monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

A former adviser to President Bill Clinton, Dick Morris, is fueling the speculation of whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will run in 2020.

On John Catsimatidis’ radio show over the weekend, Morris said, when it comes to the 2020 presidential election, the question is, “Will the ghost of Hillary Clinton come out and get into the election?”

He went on to suggest that Clinton “wants to,” “feels entitled” and “compelled” to join the presidential race.

“She feels that God put her on the Earth to do it,” Morris said, adding, “But she’s hesitant because she realizes the timing is bad.”

If Clinton will “actually press the button,” Morris responded, “She’s got to wait until Biden drops out because he’s obviously next in line for it, and if he goes away, there’s an opening for her.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Wednesday filed an ethics complaint against House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) over his handling of closed-door impeachment proceedings targeting President Donald Trump.

Gaetz, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, accused Schiff of distorting President Donald Trump’s July 25th telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and barring congressional lawmakers from attending impeachment depositions. The Florida Republican also accused the House intel panel chair of “lying to the public” about now-debunked collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. He wrote in the complaint that the California Democrat’s conduct violates House rules XI & XXIII.

You do realize theatrics belong on Broadway, right?

Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has been summoned to testify in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

House of Representatives investigators have invited him to appear next month.

Mr Trump has denied using the power of his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate former US Vice-President Joe Biden and his son.

Mr Bolton likened the alleged proposal to a "drug deal", according to witness testimony.

It is unclear if Mr Bolton, who left his position in September after falling out of favour with the president, will appear as scheduled on 7 November.

His lawyer, Charles Cooper, told US media his client was not willing to appear voluntarily before the House committee members.

But Mr Cooper said he was ready to accept a subpoena - or legal summons to compel testimony - on Mr Bolton's behalf.

Tell that to HRC. She even wrote a book about why she lost to Trump.

There's a buck to be made, she's there, with bells on.

Trump lures GOP senators on impeachment with cold cash

The Islamic State (IS) group has confirmed the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and named his successor.

An IS outlet on messaging service Telegram announced that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi was the group's new leader and "caliph".

US special forces tracked down Baghdadi in north-west Syria at the weekend and attacked his compound.

The IS leader fled into a tunnel and killed himself with a suicide vest.

Baghdadi was declared leader of the extremist group in 2014 when IS took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria and imposed its rule over the civilian population.

In an audio message, IS also confirmed the death of spokesman Abu al-Hasan al-Muhajir - who was killed in a separate joint US-Kurdish operation on 27 October. The Saudi national had been considered a potential successor to Baghdadi.

New IS spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qurashi also called on Muslims to swear allegiance to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi.

Hashemi's name is not known to global security forces, and is believed to be a nom de guerre.

IS did not release many details about the new leader or release a photo, but they did claim he was a veteran jihadist fighter who had fought against the West.

The group also made clear that he claims to be descended from the Prophet Muhammad's Quraysh tribe - something generally held by pre-modern Sunni scholars as being a key qualification for becoming a caliph, the religious-political ruler of a caliphate.

IS declared the creation of a "caliphate" - a state governed in accordance with Sharia - after seizing control of huge swathes of Iraq in 2014. It proclaimed Baghdadi as "Caliph Ibrahim" and demanded allegiance from Muslims worldwide.

Despite the demise of its physical caliphate in March, IS remains a battle-hardened and well-disciplined force.

The group still has between 14,000 and 18,000 "members" in Iraq and Syria, including up to 3,000 foreigners, according to a recent US report.

Before the announcement, the BBC's Mina al-Lami said: "If IS chooses to appoint someone who is not a Qurashi, then perhaps it is an implicit acknowledgement that the 'caliphate' is no more."

With the group's declaration, it is trying to show that this is not the case.

Matthew Dowd
@matthewjdowd
The two main entities attacking Twitter for its banning of political ads are: Brad Parscale/Trump campaign and Russian state television. Hmmm.....
6:10 PM · Oct 30, 2019·