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Posted by Andrew Branca on January 15, 2016 26 Comments
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the jury in the recently hung jury of Officer William Porter was one vote shy of acquittal on the most serious charge of manslaughter when they were finally dismissed in a mistrial, with 11 of 12 jurors voting for acquittal. This information purportedly is sourced from one of the jurors who requested anonymity in order to avoid being held accountable for violating Judge Barry Williams' gag order. Similarly, on the next most serious charge of assault the jury was 8 to 2 in favor of acquittal with two jurors still undecided at the point the case was declared a mistrial. On the lesser charges, however, there was reportedly a majority in favor of conviction, at least at the point when deliberations were halted. On reckless endangerment, the jury was reportedly 7 to 3 in favor of conviction (two left undecided), and on misconduct in office the jury was 10 to 1 in favor of conviction (one left undecided).

LATEST NEWS

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 15, 2016 26 Comments
At a town hall event in Louisiana yesterday, President Obama was asked by an attendee if first lady Michelle Obama would ever consider running for president. His answer was a strong no. ABC News reported:
Obama Says Michelle Obama Will Not Run for President It used to be that death and taxes were the only certain things in life, but for President Barack Obama there is a third: Michelle Obama will not run for president. With Obama now in his final year in office, the focus naturally has shifted to who will succeed him. At a town hall event Thursday with Louisiana residents, Obama was asked if there's any chance he could talk the first lady into running. His answer? An emphatic "no."

Posted by Taryn O'Neill on January 15, 2016 13 Comments

Newly released documents from the State Department indicate the U.S. government has known Islamic extremists have been entering the country via Mexico for over ten years.

A cable obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act shows the U.S. was aware of "smuggling networks" that specialize in the trafficking of suspected Islamic extremists across the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2004 cable was sent to the State Department by the American Consulate in Juarez, Mexico.

Perhaps most alarming was the mention of a top Al Qaeda operative by the name of Adnan el Shukrijumah. The 2004 cable indicates the U.S. had human intelligence leading to his "exact whereabouts." It was not until December of 2014 - ten years later - that Shukrijumah would be captured (or in this case, killed in Pakistan).

Shukrijumah was described by FBI as "a grave danger to the security of the United States" and had ties to 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed as well as to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Among other acts domestic and abroad, he helped plot the 2009 foiled bombing of Oprah Winfrey's Chicago studios and the Sears Tower.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on January 15, 2016 1 Comment
On Wednesday the Iranian Central Bank argued before the United States Supreme Court that Iranian-owned assets in U.S.-based accounts cannot be used to satisfy judgments against Iran.  The narrow legal question in Bank Markazi v. Peterson is whether and to what extent Congress can dictate the outcome of a pending suit by statute, but the practical question is whether victims of Iranian terror can obtain payment for their and their loved ones' suffering and deaths.

Background

Plaintiff Deborah Peterson sued the government of Iran for the wrongful death of her brother, Lance Corporal James C. Knipple, who was killed along with 240 other Americans in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.  Numerous other Plaintiffs sued Iran either for their own or for loved ones' injuries and deaths in other Iranian terror attacks including the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. Airmen. Iran did not appear in court to defend these suits, and the various courts entered default judgments against it in 19 different cases in an aggregate amount of several billion dollars.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 15, 2016 2 Comments
I'm not sure who thought "al Jazeera America" would be a good idea in the first place, but as many of us predicted, the network which began in 2013 just didn't catch on. In a sense it was doomed from the start because it began when its media group—al Jazeera Media Group owned by the Qatari government—bought Al Gore's embarrassingly unsuccessful Current TV.  Al Jazeera America also suffered a decided lack of enthusiasm in the American market. The ratings problem was so marked that when al Jazeera America managed to twice beat out MSNBC for two daytime hours, it was noteworthy and quite remarkable given how abysmal MSNBC's own numbers are.  As late as November of last year, al Jazeera was reorganizing and desirous of changing the network's image. Variety reported at the time:
The new chief of Al Jazeera America says the early-stage cable-news network is moving forward after a rocky launch that left the staff demoralized and prompted speculation that the Qatar-backed outlet might abandon its efforts to plant a flag in the United States. “There is a clear picture of where we are going to go,” said Al Anstey, who was named chief executive of the cable network in May. After supervising the operations of Al Jazeera English, Anstey replaced Ehab Al Shihabi, whose tenure overseeing the network was marked by the departures of some senior executives and a $15 million lawsuit from a former employee alleging that a senior executive was hostile to women and made remarks that could be construed as anti-Semitic.

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2016 137 Comments

Big Picture

Tonight's GOP debate was Ted Cruz's night. He went right after Donald Trump multiple times, but in a way that came across as forceful and informed, but not nasty. He also fended off a pretty vigorous attack from Marco Rubio. His strongest points came early and against Trump, when the audience would be the largest. Trump was runner-up. He had a good moment on Cruz's slam on "NY Values," but I'm not sure how defending NY values plays outside NY. His performance will confirm pre-existing views of him. Rubio had an okay night, not great, not horrible. Maneuvered the immigration issue into one of national security -- in other words Gang of 8 was then, this is now. Landed some punches on Cruz at the end. Christie may have raised his profile as the acceptable establishment candidate, as Jeb again failed to impress, and Kasich was Kasich. At least Christie showed some fight. Biggest loser -- Ben Carson. Didn't seem to be in the game at many levels.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 14, 2016 16 Comments
Welcome to our live coverage of the GOP presidential primary debate. The main stage debate begins at 9:00 EST. The debate will last two hours and will be moderated by FBN Managing Editor of Business News Neil Cavuto and FBN Global Markets Editor Maria Bartiromo. The prime time debate will include:
  • Donald Trump
  • Sen. Ted Cruz
  • Sen. Marco Rubio
  • Dr. Ben Carson
  • Gov. Jeb Bush
  • Gov. Chris Christie
  • Gov. John Kasich

How to watch:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 14, 2016 12 Comments
Earlier today, the Washington Post compared Hillary's poll numbers from her presidential run in 2008 to data from the current election. The results? Bad news for Mrs. Clinton and her supporters. Philip Bump writes at WaPo:
If we compare where Clinton is now in the Real Clear Politics polling average, the 2016 picture and the 2008 picture aren't really all that similar. Nationally, she was doing much better in 2008 than she is right now, perhaps in part because the anti-Clinton vote in 2008 was still split between two people -- Barack Obama and John Edwards -- instead of just one. But that recent trend line, a function of two new national polls that were close after a bit of a lull, is not very good news.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 14, 2016 14 Comments
Thursday, Planned Parenthood filed suit against pro-life undercover video makers, Center for Medical Progress or CMP. CMP released a series of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood doctors and managers from around the country haggling over the price of aborted baby parts. Reuter's reports:
The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco against anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress alleges conspiracy and fraud among other violations in connection with the recordings. The videos, which were released in July, sparked widespread controversy by purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials trying to negotiate prices for aborted fetal tissue.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2016 28 Comments
Chelsea Clinton is a highly successful person, for reasons entirely related to the circumstances of her birth, not her qualifications or personal accomplishments. The sweetheart deal she received at NBC came to epitomize the crony political capitalism her parents so effectively turned into a megafortune, as this August 29, 2014, NY Times report reflected:
Ms. Clinton, who is vice chairwoman of the philanthropic organization her father founded, made an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC, according to Politico. She remains on the board of IAC/InterActiveCorp, the digital media company overseen by Barry Diller, a longtime Clinton supporter. In 2011, that position paid an annual retainer of $50,000 and a $250,000 grant of restricted stock.
When Chelsea was the child in The White House, and even after that when she was a private person, she was entitled to privacy and freedom from political attack so long as her political role was limited to trying to make her mother seem human to a skeptical public.

Posted by David Gerstman on January 14, 2016 14 Comments
With the news that Iran has seized two American boats and detained 10 American sailors in the Persian Gulf just ahead of the State of the Union earlier this week, I'd like to go back to something that President Barack Obama said a little more than a year ago. Even though the sailors have been released, albeit under humiliating circumstances, the real story here, which the media is generally ignoring, is that they were taken prisoner in the first place. At the end of 2014, Obama gave an interview to Steve Inskeep of NPR. When explaining his rationale for the nuclear deal this is what Obama said:
So, when I came into office, the world was divided and Iran was in the driver's seat. Now the world's united because of the actions we've taken, and Iran's the one that's isolated.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 14, 2016 7 Comments
The trend for the BDS movement is to make demonization of Israel the center of the progressive universe through the theory of "intersectionality." Israel is placed at the center of all evil in the world, the unifying focus regardless of the issue:
Every real or perceived problem is either blamed on or connected to Israel. The concerted effort to turn the Black Lives Matter movement into an anti-Israel movement has at its core the claim that Israel is the root of problems of non-whites in the United States. Thus, if a police chief somewhere attended a one-week anti-terrorism seminar in Israel years ago, every act of brutality by a cop on the beat is blamed on Israel. So too, Students for Justice in Palestine protesters in New York City even blamed high tuition on Zionists, leading to rebukes by administrators against such thinly-veiled anti-Semitism. The Jew once again is made the source of all evil, the conspiratorial puppet-master controlling all and responsible for all. And Israel alone receives such treatment and is used as the link to connect all injustices in the world.
This anti-Semitic use of "intersectionality" theory flourishes because a generation of students -- many of whom now are faculty -- have been schooled based on lies about the creation of Israel and the Arab refugees created in the civil war and invasion by Arab armies. In that false narrative, the Jews are wholly evil and the Arabs are wholly innocent.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 14, 2016 47 Comments
Bernie Sanders' "Democrat socialist" policies sound good and have a lot of popular support among certain demographics, but when pressed on how he would pay for all the free stuff he's promising, he's a bit nonplussed.  Pesky details like that just don't interest him; it's all about the utopian ideal in his dreamy little head, not about reality. For example, although he pledged to release his plan for paying for his health care plan before the Iowa caucuses, he's now decided that might be a mistake and is considering breaking that particular pledge. CNN reports:

Bernie Sanders could break his pledge to release details on how he would pay for his health care plan before the Iowa caucuses, according to a top aide.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 14, 2016 19 Comments
There is another Republican debate tonight and Jeb Bush will participate despite his lagging campaign and poll numbers. The Real Clear Politics average of polls has Bush at 4.7 percent. Jeb's message never caught on despite plenty of media attention and financial backing. It didn't help that he is an establishment candidate or that he's viewed by many as a legacy candidate like Hillary Clinton. Bush has tried to jump start his campaign by attacking Donald Trump numerous times but that has backfired and worked in Trump's favor. It might be time for the governor to call it quits. Perhaps the most telling reason is this photo from a Bush rally last night:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 13, 2016 78 Comments
It must be old campaign oppo dump day in America. Earlier today, an old, deceptively edited campaign ad from Marco Rubio's Senate run floated to the surface of the internet. This evening, the New York Times thinks they have a hot scoop with a story about Ted Cruz's Goldman Sachs loans. The New York Times is about four years late to the "exclusive" party though. Cruz's Goldman Sachs loans are old news. According to their 2012 personal filings, the Cruz's took loans from both Goldman Sachs and Citibank. His wife, Heidi Cruz, works for Goldman Sachs, but is currently on leave. These loans were not, however, disclosed in the FEC filings for Cruz's campaign, Ted Cruz for Senate Committee. First, the NYT story:
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