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Analysts Suggest ‘Comey Cost Clinton the Election’

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New Report Contends FBI Director’s Interference in Election ‘Almost Certainly’ Swayed Voters to Trump

Just one day before Thursday’s bombshell news that the Inspector General of the Dept. of Justice will open an investigation into the unprecedented actions taken by FBI Director James Comey surrounding Hillary Clinton’s emails, Vox published a report titled, “4 pieces of evidence showing FBI Director James Comey cost Clinton the election.”

The report was authored by Demos policy analyst Sean McElwee, pollster and senior analyst Matt McDermott, and former elections analyst Will Jordan. Together they examine four “exhibits” to prove their case, concluding, “Comey broke a decades-long norm of not intervening in presidential elections. The fact that his interference alone almost certainly swayed an election is indicative of a broader and disturbing breakdown of political norms.”

What are the four exhibits?

State Polls

National Polls

Late Deciders

Media Coverage

The three authors remind us that Trump’s “edge in the Electoral College, while decisive, depends on less than 80,000 votes across three states (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania) out of more than 135 million cast nationwide. It was a very close election.” 

The Vox article also notes that FBI Director Comey’s “letter is unique for a few reasons. First, it was an intervention by an institution that Americans have largely perceived as nonpartisan. (Indeed, the FBI actively works to foster that image.) Second, the intervention was almost perfectly timed to impact Clinton at the worst time — dominating the final week of campaigning as an unusually large number of undecided voters made up their minds. Finally, it aligned perfectly with the narrative pushed by Trump — and bolstered by the media’s obsessive coverage of how Clinton handled her State Department email, and the slow-drip release of hacked emails — that Clinton was somehow fundamentally corrupt.”

The Clinton camp has repeatedly said they believe the Comey letter, which was sent eleven days before the election, was the turning point that cost them the White House.

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‘Very Serious Violation of the Law’: Trump Says Military Looking Into Democrats’ Video

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One day after calling for six Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for “seditious behavior,” President Donald Trump is now claiming the military is looking into a video they recorded reminding members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Intelligence Community of their duty to refuse unlawful orders.

“I think it’s a very serious violation of the law,” President Trump told Fox News Radio.

“I know they’re looking into it militarily,” Trump claimed.

“I think Pete Hegseth is looking into it, too,” he said of the Secretary of Defense. “I don’t know for a fact, but I think the military is looking into it — the military courts.”

READ MORE: Trump State Department to Focus on God-Given Rights

The six lawmakers — four House Democrats and two Senate Democrats — in a recorded video said, “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law, or our Constitution.”

Trump lashed out on Thursday.

“It’s called seditious behavior at the highest level,” he charged. “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be Arrested and put on trial. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example must be set.”

“Seditious behavior, punishable by death!” he continued.

Some of the Democrats are speaking out.

READ MORE: ‘Mob Shakedown’: Trump Ukraine Peace Plan Blasted as ‘Surrender to Putin’

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), who is one of the six lawmakers, was asked if she believed illegal orders have been given.

“Well, what I will say is that over the last nine or ten months, about 600 pieces of lawsuits have been filed in response to executive orders or orders in general, that this president and this administration has made. Of those, 150 or so have been ruled as being unlawful, many of them by judges that have been appointed by President Trump.

“So, yes, you know, those kinds of things are going on,” she noted.

READ MORE: ‘Sundown’: Trump Shows ‘Shocking’ Noticeable Mental Decline Journalist Says

 

Image via Reuters

 

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‘Mob Shakedown’: Trump Ukraine Peace Plan Blasted as ‘Surrender to Putin’

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The Trump administration is now reportedly threatening Ukraine to accept its 28-point peace plan, which is being widely panned both inside the U.S. and internationally.

Axios reported that a draft of the plan, according to sources, “would force Kyiv to give up additional territory in the east, cap the size of its military, and agree it will never join NATO.”

The U.S. is pushing Ukraine to accept the deal on an “aggressive timeline,” Axios noted, while Reuters reported that “The United States has threatened to cut intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine to press it into agreeing to the framework of a U.S.-brokered peace deal.”

“The sources,” Reuters added, “speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Kyiv was under greater pressure from Washington than during any previous peace discussions, and that the U.S. wanted Ukraine to sign a framework of the deal by next Thursday.”

READ MORE: Trump State Department to Focus on God-Given Rights

Early Friday morning, Christopher Miller, The Financial Times’ chief correspondent in Kyiv, reported that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held “a call with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and UK’s Keir Starmer, the Ukrainian president’s office tells me.”

“They are working to develop counter points to the Trump peace proposal that senior Ukrainian and European officials have described as heavily pro-Russian and filled with demands that are red lines for Kyiv and Europe.”

In a video to the Ukrainian people, President Zelenskyy said, “Now the pressure on Ukraine is one of the most difficult. Now Ukraine may find itself facing a very difficult choice – either loss of dignity, or the risk of losing a key partner,” Miller reported.

Critics are blasting the proposed deal which was brokered without input from Ukraine.

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), warned: “We don’t have all the details yet, but it’s sounding more like a Russian plan for Ukraine. Negotiating without Ukraine is a lot like Munich 1938. It makes Ukraine weaker & vulnerable to future Russian attacks. It’s unacceptable & a surrender to Putin. We must have moral clarity.”

Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Estonian Parliament, warned: “If Russia receives amnesty for all the crimes it has committed against Ukraine, then the UN might as well be disbanded. What value does the UN Charter have after the greatest act of aggression in the UN’s history is simply forgiven?”

He added, “If Ukraine accepts this, there will be no Ukraine anymore. If Europe accepts this, we must prepare for a direct war with Russia.”

READ MORE: ‘Sundown’: Trump Shows ‘Shocking’ Noticeable Mental Decline Journalist Says

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned, “All the decisions concerning Poland will be taken by Poles. Nothing about us without us. When it comes to peace, all the negotiations should include Ukraine. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Responding to Tusk’s remark, CNN’s Jim Sciutto observed, “We’re seeing an immediate and very public rejection of the US Ukraine peace proposal by Ukraine and Europe.”

Professor of Political Science Michael McFaul, the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia declared, “This represents capitulation for Ukraine. Trump is not mediating an end to this horrific invasion. He is acting on behalf of the imperialist invaders. Shameful reversal.”

Jessica Riedl of the Manhattan Institute wrote: “So the U.S. proposes that Ukraine surrender to Russia. Why else to limit Ukraine‘s military (and ban NATO troops) than to leave it totally vulnerable to another Russian invasion? What, a cowardly, Neville Chamberlain embarrasment from the Trump admin.”

Fred Wellman, a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, and an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, blasted the proposed peace plan:

“This isn’t a ‘peace agreement’ it’s a mob shakedown.”

READ MORE: White House Spins Trump’s Arrest Demand as Simply Holding Dems ‘Accountable’

 

Image via Reuters

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Trump State Department to Focus on God-Given Rights

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President Donald Trump’s State Department is revising its country-by-country human rights reports to emphasize rights “given to us by God, our creator” and “moral law,” while shifting away from the traditional focus on discrimination and persecution against groups and minorities.

The Washington Post describes it as “radically” altering the reports, and as an “unapologetically U.S.-centric and religiously tinged view of human rights around the world.”

The State Department has directed all U.S. embassies and consulates to use the new guidelines, which include a focus on individual liberties.

“The State Department’s emphasis on so-called natural rights and de-emphasis on rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and other legally binding instruments suggest an intentional effort to limit rights,” Uzra Zeya, a top official for human rights at the State Department during the Biden administration, told the Post.

READ MORE: ‘Sundown’: Trump Shows ‘Shocking’ Noticeable Mental Decline Journalist Says

The new focus appears to echo an attempt by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the first Trump administration to focus on “unalienable rights,” along with property rights and religious rights while “downplaying the rights of women and gay people,” the Post noted.

The most recent reports, issued in August under Secretary Marco Rubio, had “significant details cut, particularly in regards to gender-based violence and the persecution of LGBTQ+ people.”

Human rights activists said those reports “had been edited to limit the criticism placed on key foreign policy allies with poor human rights records.” President Trump has defended nations and leaders with poor human rights records, most recently declaring Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had an excellent record on human rights.

READ MORE: ‘Frozen’ Labor Market Begins to Crack as Jobless Rate Rises Under Trump

“I’m very proud of the job he’s done. What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else,” Trump said on Tuesday.

MBS, according to a CIA report, authorized the gruesome murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A senior State Department official told CNN that they “are moving away from group identities, group labels, and focusing on the fact that when a person is persecuted for whatever reason, that is a violation of the moral law.”

“We’re making sure that we’re promoting individual freedom not based on some group identity,” they said.

READ MORE: Economist Sounds Stagflation Alarm as Food Costs Rise Under Trump

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