous support. Thank you!," Issa tweeted Wednesday morning.

The Cook Political Report currently rates the district solidly Republican. In 2018, when many California Republicans lost their seats to Democrats during the year of the "blue wave," Hunter, who was under legal scrutiny at the time, managed to win reelection over Campa-Najjar by a small margin. Issa spent the bulk of his House career to date in the majority. After House Republicans won control of the chamber in 2010, Issa became chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He led investigations into the Obama administration on several fronts, including the Troubled Assets Relief Program and the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, among others.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/former-rep-darrell-issa-likely-to-return-to-congress

Mark Meadows slated to become next White House chief of staff

President Trump has picked North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows to be the next White House chief of staff. Trump announced his pick on Friday night. Meadows had already said he would be leaving Congress to join the administration, though he did not say in what capacity. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney will become the U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland.

"I am pleased to announce that Congressman Mark Meadows will become White House Chief of Staff. I have long known and worked with Mark, and the relationship is a very good one," Trump tweeted. "I want to thank Acting Chief Mick Mulvaney for having served the Administration so well. He will become the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. Thank you!"

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mark-meadows-slated-to-be-next-white-house-chief-of-staff

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1236096307103707136

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1236096307858681857

Saudi crown prince arrests three members of the royal family

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has detained three senior members of the royal family. The crown prince ordered the arrests of the king’s brother Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and Nayef’s brother Prince Nawaf bin Nayef, according to the New York Times. The arrests are a sign of Salman’s influence within the country and suggests that the crown prince sees a threat to his power. Abdulaziz was widely seen inside the royal family as the best chance of stopping Salman’s ascent to king. Nayef is a former interior minister with close ties to U.S. intelligence who was ousted from his ministerial position in 2017 and has remained under house arrest since.

Salman came under international criticism in 2018 after Saudi agents killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi Embassy in Istanbul. Authorities eventually sentenced five people to death in connection with Khashoggi’s death. Two senior officials implicated in the murder were cleared of wrongdoing. In 2017, Salman ordered the arrests of hundreds of influential Saudi businessmen, including 11 of his royal cousins. The arrests came at the same time as an order barring any member of the royal family from leaving the country.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/saudi-crown-prince-arrests-three-members-of-the-royal-family

>>8337656

Nice Find Anon!

NOTABLE

>>8337720

Concur he is an excellent choice he will push POTUS's agenda, both are on the same page.

Christopher Steele defends dossier and criticizes Trump

British ex-spy Christopher Steele defended his dossier while leveling criticisms against the president during a rare appearance on Friday. Steele, a former MI6 agent and the one-time head of the United Kingdom’s Russia desk, spoke at a “members only” event at Oxford Union in England. The organizers state, “Steele was made the subject of media stalking and investigation by Republican senators, and had to go into hiding with his family.” The only remarks released from the closed-door discussion were tweeted out by the group’s account. “I stand by the integrity of our work, our sources, and what we did,” Steele told the audience on Friday, adding, “Trump himself doesn’t like intelligence because its ground truth is inconvenient for him.” The former spy noted, “The reality check is that Russia is a hostile state as it is run at the moment. It is out to destabilize the West, and it is nefarious in the way it goes about its business."

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded in December that the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation was flawed. The watchdog criticized the Justice Department and the FBI for 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to its targeting of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page through a warrant and three renewals through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Steele was hired by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm. Perkins Coie was paid more than $12 million between 2016 and 2017 for its work. Fusion GPS was paid $50,000 per month from Perkins Coie, and Steele was paid roughly $168,000 by Fusion GPS.

Following Horowitz’s report, the Justice Department told the FISA court it believed the final two Page FISA warrants were “not valid.“ The FBI told the court it planned to “sequester” all the information obtained through the Page FISA orders. The report noted that FBI meetings with Steele’s sources “raised significant questions about the reliability of the Steele election reporting,” and bureau officials said Steele “may have some judgment problems.” The CIA referred to Steele’s dossier as “internet rumor.”

James Boasberg, the presiding judge on the FISA court, said on Wednesday the flawed applications left “little doubt that the government breached its duty of candor to the Court with respect to those applications.” Boasberg noted, “All four Page applications relied on information from reports prepared by Christopher Steele.” He described four broad unsubstantiated and disputed claims made in Steele’s dossier: that the Kremlin fed dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Trump's campaign, that Page discussed lifting sanctions against Russia in a secret 2016 Moscow meeting, that Page was the go-between for Russia and Trump’s campaign in a “well-developed conspiracy of cooperation” overseen by then-campaign manager Paul Manafort, and that Russia released the hacked Democratic National Committee emails to WikiLeaks at Page’s suggestion to swing voters to Trump.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/christopher-steele-defends-dossier-and-criticizes-trump

https://www.oxford-union.org/node/2124

https://twitter.com/OxfordUnion/status/1235986276400103424

https://twitter.com/OxfordUnion/status/1235989487513198594

Judge James Boasberg Corrected Opinion

https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/Misc%2019%2002%20Corrected%20Opinion%20and%20Order%20JEB%20200305.pdf

>>8337849

This is like a repeat of 2017..when he arrested the billionaires of that country which also included the individual with partial ownership in Fox News, This actually is BIG news for those paying attention.

>>8337970

This a great find anon, I know that song as well..you just can't make this shit up.

>>8338025

>>8338025

Indeed…time for them to feel the pain they inflicted on everyone else, after all of these years.

>>8338088

I was happy to see that as well, CA needs him, level headed..