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McCarthy Now Fundraising Off Giving Tucker Carlson ‘44,000 Hours’ of J6 Capitol Security Video as Democrats Blast Decision

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As every major news outlet – except one – last week was focused on the nearly 200-page court document detailing text messages and other communications from Fox News top hosts and even Rupert Murdoch admitting Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” was a lie while they continued to promote it for ratings, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was handing over to top Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson tens of thousands of hours of U.S. Capitol security camera footage from the January 6 insurrection.

And now, he’s fundraising off his efforts that could endanger not only the Capitol Police, but every person work works in the Capitol Building, every lawmakers, every aide, and every person who visits.

“Patriot, you deserve the facts – all of the facts. I promised I would give you the truth regarding January 6th, and now I am delivering. I have released the full 44,000 hours of uncut camera surveillance footage, McCarthy says in a fundraising email posted by Bloomberg’s Emily Wilkins.

His claim is at best inaccurate. He did not “release” the footage, he haded it over to one man — not even to just one network, but one man, Tucker Carlson, who will use it on his Fox News cable show, his Fox Nation streaming show, and his radio show. “Releasing” the footage would have been allowing more than one news entity access to it.

READ MORE: ‘Going for the Jugular’: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Subpoenaed by ‘Tenacious’ Special Counsel – Legal Experts Respond

“It is in the public interest to know everything that happened that day – not just the narrative that Pelosi’s partisan committee wanted you to see ahead of the 2022 midterm elections,” McCarthy says. “We made a Commitment to America – a commitment to YOU – when we asked for your vote last fall. A commitment to ALL of America requires truth and transparency over partisan games. Now, we are delivering. Would you consider chipping in $25, $50, or $100 to help House Republicans keep delivering on our commitments to America?”

McCarthy isn’t just fundraising off the footage, he used the promise of releasing it to get elected Speaker.

“During the multi-day stalemate last month,” when the House voted 15 times before electing McCarthy Speaker, writes The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona. “Tucker Carlson told the ‘Never Kevin’ holdouts that McCarthy shouldn’t be speaker unless he agreed to release all the video footage from the Jan. 6 insurrection. Three days later, McCarthy finally got the votes.”

Handing the footage over to Carlson, a propagandist is so dangerous the Capitol Police are reportedly trying to quash it.

READ MORE: Watch: Alaska GOP Lawmaker Says It’s a ‘Benefit to Society’ When ‘Child Abuse Is Fatal’ Because There’s a ‘Cost Savings’

Politico, citing a source, on Tuesday reported Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger “told associates he didn’t learn of the arrangement between McCarthy and Carlson until it began publicly circulating Monday. Capitol Police have been extremely reluctant to share large swaths of their security footage, citing potential risks to lawmakers, aides and officers tasked with protecting the building.”

House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland also was not told of the deal with Carlson.

And while Politico claims “Any move to send Carlson or his associates those video files may require approval from the Capitol Police Board,” it appears Carlson’s team already has been poring over it for the past week.

How did that happen?

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), Chair of the House Administration Committee, “requested Capitol Police set up a terminal to view the footage in late Jan.,” according to CNN’s Annie Grayer. “At some point unbeknownst to Cap. Police, Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Carlson access to the terminal.”

That could have national security implications well into the future.

Democrats in the House and Senate are furious.

“Kevin McCarthy undermines security on Capitol Hill – in ways officials say could endanger the safety of Capitol Police officers – to feed January 6 footage to a propagandist who downplayed the attack on the Capitol. Now McCarthy is using that to raise money. Absolutely appalling,” says U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday in a “Dear Colleague” letter blasted McCarthy’s “egregious” act. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday issued a separate “Dear Colleague” letter warning that McCarthy was “needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11.”

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Melania Trump Hails Herself as a ‘Visionary’ at Women’s History Month Event

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First Lady Melania Trump, in remarks at a White House Women’s History Month celebration, hailed herself as a “visionary” as she gave advice to guests.

“As a visionary, I know success is not born overnight, but rather takes shape after long, and sometimes challenging process,” the First Lady said. She also described herself as “a mother, humanitarian, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.”

Mrs. Trump also mentioned her new film, “Melania,” saying that she “shaped its creative direction, served as a producer, managed post production and activated the marketing campaign.”

Noting that “curiosity is a core value” that keeps her “ahead of the curve,” she said that her “unrestricted mindset” has led her to “build across very different sectors,” including, “fashion, digital assets, publishing, accessories, skincare, commercial television, and of course, filmmaking.”

Sharing advice and personal experience, Mrs. Trump told the audience, “Often alone at the top, I follow my passion. Listen to my instincts, and always maintain a laser focus.”

She also declared that the “strength of America is closely tied to the role women play in shaping their children’s character, education, and morals. The values cultivated within our communities shape the voice and vision of our next generation.”

“A woman’s influence strengthens our democracy, capital markets, and time-tested business institutions,” she said. “Across the country today, women are finding unique ways to balance career, ambition, and family.”

Image via Reuters 

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‘Seems to Be No Plan’ Expert Says on Trump Securing Iran’s Nuclear Material to End War

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President Donald Trump says he is bombing Iran so it “does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” but a veteran nuclear policy expert is blasting his war strategy, warning there appears to be no plan to secure Iran’s nuclear stockpile — a failure that could leave the U.S. in the “worst of all worlds” while Iran is “holding all the nuclear cards.”

“This may be the worst planned war in history,” Joe Cirincione told Mother Jones. “I see no sign that they knew what they were doing. It seemed to be just literally bomb, bomb, bomb. There didn’t seem to be a plan for how you were going to get at that particular material. If there is one, it hasn’t emerged.”

He warns, “there seems to be no plan for how to end this war.”

“Almost all wars end by some sort of negotiation,” Cirincione says. “If you project forward several weeks, it’s going to have to end. Usually there’s some sort of arrangement that’s made to end a war.”

But, he says, President Trump “seems to be flying by the seat of his pants and making this up as it goes along,” so “we just don’t know.”

READ MORE: Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

Cirincione warns that “it’s possible that Trump has put us into the worst of all possible worlds. He’s made it impossible for us to have a negotiated solution to this. And we can’t use any military means to solve the problem. So we’re left in this worst of all worlds, which is Iran is holding all the nuclear cards at the end of this war.”

Mother Jones reports that “with his war in Iran, Trump has created a big, possibly catastrophic problem: A half-ton of highly enriched uranium, which can be made bomb-ready, is somewhere…out there—available for use by Iran’s new regime or perhaps not fully secured and susceptible to theft or expropriation.”

So, what are the options?

“The United States either has to conduct some high-risk military maneuver where we would land people from the 82nd Airborne or an Israeli commando unit into the site at Isfahan and try to find the uranium, go down hundreds of meters underground, retrieve the uranium and pull it out or perhaps destroy it on site,” says Cirincione. He calls it “a high risk proposition.”

“What you’re left with is really the only other solution where we started: a negotiated deal.”

President Barack Obama signed one with Iran. Trump tore it up during his first term.

With a negotiated deal, “You have to get Iran’s agreement to secure that material, declare it, allow inspectors, and then either secure it under inspection or downblend it—the process in reverse, bring it down to a 3-percent or 4-percent level. That’s the only two solutions to this problem.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

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Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

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President Donald Trump says not only does he not know if his war against Iran will help win him the Nobel Peace Prize, he also doesn’t care, and doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Trump claimed to have ‘no idea’ if Operation Epic Fury will ‘get him over the finish line’ with committee members,'” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday, after a telephone call with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not interested in it.”

“No, I don’t talk about the Nobel Prize,” Trump also said, when asked if the topic came up in his recent talks with foreign leaders.

The Examiner’s Christian Datoc, who spoke to the president, reported via video that Trump “appears to be having a massive about-face about winning the Nobel Peace Prize amid his war with Iran.”

“He told me over the phone that he’s not sure if he’s deserving of this award anymore,” Datoc added. “This is a massive change in the president’s rhetoric from really anything he’s said over the past thirteen months.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

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