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Thursday, June 22, 2023

John Durham Testifies the FBI Intentionally Withheld Information from Crossfire Hurricane Investigation

Daily Wire: Special Counsel John Durham said FBI agents approached him to apologize for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Durham spoke about his report that criticized the FBI over its probe into alleged links between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia (Daily Wire). Townhall: JORDAN: “Did (Comey) share it with the agents…working the Crossfire Hurricane case?!” DURHAM: “No.” JORDAN: “Can you tell the committee what happened when you took that referral memo, and shared it with one of those agents?” DURHAM: “He indicated he had never seen it before. He immediately became emotional…” JORDAN: “He was ticked off!” DURHAM: “The information was kept from them” (Twitter). Ed Morrissey: In other words, the director of the FBI knowingly withheld evidence pertinent to an FBI investigation. That resulted not just in errors made by the agents conducting the investigation that might have resulted ending what turned out to be a witch hunt, but also contributed to misrepresentations to the FISA court about the nature of the evidence they used to conduct surveillance on Trump campaign figures (HotAir). National Review: “There were some individuals who clearly expressed a personal bias,” Durham said to Representative Mike Johnson (R., La.), adding that he’ll leave it to others and the facts to determine whether the bias against Trump was also political in addition to being personal (National Review).

Riley Gaines Testifies on Capitol Hill, Describes Her Experience Swimming Against Lia Thomas

Fox News: Former college championship swimmer Riley Gaines challenged Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Wednesday after he accused Republicans of promoting “hateful rhetoric” by questioning the rights of transgender youth. Gaines was on Capitol Hill as a witness for the Senate’s hearing on LGBTQ civil rights, where Durbin said lawmakers need to be careful when talking about this issue (Fox News). RNC Research: “Sen. Durbin … you had mentioned this ‘rhetoric.’ You had mentioned ‘what message does it send to trans individuals?’ My combat to that is: what message does this send to women, to young girls … their rights to privacy and safety thrown out of the window?” Riley Gaines (Twitter). Josh Hawley: Here’s the fearless Riley Gaines explaining what it was like to have a 6’4” biological man in her locker room – and being told to shut up about it. This is the “tolerance” of the left (Twitter). Greg Price: Dem witness: “There’s been this news article about men that think they can beat Serena Williams in tennis. And it’s just not the case. She is stronger than them.” Riley Gaines: “Both Serena and Venus lost to the 203rd ranked male tennis player” (Twitter).

Biden’s HHS to Change Definition of “Person” to Exclude Humans Before Birth

Just the News: The Biden administration is pursuing the same type of “massive resistance” threatened by an earlier Democrat to frustrate school desegregation, but this time to protect abortion and potentially sterilizing treatments for gender-confused youth. The Department of Health and Human Services received more than 11,000 comments on its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and “protected health information” before it closed Friday, only 65 of which are currently accessible to the public. The proposed rulemaking, if approved, would change HIPAA’s definitions of “person” to exclude human beings before birth, “reproductive health care” to “broadly” apply to the reproductive system, and “public health” to exclude use and disclosure of PHI for investigations or proceedings related to reproductive healthcare (Just the News). John Solomon: Biden HHS proposal would shield sex crimes, coerced abortions, child sterilization (Twitter).

New York Legislature Votes to Protect Doctors Prescribing Abortion Pills to Out of State Patients

New York Times: The New York State Legislature gave final approval on Tuesday to legislation that provides legal protection for New York doctors to prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states that have outlawed abortion. The measure, along with similar new laws in several other states controlled by Democrats, could significantly expand medication abortion access by allowing more patients in states that restrict abortion to end pregnancies at home, without traveling to states where abortion is legal. The New York bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has indicated that she supports the idea of such a shield law (New York Times). Just the News: The bill builds upon legislation signed into law last year that protects medical professionals who provide telehealth abortion services. The new bill, which has yet to be signed into law, expands protections for telehealth providers (Just the News).

Latest Claim: Gas Stove Emissions are Comparable to Breathing Secondhand Smoke

First, they denied the gas stove ban was taking place. Now, there are studies supporting it. Los Angeles Times: Cooking with gas-fired stoves can cause unsafe levels of toxins to accumulate inside homes, exposing people to roughly the same cancer risk as breathing secondhand cigarette smoke, according to a new study (Los Angeles Times). Washington Free Beacon: Biden Admin Backs City of Berkeley in Bid to Ban Gas Stoves (Twitter). Guy Benson: Earlier this year, we wrote about the bizarre, seemingly out-of-nowhere, “green,” left-wing push against gas stoves. Republicans noticed this and “pounced,” in media parlance, prompting an inevitable round of an increasingly familiar leftist two-step: (1) Insisting that something is a myth invented by conspiratorial right-wingers, while (2) also arguing that the nonexistent conspiracy myth is actually good and necessary (Townhall).

House Republicans Vote to Censure Adam Schiff

Washington Examiner: The House on Wednesday voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for allegations he abused the trust of his constituents by pushing the theory former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election. As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was reading the resolution, House Democrats were chanting “Adam, Adam, Adam” in support of Schiff (Washington Examiner). RNC Research: Democrat Adam Schiff has been officially censured by the House of Representatives for abusing his position on the Intelligence Committee to repeatedly lie to the American people (Twitter).

Drug Overdoses Now Leading Cause of Death in British Columbia Due to Lenient Laws

Fox News: Half a year after the Canadian province of British Columbia decriminalized a wide range of hard drugs, including fentanyl, drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for the majority of Canadians in the region. In a press release on Monday, the office of Public Safety and Solicitor General said that 1,018 British Columbians were “lost” to drug overdoses between January and May, which represents a 2.9% increase since the same time last year (Fox News). News.gov: Unregulated drug toxicity is now the leading cause of death in British Columbia for people aged 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural disease combined. The lives of at least 12,264 British Columbians have been lost to unregulated drugs in the seven years since the public health emergency was first declared in April 2016 (News.gov).

Former CNN Producer Pleads Guilty for Paying for a Minor to Perform Sexual Acts

Associated Press: A former CNN television producer who had pleaded guilty to luring a 9-year-old girl into illegal sexual acts was sentenced Tuesday to more than 19 years in prison and an additional 15 years of supervised release during a U.S. District Court hearing in Vermont. John Griffin of Stamford, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in federal court in December to using interstate commerce to entice and coerce the girl to engage in sexual activity at his Vermont ski house. As part of the 2022 plea deal, the government dropped two remaining counts of enticement of a minor against Griffin, then 45 year old. Griffin paid the woman and girl to fly from Nevada to Boston, picked them up and drove them to his Vermont home where the girl said Griffin sexually assaulted her, court records say. He worked for CNN for about eight years but was fired after he was arrested, according to the network (Associated Press). Collin Rugg: CNN producer sentenced to 19 years in prison after convincing and paying a mother to let him rape her child. Absolutely disgusting (Twitter).

House Reintroduces Equality Act

Alliance Defending Freedom: A government-mandated view of sexuality and identity creates devastating consequences for children, women, and people of faith. Knowing this, Congress should reject laws and policies like the misnamed equality act (Twitter). Heritage Foundation: The Equality Act would force employers and workers to conform to new sexual norms or else lose their businesses and jobs. This is already happening on the state and local level. The most high profile example involves Colorado baker Jack Phillips, whose case went all the way to the Supreme Court after the Colorado Civil Rights Commission accused him of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation when he declined to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. He is not the only victim. Other cases involving disagreement over the meaning of marriage feature florists, bakers, photographers, wedding venue owners, videographers, web designers, calligraphers, and public servants. Now citizens are being punished for their views on biological sex (Heritage Foundation). Kristen Waggoner: The deceptively named “Equality Act” hides behind promises of tolerance and empowerment. In practice, it threatens real harm to women and children and discriminates against religious communities and individuals. It is a direct attack on the truth that every person is either male or female (Twitter).

10.

Explosion in Paris Ignites Fires in Nearby Buildings

USA Today: Police are investigating after a powerful blast hit a building in Paris Wednesday injuring at least 24 people, prompting the evacuation of surrounding buildings and sending plumes of smoke into the air over the city. The cause of the explosion in rue Saint-Jacques in the city’s 5th arrondissement, or district, was not immediately known but officials said a gas leak could be to blame. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters a fire broke out after the explosion near the historic Val de Grace military hospital. The police chief described some of the injuries as being critical (USA Today). Citizen Free Press: Explosion rocks Paris. Several buildings have caught fire and four people are in critical condition following blast (Twitter).