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Watch: Pence Demands America – Even Top Members of Congress – Blindly Trust Trump Decision to Assassinate Soleimani

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After a blowup by Republican Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul Wednesday the White House sent Vice President Mike Pence out on a media blitz Thursday morning to deflect bipartisan criticism over the rationale for President Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Pence in multiple media appearances insisted that Trump made the “right decision,” given what he claimed was the overwhelming amount of evidence that Soleimani must be taken out to avert an “imminent” attack on U.S. forces. But he also defended the administration’s refusal to produce even one iota of that evidence and share it with the American people – or even with top Members of Congress.

Insisting America must blindly trust that Trump made the right decision, Pence said even top Members of Congress, even in a classified briefing during which they would be sworn to secrecy, could not be trusted with the details, lest it compromise “what we call sources and methods.” The Vice President used that stock phrase in interviews with multiple news outlets.

Speaking with NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie on “Today” Pence replied to her questioning why the administration was refusing to deliver to Congress its justification for killing Soleimani.

“Well some of that has to do with what’s called ‘sources and methods,’ Savannah,” Pence said, condescendingly.

Conveniently, Pence insisted that “some of the most compelling evidence that Qassem Soleimani was preparing an imminent attack against American forces and American personnel also represents some of the most sensitive intelligence that we have. It could compromise those sources and methods,” Pence said, justifying why the Trump administration is refusing to comply with its obligation to at least brief the Gang of Eight.

Noteworthy is that President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office in 2017, did exactly that, and not with any Member of Congress but with top Russian officials. Trump revealed code word classified information to Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, compromising members of Israeli Intelligence.

Pence went on to say, “I can assure your viewers that those of us that saw all the evidence in real time, know that President Trump made the right decision to take Qassem Soleimani off the battlefield.”

The Vice President made the same argument on Fox News.

“Let me assure your viewers I was there every step of the way,” Pence told “Fox & Friends.”

“To protect sources and methods we’re simply not able to share with every member of the House and Senate the intelligence that supported the President’s decision to take out Qassem Soleimani,” Pence said, echoing his comments on “Today.”

“I can assure your viewers that there was a threat of an imminent attack.”

“The most compelling evidence to support intelligence to support the fact that there was an imminent attack being developed by Qassem Soleimani is frankly too sensitive to share broadly – it would compromise what we call ‘sources and methods,'” Pence again insisted.

For decades Presidents have shared with the Gang of Eight, frequently before major operations, and definitely after, why they have taken drastic action.

The Gang of Eight, who are sworn to secrecy, consists of the top two Democrats and Republicans on both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Under most circumstances the President is legally required to inform them of “significant anticipated intelligence activity,” although he can “limit access” to that intel.

CNN National Security and Legal Analyst and Lawfare Executive Editor Susan Hennessey weighs in:

 

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Carville Predicts Trump Will Get a Complete and Total ‘Whipping’

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Prominent political strategist James Carville served up some strong language and colorful remarks about President Donald Trump on Super Bowl Sunday.

On his Politicon streaming show, Carville predicted that Trump would get a complete and total “whipping,” and will be “disgraced.”

“You can knock down the East Wing. You can s — — all over the Kennedy Center. It is not gonna do any good, because the country hates you,” he declared. “They literally cannot stand you.”

“My recommendation for everybody that loves the United States, every patriotic American, and every person that is disgusted by a putrid behavior of the United States government, join the party,” Carville continued. “Because it’s coming to an end.”

READ MORE: ‘Interests of Justice’: Pirro Signs DOJ Motion to Toss Bannon Indictment

“We’re not just gonna win, people. We’re gonna win in ways that you can’t imagine,” the political consultant, author, and a Democratic pundit added. “And not only are we gonna win, we’re gonna watch these sorry, slimy people in an effort to try to save themselves — disgrace themselves, disgrace their families, disgrace their children, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren and everything else.”

Carville also denounced “spineless jellyfish” U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), while praising “these courageous athletes in Italy” at the Olympic Games.

“You see courageous people in the streets of Minneapolis. You’re gonna see courageous people, about a million, show up at the next No Kings rally.”

Carville said he doesn’t “live in an ivory tower,” but rather, walks around and talks to people: “I see the disappointment on faces of people that, for all I know, may have voted for Trump.”

“I’m looking at election results,” he added. “And what I’m watching, entire people that have had an accomplished life, that have had a life of some pride, become Lindsay Graham, the most pliable, malleable person in the history, maybe of U.S. politics.”

READ MORE: Fascism Expert Warns Trump Could Invoke Emergency Powers to Cancel the Election

“We’re gonna beat these people,” Carville vowed. “Like, you can’t even believe what is getting ready to happen to them. And then they’re gonna all be disgraced by history.”

“But you know what you can’t steal?” Carville asked. “You cannot steal the heart of the American people. You can’t steal our traditions. You can’t steal our love of progress — and we may make a mistake, but we’re gonna correct it, and you’re gonna get corrected with the mistake.”

He also vowed that “we’re gonna enjoy ourselves in November” when Trump is “disgraced, and all of the acolytes around him will be disgraced even more.”

READ MORE: ‘Toast’: Latino GOP Strategist Warns ‘Republicans Are Gonna Lose So Big in November’

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‘Interests of Justice’: Pirro Signs DOJ Motion to Toss Bannon Indictment

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Longtime Trump ally and former White House senior counselor to the president, Steve Bannon, is trying to get his 2022 conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress overturned — and now he has the support of Trump’s Department of Justice to back him up.

“DOJ is trying to help Steve Bannon erase his conviction for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee,” reports Politico’s Kyle Cheney.

Cheney noted that the DOJ’s motion “has no career prosecutor” listed, only U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. He also reported that the case had been headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” the motion reads.

Bannon served four months in prison and was released in October 2024. He was found guilty by a jury on two counts of contempt of Congress, the Associated Press reported, “one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and a second for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.”

He referred to himself as a “political prisoner” when he began serving his sentence.

READ MORE: Fascism Expert Warns Trump Could Invoke Emergency Powers to Cancel the Election

 

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Dems Ignoring ‘Biggest Political Issue’ of 2028 Race: Strategist

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Democrats are ignoring the “biggest political issue” that will define the 2028 elections — an issue with long-range consequences — a prominent political strategist warns.

Artificial intelligence — and its effects on the workforce and the economy — is a phenomenon about which some Republicans have started to sound the alarm, says Kamala Harris’s 2024 deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty. But the Democratic Party needs to be better prepared, he writes in a New York Times op-ed.

“Being told you have no agency over a force that will reshape your job prospects, your community and your family’s future is a recipe for backlash,” writes Flaherty. “Democrats shouldn’t dismiss that anger. We should be the party that channels it and does something about it.”

“The coming A.I. revolution threatens the urban professional class that constitutes a central pillar of its political coalition — which already seems too small to win a national election,” he warns. “Democrats have a chance to unite the unemployed 25-year-old software engineer in Tucson, Ariz., and the underemployed middle-age autoworker in Detroit in a coalition big enough to win nationally and locally.”

READ MORE: ‘Toast’: Latino GOP Strategist Warns ‘Republicans Are Gonna Lose So Big in November’

Flaherty points to the chief executive of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, who “has predicted that artificial intelligence could displace half of all entry-level white collar jobs within five years. Already, layoffs are on the rise. Recent college grads are struggling to find work. And even for those of us fortunate enough to be employed, our retirement savings are increasingly dependent on the fortunes of a small handful of high-growth tech companies.”

Democrats have an opening with A.I., he says. “Americans feel pessimistic about A.I. Polling indicates that they are much more concerned than excited about the increasing use of A.I. in their lives.”

The 2028 elections, “set against the backdrop of discontent with A.I., will provide an opportunity to campaign against Big Tech’s excesses and a Republican Party that has enabled them.”

Flaherty sees A.I. as an opportunity to reimagine America’s “social bargain.” Who’s in charge? Who benefits? Who are we as a nation? He says these are the questions Democrats should be asking — and “letting voters know how we answer them.”

Democrats, he adds, need to “monopolize” the issue of artificial intelligence, “lest we risk losing voters we take for granted.”

READ MORE: Fascism Expert Warns Trump Could Invoke Emergency Powers to Cancel the Election

 

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