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LIES AND THE LYING LIARS THAT TELL THEM

National Security Expert: Devin Nunes Knew His Conspiracy Theories Were Lies – but He Told Them Anyway

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There Are ‘Going to Be Political Consequences’

During a CNN panel discussion, national security expert Juliette Kayyem explained that all of the facts investigators have had for months also passed through the hands of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). Still, Nunes continued to develop conspiracy theories around the Russia investigation that he knew were false.

Republican commentator Jim Schultz explained away Trump’s turn back to agree with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “conflating” Russian meddling with hacking the election in his favor. But Kayyem said that Trump doesn’t get to be “confused” over a year into his presidency.

“A 5-year-old can figure out the distinction,” she continued. “I think people like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jim are trying to support and respect the law enforcement and intelligence agencies for what they found and also rightfully defend America’s democratic system in the election in 2018, but there is no reason now to believe that the president is confused. This is purposeful.”

She went on to explain that everyone should know that it is purposeful because the evidence continues to get more and more damning. She noted that from the evidence publicly available, there is not yet proof of conspiracy, “but every piece of evidence since this administration started is heading in that direction.” At this point, she said that it’s far too late for Trump to plea ignorance.

“Or maybe sensitivity,” proposed CNN host Ana Cabrara. “If the president is too sensitive to separate collusion and meddling, is our safety at risk, Juliette?”

“Yeah, I think it is,” Kayyem confessed. “I want to focus for a variety of reasons. One, of course, it’s just really hard at this stage to look at Trump’s behavior towards Putin in Russia and view it in anything but a nefarious light. I don’t think any rational person can look at what is going on — I don’t just mean Russia. I also mean Trump undermining the EU and NATO and others. There’s no reason, except for, I think, a bad one, for the president to lean so clearly towards Putin.”

From a homeland security perspective, Kayyem said that the 2018 election is a heartbeat away and the president doesn’t see the vulnerabilities, according to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

When it came to the release of the FISA application to monitor Carter Page, Kayyem wanted to reinforce what “a big deal” it was for the FBI to release the over 400 pages.

“Devin Nunes has tried to create a story that suggested this was all based on the dossier and the FISA application,” she recalled. “He knew that was not true when he made the statements. And when the House Intelligence Committee came out with the report, that to me is — that is on Paul Ryan at this stage. If Paul Ryan could have gotten rid of Devin Nunes as a head of a House Intelligence Committee, a committee that wants, in my world, you know, the fact that House Intel Committee is like this, is just shocking. You have never seen anything like this, and I think there is going to be political consequences.”

Watch her full take below:

 

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LIES AND THE LYING LIARS THAT TELL THEM

Marco Rubio: ‘Not a Crime’ to Break Federal Law by Taking Top Secret National Security Documents From the White House

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In a rare Fox News moment, host Bret Baier reported that many are concerned about the lack of Republican “alarm” over Donald Trump absconding with at least 15 cartons of documents and other items, some of which were classified, or even “top secret” classified, and storing them in his suite at Mar-a-Lago, compared to the massive coverage the media gave the Hillary Clinton email story.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is the Ranking Member on the Intelligence Committee, and also serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, responded by saying “it’s not a crime” to break federal law – the Presidential Records Act of 1978, in this case, by removing the documents or flushing them down the toilet.

It seems odd that the Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee would be unaware of federal laws about retention of presidential documents, especially handling of classified and top-secret national security documents.

The Florida Republican also suggested Trump had turned over all the missing documents, which is false.

Rubio began by claiming he doesn’t know what’s true because “they” have made up so many stories about Trump “over the years.”

He goes on to suggest, apparently erroneously, that Hillary Clinton’s treatment of classified documents was pleaded in a federal court case.

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LIES AND THE LYING LIARS THAT TELL THEM

‘That’s a Lie!’ MSNBC’s Hayes Destroys Kayleigh McEnany for Blatantly False Claim About Trump’s COVID Tests

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MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Thursday night played a clip of then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany discussing former President Donald Trump’s timeline of COVID-19 test results after he was diagnosed with the virus last year.

Hayes played the clip during a report on former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’s claim that Trump tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 26, prior to his first debate with President Joe Biden.

“All of the evidence points to Trump having COVID, knowing he had COVID, and spending a week spreading it around while covering it up and refusing to admit he’s sick,” Hayes concluded.

READ MORE: Trump is ‘furious’ at Mark Meadows for spilling the beans about his illness last year

He went on to recall that after Trump finally announced he had COVID on Oct. 2, White House officials were “so sketchy” about when he had last tested negative — and then he played the clip of McEnany “trying to evade this simple question” on Oct. 4.

McEnany was responding to a reporter’s question about whether Trump had been tested prior to the debate on Sept. 29, or before a fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Oct. 1.

“I’m not going to give you a detailed readout with timestamps of every time the president is tested,” McEnany said. “He’s tested regularly, and the first positive test he received was after his return from Bedminster.”

“Again, I’m not giving a detailed readout of his testing, but it’s safe to say his first positive test was upon return, or at least after, Bedminster, that trip,” McEnany added.

“That’s a lie. We now know, that’s a lie. That clip there is a lie,” Hayes said, recalling that at the time, “the squirrelliness around this was hard to ignore.”

PBS News White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor agreed, saying, “When I watched Kayleigh lie there, it just reminded me of all the different times she lied, so many times, from the podium, from the White House lawn, from the stakeout location where she is in that clip.”

“It really just underscores that this was an administration that was never really playing it straight with the American people,” Alcindor said.

Watch below.

 

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LIES AND THE LYING LIARS THAT TELL THEM

Trump Issues Stunningly False Statement Criticizing Biden for ‘Attack’ on US Oil Reserves

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Donald Trump, the disgraced, former president who is reportedly planning a third campaign, on Tuesday released an exceptionally false statement criticizing President Joe Biden for taking action to combat increasing gas and home heating oil prices.

President Biden Tuesday morning announced he has authorized 50 million barrels of oil to be sold from the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserves, a move that should help lower oil and gas prices that have risen because of OPEC+ policies. Biden is making the move in conjunction with similar moves by five other countries: China, India, Japan, South Korea and the U.K.

“We expect the industry to be passing through these savings to consumers as quickly as possible,” a White House official said, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

“The president stands ready to take additional action, if needed, and is prepared to use his full authorities working in coordination with the rest of the world to maintain adequate supply as we exit the pandemic,” the White House added.

Trump, in a statement released to the press, outright lied about Biden’s move, and about his own performance and that of other U.S. Presidents.

“For decades our Country’s very important Strategic Oil Reserves were low or virtually empty in that no President wanted to pay the price of filling them up. I filled them up three years ago, right to the top, when oil prices were very low. Those reserves are meant to be used for serious emergencies, like war, and nothing else,” Trump falsely claimed.

As The New York Times’ Peter Baker notes, the Strategic Oil Reserves (technically the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,) were far from empty when Trump took office, but they were far less full when he left:

That’s not the only lie Trump told.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is authorized to hold up to 714 million barrels (in 2009 it was 727 million barrels), so they were nearly full when Trump took office. He also exposed his ignorance about how the federal government “buys” the oil. The oil is effectively traded to the government as payment (royalties) for drilling leases so presidents not wanting to “pay the price of filling them up” is false as well.

Here’s a graph from the U.S. government showing how many barrels of oil are in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves, starting in 1980. At no time were they “low or virtually empty,” not ever. The chart is highlighted to indicate the day Trump was sworn in to office:

The Reserves have been tapped about 20 times since they were first created in 1975, including to reduce the deficit in 1996 and 1997, in 2011 during the Arab Spring, and as loans to oil companies.

 

 

 

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