"One of the media and beltway orthodoxies we constantly hear is that just a few bad apples under James Comey at the FBI explain why so many FBI elites have been fired, resigned, reassigned, demoted, or retired -- or just left for unexplained reasons. The list is long and includes director James Comey himself, deputy director Andrew McCabe, counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, attorney Lisa Page, chief of staff James Rybicki, general counsel James Baker, assistant director for public affairs Mike Kortan, Comey's special assistant Josh Campbell, executive assistant director James Turgal, assistant director for office of congressional affairs Greg Bower, executive assistant director Michael Steinbach, and executive assistant director John Giacalone. In short, in about every growing scandal of the past two years -- FISA, illegal leaking, spying on a presidential candidate, lying under oath, obstructing justice -- someone in the FBI is involved. ...

"Fairly or not, the current FBI tragedy is that an American citizen should be duly worried about his constitutional rights any time he is approached by such senior FBI officials. That is not a slur on the rank and file, but the legacy of the supposed best and brightest of the agency and their distortions of the bureau's once professional creed."

"All the hysteria over President Trump's latest tariff threat to Mexico proved wrong Friday, as the two sides reached a deal that gave Trump what he'd demanded: much more vigorous cooperation in stopping illegal Central American migrants from travelling 1,200-plus miles across Mexico to sneak into the United States.

"It may not stop the surge that's crossed the 100,000-a-month line, overwhelming the Border Patrol as well as the various social-service agencies that have to handle these immigrants. But it's sure a huge step.

"With the Democrats who control the House refusing to OK emergency funds to deal with this humanitarian crisis, the president took a brilliant step outside the box when he publicly upped the pressure on Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to finally start doing his part."

"In a key finding of the Mueller report, Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Kilimnik, who worked for Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is tied to Russian intelligence.

"But hundreds of pages of government documents -- which special counsel Robert Mueller possessed since 2018 -- describe Kilimnik as a 'sensitive' intelligence source for the U.S. State Department who informed on Ukrainian and Russian matters.

"Why Mueller's team omitted that part of the Kilimnik narrative from its report and related court filings is not known. But the revelation of it comes as the accuracy of Mueller's Russia conclusions face increased scrutiny. ...

"Attorney General William Barr has said some of the Mueller report's legal reasoning conflicts with Justice Department policies. And former Trump attorney John Dowd made a compelling case that Mueller's report wrongly portrayed a phone message he left for a witness.

"A few more such errors and omissions, and Americans may begin to wonder if the Mueller report is worth the paper on which it was printed."

Read entire article here.

"Many Americans say the creation and spread of made-up news and information is causing significant harm to the nation and needs to be stopped, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 6,127 U.S. adults conducted between Feb. 19 and March 4, 2019, on the Center's American Trends Panel.

"Indeed, more Americans view made-up news as a very big problem for the country than identify terrorism, illegal immigration, racism and sexism that way. Additionally, nearly seven-in-ten U.S. adults (68%) say made-up news and information greatly impacts Americans' confidence in government institutions, and roughly half (54%) say it is having a major impact on our confidence in each other.

"U.S. adults blame political leaders and activists far more than journalists for the creation of made-up news intended to mislead the public. But they believe it is primarily the responsibility of journalists to fix the problem. And they think the issue will get worse in the foreseeable future."

Read entire article here.

"The modern world as we know it was born in the aftermath of World War II. Unprecedented levels of peace, prosperity and democracy spread across the globe and were guaranteed by financial and military institutions funded mostly by America.

"But vigilance waned as memories dimmed, and much of Europe used the continent's longest holiday from war to disarm and expand their welfare states. They assumed, correctly, that America would be there to protect them.

"Then along comes Trump with his America First agenda and instantly he's the skunk at their garden party. He demands, outrageously in their view, that Europe finally pay its fair share for the common defense, a promise often made but never kept.

"They hate his insistence on border security, even as their nations are roiled by their own influx of uninvited migrants. They hate him for this and they hate him for that, but most of all, they hate him for being so damn American."

Read entire article here.

"A federal judge on Monday rejected an attempt by the Democrat-led House to bar President Donald Trump from spending $6.1 billion in unappropriated funds to build a border wall.

"In a 24-page opinion, D.C.-based District Court Judge Trevor McFadden said that the court lacked authority to resolve a funding dispute between the executive and legislative branches.

"'While the Constitution bestows upon members of the House many powers, it does not grant them standing to hale the executive branch into court claiming a dilution of Congress's legislative authority,' McFadden wrote.

"The ruling deals a momentary victory to Trump. A separate Oakland-based federal judge in late May issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the transfer of roughly $1 billion in Defense Department counter-drug funding to cover expansions and enhancement of border barriers."

"... I love the Department of Justice, I love the FBI, I think it's important that we not, in this period of intense partisan feeling, destroy our institutions. I think one of the ironies today is that people are saying that it's President Trump that's shredding our institutions. I really see no evidence of that, it is hard, and I really haven't seen bill of particulars as to how that's being done. From my perspective the idea of resisting a democratically elected president and basically throwing everything at him and you know, really changing the norms on the grounds that we have to stop this president, that is where the shredding of our norms and our institutions is occurring."

Read interview transcript here.

"WASHINGTON -- President Trump said Thursday that he would impose a 5 percent tariff on all imported goods from Mexico beginning June 10, a tax that would 'gradually increase' until the flow of undocumented immigrants across the border stopped.

"The announcement, which Mr. Trump made on his Twitter feed, said the tariffs would be in place 'until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.'

"In a presidential statement that followed, he said that tariffs would be raised to 10 percent on July 1 'if the crisis persists,' and then by an additional 5 percent each month for three months. They would remain at 25 percent until Mexico acted, he said."

"If there were any doubts about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's political intentions, his unprecedented press conference on Wednesday should put them all to rest. As he made abundantly clear during his doddering reading of a prepared statement that repeatedly contradicted itself, Mueller had no interest in the equal application of the rule of law. He gave the game, and his nakedly political intentions, away repeatedly throughout his statement. ...

"In fact, DOJ guidelines expressly prohibit the actions of both Comey and Mueller in naming and shaming individuals who were never formally charged with any wrongdoing.

"'As a series of cases makes clear, there is ordinarily "no legitimate governmental interest served" by the government's public allegation of wrongdoing by an uncharged party, and this is true "regardless of what criminal charges may ... b[e] contemplated by the Assistant United States Attorney against the [third-party] for the future,"' states DOJ's formal policy manual on the duties of federal prosecutors and principles of federal prosecutions.

"Nationwide bar rules governing all practicing attorneys in the United States also explicitly prohibit Mueller's display during Wednesday's press conference.

"'The prosecutor in a criminal case shall ... refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused,' states Rule 3.8(f) of the American Bar Association's rules of professional conduct."

Read entire article here.

"Defenders of the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran predicted that President Trump's sanctions would have little impact unless our European friends joined in. They were dead wrong.

"That same crowd is now in a frenzy over Mr. Trump deploying military assets to the Middle East to deter or, if necessary, punish attacks on Americans by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or its many proxies.

"They have been claiming -- including in paid advertisements -- that Mr. Trump is leading a 'march to war.'

"What's really happening is less dramatic but more intriguing: Iran's rulers are feeling intense pain from Mr. Trump's 'maximum pressure' campaign, and they are no longer sure they can wait for what they hope will be a more conciliatory occupant of the White House in 2021."

Read entire article here.