MD State Senator Michael Hough, J. Christian Adams, The Blaze’s Jon Miller and Sen. Chris Van Hollen joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, March 29, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C             SMOLLETT FALLOUT:

• Jussie Smollett is nominated for an NAACP Award, and host Anthony Anderson hopes he wins. (USA Today) — Just days after the prosecutors dropped all charges against Jussie Smollett, who had been indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct, the “Empire” actor could again make headlines. Smollett is nominated for the 2019 NAACP Image Awards, scheduled for Saturday. Six-time host and “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson told Variety on Wednesday that he hopes to see the controversial actor there. “I hope he wins,” Anderson added. “I’m happy for him that the system worked for him in his favor because the system isn’t always fair, especially for people of color. So I’m glad it worked out for him.”  When asked whether or not Smollett would be in attendance at the award ceremony this year, representative Pamela Sharp told USA TODAY she did “not have that information as of now.”
• State’s attorney did not ‘formally’ recuse herself in Jussie Smollett case, her office says. Cook County (Ill.) State’s Attorney Kim Foxx did not “formally” recuse herself from the Jussie Smollett case, her office said in a statement Thursday, explaining that Foxx used the term “recuse” in a “colloquial” sense rather than a legal sense when she left the case in February. The statement was the latest twist in the saga centering around Smollett, the “Empire” actor whom Foxx’s office decided not to prosecute Tuesday in a stunning reversal after Smollett faced a 16-count indictment for allegedly staging an assault against himself in January.
• Chicago demands Jussie Smollett pay $130,000 for cost of investigation. ABC Chicago reports that the city of Chicago has sent a letter to Jussie Smollett’s legal team demanding Smollett pay $130,000 to the city to pay for the investigation of the alleged hate crime hoax.
• JUSSIE WANTS AN APOLOGY: More from Jussie Smollet team. STATEMENT FROM JUSSIE SMOLLETT’S DEFENSE TEAM REGARDING MAYOR EMMANUEL’S STATEMENT “It is the Mayor and the Police Chief who owe Jussie – owe him an apology – for dragging an innocent man’s character through the mud. Jussie has paid enough.”
• Jussie Smollett‘s attorney is suggesting that the Nigerian brothers who claim Smollett hired them to stage the hate crime– may have been wearing “WHITEFACE” during the incident…. 
• President Trump announces FBI and Justice Department to review Jussie Smollett case.  (CNN) President Donald Trump on Thursday lambasted the handling of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s case as “an absolute embarrassment to our country” and reiterated that he has asked federal authorities to review the case. “I think the case in Chicago is an absolute embarrassment to our country and I have asked that it be — that they look at it,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he left for a political rally. “Somebody has to at least take a very good hard look.” Trump’s comments on Smollett’s case come as his 2020 re-election campaign is shifting into high gear and he seeks to highlight issues that animate his base. While campaigning during the 2018 midterm elections, Trump sparked a national debate when he slammed NFL players as unpatriotic for kneeling during the National Anthem as a protest against racial inequality in the US justice system.

5am – D/E     MUELLER NEWS:

• ON FOX & FRIENDS, SEN RAND PAUL says he has a high level source and he believes John Brennan and the FBI briefed former President Barack Obama. Also he notes that the Obama admin was trying to get traction on the dossier by spreading it around and using it to help their case before the FISA court: “I believe at that time they did talk to President Obama about it. I think they all should be asked ‘when did President Obama learn about this, what was his recommendation? He is in charge of the government. Did he recommend that you try to spread the dossier throughout the government?’”
• MAX BOOT IS TOO DUMB: How on earth was Barr able to digest and summarize a 300+ page report in less than 48 hours?
• JIM ANTLE: Area columnist believes it is easier to create democracies in the Middle East than to read a 300-page document.
• UNDERCOVER HUBER: Barr can’t read 300 pages in 48 hours but Comey can read 650,000 emails in a week. Same media.
• MOLLIE HEMINGWAY: Interesting. House Democrats met yesterday (WEDNESDAY) with Obama official John Brennan, who used Senator Harry Reid to leak the Russia hoax to the media during the 2016 campaign. His role in this conspiracy remains largely unexplored by either the media or other investigators.

• SAAGAR: Lindsey Graham on @FoxNews: “I promise you that Mr. Comey will come before the committee in a public setting and he will be asked some questions about the dossier and everything else”
• NELLIE OHR: ‘I FAVORED HILLARY CLINTON’

6am – A/B/C Eric Holder goes on MAGA attack: ‘Exactly when did you think America was great?’ (Fox News) — After speaking during Wednesday’s MSNBC interview with Holder on topics like criminal justice reform and partisan redistricting – which the ex-AG says is now his focus instead of running for the White House in 2020 – host Ari Melber had asked him: “There is a lot of talk about America being a leader as a democracy, quote unquote, in the 1800s when women and African-Americans couldn’t vote. What kind of democracy is that?” Holder, unprovoked, then used his answer to tear into Trump’s campaign rally cry. “That’s exactly right. And that’s what I hear these things about ‘let’s make America great again’ and I think to myself, ‘exactly when did you think America was great’?” he said on the show. “It certainly wasn’t when people were enslaved. It certainly wasn’t when women didn’t have the right to vote. It certainly wasn’t when the LGBT community was denied the rights to which it was entitled.”

6am – D/E/F  CALLS FOR ADAM SCHIFF TO RESIGN:

• GOP members of House Intel Committee call on Adam Schiff to resign his chairmanship. “We have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your constitutional responsibility, and urge your immediate resignation.” 
• SCALISE: I asked the Democrat Majority Leader how Democrats can support Adam Schiff still being the head of the House Intel Committee after he lost all credibility when he lied to the American people repeatedly by saying there was clear evidence of collusion when in fact there was none.
• Trump railed against Adam Schiff at his first rally since Robert Mueller concluded his Russia probe: “Little pencil-necked Adam Schiff. He’s got the smallest, thinnest neck I’ve ever seen. He is not a long-ball hitter.”
• GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on Rep. Adam Schiff: “He needs to resign from the committee.” “It’s now up to Nancy Pelosi to remove Chairman [Adam] Schiff. We need to restore the trust in the Intelligence Committee,” Kevin McCarthy said, noting that every Republican on the committee requested the California Democrat resign from his leadership role. McCarthy accuses Adam Schiff of McCarthyism and says, “The Democrats have wasted their majority.”
• Pelosi: “I’m so proud of the work of Chairman Adam Schiff … So what is the president afraid of? Is he afraid of the truth? That he would go after a chairman of a committee in the Congress. I think they’re just scaredy-cats. They just don’t know what to do.”
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): “Congressman Schiff is really becoming Oliver Stone of the house. He’s the Jim Garrison figure trying to look for somebody who actually shot President Kennedy” “Schiff’s got to make a decision about his political future”
• Adam Schiff goes off, lists the Trump Tower meeting, sharing of polling data, call to hack Clinton, Kushner back channel, and more: “You might say that’s all OK … I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt and evidence of collusion.”
• FLASHBACK: IN 2017: SCHIFF WAS PRANKED BY RUSSIAN COMEDIANS: Audio of Russian radio comedians prank-calling Rep. Adam Schiff shows the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee asking for details about naked photos of President Donald Trump they were offering. The audio from last year was posted by U.K. outlet The Daily Mail. The audio’s existence was first reported by the Atlantic. On the recording, the comedians, nicknamed “Vovan” and “Lexus,” pretend to be Andriy Parubiy, speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament. The two have duped a number of celebrities and politicians, including U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, with their calls.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — Maryland State Senator MICHAEL HOUGH — representing Frederick & Carroll Co. – discussed the latest MD legislature news.

• BIO: Michael Hough serves in the Maryland Senate representing District 4, which covers portions of Frederick and Carroll Counties. He was formerly a Delegate and chairman and of the Frederick County Republican Central Committee
• MD MIN WAGE: Maryland adopts $15 minimum wage by 2025 as lawmakers reject Hogan’s veto. Maryland on Thursday became the sixth state — and the first below the Mason-Dixon Line — to adopt a $15 minimum wage, with both chambers of the Democratic-majority legislature rejecting Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill he said would cause job losses and hurt small businesses. The House of Delegates and state Senate easily mustered the three-fifths vote needed to override Hogan’s veto, fulfilling a promise legislative leaders made at the start of the session and achieving a goal that labor unions and other liberal advocates have worked toward for years. Under the bill, companies with 15 or more employees must pay workers at least $15 an hour by 2025. The legislature agreed to give smaller companies, with fewer than 15 employees, until July 2026 to comply with the law.
• SCHOOL START DATE: Hogan has vetoed a bill that would allow local school boards to decide whether to start school before Labor Day. Both the state House and Senate passed the legislation with enough votes to overturn the governor’s veto.
• Gov. Hogan’s Veto Of Post-Labor Day School Start Bill Overrided By Maryland Senate. March 28, 2019 at 1:31 pm // ANNAPOLIS (WJZ) — Maryland Senate votes to override Gov. Hogan’s veto of a bill that abolishes his post-Labor Day school start executive order. The Senate overrides school start date veto. 32-15 Now goes to House.  The override now moves to the House for a vote Thursday afternoon.
• ASSISTED SUICIDE BILL: Bill to legalize medically assisted suicide in Maryland defeated in state Senate. A measure that would have legalized medically assisted suicide in Maryland was defeated Wednesday on a dramatic tie vote in the state Senate. Sen. Will Smith, the bill’s sponsor, said he hoped senators will build on this year’s work on the bill as they debate the measure in future years. “I’m proud of the work we did. I’m proud of the product that I brought to the Senate,” said Smith, a Montgomery County Democrat. “And I’m proud of my ‘Yes’ vote today.” The bill, known as the “End of Life Options Act,” had failed three times before in the Maryland General Assembly.

7am – B/C     DeVos reverses course on Special Olympics cuts after Trump orders funding. Washington (CNN) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spent three days defending her plan to eliminate Special Olympics funding from next year’s budget.

But that didn’t stop her from quickly reversing herself shortly after her boss, President Donald Trump, publicly undermined her position on Thursday, telling reporters that he had “overridden” the proposed cut — though this is the third year in a row that DeVos had included it in her annual funding request to Congress. “The Special Olympics will be funded. I just told my people, I want to fund the Special Olympics and I just authorized a funding of the Special Olympics,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a rally in Michigan. He continued, “I’ve been to the Special Olympics. I think it’s incredible and I just authorized a funding. I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. We’re funding the Special Olympics.” Trump has been known to contradict his top aides and officials, sometimes while they’re in the room, when he disagrees with their positions or their messaging. After Trump spoke, DeVos immediately released a statement saying: “I am pleased and grateful the President and I see eye-to-eye on this issue and that he has decided to fund our Special Olympics grant. This is funding I have fought for behind the scenes over the last several years.”

7am – D/E     INTERVIEW – J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS – President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. He served from 2005 to 2010 in the Voting Section at the United States Department of Justice. Christian discussed anti-semitic art in Virginia, Eric Holder’s anti-America comments and weighed in on calls for Adam Schiff to resign.

• ANTI-SEMITIC ART CELEBRATED IN VA: Virginia school anti-semitic art award — A county high school teacher lauded her student’s drawing of a “hook-nosed” Jewish man holding a bag of money.  According to online reports, the student received a “Scholastic Art Award” for the drawing, which depicts classic anti-Semitic tropes. The classroom teacher reportedly defended her student’s work, claiming it was meant to criticize President Donald Trump.
• ERIC HOLDER ON AMERICA: Eric Holder goes on MAGA attack: ‘Exactly when did you think America was great?’
  • Christian had previously written book about the Obama DOJ — “Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department” // Description of book: The Department of Justice Watches Over the Law But Who Watches the Watchmen? The Department of Justice is America s premier federal law enforcement agency. And according to J. Christian Adams, it s also a base used by leftwing radicals to impose a fringe agenda on the American people. A five-year veteran of the DOJ and a key attorney in pursuing the New Black Panther voter intimidation case, Adams recounts the shocking story of how a once-storied federal agency, the DOJ s Civil Rights division has degenerated into a politicized fiefdom for far-left militants, where the enforcement of the law depends on the race of the victim.

• POST-MUELLER PROBE: Calls for Schiff to resign over Russia narrative. GOP members of House Intel Committee call on Adam Schiff to resign his chairmanship. “We have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your constitutional responsibility, and urge your immediate resignation.” 

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JON MILLER – White House correspondent for The Blaze – recapped President Trump taking a ‘victory lap’ at first rally in Michigan after Mueller probe.

• President Donald J. Trump holds a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich.
•  “I support the Great Lakes. Always have. They are beautiful. They are big. Very deep. Record deepness, right?” – Trump at MAGA Rally
• Trump railed against Adam Schiff at his first rally since Robert Mueller concluded his Russia probe: “Little pencil-necked Adam Schiff. He’s got the smallest, thinnest neck I’ve ever seen. He is not a long-ball hitter.”
• First curse of the night. Trump says democrats have to decide if they will continue defrauding the public with “ridiculous bulls**t” or apologize.

8am – B/C     SMOLLETT FALLOUT:

• Jussie Smollett is nominated for an NAACP Award, and host Anthony Anderson hopes he wins.
• State’s attorney did not ‘formally’ recuse herself in Jussie Smollett case, her office says.
• Chicago demands Jussie Smollett pay $130,000 for cost of investigation.
• JUSSIE WANTS AN APOLOGY
• Jussie Smollett‘s attorney is suggesting that the Nigerian brothers who claim Smollett hired them to stage the hate crime– may have been wearing “WHITEFACE” during the incident….
• President Trump announces FBI and Justice Department to review Jussie Smollett case.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – SEN CHRIS VAN HOLLEN – D-MARYLAND – discussed the emergency pothole repairs coming to the BW Parkway and shared his thoughts on the Mueller report.

• BW PARKWAY POTHOLES: Emergency pothole repairs set for BW Parkway, Md. senator says. Relief is on the way for commuters who have been dodging all the potholes that recently have turned the Baltimore-Washington Parkway into a virtual moonscape. In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the National Park Service said it will close portions for the parkway for two nights this weekend for enhanced patching: From 7:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday, the southbound parkway will be closed from Maryland routes 198 to 197. From 7:30 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday, the northbound lanes on that same section will be closed.
• FLASHBACK: Gov. Hogan: Park Service ‘simply not up to the task’ of maintaining the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
• Sen. Van Hollen’s thoughts on the Mueller report and the push to make it public: Sen. Chris Van Hollen issued this statement after the release of Attorney General William Barr released a summary into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation: “The Mueller report confirms that the Russians interfered in our 2016 election, a point that President Trump continues to deny. I know our country is relieved that Mueller did not find that the President participated in a criminal conspiracy with Putin and Russia, but the President is simply wrong to claim he has been exonerated with respect to charges that he sought to obstruct justice. In fact, the Mueller report expressly indicates that they did not reach a determination on that question. It is alarming but perhaps not surprising that Attorney General Barr — who was handpicked by President Trump — would try to exonerate the President of obstructing justice within 48 hours of getting a report that did not reach such a conclusion. This is the same individual who signaled to President Trump that he did not believe presidents could be liable for obstruction of justice in such circumstances and was likely nominated by Trump for that reason. All this shows why it is imperative that the Congress and the American people immediately get access to the full report and its supporting materials. The country deserves the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

8am – E         PUERTO RICO:

• Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello threatens to physically attack President Donald Trump: “I’ll punch the bully in the mouth” CNN’s Jim Acosta just sits there and smiles.
• Ricardo Rosselló told CNN he wouldn’t be bullied by the White House as he continues to press for disaster assistance for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. ‘I’ll punch the bully in the mouth’: Puerto Rico governor warns Trump over Maria relief. (USA Today) — Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló had a stern warning for President Donald Trump as the president’s feud with the U.S. island territory’s politicians over its disaster relief management continued. “If the bully gets close, I’ll punch the bully in the mouth,” Rosselló told CNN in an interview. “It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage.”  Rosselló told the network he wouldn’t be bullied by the White House as he continues to press for disaster relief assistance tied to Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 and had impacts that linger over a year and a half later. CNN reported Rosselló has requested a meeting with Trump to discuss the disaster relief but that Trump has declined.  The rift between Trump and Puerto Rico grew this week when, in a meeting with Senate Republicans, the president again questioned the amount of funding the island was receiving for disaster relief, CNN and the Washington Post reported.