Always fun to join @VinceCoglianese to co-host Mornings on the Mall @WMALDC three times this week! pic.twitter.com/xbTkHPI4hJ

— Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) June 14, 2019

Sean Spicer, White House’s Brian Blase, James O’Keefe, Mark Levin and guest host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, June 14, 2019

Hosts: Vince Coglianese and guest host Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer (a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and president of the London Center for Policy Research)

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Sarah Sanders leaving as White House press secretary, Trump hints she may run for Arkansas governor. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON – Sarah Sanders is stepping down as President Donald Trump’s press secretary after serving as the public face of the White House during some of the administration’s most contentious chapters. Trump, who announced the news Thursday, described Sanders as a “warrior” and hinted that she might follow in her father’s foot steps and run for governor of Arkansas, her home state. “She’s tough,” Trump said at an event at the White House. “But she’s good.” Sanders worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign before she was elevated to press secretary in 2017. The president first announced her departure in a tweet. “After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas,” he said, apparently referring to her work on his 2016 campaign – in addition to 2-1/2 years in the White House press office.

5am – D         U.S. blames Iran for ‘blatant assault’ on oil tankers in Gulf of Oman. (NBC News) — The stretch of water separates Oman and the UAE from the Islamic republic. The incident comes amid rising tensions between Tehran and Washington.

An American-guided missile destroyer was sent to assist two burning tankers in the Gulf of Oman, following what the Trump administration on Thursday described as a “blatant assault” by Iran. Following the attack that could further inflame tensions between Washington and Tehran, the USS Bainbridge was dispatched to help the damaged Japanese and Norwegian vessels, according to 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Josh Frey. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the weapons used and previous threats issued by Iran point to Tehran as the culprit. “It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today,” he said. “This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication,” said Pompeo, who didn’t offer further evidence. “Taken as a whole these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran. Thursday evening, U.S. Central Command described the incident as a limpet mine attack. A limpet mine is a naval mine attached to a target with magnets. Central Command released video it said showed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps patrol boat approaching one of the ships, the Kokuka Courageous, hours after the explosion and “and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the M/T Kokuka Courageous.”

5am – E         Kim Kardashian returns to White House to discuss criminal justice: ‘It really is such an honor to be here’ (Fox News) — Kim Kardashian spoke at the White House on Thursday, appearing alongside President Trump boosting efforts to help people leaving prison return to the workforce. Initially seated between Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Kardashian, 38, was met with applause after President Trump mentioned the reality star in his opening remarks. “It really is such an honor to be here today,” Kardashian, who has been advocating for criminal justice reform issues, said when she took the podium. She called Trump’s support of the “Second Chance” program “magic,” and added that the initiative had partnered with rideshare organization Lyft to hand out gift cards for reformed criminals to get to and from job interviews.

6am – A/B/C             INSUFFERABLE FREAK OUT OVER TRUMP’S FOREIGN DIRT COMMENTS:

• PELOSI RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S “UNETHICAL COMMENTS ON FOREIGN DIRT”
• Sen. Mitt Romney says it’s “simply unthinkable” to accept foreign dirt on rivals: “I ran for president twice. I ran for governor once. I ran for Senate twice. I’ve never had any attempt made by a foreign government. … Had that occurred I would’ve contacted the FBI immediately”
• Sen. Mark Warner: “All of us when we take an oath of office swear to protect the United States from enemies both foreign and domestic. The comments of President Trump yesterday were extraordinary even in a Trump world.”
• CNN: ‘Big Difference’ Between Trump Tower Meeting and Steele Dossier. For the Thursday afternoon’s airing of CNN Newsroom, substitute anchor Pamela Brown hosted a discussion on President Trump’s recent Oval Office interview, in which he stated that he may or may not call the FBI if a foreign entity offered information on a political opponent. In that time, CNN senior Justice correspondent Evan Perez suggested the now-infamous Steele dossier wasn’t foreign interference because it made its way to the FBI. At no point did Perez now it was paid for and intended to be used by the Clinton campaign.
• CNN’s John King Trump Sounded Like a Toddler That’s Been Caught With Everyone Does Oppo Research
• CNN’S JOHN BERMAN – He told the world if Russia calls he is willing to listen
• CNN anchor Chris Cuomo Wednesday rejected the idea that the Hillary Clinton campaign accepted dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump from a foreign government during the 2016 election, saying there isn’t “any proof” of it.

6am – D         Big Tech and Censorship:

• Twitter Punishes Project Veritas For Exposing Pinterest’s Censorship Of Pro-Life Group.  Pinterest has come under fire for declaring the pro-life website Live Action as “pornography.” A whistleblower leaked internal documents to Project Veritas. The investigative journalist group, headed by James O’Keefe, released the first part of their story. At that time, Pinterest removed Live Action from their porn list but then quickly added it back to the banned porn list. The Pinterest whistleblower was eventually fired. On Wednesday, Project Veritas tweeted internal communications from Pinterest showing they labeled Ben Shapiro a “white supremacist.” At that point Twitter suspended Project Veritas.
• YouTube Censors Project Veritas Video Exposing Anti-Christian Bias at Pinterest. YouTube censored a video from undercover journalism outlet Project Veritas featuring an interview with a Silicon Valley insider who revealed anti-Christian censorship at the social media platform Pinterest. YouTube users who navigate to the Project Veritas interview are now met with a message informing them that the video is “no longer available due to a privacy claim by a third party.” The video can still be accessed at Project Veritas’ website. It reveals that Pinterest added Bible verses to a “sensitive terms” list and censored a major pro-life website as “pornography.”
• Fired Pinterest Whistleblower Speaks Out About Big Tech Censorship That Protects ‘Abortion Lobby’ Former Pinterest Engineer Eric Cochran made his television debut Wednesday speaking out against Big Tech censorship during an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Cochran, the whistleblower who exposed his former employer’s censorship of pro-life group Live Action to James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, was summarily dismissed from Pinterest this week. Internal documents obtained by Project Veritas from Cochran show the social media giant monitored Live Action, and a staff member allegedly added it to a “pornography block list,” presumably as a way to censor the anti-abortion group. On Tuesday, Live Action was banned entirely from the platform for spreading “harmful information on Pinterest,” including “medical misinformation and conspiracies that turn individuals and facilities into targets for harassment and violence,” according to an email Live Action received from Pinterest support. The next day, Project Veritas’ own account was temporarily suspended by Twitter for publishing “other people’s private information,” a Twitter employee told The Daily Caller News Foundation, after having made public the internal documents they obtained from Cochran.

6am – E         Government watchdog recommends Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway be ‘removed from service’ (ABC News) — A federal watchdog agency recommended on Thursday that White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway be “removed from service” citing repeated violations of a law that bans federal employees from political activity.  The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency that investigates wrongdoing by government employees, found that Conway “violated the Hatch Act on numerous occasions by disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.”  The report released Thursday cites comments Conway made during the Alabama Senate special election in December 2017, which the office found violated the Hatch Act in another report released last year. Conway, whose formal title is Counselor to the President, commented on the Alabama election in multiple interviews at the time, though the White House defended her comments as reflecting the president’s positions on policy. “Doug Jones in Alabama, folks don’t be fooled,” Conway said during one “Fox and Friends” interview. “He’ll be a vote against tax cuts. He’s weak on crime, weak on borders. He’s strong on raising your taxes. He’s terrible for property owners. And Doug Jones is a doctrinaire liberal, which is why he’s not saying anything and why the media are trying to boost him.”

6am – F         Nunes Says He Has Finally Seen Mueller ‘Scope Memo’ (Daily Caller) — California Rep. Devin Nunes said Wednesday that he has finally seen the Justice Department memo that laid out the parameters of the special counsel’s probe. Nunes, a Republican, indicated in an interview on Fox News’s “Hannity” that the Aug. 2, 2017 memo shows the infamous and unverified Steele dossier was relevant to the special counsel’s probe. “Ultimately, that Steele dossier permeated all the way through, ultimately to the special counsel,” said Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. “I was finally able to see the scope memo,” he continued. “And remember, I had these concerns that it was based upon the Steele dossier.” Nunes said he was unable to talk about what else is in the memo, seemingly because it contains classified information. Democrats have tried to downplay the significance of the Steele dossier to the Trump-Russia probe. They’ve pointed out that the dossier, which former British spy Christopher Steele wrote and Democrats funded, was not the catalyst for the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign, which started on July 31, 2016. The FBI did rely heavily on the dossier for some parts of its investigation. The bureau used the salacious document to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page, a Trump campaign aide. Nunes has pressed the Justice Department for an unredacted version of the memo. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel on May 17, 2017, wrote the memo to clarify the scope of the investigation.  Mueller’s report of the Russia probe provided a summary of what is mentioned in the memo.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – SEAN SPICER – Senior Advisor & Spokesman, America First Action, former White House Press Secretary, author of “The Briefing”

• White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to leave Trump administration. Sarah Sanders leaving as White House press secretary, Trump hints she may run for Arkansas governor. (USA Today) — WASHINGTON – Sarah Sanders is stepping down as President Donald Trump’s press secretary after serving as the public face of the White House during some of the administration’s most contentious chapters. Trump, who announced the news Thursday, described Sanders as a “warrior” and hinted that she might follow in her father’s foot steps and run for governor of Arkansas, her home state. “She’s tough,” Trump said at an event at the White House. “But she’s good.” Sanders worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign before she was elevated to press secretary in 2017. The president first announced her departure in a tweet.

7am – B/C     JULIAN CASTRO TOWN HALL ON FOX NEWS:

• Democrat presidential candidate Julian Castro’s reaction when Arizona voter Jessica Welch tells him she was victimized by an illegal immigrant: “Crime happens.”
• Castro challenges Fox and conservatives who continue to bring up Hillary Clinton. “Hillary Clinton is not on the ballot,” he says. “Those of us who are running are on the ballot.”
• Bret Baier: “A federal watchdog agency recommended that Kellyanne Conway be fired for violating the Hatch Act. When you were HUD Secretary, the same agency accused you of the same thing. Obama gave you a pass. Should Trump give Conway a pass?” Castro: No, situation is different

7am – D         Republican blocks bill requiring campaigns to alert FBI to foreign assistance. (Axios) — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) blocked an effort by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to pass a bill via unanimous consent requiring campaigns to report any offers of foreign assistance to the FBI.  “We are all for free and fair and honest elections. … These reporting requirements are overbroad. Presidential campaigns would have to worry about disclosure at a variety of levels. So many different levels. Consider this: vendors that work for a campaign, people that are supplying some kind of voter service to a campaign. … It would apply to door knockers, it would apply to phone bankers, down to any person who shares their views with a candidate.” Warner then countered that Blackburn’s reading of the legislation is “not accurate .., The only thing that would have to be reported is if the agent of a foreign government or national offered that something that was already prohibited.”

7am – E         INTERVIEW – BRIAN BLASE (sounds like blaze) – White House Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy

• ‪Friday afternoon, the White House will hold an event announcing the finalized Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) rule, which will provide Americans with better health care options at lower costs.
• White House expands health accounts aimed at small firms. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is expanding options for employers to use special accounts to help workers buy their own health insurance, upgrade job-based coverage, or choose low-cost plans with limited benefits, officials said Thursday. The tax-free individual accounts are called “health reimbursement arrangements,” or HRAs, and starting next year employees will be able to use them to buy their own individual health insurance plans. Employers that offer regular workplace coverage can also set up another type of HRA account — limited to $1,800 a year — that will allow workers to get additional benefits such as dental and vision care. This second type of account can also be used to purchase lower-cost, short-term insurance that comes with limited benefits and doesn’t have to cover pre-existing medical conditions. HRAs are already available to employers and workers, but the administration finalized new rules that potentially could boost their popularity. Thursday’s final regulation is nearly 500 pages long, and will take time for experts and benefit consultants to parse. But critics fear that some of the changes could undermine traditional workplace insurance, or raise premiums for individual plans. The White House says the expansion of HRAs is aimed at small to midsized businesses that struggle with cost of health insurance premiums. The administration estimates that eventually 800,000 employers and more than 11 million workers and family members will benefit.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JAMES O’KEEFE of Project Veritas – discussed the latest censorship by Big Tech companies.

• Twitter Punishes Project Veritas For Exposing Pinterest’s Censorship Of Pro-Life Group.  Pinterest has come under fire for declaring the pro-life website Live Action as “pornography.” A whistleblower leaked internal documents to Project Veritas. The investigative journalist group, headed by James O’Keefe, released the first part of their story. At that time, Pinterest removed Live Action from their porn list but then quickly added it back to the banned porn list. The Pinterest whistleblower was eventually fired. On Wednesday, Project Veritas tweeted internal communications from Pinterest showing they labeled Ben Shapiro a “white supremacist.” At that point Twitter suspended Project Veritas.
• YouTube Censors Project Veritas Video Exposing Anti-Christian Bias at Pinterest. YouTube censored a video from undercover journalism outlet Project Veritas featuring an interview with a Silicon Valley insider who revealed anti-Christian censorship at the social media platform Pinterest. YouTube users who navigate to the Project Veritas interview are now met with a message informing them that the video is “no longer available due to a privacy claim by a third party.” The video can still be accessed at Project Veritas’ website. It reveals that Pinterest added Bible verses to a “sensitive terms” list and censored a major pro-life website as “pornography.”
• Fired Pinterest Whistleblower Speaks Out About Big Tech Censorship That Protects ‘Abortion Lobby’ Former Pinterest Engineer Eric Cochran made his television debut Wednesday speaking out against Big Tech censorship during an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Cochran, the whistleblower who exposed his former employer’s censorship of pro-life group Live Action to James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, was summarily dismissed from Pinterest this week. Internal documents obtained by Project Veritas from Cochran show the social media giant monitored Live Action, and a staff member allegedly added it to a “pornography block list,” presumably as a way to censor the anti-abortion group.

8am – B/C     Highlights of President Trump’s Fox & Friends Interview

8am – D/E     INTERVIEW – MARK LEVIN – host of the “Mark Levin Show on WMAL and author of new book “Unfreedom of the Press” (30 mins)

• His thoughts on Bernie’s so-called ‘Democratic Socialism’
• Discussed what he thinks about the press hysteria over Trump’s foreign intel comments yesterday.