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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Contrary to Earlier Statement From White House, Biden Administration Was Involved With Trump Raid at Mar-a-Lago

Fox News: The Biden administration involved itself in the raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home despite reports that its officials were “stunned” to find out about the news on social media, according to the group America First Legal, which obtained internal government documents related to the raid through a Freedom of Information Act request (Fox News). America First Legal: The new records we obtained from our investigation into the circumstances of the Mar-a-Lago raid reveal the Biden White House & DOJ coordinated to obtain the Trump records and perhaps create a pretext for the law enforcement raid by way of a “special access request” (Twitter). Spencer Brown: One email from NARA’s General Counsel that was obtained states that Archives officials emailed former Trump administration lawyers “to tell them the Justice Department, via the Biden White House, had made the request” (Townhall).

Moscow Has Not Allowed Embassy Officials to Visit Detained WSJ Reporter

Wall Street Journal: Nearly two weeks after Russian security agents picked up Evan Gershkovich at a restaurant during a reporting trip, Moscow still hasn’t granted U.S. Embassy officials permission to visit The Wall Street Journal reporter in detention—a pattern that follows other cases of American citizens jailed in Russia (Wall Street Journal). ABC: President Joe Biden spoke to the family of Evan Gershkovich White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. The president “felt it was really important to connect with Evan’s family,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening,” Biden told reporters on the tarmac as he boarded the plane. The Gershkovich family said that it was encouraged by both the State Department’s announcement and the president’s call (ABC).

Walmart to Close Half of Stores in Chicago

They are not citing crime as a reason for the loss in revenue, but we all know that is a contributing factor. Bloomberg: Walmart Inc. is closing four stores in Chicago, halving its footprint in the third-largest US city after years of mounting losses. The closings mark a retreat for the nation’s largest retailer, which faces tough competition in Chicago from the likes of Target Corp., Albertsons Cos. and Aldi. Walmart said it had tried and failed to improve its performance by building smaller stores, localizing its merchandise offerings and investing $70 million in recent years on store upgrades, health facilities and a training center (Bloomberg). Walmart: The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years (Walmart).

DNC’s 2024 Convention to be Held in Chicago

Townhall: Democrats, apparently still lacking any healthy amount of self-awareness, have picked a host city for their party’s 2024 convention and it’s the perfect site to marvel at the dangerous failures of Democrat policies: Chicago. Nothing says “look at what Democrats can do!” quite like a city ravaged by crime and run by Lori Lightfoot who was such a successful Democrat leader that her overwhelmingly Democrat constituents fired her unceremoniously and chose an even more radical Democrat (Townhall). Ronna McDaniel: The failed Democrat agenda in Chicago has led to closed schools, corruption, shuttered businesses, surging violent crime, and people fleeing the city. It’s the perfect symbol for what Democrat “leadership” has to offer (Twitter). Jim Banks: Fitting that Democrats chose Chicago, where violent crime is up by 33% since 2019, to host their national convention (Twitter).

California Attempting to Make it More Challenging to Change Bad State Laws

Wall Street Journal: Democrats hold every statewide office in California and super-majorities in California’s Legislature. Apparently that’s not enough. So now they are seeking to entrench this power by making it harder for voters to block their laws. Unions and green groups are pushing legislation that would create enormous new hurdles to ballot initiatives that repeal or alter laws passed within the prior two years. The so-called “ballot reforms” are intended to stop “well-powered set of interests that often undermine the collective will of the people of California,” says the bill’s Assembly sponsor Isaac Bryan. By well-powered interests, he means the voters. His legislation would undermine direct democracy while cementing union and progressive power. The sum of all this is to create a procedural minefield that voters would have to navigate if they want to challenge a new state law. Make even a small paperwork mistake, and tens of thousands of voter signatures could get nullified (Wall Street Journal).

DOJ Provides Congressional Leaders Access to Classified Materials Recovered in Homes of Biden, Trump and Pence

ABC: The Justice Department has started to provide access to a group of bipartisan congressional leaders some of the classified materials recovered from the residences of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence. Administration officials began sharing the documents with House and Senate leadership as well as the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees — known as the “Gang of Eight” — last week (ABC). USA Today: The Department of Justice previously briefed the Gang of Eight on the classified documents but withheld the documents from direct review by the lawmakers. The department defended its decision to not share the documents, saying it could interfere with ongoing special counsel investigations. Even then, lawmakers asserted that they are entitled to the documents, citing national security concerns and future efforts from Congress to protect classified information (USA Today).

Whole Foods is Latest Company to Shut Down Store in San Francisco Citing Crime

National Review: One of the largest supermarkets in downtown San Francisco closed its doors this week due to deteriorating street conditions nearby. Increased drug use and crime near the Whole Foods on Eighth and Market, which opened just one year ago, contributed to the store’s closing… The crime wave that has hit that city shows no sign of abating. San Francisco has been experiencing lower foot traffic due to remote work, which has caused many small business to shut down and street conditions to deteriorate. The city’s ability to deal with its continued problems is compounded by a deficit which has ballooned to nearly $800 million (National Review). Daily Wire: Crime in San Francisco has been blamed for severely diminishing the quality of life and contributing to a mass exodus of residents and businesses. Pharmacy giant Walgreens closed several locations in the city, while technology retailer Best Buy has struggled with safety issues related to organized retail crime. Technology companies such as Tesla and Oracle were among the 352 companies that moved their headquarters from northern California over the past four years (Daily Wire).

DA Alvin Bragg Files Lawsuit Against Jim Jordan to Deter Accountability

Wall Street Journal: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and its GOP chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, alleging Republican lawmakers were illegitimately interfering with his prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges Mr. Jordan and his committee have mounted a “brazen and unconstitutional attack” on Mr. Bragg’s investigation of Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, is asking a federal judge to block a subpoena that the House committee served on Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor who worked on the Trump investigation (Wall Street Journal). Rep. Jim Jordan: First, they indict a president for no crime. Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it (Twitter).

Leaked Intel Documents Show Egypt President Planned on Producing, Sending Russia 40,000 Rockets

Fox News: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi hatched a plan with his top aides to produce and ship up to 40,000 rockets to Russia, which has depleted its supply of ammunition during the 13-month invasion of Ukraine, according to leaked U.S. intelligence documents. The top secret documents are part of a trove of classified material that has been leaked on various social media sites in recent months. If the documents concerning Egypt are true, it could upend America’s relationship with one of its closest allies in the Middle East and North Africa (Fox News). Washington Post: Providing arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine would represent a potentially explosive gambit for Egypt, a nation that, despite deepening ties with Moscow, remains deeply invested in its partnership with the United States, which for decades has provided the Karol country more than $1 billion a year in security aid (Washington Post).

10.

Democrats States Beginning to Stockpile Abortion Pills

National Review: States like California and Washington are rushing to stockpile thousands of abortion pills after a Texas judge suspended FDA approval of mifepristone, which is part of a regimen that constitutes the most common method of procuring an abortion. California negotiated and purchased an emergency stockpile of misoprostol. More than 250,000 pills have already arrived and 2 million more are able to be purchased through CalRx. Washington state has purchased 30,000 doses of mifepristone through the state’s correctional system and an additional 10,000 through the University of Washington (National Review). Washington Times: The Justice Department is seeking a stay of the Texas decision before it goes into effect later this week. Experts say it is unclear whether mifepristone will be yanked from the market if the Texas ruling goes into effect. The Food and Drug Administration could, for instance, say it has enforcement discretion and not go after pharmacists who dole out the drug (Washington Times).