Steinle Killer Gets Hit With Federal Charges

It has now been disclosed that there are federal charges pending against the killer of Kate Steinle who was acquitted of murder in San Francisco yesterday.  The federal charges were filed a few years ago, but they have remained sealed until today.  The arrest warrant requires California authorities to turn this guy over to federal officials at the end of his sentence.  Unlike the usual instance where California ignores federal detainers, this one must be obeyed because there is an arrest warrant that accompanies it.

The good thing is that the charges were filed in the Western District of Texas, the jurisdiction through which the illegal alien re-entered the country.  My guess is that a jury there will come to a much different conclusion than the one in San Francisco.  Of course, the defendant cannot be tried again for the same crime, but there are enough federal crimes alleged that this fellow ought to get some substantial prison time.

Ignorance In the Senate

I just flipped on C-Span to see if the Senate had yet started voting on the tax plan.  It has not.  What I did see, however, was just moment that illustrates the sorry level of ignorance in that body.  Senator Stabenow of Michigan was speaking about the tax bill and her objections to it.  In the space of three minutes she said the following:

1.  The Bush tax cuts of 2001 led to the financial collapse of 2008-9.  This isn't just a lie; it's a whopper.  There are a lot of reasons that have been given for the financial collapse; no one, however, blames the 2001 tax cuts.  Stabenow might have blamed the Allied victory in World War I for the financial crisis in 2008.  It had about as much impact as the 2001 tax cuts. 

2.  Stabenow also started talking about how in 2001, when Obama became president, he had to try to put things back together.  Obama became president in 2009, so she was just off by 8 years.  It may just be a slip of the lip, but you would think that a senator would at least know who was president when.

3.  Stabenow then went off on a big tear about a minor amendment regarding using gift cards as awards to employees for good work.  She opined that it was wrong to take gift cards away from middle class employees.  That remark revealed that she had no idea what she was talking about.  let me explain.  Right now, employers cannot deduct the cost of gifts to employees of more than $25 per year under the tax law.  That does not bar a gift being made, it just affects the tax treatment.  If an employer gives a gift of $1000, it is treated as a bonus rather than a gift and is included in taxable income.  The amendment in the current tax bill makes clear that gift cards will be treated the same way.  In other words, companies cannot get around the tax law by awarding gift cards rather than cash.  It's a minor clarification of the tax law.  It doesn't take gift cards from middle class employees.  If Stabenow had even read the provision, she would know that.  Instead, she spent two minutes objecting to a provision about which she had no knowledge.

I realize that senators can't know everything.  I just think that occasionally, senators ought to know something.  Stabenow fails that test.

The Flynn Story

General Flynn is pleading guilty to lying to the FBI when he was questioned about his discussion with the Russian ambassador held last December.  This is a big deal for Flynn but not for anyone else.  It is the same offense for which Flynn was fired by the White House in February.

According to reports, Flynn is now going to cooperate fully with Mueller.  Sources are telling the media that Flynn will state that he was directed to speak to the Russian ambassador last December.  If true, this is a big nothing.  Remember that when news of the Flynn contact with the Russian ambassador came out, then President-elect Trump said that Flynn was just doing his job.  After all, the incoming national security adviser to the president-elect ought to be communicating with foreign ambassadors.  Certainly, even someone as nutty as the typical MSNBC host couldn't twist things so that a meeting held six weeks after the election was over somehow affected the election outcome. 

The only possible problem this could cause would be if some other administration official lied to the FBI on the same subject.  That would not include the President, however, since he has never been interviewed by the FBI.

Of course, while we are at it, if Flynn is being indicted for lying to the FBI, one has to wonder if we will soon see indictments of Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch and many others who lied to the FBI or Congress.  Hillary said she didn't know that there was classified material in her emails.  Hillary is not that ignorant.  Huma Abedin falls into the same category.  Former attorney general Lynch said under oath to Congress that her meeting with Bill Clinton on the tarmac in Arizona was just by chance.  Today we learned that the FBI held an investigation right after that meeting to see who had leaked that the meeting was happening to the media.  If the meeting had been held by a happy coincidence, no one would have known about it in advance and no one would have been able to leak it to the media.  Clearly, Lynch must have been not telling the truth when she testified that the meeting happened by happy coincidence.  And what of James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence.  He testified that the intelligence agencies did not "wittingly" collect data on Americans phone calls and the like.  That was a blatant and knowing lie.  Shouldn't he be prosecuted too?

I don't mind in the least if Flynn is prosecuted for lying to the FBI.  I think, however, that there ought to be even-handed justice.  All those Democrat big wigs who lied should also be prosecuted.

And let's not forget Jim Comey.  The former FBI director admitted that he leaked classified info to the media in the hopes of getting a special prosecutor appointed.  No matter what the reason, intentionally leaking classified info is a crime.  Comey, too, should be headed to court to defend his actions.

This One Seems Harmless

While all the media is focused on Mike Flynn and that mess, word is out that supposedly there is another settlement out of the congressional fund used by some for ending sexual harassment claims which has been uncovered.  The congressman this time is Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican.  Supposedly, he had the fund pay over $80,000 to his former spokesperson Lauren Greene to settle claims of wrongful firing and sexual harassment four years ago. 

There doesn't seem to be much to the story, however, for a number of reasons.

1.  We aren't sure if Farenthold is actually the congressman involved, although it seems like that.  There was a claim made against Farenthold some years back, but we can't be sure if the settlement came from the fund.

2.  The complaint brought by the spokesperson doesn't accuse Farenthold of actual harassment.  In fact, the complaint claims that the plaintiff complained that Farenthold avoided meeting alone with her.  It's hard to twist something into sexual harassment when the supposed perpetrator didn't want to meet alone with the victim.

3.  In essence, the complaint comes down to the spokesperson complaining to Farenthold about another staffer, after which she was fired about a month later.  That may not be wonderful conduct if true, but it is hardly sexual harassment.

4.  There are things in the complain that the plaintiff attributes to Farenthold, but none of them were said to her.  She also says that Farenthold drinks too much, but again, that's not sexual harassment.

5.  The House Ethics Committee investigated the claim after it was brought and concluded as follows:  "there is not substantial reason to believe that Representative Farenthold sexually harassed or discriminated against [ex-staffer Lauren Greene], or engaged in an effort to intimidate, take reprisal against, or discriminate against [Greene] for opposing such treatment, in violation of House rules and federal law."

Could They Make It Monthly

I just watched Trevor Noah of the Daily Show in a 7 minute excerpt in which he discussed President Trump calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" and also the sexual harassment claims against Democrats Al Franken and John Conyers and Republican senate candidate Roy Moore.  Noah took over from John Stewart a few years ago.  Wow, is he not funny.

To be fair, this is just one excerpt and maybe it was a bad example of Noah's humor.  Nevertheless, the piece was trumpeted as a really great one for the Daily Show.  If so, I understand why Noah's ratings are so low.

Maybe they should change the name to the Monthly Show and give Noah a bit more time to come up with material.  It might help, but even if it doesn't, we won't have to deal with this non-funny stuff as often.

Slipping on the Blue

Judge Stas had his confirmation hearing yesterday.  Stas is the Minnesota Supreme Court judge nominated by President Trump to sit on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  His nomination was held up by serial sex abuser Al Franken in the senate by Franken's refusal to return the "blue slip".  Blue slips are a courtesy given to home state senators with regard to nominees from their state.  Hearings customarily have not gone ahead until the home state senators return their blue slips.  Because Franken was providing no real reason for the hold and because Stas is widely regarded as a very able and fair jurist, the Senate committee decided to go ahead without Franken's consent.  Thus we had yesterday's hearing.

One would expect that Franken would have grilled Stas with some rather hard questions and brought out problems with his background.  After all, Franken held the nomination for six months.  That did not happen.  Franken just asked some rather dull questions which clearly had been written for him by his staff.  When Stas gave answers, Franken never followed up.  It seems doubtful that Franken even understood the answers.  Either that or maybe he was scanning the room looking for some pretty woman to abuse.

The hearing disclosed on thing; that is for sure.  Al Franken had no reason to delay the Stas nomination other than to try to obstruct a nomination by President Trump.

The Steinle Travesty

A jury in San Francisco acquitted the illegal alien (who admits he shot Kate Steinle) of murder and manslaughter yesterday.  The result is a travesty.  The jury did convict the guy of illegal weapon possession.

This is a travesty.  Basically, the defendant admitted that he shot Steinle but said it was an accident.  Supposedly, the gun had a hair trigger and "it just went off."  Funny, isn't it, how guns have a mind of their own, and the guy holding the gun and squeezing the trigger is just not at fault.  The defense turned the trial into an anti-Trump protest to approve of sanctuary cities.  That too is a travesty.  Kate Steinle is still dead whether or not San Francisco is a sanctuary city and there is no doubt about who it was who killed her.

The good news is that the DOJ is looking into bringing federal charges against the defendant.  Of course, since we are dealing with San Francisco, it would not  be at all surprising if the city or state sneak the defendant out the back door of the prison to freedom when the day comes for his release rather than turning him over to the feds if an arrest warrant is issued.