By Mike Huckabee
August 18, 2022
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BY MIKE HUCKABEE
Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee staff! Thank you for subscribing and I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter.
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With gratitude,
Mike
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DAILY BIBLE VERSE
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
If you have a favorite Bible Verse you want to see in one of our newsletters, please email [email protected].
Mar-A-Lago Raid: FBI Affidavit hearing is today
By the time you read this on Thursday, the hearing on whether the FBI must release the affidavit they used to get a warrant to search Mar-A-Lago may already have taken place in West Palm Beach. The presiding judge at this hearing: you guessed it, the same magistrate judge who granted the warrant in the first place, Judge Bruce Reinhart. President Trump wants everything out in the open; the feds emphatically do not, and that really should tell you all you need to know. Trump attorney Alina Habba has said she expected this judge to rule for the FBI and keep the affidavit secret.
https://dailycaller.com/2022/08/16/bruce-reinhart-trump-search-warrant-affidavit/?utm_medium=email
But while the FBI has been adamant that they need to keep the affidavit secret to safeguard their investigation, they’ve been leaking their own preferred narrative like crazy, and the story keeps evolving. At first it was about historical documents that belonged at the National Archives, but that just didn’t seem to warrant a massive raid on Trump’s home. The claim that he had classified material was disputed by the President, who said he had declassified it all. So they leaked a follow-up fairy tale to the WASHINGTON POST about Trump having “dangerous nuclear secrets,” but that didn’t sell, either, especially after we found out they’d been debating for months on conducting the raid. So they moved on from that fake story and leaked a new, updated one to NEWSWEEK.
Journalism is so easy now! It’s essentially just taking dictation from “high-level intelligence officials” and printing what they want you to print. It doesn’t matter if what you write turns out to be wrong. And if it’s damaging enough to Trump, congratulations; you get a Pulitzer.
Anyway, now we hear from writer/stenographer William M. Arkin at NEWSWEEK that Trump has long been “hoarding” documents dealing with “a variety of intelligence matters of interest to the former President...including material that Trump apparently thought would exonerate him of any claims of Russian collusion in 2016 or any other election-related charges.”
So, let me get this straight. Trump, after being FRAMED for “collusion” with Vladimir Putin (which would be treason) and having Democrats, media and the intel community coming at him from every side, decided he’d better hold on to exculpatory material? How dare he defend himself from fake “Russiagate” charges!
This new story is the feds’ attempt to cover for why the warrant –- which was so overbroad as to violate the 4th Amendment –- gave them access to “all” the documents from Trump’s entire presidency. You see, they weren’t actually SEEKING all the documents! No, no, they were only SAYING they were, to protect their source! Quoting NEWSWEEK: “To justify the unprecedented raid on a former president’s residence and protect the source who revealed the existence of Trump’s private hoard,” the story reads, “agents went into Trump’s residence on the pretext that they were seeking all government documents, says one official who has been involved in the investigation. But the true target was this private stash, which ‘Justice’ Department officials feared Donald Trump might weaponize.”
Tell me, if their reason for getting an unconstitutionally-broad warrant was to protect their source, why did they turn around and leak the story about the “stash”? By leaking their knowledge of this “stash,” they remove the cover the warrant had supposedly provided to the source.
Also, if they’re arguing before Judge Reinhart that it’s important not to leak names mentioned in the affidavit, why did sources from the investigation give three of those very names to Maggie Haberman at THE NEW YORK TIMES, who printed them?
By the way, Haberman was part of the team that won a Pulitzer for their coverage of the fake Trump-Russia “collusion” story. They should do the Walk of Shame to wherever they have to go to return it.
As I’ve said many times, I am not a lawyer, nor is anyone on my team, but we don’t see why Trump, as President, couldn’t declassify and even retain documents that would back up his defense against “Russiagate” allegations, or any other allegations. The only reason we can see for why they raided his house is to sweep up everything in sight --- an unreasonable search and seizure if we ever saw one --- and get it out of his reach, to prevent him from using it in his own defense and/or revealing things he knows about the ‘Justice’ Department.
In breaking news Wednesday evening, John Solomon found a case from 2012 that supports our view. The issue was whether some audio tapes made by President Clinton could have been designated by him as “personal.” A decision by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that “a President’s discretion on what are personal vs. official records is far-reaching and solely his, as is his ability to declassify or destroy records at will.”
Read Solomon’s report and you’ll wonder anew how the ‘Justice’ Department could even think about doing what they have done.
Anyway, NEWSWEEK’s sources still incorporated the earlier “nuclear materials” narrative, but it now takes a back seat to the clever new “personal stash” narrative. This excerpt shows how it has evolved: “The two U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the situation tell NEWSWEEK that while some of the intelligence documents might have dealt with nuclear weapons, that was not the main focus. Donald Trump kept documents that interested him...It wasn’t the subject matter per se that was of interest to ‘Justice’ as it was the fear that Trump might ‘weaponize’ the information, including for personal gain, the official says.” See what they did? Trump did have nuclear materials, but they’re “not the main focus.”
NEWSWEEK (to their credit) also quotes a former Trump official who says, “Trump was particularly interested in matters pertaining to the Russia hoax and the wrongdoings of the deep state...I think he felt, and I agree, that these are facts that the American people need to know.” He also might have wanted to use them in his 2024 presidential run, the source said.
So….President Trump declassified and held on to documents relating to the Russia hoax and the deep-state, after he’d been falsely accused of Russia “collusion” and endlessly investigated by a corrupt intel community. The nerve of him!
The sources told NEWSWEEK that the decision to raid Trump’s home was prompted by concerns that he might move the documents OR –- and I think this is more likely –- that he might “use” them, “revealing secrets or...intelligence sources and methods.” Sorry, but if he declassified them while he was President, it’s within his authority to do that. Bureaucrats shouldn’t be able to stop him. And if Trump wants to use sunshine as a disinfectant, I say let the sun shine in.
As for Trump’s possession of “classified” documents, even a CNN legal analyst was clear that he had the authority to declassify them, period. And it doesn’t even matter if paperwork wasn’t filled out.
https://dailycaller.com/2022/08/16/honig-cnn-fbi-raid-classifed-trump/?utm_medium=email
Aaron Kliegman at JUST THE NEWS has an eye-opening report on what sure looks like a long and growing “enemies list” --- Trump allies who have been “probed, raided, handcuffed, charged and jailed by the ‘Justice’ Department.” Read this, and you won’t wonder why Trump might have wanted possession of material that protects him.
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/blacklisted-conservatives-targeted-doj
Finally, civil rights attorney Harmeet Dhillon said Wednesday in an interview with Tucker Carlson that if we could see the underlying affidavit for this raid, “we would find something very disturbing.” She bases this feeling on the Russia Hoax and “all the other hoaxes out of this DOJ and FBI.” There’s a pretext for this fishing expedition, she said, and “once you have a lawful search warrant, and you gather materials...you can use those materials, even if they have nothing to do with the underlying crime.” She says even material covered by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege might be used in the January 6 investigation. “...If the goal is to sort of keep your opponents out of competing fairly for the White House, they could be used for that purpose.”
She sees this happening to Trump with many in the “chattering class” cheering it on, and worries about what will happen if there’s a change in power in our government, “if ever.” She sees that in her three decades of life as an attorney, this is “the most dangerous and divisive time” she has seen, “politically and legally.” She also made the same observation we have: that our enemies around the world are watching this chaos and will be happy to, say, invade Taiwan while we continue investigating and jailing each other.
GOP-trashers: Take "the Gen. Hayden Challenge"
Former Vice President Mike Pence, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Wednesday morning for a speaking appearance, took the opportunity to defend the FBI, saying, “We can hold the attorney general accountable for the decision that he made without attacking rank-and-file law enforcement personnel at the FBI. Attacks on the FBI must stop. Calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police.”
Pence is testing the waters for 2024 and perhaps he needs to be clear in his support for law enforcement. Trump could end up being his political adversary in 2024, and that’s something to keep in mind when listening to anything he says now about Trump and the FBI. Especially if it's said in front of the January 6 kangaroo court.
Mike Pence is my longtime friend, but he might also want to remember that most Republican voters see a great need to reform the FBI, completely rejecting the idea of maintaining the status quo (swamp). We are NOT attacking the rank-and-file agents, most of whom must be mortified about what’s going on at the Bureau and the Department of ‘Justice.’” Certainly the upper levels of the FBI are out of control. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan reported last week that 14 FBI whistleblowers have come forward. We wish them well. This is about a federal police agency run amok by tactics that reek more of the East German Stasi than the revered FBI. Criticism of what the agency has done in its political overreach and brute tactics against (exclusively) conservatives and Republicans is not lack of respect for the police, it’s the respect of a greater power—the Constitution which gives citizens protection against the very things the politicized and weaponized FBI and DOJ have come to be at their leadership levels.
Tucker Carlson, speaking on Laura Ingraham’s show Wednesday night, said, “It’s deranged. You can’t have a democracy if federal agencies are openly interfering in elections.” Yet, they have, while pointing fingers at Republicans as being a “threat to democracy.”
“If you actually wanted to defend democracy,” he said, “which is a system of self-government, you would push back against government agencies trying to affect election outcomes, which is what they’re doing. This is nuts. And I guess Mike Pence in New Hampshire doesn’t see it.”
Pence should be stressing the need for reform at the 'Justice' Department. I wonder if most of the people slamming Republicans these days have ever even met one. Ingraham showed a tweet from British journalist Edward Luce saying, “I’ve covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career. Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible than today’s Republicans. Nothing close.”
What?? Republicans are far worse than any of the extremist terrorists he’s encountered around the world? Is he out of his mind? Goodness, most Republicans just want to live in freedom, get along with people, have law and order and equal justice, find good jobs and raise our families. And it sure seems that we care vastly more about the Constitution and “our democracy” than those criticizing us do. That’s pretty much it. We want the government to stay out of most areas of our lives, as it’s simply none of their business. When did we become nihilists? I still say the left is projecting its own nihilism and hate onto us.
As Ingrahm showed, Gen. Michael Hayden re-tweeted what Luce had written, saying, “I agree. And I was the CIA Director.”
Recall that Hayden re-tweeted another bit of viciousness just the other day: a photo of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in the 1950s after being found guilty of spying for Russia. He added, “That sounds about right,” meaning execution for Trump. This man ran the CIA, under George W. Bush. I don’t know how much he might have changed since then, but he’s Exhibit A for what has gone wrong with our out-of-control intel community. He’s delusional, suffering from “long TDS,” and needs to quarantine himself until he gets over it, if he ever does. He also should lock away his phone, as President Trump isn’t the only one who invites criticism for his mean tweets.
I’d like to issue a challenge to Gen. Hayden and, by extension, to Mr. Luce. Let's say we set up two rooms. Room #1 contains five people selected at random from the studio audience of my TBN weekend show, HUCKABEE. These almost certainly will be the conservative "today's Republicans" you loathe, who will probably want to greet you, tell you about their families, hear some of your stories and share homemade pie. (They might also say "bless your heart" and give you an earful about the CIA, but you need to hear it.) Room #2 contains five of the terrorists who hacked off journalist Daniel Pearl’s head with a dull, rusty blade.
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/the-brutal-beheading-of-daniel-pearl/214638
Which room will you enter?
If you choose Room #2, well, at least you had the courage of your convictions. It was nice knowing you, and we hope you didn't suffer too much, though you probably did. If you choose Room #1, then you have to admit you were full of horse manure, apologize to all Republicans (a special apology to President Trump) for your crass stupidity, and refrain from tweeting forever.
The Latest
Here’s the latest on the FBI’s ever-evolving excuses for why it must keep the affidavit that set off the raid on former President Trump’s home hidden from the public. Brace yourselves, this kind of circular logic might make you feel a little dizzy.
Everything You Know Is Wrong Dept
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued an internal video announcing a major shake-up of the government health agency in response to its "pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes” in handling COVID, “from testing to data to communications."
When the pandemic first started, there were a lot of people eager to politicize it. Remember Joe Biden and the Democrats blaming Donald Trump personally for every COVID death that happened while he was in office? That outrageous practice came to a screeching halt once Biden was in office. From the beginning, I took what I thought was a reasonable approach. I cut the agency some slack, noting that it was a new and deadly disease; we didn’t know what we were dealing with and had no vaccines or proven treatments; and they were doing the best they could under tremendous pressure, given what they knew at the time.
The problems came when the so-called government “experts” (like Dr. “I am Science” Fauci, who’s been at a desk for decades and never treated a patient) decided that they were the only reliable source of information. Well-credentialed experts who questioned the government’s COVID narratives (which is what real scientists do) found themselves vilified in the media, banned from social media and threatened with losing their licenses. Now, we’re learning that they were right about many of the things they were trying to tell us.
I think that most Americans aren’t as upset about the CDC getting some things wrong in the beginning as they are at the ironfisted way they continued to impose their wrong-headed and destructive policies even after they’d been proved to be more destructive than the disease. For instance, small children were always at microscopic risk of catching or spreading COVID, yet look at what forcing masks on them for so long has done:
The Biden Administration is quietly ending COVID testing protocols that targeted unvaccinated federal workers. They’re also ending the policy that required only vaccinated workers to stay out of the office if there was any potential exposure to the virus (like, if the President happened to drop by.) I guess that was a remnant of the days when only vaccinated people would get or spread the virus, according to the unquestionable experts.
The White House also finally admitted that the CDC’s “six feet of social distance to avoid COVID” rule not only wasn’t effective, nobody’s even sure where it actually came from. This is something we pointed out here from the moment they imposed it, but it’s taken them about two years to admit it.
The CDC doesn’t just need a “shake-up,” it needs a thorough house-cleaning. And speaking of “House,” it needs a new leader who has the same level of brilliance and medical expertise that TV’s Dr. House had, and not just the same level of arrogance.
Caught on video
The Texas National Guard had a locked gate on the border, and the US Border Patrol fetched a key, opened it, and let a number of illegal migrants in.
Could someone please inform our easily-confused President that it’s not the job of the Border Patrol to UN-lock gates and let illegal immigrants IN to the country?
Tripe
Take your blood pressure medicine before you read this tripe from the AP.
https://www.breitbart.com/news/cheneys-defeat-end-of-an-era-for-gop-trumps-party-now/
It’s about how Liz Cheney’s defeat shows that the old, respectable Republican Party is dead, and it’s now solely Donald Trump’s party, and basically we’re all just a lot of mindnumbed robots taking marching orders from Trump to destroy “our democracy,” and blah blah blah.
Before the primary, I linked to a Fox News article where they talked to Wyoming voters who made it clear that while they were ticked off about Cheney’s single-minded focus on destroying Trump, even without the Trump issue, they still wanted her gone. They said she’d become a full-on swamp creature who’d ceased to represent Wyoming and never even came back except to fly in on a private jet for a fundraiser at some liberal’s mansion. She was kicked out not because they do whatever Trump wants, but because she refused to do what her constituents wanted her to do.
The Democrats and their media valets keep pushing this false narrative that it’s all about “Trump, Trump, Trump,” when what’s really happening is that Republicans are sick of having two parties, one of which is 100% in favor of big government, high taxes, endless wars fought by someone else’s kids, and crushing our rights and freedoms, and the other occasionally protests before going along. We’re also sick of being told what we think by bubble-dwelling media celebrities who never even deign to talk to us. Trump didn’t create this attitude, he was just a great vessel through which to express it. They think if they destroy Trump, his “followers” will all go away. But he’s not telling them what to think; they already know what they think. They just like him for having the guts to say it.
And by the way, I wrote a book about the DC political and media elites' complete disconnect from most of the country and how oblivious they were to what we really thought of them. It was called “God, Guns, Grits and Gravy,” and it came out months before Trump ever even came down that escalator to enter politics. Maybe if they’d read it, they wouldn’t be suffering from terminal Trump Derangement Syndrome now, and they'd understand what’s really happening all around them.
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