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Author: Mary Chastain

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Mary Chastain

Mary is the resident libertarian. She covers stories in every vertical, but her favorite thing to do is take on the media. She saw its bias against the right when she was a socialist.

Mary loves the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, tennis, cats, Oxford comma, Diet Coke, and needlework.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 05, 2017 32 Comments
Judicial Watch released emails from the Department of Justice today and some of them showed support for former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates when she refused to support President Donald Trump's travel restrictions from some Middle East countries. It sounds like no big deal, right? Well, it turns out one of the supporters is Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Deputy Andrew Weissman. He is one of the top prosecutors in Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 05, 2017 11 Comments
A new report has shown that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe has cost taxpayers almost $7 million from May 17 to September 30, which is when the federal fiscal year ended. This news comes after outlets reported that Mueller sent a subpoena to Deutsche Bank earlier this fall for documents about President Donald Trump's accounts and dealings.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 05, 2017 10 Comments
Russia has been banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea scheduled to begin in February. Russia prides itself on its athletics, but a long investigation revealed state-backed doping of numerous athletes during at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia. The New York Times explained what this means:
The country’s government officials are forbidden to attend, its flag will not be displayed at the opening ceremony and its anthem will not sound. Any athletes from Russia who receive special dispensation to compete will do so as individuals wearing a neutral uniform, and the official record books will forever show that Russia won zero medals.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 05, 2017 15 Comments
Embattled Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has told a Detroit radio station that he will not seek re-election and endorses his son John Conyers III to replace him in Congress. From CNN:
"I am retiring today. And I want everyone to know how much I appreciate the support that...incredible, undiminished support I've received across the years of my supporters, not only in my district but across the country as well," Conyers said.
Conyers is facing numerous allegations of sexual assault and harassment from former female employees. Another woman spoke up last night and claimed Conyers groped her in church.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 04, 2017 34 Comments
This past summer, Special Counsel Robert Mueller removed an FBI agent from his investigation into possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign due to anti-Trump messages he sent. The news was only made public over the weekend. This agent, Peter Strzok, is also the man who changed former FBI Head James Comey's description of Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information on her private server when she served as secretary of state. Strzok also served as the No. 2 official in the counterintelligence division and led the investigation into her server.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 04, 2017 63 Comments
Former Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords' gun control group has purchased ads to target eight GOP House members before the chamber votes on a bill that allows concealed carry across state lines. From Politico:
Digital ads will also go out against Reps. Steve Knight (R-Calif.), Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Mimi Walters (R-Calif.), Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.). All of these are at the top of Democrats’ 2018 pick-up hopes. There will be a radio ad focused on the three Southern California members.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 04, 2017 20 Comments
USA Today has done an excellent investigation into the Department of Veteran Affairs. Its latest bombshell shows that the VA has hired doctors they know have malpractice claims and felony convictions. How could this possibly happen? A not so thorough hiring process:
Applications are vetted, education and licenses verified, references checked, and interviews conducted. For clinical hires, a review and approval by a professional standards board also is required. But when applicants disclose prior problems with medical licensing short of revocation, malpractice or criminal histories, VA hospital officials have discretion to weigh the providers’ explanations and approve their hiring anyway.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 01, 2017 64 Comments
The Department of Justice has unsealed an arrest warrant for Jose Garcia Zarate, the illegal immigrant just acquitted of killing Kate Steinle in California. This arrest warrant is in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas for a supervised release violation.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 01, 2017 29 Comments
Ever since The Washington Post posted about the Office of Compliance doling out $17 million since 1997 to settle different violations across the Hill everyone has demanded the government unseal the deals. Slowly it's been happening! Politico has now reported that Rep. Blake Farenthold paid $84,000 towards a sexual harassment settlement in 2014.
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