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Donald Trump Tag

House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes is standing by his claim that the Trump transition team was under surveillance during Obama's tenure. Nunes appeared on the Sean Hannity show last night to discuss the issue. Here are a few key takeaways:
  • The surveillance occurred in November, December and January. Nunes thinks this is serious and warrants examination by the Trump administration.
  • The intelligence was disseminated "far and wide" among various agencies. Nunes says that it appears to have been done legally but questions why it was done in the first place.
  • Nunes suggests that the identities of other Americans besides General Flynn were unmasked. Also, it is still unknown who did the unmasking and how many people were involved in that action.

This story continues to develop, so we'll be updating the post accordingly. Amid President Trump's claims the Obama administration "wiretapped" him prior to taking office, comes this little tidbit from the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). In a press conference Wednesday, Nunes confirmed, "on numerous occasions, the intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition."

Conservative author and broadcaster Mark Steyn was on the Tucker Carlson show this week and was asked for his thoughts on the Democratic Party's current obsession with Russia. Steyn explained it quite simply suggesting that Democrats can't accept the fact that they lost the election. It's easier for them to believe it was stolen from them. From the FOX News Insider:
Steyn: Dems Turned Putin Into 'Bond Villain' With 'Drumbeat' Against Russia Author and commentator Mark Steyn said Democrats in Congress effectively made Russian President Vladimir Putin a "Bond villain" by continuing to accuse them of interference and spying.

The 2020 election is still way off but Trump has already made it clear that he'd love for the Democratic Party to nominate Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Hill reports:
Trump: Elizabeth Warren running against me would be 'a dream' President Trump said in an interview broadcast Saturday night that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launching a presidential bid against him would be "a dream come true."

What undoubtedly could be the most significant political encounter of the year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington on Tuesday to meet President Donald Trump, the first meeting between these two world leaders. Ahead of German Chancellor's visit to the U.S., mainstream media is once again busy inflating the stature of their favourite European leader.  "The great disrupter confronts the last defender of the liberal world order," wrote The New York Times. London-based Financial Times declared in its headline, "The time for German leadership has arrived." However, a lot of Merkel’s political clout has been chipped away since President Obama endorsed her re-election bid while visiting Berlin last November.

The 2016 presidential election was, by almost any measure, unconventional and unique.  The Democrats' unfathomable decision to run Hillary Clinton, a woman whose deep and abiding unpopularity among many Americans goes back to the 1990's and HillaryCare—an antipathy that resurfaced when ObamaCare became the focus of the Obama administration, will go down in history as a world-class blunder. A new study of the usefulness and effectiveness of advertising in presidential campaigns addresses the unique nature of the 2016 presidential election and offers insight into the catastrophic failure of the Democrats generally and of Hillary in particular.

Tax reform has been at the forefront of GOP policy issues in Washington. Under the Trump administration, tax reform includes a proposed border adjustment tax or tariff. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the White House want tax reform legislation in the works by August, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said an August timeframe is unlikely:
"I think finishing on tax reform will take longer. But we do have to finish the health-care debate, up or down, win or lose, before we go to taxes," McConnell told Politico.

A fascinating study by an associate professor at NYU reveals why many voters found Trump the more appealing candidate. Surely, perceptions would change with a gender-reversal, right? Perceptions did change, but not quite in the way they'd assumed. Her Opponent is the brainchild of Maria Guadalupe, associate professor of economics and political science and Joe Salvatore, an associate professor of theater. The resulting play included excerpts from each of the three debates performed by actors:

Shortly before the presidential election, GOP public relations worker Steve Schmidt saw Hillary Clinton "trending over 400" electoral college votes. He also predicted that Dems would retake the Senate and were "close" to retaking the House. We know how all that played out. So you probably want to take this morning's comments from the man who brought you John McCain's 2008 campaign with a gargantuan grain of salt. Asked on Morning Joe what he would tell President Trump regarding his assertion that President Obama tapped his phones, Schmidt went on a rant.

And there it is! Hawaii has become the first to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's revised executive order on six nations. From The Hill:
“The Executive Order means that thousands of individuals across the United States and in Hawai‘i who have immediate family members living in the affected countries will now be unable to receive visits from those persons or to be reunited with them in the United States,” attorneys said in court filings.

On CNN this morning, commenting on a report that President Trump has "no proof, no regrets" over his allegation that Pres. Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, Chris Cuomo claimed "no, proof, no regrets: they only go together with this administration." Really? We only have to go back to the immediately previous administration to debunk Cuomo's claim. Remember President Obama's "proof and regrets" that a video led to the murder of four Americans in Benghazi? Nope? How about "if you like your policy, you can keep your policy?" Or when he told the press on national television the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" at a Harvard professor's home? Remember President Obama's "proof and regrets" over that? Neither do we.