Schiff Whines that Impeachment Must Be ‘Like Every Other Trial,’ Despite Lacking Crime

Ben Sellers
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‘Leader McConnell’s resolution will turn the trial on its head…’

Adam Schiff / IMAGE: CSPAN

(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., whined about the unfairness of rules proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would withhold a decision on witnesses until after the two sides had concluded their cases.

“Unless this trial is gonna be different from every other impeachment trial … you must impartially do justice as your oath requires,” whined Schiff.

Ignoring his own precepts when conducting hearings in the House Intelligence Committee, which denied due process to President Donald Trump and his Republican opponents, Schiff said, “Leader McConnell’s resolution will turn the trial on its head.”

While demanding that the trial proceed just like any other, Schiff conveniently ignored the fact that Trump was charged with no crime. Democrats and left-wing media have repeatedly underscored the fact that impeachment is a political and not a judicial process when it suits them to do so.

Prior to Schiff’s speech, Trump’s lead defense attorney, Pat Cipollone, expressed confidence there would be no further need to proceed once the two sides had presented their initial cases based on the evidence submitted by the House.

“We believe that once you hear those initial presentations the only conclusion will be that the president has done absolutely nothing wrong and these articles of impeachment do not begin to establish the standard [for impeachment], he said.”

“Let’s not kid ourselves, that is the trial,” Schiff gasped.

Schiff sought the introduction of additional documents, which included those that he withheld during the House hearings for the express purpose of leaking during the Senate trial.

“We have seen over the past few weeks, new evidence has continued to come to light,” said Schiff, who previously insisted that the House must urgently pass the articles of impeachment before fully investigating its case.

Pat Cipollone / IMAGE: CSPAN

Cipollone criticized the continued effort to stall and revise its own goalposts.

McConnell’s rule proposal “requires the House managers to stand up and make their opening statement and make their case,” Cipollone said. “They have delayed … 33 days, and it’s time to start with this trial.”

According to Breitbart, Schiff earlier tried to block Cipollone from representing Trump, claiming that in his capacity as White House counsel, he was a material fact witness.

It was under Cipollone’s advisement that Trump blocked senior staff from complying with the partisan House probe, which resulted in the House passage of “obstruction of Congress” as one of its two articles.

However, Trump’s defenders contend that Schiff is a material fact witness given his behind-the-scenes role in orchestrating a dubious whistleblower complaint by a CIA analyst, believed to be former NSA staffer Eric Ciaramella.

The proceedings, which began after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, were considered the second day of the impeachment trial after Chief Justice John Roberts last week administered a special impeachment oath to senators.

The day’s proceedings were likely to be occupied by the debate over whether to adopt McConnell’s rules, which the GOP leader already had the votes for.

Although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, was expected to propose revisions, McConnell announced in advance his intention to move to table Schumer’s amendments.

AOC: Democratic Party is ‘Center-Conservative,’ Not Liberal

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NY Congresswoman also characterizes Virginia gun-rights rally as dominated by white nationalists…

AOC Says Marginalized Communities 'Have No Choice But to Riot'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez / IMAGE: Hot 97

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., claimed the Democratic Party is a “center or center-conservative” party, arguing that there is no place for the “Left” in the U.S.’s current political structure.

“We don’t have a ‘left’ party in the United States. The Democratic Party is not a ‘left’ party,” the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist said at an event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“We can’t even get a floor vote on Medicare-for-all—not even a floor vote that gets voted down. We can’t even get a vote on it,” she continued. “So this is not a ‘left’ party. There are ‘left’ members inside the Democratic Party that are working to try to make that shift happen.”

Ocasio–Cortez has previously criticized her own party for spending too much time catering to moderates.

Earlier this month, she even claimed that in any other country, she “would not be in the same party” as former Vice President Joe Biden given his supposedly center-left policies, which many centrists still consider too extreme.

The freshman Democrat also compared Monday’s gun-rights protest in Richmond, Va., to the protests following the deaths of Freddie Gray and Eric Garner, questioning why there was a lack of police presence in Richmond.

“The whole place is surrounded by police in riot gear without a gun in sight,” she said, describing the rally.

“And here are all of these people flying Confederate flags with semi-automatic weapons and there’s almost no police officers at that protest,” she continued. “So who or what are our institutions protecting from who? And that image conveys it all.”

Ocasio–Cortez has often been the subject of fact-checks for her hyperbolic or misleading statements and struggles with arithmetic.

According to one Virginia “reporter,” who identified on her Twitter handle as “socialistdogmom,” there were less than a handful of Confederate flags present at the pro-Second Amendment rally and law enforcement was present the entire time:

Trump to Sign New Rules to Limit 'Birth Tourism,' 'Anchor Babies'

Joshua Paladino
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‘Just the legal recognition that this is improper and wrong and not allowed is a significant step forward…’

Study: Two-Thirds of Births to Illegals Being Subsidized by Taxpayers
IMAGE: Stand With Arizona via Youtube

(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) As part of President Donald Trump’s broad to effort to create a fair and meritorious immigration system, his administration plans to issue new rules that would end “birth tourism.”
Birth tourism occurs when women come as visitors to America during the third trimester of their pregnancy with the intention of giving birth to a baby who will automatically become a citizen of the United States, Axios reported.
Unlike illegal immigrants who may exploit birthright citizenship by having so-called anchor babies, birth tourists often will return and maintain allegiance to their country of origin, but their children are able to travel freely within the U.S.
That creates potential security concerns over matters such as espionage and terrorism.
Trump plans to use an executive order to limit birth tourism by sharpening the screening process for migrants and tourists who come to the United States on visas.
State Department officials will have the authority to deny B visas (short-term tourism visas) to people they believe will abuse America’s birthright citizenship loophole.
“This change is intended to address the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry,” according to an anonymous State Department official who spoke with Axios.
The administration’s concerns center on the knowledge that birth tourists come from Russia, China and Nigeria.
Trump administration officials acknowledged that the screening process will not prevent all birth tourism or eliminate all national security threats.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” an anonymous senior official said. “Just the legal recognition that this is improper and wrong and not allowed is a significant step forward.”
Not all of those who give birth while on temporary visas decide to leave the U.S. Late last year, a report revealed that legal immigrants—oftentimes visiting on visas—gave birth to more than 30,000 “anchor babies” who were granted birthright citizenship.
Trump has proposed ending birthright citizenship, since it arbitrarily advantages migrants who enter the United States and give birth.
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits,” Trump said, Axios reported. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”

After Criticism, Romney Will ‘Oppose’ Efforts to Force Vote on Witnesses

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‘I enter this task with an open mind…’

Romney Question's Trump's Character
Mitt Romney/Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC)

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) After initially suggesting he would vote in favor of additional witness testimony during the Senate’s impeachment trial, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he would wait to make a decision until mid-trial.

Romney said earlier this month that he’d “like to hear” from former national security adviser John Bolton, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear that the impeachment trial will be “swift.”

And after Republican support for Romney dropped significantly last week, he decided to be more cautious and explain his thought process.

“Deciding whether or not a sitting president should be removed from office is perhaps the most solemn matter that can ever come before the United States Senate. I enter this task with an open mind and a recognition of my solemn responsibility to fulfill my oath,” Romney said in a statement to constituents, according to The Hill.

The allegations against Trump are “extremely serious,” he said, and they “demand that the Senate put political biases aside, and make good faith efforts to listen to arguments from both sides and thoroughly review facts and evidence.”

But, Romney said he would “oppose” any attempt to force a vote on witnesses “prior to opening arguments.”

Each side must first make its case, and if there is still any information lacking, the Senate should vote on whether to call on additional witnesses, he said.

Romney added that he disapproves of the Democrats’ impeachment efforts, calling the process “difficult,” “divisive,” and something that “further inflames partisan entrenchment.”

“There is inevitable political pressure from all sides. I have spent — and will continue to spend — many hours in careful deliberation about what this process and its potential outcomes could mean for our country. The best we in the Senate can do is strive to meet the obligations outlined by our founding fathers,” he said.

Greta Warns ‘House is on Fire’ as Trump Waves Off Climate ‘Prophets of Doom’

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THUNBERG: ‘Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) President Donald Trump boasted about economic revival in the United States and warned about those who spread climate alarmism at this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just hours after 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg claimed the Earth “is on fire.”

“We must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse,” Trump said during his speech, which focused mainly on the U.S.’s “economic boom.”

“America is thriving. America is flourishing and yes, America is winning again like never before,” Trump said, touting his administration’s recent trade deals with Canada, Mexico, and China.

Thunberg had spoken at the forum just hours before Trump arrived, and used her speech as yet another opportunity to rip world leaders who refuse to “do anything” about climate change.

“I wonder, what will you tell your children was the reason to fail and leave them facing the climate chaos you knowingly brought upon them?” she said, according to the New York Times. “Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour.”

Other climate activists at the event criticized Trump for failing to address climate change beyond a commitment that the U.S. will join the trillion trees initiative.

“He managed to say absolutely zero on climate change,” said Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. “Meanwhile we’re going to roast.”

Trump Slams Climate Change 'Prophets of Doom' At World Economic Forum
Greta Thunberg attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland/AP Photo

Trump agreed to join the forum’s initiative to plant 1 trillion trees worldwide, but Thunberg dismissed the gesture: “Planting trees is good of course, but it’s nowhere near enough.”

Efforts to reduce carbon emissions aren’t enough either, Thunberg said, throwing a jab at Democratic leaders in the U.S. who have made cutting carbon emissions a climate priority.

“Let’s be clear. We don’t need a ‘low carbon economy.’ We don’t need to ‘lower emissions,’” she said. “Our emissions have to stop.”

(The Associated Press contributed to this report).

NY County Clerk Appeals Challenge to Illegal-Alien Driver's License Law

Joshua Paladino
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‘The state provided no provisions to prevent non-citizens from registering to vote other than what they refer to as an “honor system …”‘

NY County Clerk Appeals Challenge to Illegal Alien Driver's License Law
Immigrants flood a New York DMV to obtain licenses. / IMAGE: Eyewitness News ABC7NY

(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns appealed his challenge to New York state’s Green Light Law, a regulation forcing county clerks to grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
In November, Kearns lost his initial challenge to the Green Light Law in a U.S. District Court, after the judge ruled that Kearns lacked the standing to introduce the lawsuit, Buffalo Business First reported.
The law, which took effect in December, also prevents county clerks from sharing information about illegal aliens with federal immigration authorities.
Kearns, who Erie County attorneys represent in the lawsuit, filed his appeal with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal court one level below the U.S. Supreme Court.
The defendants in the lawsuit—Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James and DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder—have declared victory in the case, but the District Court did not determine whether Kearns’ case has merit, WBFO reported.
“The Attorney General boldly claims the courts found the law to be legal but that’s blatantly false, in light of these procedural dismissals,” Kearns said in a statement.
“The fact remains that the law is unconstitutional,” he continued, “and I remain faced with the prospect of harboring prosecution if I follow the Green Light Law and removal from office if I refuse to enforce such a high-profile piece of the Governor’s progressive agenda.”
Besides putting Kearns in the precarious position of having to choose between harboring illegal aliens and enforcing the New York law, he argues that the Green Light Law is a backdoor approach to letting non-citizens vote in elections.
Jennifer Connor, executive director of Justice for Migrant Families, a group that advocates for open-border policies, said the Green Light Law benefits New York.
“There’s lots of misinformation,” Connor claimed.
“People need to keep being informed about what the law really accomplishes,” she continued. “Public safety, money at the DMV and drivers on the road who know the rules of the road.”
On the other hand, Kearns said the law places America’s communities and elections at risk.
“This law has already been put into effect, and we have already seen how it threatens our elections and safety,” he said.
“The state provided no provisions to prevent non-citizens from registering to vote other than what they refer to as an ‘honor system,’” Kearns added. “The Department of Homeland Security has rebuked the state’s refusal to share the DMV database because it prevents law enforcement officers from investigating crimes like child exploitation, human trafficking, terrorism, targeting of gang members, sex offenses and drug smuggling.”
The Immigration Reform Law Institute, a group opposed to illegal immigration, filed a friend-of-the-court brief last week, requesting that the 2nd Circuit hear Kearns’s lawsuit.
“It forces county officials to conceal illegal activity from federal law enforcement,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI.
“Not only is it unconstitutional for states to hamper federal law enforcement in that way, but when it comes to illegal aliens, there happens to be a federal criminal law against concealing them,” Wilcox said. “Kearns shouldn’t be forced to wait until he’s prosecuted as a criminal before he can get a court to decide whether the Green Light Law is unlawful—which it very clearly is.”

FLAKE: Republicans Support Trump Because ‘They Want to Keep Their Jobs’

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‘My fear is people out there know that, even if this is not an impeachable offense, that the president did something wrong …’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said on Monday that Senate Republicans will be on trial alongside President Donald Trump during the Senate’s impeachment proceedings, adding that they will likely fail because “they want to keep their jobs.”

When asked why it’s “so difficult” for Republicans to “speak up against” Trump, Flake told CBS News that Trump’s popularity among the GOP makes disagreement impossible.

“Because they want to keep their jobs, and the president is extremely popular among Republican primary voters,” Flake said. “That is a subset of a subset of a subset. But they are those who decide who represents the party and the general election.”

But Trump “won’t be there forever,” Flake said. “He’ll either be gone this time next year or four years from now. Then what happens to the Republican Party?”

Flake then claimed that public opinion tends to support the Democrats’ case against the president.

“My fear is people out there know that, even if this is not an impeachable offense, that the president did something wrong and for Republicans to maintain that he didn’t is just wrong,” he continued.

Flake cautioned that GOP senators could be cast on the same level as House Democrats if they fail to rise above petty partisanship.

“And this has long-term ramifications for the party if we act as if we are just devoted to the president no matter what out of this cult of personality that we’ve seen,” he said. “We certainly saw it in the House.”

Flake then defended his past criticism of the president: “You always look back and say I could have done this differently or that,” he said. “But I did speak up, and I decided that I would have to condone behavior I couldn’t condone or accept positions I couldn’t accept if I wanted to win reelection. That’s why I didn’t.”

Pocahontas Claims Voters Don’t Want to Elect ‘Someone Who Lies to Them’

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‘We don’t need to raise taxes on the middle class by one penny…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) When asked if it would be disqualifying for a presidential candidate to lie to the American people, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ironically answered: “How could the American people want someone who lies to them?”

Warren has, of course, lied repeatedly throughout her presidential campaign.

The most notorious example was when Warren claimed she was of Native American ancestry, touting a DNA test that revealed she was less than 2% Cherokee.

But past documents revealed that Warren had spread this lie repeatedly, on her Texas State Bar registration, and during her tenure at Harvard Law School. Her fake minority status allowed her to reap the professional benefits of affirmative-action policies for more than three decades.

Late last year, Warren also falsely claimed that her children only attended public schools. But documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon revealed that her son, Alex Warren, attended an elite, private K-12 school in Austin, Texas.

Warren Says She'd Consider Declaring a National Emergency for Climate Change, Gun Control
Elizabeth Warren / IMAGE: The Late Late Show with James Corden via Youtube

She has also deliberately lied about her “Medicare for All” plan, claiming that providing a single-payer system would not raise middle class taxes.

“We don’t need to raise taxes on the middle class by one penny,” she said, arguing that higher taxes on the wealthy and the corporations will make up for the cost.

But even her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has admitted that the middle class will need to pay more under “Medicare for All.”

It is also quite possible that Warren lied recently when she accused Sanders of sexism.

Warren’s campaign said that, in 2016, Sanders told Warren that a woman could not win the presidency. Sanders has continued to denounce the claim, accusing Warren of calling him “a liar” on national television.

South Dakota Bill Would Make it a Felony to Perform Tranny Procedures on Minors

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‘Children need to wait until they’re mature to do it…’

South Dakota Bill Would Make it a Felony to Perform Hormonal, Physical Transgender Procedures on Minors
TLC prominently publicized and broadcast the ‘bottom surgery’ of underage transgender activist Jazz Jennings. / IMAGE: tlc uk via Youtube

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A new bill in South Dakota would make it a felony for a medical professional to perform a gender transition medical procedure or prescribe hormonal replacement therapy for minors.

The bill, called the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, says that any attempt “to change or affirm the minor’s perception of the minor’s sex, if that perception is inconsistent with the minor’s sex,” would be prosecuted.

Perpetrators would face a Class 4 felony, which carries up to a 10-year prison sentence in South Dakota, according to NBC News.

The legislation, which was schedule for a hearing Wednesday on the state’s House floor, is a “pause button” for minors too young to make an “overwhelming and life-changing” decision, said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Fred Deutsch.

“Children need to wait until they’re mature to do it,” Deutsch said. “

The solution for children’s identification with the opposite sex isn’t to poison their bodies with mega-doses of the wrong hormones, to chemically or surgically castrate and sterilize them, or to remove healthy breasts and reproductive organs,” he continued. “The solution is compassionate care, and that doesn’t include catastrophically and irreversibly altering their bodies.”

The bill has more than 45 sponsors, and while Democratic lawmakers have vowed to oppose it, they comprise only 16 percent of the state House and 14 percent of the Senate.

The South Dakota American Civil Liberties Union branch said the bill is an attempt to “stigmatize” and “undermine” transgender children.

“Transgender kids, like all kids, deserve a chance to experience joy, to learn in a safe environment, to get the health care that they need, and to survive into adulthood,” said Libby Skarin, ACLU’s South Dakota policy director.

But Deutsch countered that transgender procedures and hormones are dangerous because of the psychological and physical toll they take on minors.

The bill does not prevent transgender children from “socially” transitioning, Deutsch added, but it does protect them from permanent treatments that could negatively affect them.

VIDEO: Baltimore Officer Surrounded and Attacked While Trying to Make Arrest

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‘I’m sure going to work under these conditions is making it harder day by day for most…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A Baltimore mob surrounded and attacked a police officer while he was trying to make an arrest last week, and the city’s law enforcement has blamed the “lack of respect for the law” among the city’s leadership.

A video shows a Baltimore police sergeant being kicked by onlookers while he tried to restrain a man on Friday. Since then, two men have been arrested: 20-year-old Donnell Burgess and another teenager, according to the Baltimore Sun.

The sergeant was reportedly conduct a business check downtown when the suspect became augmentative and spat in the sergeant’s face. When the sergeant tried to arrest the suspect, two people began kicking the officer and others can be heard yelling, “Beat him!” while several others laughed.

Sgt. Mike Mancuso, president of a Baltimore police union, said this is “an all too familiar scenario” that reflects the anti-law enforcement rhetoric spread by Democratic city officials.

The officer was not injured, but Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said the department is “absolutely outraged” by the incident.

“I saw people kicking the sergeant who was doing his lawful duty where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to do, and then people are trying to not only kick the sergeant but prevent the lawful arrest of someone who broke the law,” Harrison said, according to CBS Baltimore. “Totally unacceptable, and they will feel the full weight of law enforcement when we catch them.”

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