Donald Trump Launches ‘Rolling to Remember’ Biker Memorial Day Tribute at the White House

President Donald Trump on Friday greeted bikers gathered for the “Rolling to Remember” tribute to America’s veterans. The president spoke to the small group of bikers from the portico of the White House on the South Lawn. Actor Robert Patrick, from the film Terminator 2 also attended. The gathering this year, organized by AMVETS, will be held primarily held virtually, due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Organizers of the event traveled to meet President Trump at the White House, continuing a long-standing tradition of bikers riding through the nation’s capital to highlight veterans and soldiers missing overseas. “I appreciate that you’re here, we’re here for you and I told you when you’re ready to come back with your 600,000, we’re ready to take you,” Trump said.

Participants are encouraged to ride 22 miles in their communities to call attention to the average of 20-22 veteran suicides every day. Organizers for Rolling Thunder ended their Memorial Day Tradition in 2019, leading AMVETS to pick up the tradition with the name “Rolling to Remember.” Trump paid tribute to Artie Muller, the original organizer of Rolling Thunder and AMVETS for continuing the tradition. “Thank you for keeping this noble tradition alive,” Trump said. “And for preserving the memory of those who are missing but never forgotten.” He also thanked them for supporting his campaign and his presidency. “I just want to say, you’ve been tremendous supporters of mine, the bikers, I call them the bikers, they’re bikers for whatever reason you’ve liked me from the beginning and I liked you from the beginning,” he said. “Get those engines started I want to see you drive around and drive as fast as you can but don’t get hurt,” Trump said, pumping his fist as the song “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses began playing. The bikers revved their engines and drove around the White House driveway as the president saluted.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/22/donald-trump-launches-rolling-to-remember-biker-memorial-day-tribute-at-the-white-house/

Who’s Afraid of Ilhan Omar?

Congresswoman's refusal to answer questions about a big book advance that may violate House rules is just the latest media stonewall

Rep Ilhan Omar's (D., Minn.) new memoir, This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman is out next week. Among the questions it leaves unanswered is whether Omar complied with House rules governing the big advance she reportedly received on the book. House rules prohibit "the receipt of any advance payment on copyright royalties" unless the contract has been approved by the House Ethics Committee, as the Washington Free Beacon reported in December. At the time, neither Omar nor her publisher responded to repeated requests for comment about when, exactly, Omar signed her book contract and received the advance, which Forbes put at between $100,000 and $250,000. Omar may have received the royalty payment before she was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2019, but her 2018 financial disclosure listed no book advance. We would like to see her 2019 disclosure, but Omar has filed for a 90-day extension. Ninety days takes Omar just past the contested Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary that she faces back home in Minnesota this August—by two days, to be exact. We'll have to check back then.

In the meantime, we will wait, almost certainly in vain, for the armies of investigative reporters attuned to the release of Republican financial disclosures to find the time and care to ask these straightforward questions. It's not hard to predict how the congresswoman would respond given that accusations of bigotry have become her standard defense against what most might call public accountability. Take the minor scrutiny her infamously mixed-up marriages have received from the news media. When the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board released a report on its year-long investigation of Omar last June, it revealed tax returns illegally filed with her husband, to whom she was not legally married, while she was legally married to another man. The board's findings, which covered Omar's 2016 race for a state legislative seat, also included several penny-ante campaign finance infractions representative of the congresswoman's carefree approach to American laws. When her hometown paper made inquiries about her marital arrangements and asked to speak to her husband and other relatives, her spokesman called the questions "conspiracy theories," accusing the paper of insinuating that Omar "is somehow illegitimate or not fully American." In fact, her flack continued, Omar had "shared more than most public officials ever do about the details of her personal life."

That sort of gaslighting has become a standard response when Omar faces scrutiny. Most recently, the congresswoman disputed on-the-record accusations—from a local Imam—that she was improperly routing contributions for a local charity meals program to her campaign account. That one was a "‘scary, lying immigrant' smear." Omar's approach to public relations has served her well, but her approach to accounting has already led to one rebuke from regulators. Surely her constituents deserve to know—before they vote—if she's done it again.https://freebeacon.com/democrats/whos-afraid-of-ilhan-omar/

NBC News Mum on Contributor Headlining Fundraiser for Biden

NBC News president must approve political activity, according to network policy

NBC News has refused to say whether network president Noah Oppenheim granted legal analyst and former Robert Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann permission to headline a virtual fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Weissmann's participation in the event without the express permission of Oppenheim is a violation of a network policy that prohibits activities "that may create the appearance of a conflict of interest." "Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions," the network's policy states, according to its own reporting. The policy states that employees "must obtain prior approval of the president of NBC News or his designee" before participating in any overt political activity. Weissmann is slated to participate in the virtual fundraiser Tuesday, according to an invitation circulated by the Biden campaign. Guests who want to hear from Weissmann will receive instructions on how to log on to the Zoom fundraiser after making a contribution to the campaign. NBC did not respond to numerous inquiries on whether Oppenheim granted Weissmann permission to participate in the fundraiser.

Weissmann joined NBC as a legal commentator last November after stepping down as lead prosecutor for Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. The network hasn't been shy about enforcing its prohibition on political activity in the past. It suspended top anchors Joe Scarborough and Keith Olbermann in 2010 for making contributions to political candidates. The network also forced former MSNBC anchor Ed Schultz to back out of an appearance at a Democratic Party fundraising dinner in 2014. At the time of Scarborough's suspension, MSNBC president Phil Griffin said, "It is critical that we enforce our standards and policies." Reports of Weissmann's involvement in the Biden campaign fundraiser led to immediate criticism from President Donald Trump's reelection campaign, which saw it as validation of their longstanding charge that Weissmann had an axe to grind against the president. "It's no surprise that a guy who tried to take down the president through the sham impeachment would also help Joe Biden’s campaign," said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh. "It doesn’t get any swampier than this: trying to stage a partisan coup against the president and then raising money for his political opponent." Weissmann appeared frequently on MSNBC throughout the impeachment proceedings against Trump, but has seen less airtime since Trump was acquitted by the U.S. Senate. His last appearance came on Feb. 26, when he was introduced by primetime host Rachel Maddow as "an NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst."

https://freebeacon.com/media/nbc-news-mum-on-contributor-headlining-fundraiser-for-biden/