Rice-A-Ruined
Former Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice is having a bad day. You remember Ms. Rice. After the attack in Benghazi, Rice was sent on every Sunday TV talk show to tell the American people that the violence was a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Islam video. That was a lie.
When the Obama Administration secured the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from the Taliban, Rice defended the prisoner swap by claiming Bergdahl "served the United States with honor and distinction." Whoops! He has been charged with desertion and endangering his fellow soldiers.
Last month on the PBS NewsHour Rice said, "I know nothing about this." The "this" were reports that Trump officials were swept up in an incidental intelligence collection by the Obama Administration.
This morning multiple sources including the Daily Caller, investigative reporter Eli Lake, and others are reporting that Susan Rice not only knew about the monitoring but was the individual who requested that individuals be "unmasked," in the raw intelligence data. Later the reports with the exposed names were spread by the Obama Administration throughout the government, leading to distorted press leaks that clearly have hurt the Trump/Pence Administration.
The Daily Caller quotes Retired Colonel James Waurishuk, an NSC veteran and former deputy director for intelligence at the U.S. Central Command, as saying, "It's unbelievable of the level and degree of the administration to look for information on Donald Trump and his associates, his campaign team and his transition team. This is really, really serious stuff."
Keep in mind that this widespread monitoring did not uncover any illegal activity by President Trump or his team. If it had, you can be sure it would have been leaked by now!
Some U.S. senators have demanded that Rice be called before Congress "to testify under oath." And even big left-wing media is concerned. CBS finally reported on this story last night - for 45 seconds! And the New York Times ran a story this morning on page 14!
And this just in: Susan Rice, who earlier said she "knows nothing" about the controversy, just admitted that she requested names be "unmasked" but the request had nothing to do with politics.
Meanwhile Back At The White House
Does anyone sleep in the Trump Administration? Every day the Trump/Pence team continues to move forward on multiple fronts. With little fanfare, the strategy discussion within the GOP on how best to get rid of Obamacare may be getting solved. President Trump and GOP Senator Rand Paul, a critic, discussed solutions over the weekend.
Yesterday Vice President Pence went to Capitol Hill for a closed-door meeting with the "Tuesday Group" of GOP moderates. Then last night he headed back to the Hill to meet with the conservative Freedom Caucus. Reportedly progress was made in the discussions. Some insiders believe there could be another effort to bring up the legislation in the next few weeks.
New Justice by Midnight Friday!
We told you yesterday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is intent on a filibuster of Judge Gorsuch. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly made it clear he will move to reform the Senate rules to prevent it.
Both McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley announced that "one way or the other" Judge Gorsuch will be confirmed by midnight Friday! If they are right, it will be a huge victory in the defense of our Constitution.