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Author: Kemberlee Kaye

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Kemberlee Kaye

Kemberlee Kaye is the Senior Contributing Editor of Legal Insurrection, where she has worked since 2014 and is the Director of Operations and Editorial Development for the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She also serves as the Managing Editor for CriticalRace.org, a research project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation.

She has a background working in immigration law, and as a grassroots organizer, digital media strategist, campaign lackey, and muckraker. Over the years Kemberlee has worked with FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and US Senate re-election campaigns, among others. 

Kemberlee, her daughter, and her son live a lovely taco-filled life in their native Texas.

You can reach her anytime via email at kk @ legalinsurrection.com.

Judicial Watch obtained records that could implicate State Department officials in Hillary Clinton's ongoing email scandal. According to those records, State Department officials planned to provide Clinton with a non-DOS computer.
Judicial Watch announced today that it recently received records from the Department of State disclosing plans by senior State Department officials to set up a “stand-alone PC” so that Clinton could check her emails in an office “across the hall” through a separate, non-State Department computer network system. Referencing the special Clinton computer system, Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy, writes Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, “The stand-alone separate network PC is a great idea.” The emails are from January 23-24, 2009, a few days after Clinton was sworn in as Secretary of State. The new emails were obtained by Judicial Watch in response a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for State Department records about Hillary Clinton’s separate email system (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00689)).

Welcome to our Iowa Caucus open thread. We'll be updating periodically, so be sure to refresh your browser for the latest. Caucus results will posted in a separate thread beginning at 8:00 PM ET, when the Caucus begins.

How does the Iowa Caucus work?

First things first. The Iowa Caucus explained:

Privacy advocates are not going to like this one. Vigilant Solutions, a vehicle surveillance broker has offered access to its, "massive automated license plate reader databases," to Texas law enforcement agencies. The catch? Vigilant receives access to outstanding court fees and receives 25% of any delinquent fines. Wired has the story:
Vehicle surveillance broker Vigilant Solutions has offered Texas law enforcement agencies “free” access to its massive automated license plate reader databases and analytical tools— but only if the police give Vigilant access to all of their data on outstanding court fees and hand the company a 25 percent surcharge from money collected from drivers with outstanding court fines. Vigilant also gets to keep a copy of any license-plate data collected by the police, even after the contract ends, and can retain it indefinitely.

Watching the rise of this new populism, one of my many concerns is whether the charlatans wearing the cape of Conservatism will damage its value, diminish its meaning, and in general, confuse those who know no difference. But then I see people like Sen. Sasse and I'm somewhat relieved. At least briefly.

Welcome to our live coverage of the GOP presidential primary debate. The main stage debate begins at 9:00 EST. For the hottest takes on the Republican primary cluster, see here. The prime time debate will include:
  • Sen. Ted Cruz
  • Sen. Marco Rubio
  • Dr. Ben Carson
  • Gov. Jeb Bush
  • Gov. Chris Christie
  • Gov. John Kasich
  • Sen. Rand Paul

Video Highlights

Welcome to our pre-debate open thread. I'll be updating periodically until the festivities begin. Refresh your browser frequently for the latest updates... if you dare.

Tonight's debate

Back on the main stage: Sen. Rand Paul Joining the undercard for the second time ever: Jim Gilmore Throwing his own party: Donald Trump Our coverage of the debate will begin just before 9:00 ET. No undercard coverage from us this time. What will a Trumpless debate look like? It will have much better hair! Hey-o. Tip your waitresses. I'll be here all week. Seriously. I will be here all week. But seriously, with Trump gone, we have a few possible scenarios:

For the first time ever, primary voters will be required to furnish identification before voting in New Hampshire's primary elections February 9. First implemented in New Hampshire's 2012 general election cycle, the goal is to crack down on voter fraud.

"Getting rid of Assad" often comes up as a throw away line in political discourse, particularly during Republican presidential debates. Overthrowing or replacing Bashar al Assad would be easy enough, the U.S. has deposed and replaced plenty of tyrants in its day, but seldom does anyone discuss what would happen in this fictions scenario after Assad gets the boot. Danielle Pletka, Senior Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at AEI explains:

Part 1:

Explore the five groups that could have Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in their crosshairs.

A subcommittee of Portland Community College's Cascade Campus Diversity Council has declared April 2016 Whiteness History Month. They hope to, "inspire innovative and practical solutions to community issues and social problems that stem from racism." According to Oregon Live, Whiteness History Month is the brainchild of PCC faculty and staff. Different from other heritage months, Whiteness History Month is not a celebration though. It's all about social constructs, racism, and multiculturalism. Or something:
The Project seeks to challenge the master narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness. Challenging the master narrative of traditional curriculum is a strategy within higher education that promotes multicultural education and equity.
The event's Statement of Purpose could've been penned by Rachel Dolezal. "Whiteness is a state of consciousness," and not about the color of skin, they contend. Skin color? That's just plain ol' "white."

The same minds that brought you Ted Cruz's machine gun bacon, Lindsey Graham experimenting with the best ways to destroy a cell phone after Donald Trump gave his phone number to a raucous crowd, and Ann Romney's tips for on being a freakin' awesome grandma, bring you "How To Get Revenge with a Football" by Marco Rubio. Cameos include Sen. Cory Gardner, CNN Commentator S.E. Cupp, Rep. Trey Gowdy, Dr. Ben Carson, WMAL's Larry O'Connor, and more.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says ISIS's fake document industry is booming. After obtaining blank passports, ISIS has successfully printed virtually undetectable counterfeits. It's unclear whether any of these fake passports have been used to enter the United States.

I'm not sure if this was meant to be an oppo-dump or just funny, but it's certainly the latter. A video posted to a YouTube account called "Young Ted Cruz" Saturday shows an 18-year-old Sen. Cruz sitting next to a fountain at Second Baptist School in Houston, Texas talking about his life goals. “Aspirations? Is that like sweat on my butt?” joked Cruz. Teen Cruz had big hopes and dreams like one day starring in a "teen tit film." But if that didn't work out, he'd be content to "take over the world, world domination, you know -- rule everything."

Professor Click, Missouri Communication Professor, has been charged with class C assault for her actions during campus protests last year, according to local news. Click appears to swat a reporter wanting to interview her during a student protest last year:

Democratic presidential frontrunner, Hillary Clinton recently co-opted Obamacare. In spite of her criticisms of President Obama's hallmark healthcare legislation, Clinton told supporters that the Affordable Care Act, affectionately known as Obamacare, was "HillaryCare" first. The Hill reported:
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is out with a new defense of her healthcare record — rival Bernie Sanders may have helped write ObamaCare, but it was her idea first. "It was called HillaryCare before it was called ObamaCare,” Clinton told a crowd of supporters at a country club in Vinton, Iowa. “I don't want to start over."

May I suggest taking a moment to step back from the bitter election news cycle and enjoy watching the snow fall? It's quite lovely. Speaker Ryan is livestreaming the D.C. snow storm all weekend long. They've even included a little background music. From the Speaker's blog:
Here's something from Washington, DC, that won't make you want to throw your phone across the room. No speeches. No politicians. No media pundits. It's just a pure, uninterrupted livestream of the snow falling on the National Mall, as seen from the Speaker's office in the U.S. Capitol. Give your Netflix a break and check out the snowfall for a few minutes. Or a few hours. It'll be here all weekend long.

Speaking to a crowd in Las Vegas Thursday night, Donald Trump said he'd be part of the establishment if elected; a bit odd considering he's spent the majority of his campaign portraying himself as the ultimate political outsider. But standard rules don't apply this election cycle. Apparently. The abbreviated version of Trump's remarks: