CONGRESS INVESTIGATING OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR DECEPTION ON IRAN DEAL

On a tip from ed Kilbane

State Department: Iran Never Signed Nuclear Deal, Which Isn't 'Legally Binding'

Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon reports that Congress is investigating whether the Obama administration misled lawmakers last summer about the extent of concessions granted to Iran under the nuclear deal. It is also looking into whether administration officials have been quietly rewriting the deal’s terms.

The investigation stems from statements by top administration officials last week suggesting that Iran is set to receive weapons and sanctions relief the administration had promised Congress would not occur back when Team Obama was promoting the deal last summer. The invaluable Rep. Mike Pompeo put it this way:

When multiple officials—including Secretary Kerry, Secretary Lew, and Ambassador Mull—testify in front of Members of Congress, we are inclined to believe them. However, the gap between their promises on the Iran nuclear deal and today’s scary reality continues to widen. 

We are now trying to determine whether this was intentional deception on the part of the administration or new levels of disturbing acquiescence to the Iranians.

Either way, it sounds like treachery.

What are the instances of misrepresentation that concern Pompeo and others? For one thing, according to Kredo, congressional leaders are concerned that the administration no longer considers recent Iranian ballistic missile tests a “violation” of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which codifies the nuclear deal.

Top administration officials including Secretary of State John Kerry assured Congress that Iran would be legally prohibited from carrying out ballistic missile tests under the resolution. In response to a question from Sen. Menenedez, Kerry insisted that old language banning Iranian ballistic missile launches had been imported unchanged into the new UNSCR. Similarly, ambassador Stephen Mull, our Lead Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation, said that such missile launches would continue to be banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions. 

But these statements now appear to be “inoperative.” Last week, U.N. ambassador Samantha Power refused to call recent Iranian launches a “violation” in a letter she signed criticizing those launches.

Second, Treasury Department officials are suggesting that the administration is now set to grant Iran non-nuclear sanctions relief, including indirect access to the U.S. financial system, weeks after top Iranian officials began demanding this form of relief. Top administration figures, including Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, had promised Congress that pre-existing restrictions barring Iran from accessing the U.S. financial system in any way would remain in place even after the nuclear deal. 

Here is what Lew said on July 23 of last year: 

But a number of key sanctions will remain in place. . .Iranian banks will not be able to clear U.S. dollars through New York, hold correspondent account relationships with U.S. financial institutions, or enter into financing arrangements with U.S. banks. Iran, in other words, will continue to be denied access to the world’s largest financial and commercial market. The JCPOA makes only minor allowances to this broad prohibition.

This statement now appears to be “inoperative.”

Team Obama’s duplicity apparently has generated dissension within the administration. Kredo reports that in a letter to the State Department, Rep. Peter Roskam and Lee Zeldin complained that the administration is stifling voices within its ranks for stronger action against Iran. Roskam and Zeldin suggested that the administration is “putting the JCPOA [the Iran deal] and political legacy above the safety and security of the American people.”

I suspect that putting the Iran deal above the safety and security of the American people will be a major part of President Obama’s legacy.

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My prediction is nothing will come out of this investigation because when it comes to leadership we have none in the House and Senate.

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Oh... and let's not forget about this recent weapons seizure.

US Navy: Weapons shipment from Iran to likely Yemen seized

CONGRESS INVESTIGATING OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR DECEPTION ON IRAN DEAL

Trump to NYT on Heidi Cruz retweet: 'Yeah, it was a mistake'

This I didn't know and strikes me has odd for someone who seeks the approval of evangelicals.

Trump is so exceptional he has never had to ask God for forgiveness. This is without a doubt the most asinine thing he ever said...assuming he really believes in God. 

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Washington (CNN)Donald Trump admitted to The New York Times on Saturday that retweeting an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz was a mistake and that he would not do it again if given the opportunity. 

"Yeah, it was a mistake," he told columnist Maureen Dowd. "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have sent it."

Dowd was asking about an incident last month in which Trump retweeted a picture of Cruz, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's wife, during a spat involving a nude photo of Trump's wife, Melania, that was circulated by an anti-Trump super PAC.

It was a rare moment of contrition for Trump, who has previously said he has never asked God for forgiveness and who told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday that one of the most recent apologies he could remember was to his mother years ago for using foul language.

The Times interview also was posted after a week in which the Republican front-runner made headlines for his comments on abortion and the arrest of his campaign manager in an incident involving a female reporter.

Asked if he was ever involved with a woman who had an abortion, Trump declined to answer.

"Such an interesting question," he said. "So what's your next question?"

Trump insisted his controversial comments to MSNBC host Chris Matthews -- in which he said there should be "some form of punishment" for women who get abortions if the procedure was outlawed -- was in response to a hypothetical question.

"This was not real life," he said. "This was a hypothetical, so I thought of it in terms of a hypothetical. So that's where that answer came from, hypothetically."

As for the Lewandowski incident, Trump responded affirmatively when asked if it would have been better if his campaign manager had called Fields to apologize for the incident.

"You're right, but from what I understand it wouldn't have mattered," he said.

Trump to NYT on Heidi Cruz retweet: 'Yeah, it was a mistake'

20,000 KILLER BEES attack Muslims at Arizona mosque

Unfortunately, none were donned in suicide vests.

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More than 20 people were stung and one hospitalized when a swarm of up to 20,000 killer bees invaded a Phoenix mosque Friday afternoon.

The incident occurred at the Muslim Community Mosque near 32nd Street and McDowell Road, ABC 15 reported. 

The road outside the mosque was shut down and fire crews dispatched to spray the building with foam in order to quell the swarms of angry bees.

Attacked: Covered by blankets, worshipers at the Muslim Community Mosque in Phoenix flee the swarm of up to 20,000 killer bees that attacked them Friday afternoon. The bees' nest was located in the mosque's eaves

Foam: Firefighters coated the mosque with a foam to quell the bees. Killer bees, officially known as Africanized bees, are a particularly aggressive strain of bee

Mosque worshippers run for cover from swarm of killer bees.

The bees had formed a nest under the eaves of the mosque. One mosque worker there told Azfamily.com that a man had already been booked for Saturday to remove the nest but the bees attacked earlier than expected.

Nearby residents were told to stay in their homes. John Chavarria, one such local, told ABC 15 that he witnessed the attack from his house. 

'I don't know, it was just crazy how everyone was running everywhere,' he said.

Miming swatting at bees around his head, he continued: 'They were making some movements like that ... some people would even fall in the grass over there and then they'd get up and start running.

'I can’t believe they had the whole street blocked off for the bees.' 

Some worshipers used blankets to protect themselves from the swarm, but more than 20 were stung 'multiple times' and one 24-year-old man hospitalized, although everyone was said to be in stable condition. 

One man told Azfamily.com that he was stung on the face in five different places.

The bees are believed to have been disturbed by the mosque's speakers, which are located next to their nest.

20,000 KILLER BEES attack Muslims at Arizona mosque

State Dept. Halts Clinton Email Investigation, Defers to FBI

Well, looks like the sh** is about to hit the fan. If Killary's own State Department found 22 emails that should have been "Top Secret" God only knows what the FBI has found!

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The U.S. Department of State has halted its internal review of Hillary Clinton's most sensitive emails until the FBI's own investigation is complete, the State Department announced today.

"We do not want our internal review to complicate or impede [the FBI probe]," spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. "We are prioritizing the law enforcement investigation."

In January the department revealed that during its review of Clinton's 52,000 pages of private email it had come across 22 documents that had to be upgraded to "Top Secret" and totally withheld from public release. It said at the time that it would conduct a separate internal review to determine if the secret information in those emails had been mishandled at the time the emails were sent.

State Dept. Deems 22 Clinton Emails Top Secret, Refuses to Release Them

Hillary Clinton's Emails: The Final Batch Released

Today the State Department said it is deferring that judgment to the FBI, which is conducting a more comprehensive security review of Clinton's email. The outcome of that investigation is highly anticipated amid the 2016 election cycle. Clinton has said she is confident that will not happen and that she did not break any laws with her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

A department spokesman said it is standard practice to allow a law enforcement agency to first complete its work before any parallel investigation is done. Trudeau called the move announced today a prudent "procedural matter."

In March the FBI responded to a formal inquiry from the State Department about how it should proceed with its internal review. It recommended that the State Department follow standard practice and put its investigation on hold.

The State Department has not ruled out conducting its own review after the FBI investigation is complete, with Trudeau saying her agency will "reassess" at the appropriate time.

The FBI is expected to interview Clinton's closest aides and the presidential candidate may also be part of its investigation. It's not clear when the investigation will be completed. The FBI has not formally named Clinton as a target and she has not been accused of any crimes.

State Dept. Halts Clinton Email Investigation, Defers to FBI

Va. trooper's killer reportedly hated cops, stoking new fears of anti-police climate

This story gets next to no play. This is the waste of skin who shot him.

 James Brown III

Imagine the hype this would have received if the cop said he hated blacks. Thankfully Brown's killing days are over. After reading his criminal record it makes one wonder why was he back on the street. 

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The Virginia state trooper murdered during a training exercise at a bus station Thursday was gunned down by an ex-con who reportedly harbored a deep-seated hatred of police -- and law enforcement leaders say it’s the latest example of a growing anti-cop climate that's putting their men and women in danger.

Trooper Chad Dermyer, a 37-year-old decorated Marine vet and married father of two, was one of a dozen Virginia State Police troopers taking part in the training at a Greyhound bus terminal in Richmond when a confrontation with the gunman, identified by Virginia State Police as James Brown III, turned violent.

"He had a lot of anger about the police in the past," Edith Brown told Richmond TV station WTVR of her nephew, who was shot and killed by state police. "He said he would never go back to prison again... he would fight it out with them."

“Like so many brave Virginia men and women, Trooper Dermyer put on a uniform and risked his life every day to keep us safe, first as a U.S. Marine and then as a police officer.”

- Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe

Brown, 34, previously had been charged with crimes ranging from domestic battery to murder and was last known to be living in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Ill., WTVR reported. It was not known what he was doing in Virginia’s capital.

"He pretty much thought he wanted to be infamous... in terms of having a showdown,” Edith Brown told the station. “He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police."

Investigators are piecing together what sparked the shooting, Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty said, adding that the troopers were practicing interdiction.

"We've got a lot of evidence to sift through," Flaherty said.

Police said the incident occurred at 2:40 p.m., when Dermyer approached a man just inside the bus station. The man pulled out a handgun and shot the trooper, who was wearing fatigues and no protective vest, multiple times. Two state troopers who were nearby returned fire, and the gunman ran into a restaurant inside the terminal, police said.

Even after police subdued the shooter, and as EMS workers aided him, he continued to be combative, police said. He died later at VCU Medical Center. His gun was recovered, police said.

Details about the training exercise were scant. Police called it “specialized training on criminal interdiction practices,” and said the troopers had completed the classroom instruction and were conducting field practicals at the time the shooting unfolded.

“Trooper Dermyer’s encounter with the male subject was part of the training,” police said in a statement.

Dermyer, who also died later Thursday at VCU Medical Center, was originally from Jackson, Mich., and had graduated from the Virginia State Police Academy in 2014. He had recently transferred to the state police CounterTerrorism and Criminal Interdiction Unit.

Prior to becoming a trooper, Dermyer had been a police officer in Newport News, Va., and in his hometown. He also served in the Marines for four years.

State and national law enforcement advocates said they are increasingly concerned with an anti-police climate arising from a series of high-profile, racially-charged incidents that they say is getting police officers killed.

“Officers feel like they are targeted and they are being singled out for murder,” Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, told FoxNews.com. “There is a climate out there that increasingly says it is open season on police.”

The Officer Down Memorial Page, which tabulates line-of-duty deaths for law enforcement officers throughout the nation, has overall deaths down slightly year-to-date, but the number killed by gunfire – 15 – is up 150 percent through the first quarter, and on a pace for 60 for the year. In all of 2015, 39 police officers were killed by gunfire, according to the website.

In one particularly deadly week for police around the nation, five police officers were shot to death:

Mesa County, Colo., Sheriff's Deputy Derek Geer was gunned down responding to reports of a person walking with a gun. A 17-year-old suspect has been charged with his murder.

Two Hartford County, Md., sheriff’s deputies, Patrick Dailey, and Mark Logsdon, were killed in a shootout at a Panera Bread in Abingdon, by a wanted man they sought to detain.

Fargo, N.D., Police Officer Jason Moszer, 33, a six-year police veteran, was also killed while responding to a domestic dispute.

Riverdale, Ga., Police Officer Greg Barney was killed exercising a no-knock search warrant at a suspect’s apartment complex.

Law enforcement advocates in Virginia share Johnson’s concern that anger at police could be making the job of protecting citizens more dangerous than ever, said Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.

“We are very much concerned about the image of law enforcement in this climate,” said Schrad, whose offices are in Richmond. “To be turned on by the public in this kind of hostile fashion, where Trooper Dermyer was apparently targeted by this individual because he was an officer of the law, is very disturbing.”

Prior to becoming a trooper, Dermyer had been a police officer in Newport News, Va., and in his hometown. He also served in the Marines for four years. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe praised Dermyer for a career spent serving and protecting Americans.

“Like so many brave Virginia men and women, Trooper Dermyer put on a uniform and risked his life every day to keep us safe, first as a U.S. Marine and then as a police officer,” McAuliffe said. “This is a loss that impacts us all. It should inspire prayers for the family, friends and fellow troopers who are mourning tonight, and gratitude for those who protect and serve.“

A prayer vigil for Dermyer will be held Friday evening 6:30 p.m. on the sidewalk area across from the Greyhound Bus Terminal the tragic event occurred.

Va. trooper's killer reportedly hated cops, stoking new fears of anti-police climate