"A Harvard-Harris poll finds that 65 percent of Americans say Congress shouldn't begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Sixty percent agree with Attorney General William Barr that 'the facts and public actions of President Trump did not amount to obstruction of justice, especially since there was no underlying collusion.' And 58 percent believe 'we should turn the page on investigations of President Trump.' ...

"When Trump declares it's time to 'get these phony investigations over with,' the American people are with him. If Democrats keep pushing to impeach him, they risk driving many of these disgusted voters into Trump's waiting arms.

"The president has given Democrats a choice -- impeachment or bipartisan progress. It's clear where the American people stand: They want Congress to stop investigating and start governing. If Democrats don't listen, they could hand Trump a second term."

"[I]n our effort to accommodate many Americans by making the last Monday in May, Memorial Day, we have lost sight of the significance of this day to our nation. Instead of using Memorial Day as a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans in combat, many Americans use the day as a celebration of the beginning of summer."

"President Donald Trump has directed the heads of several government agencies to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's investigation of the origins of the Russia probe.

"In a memo sent out Thursday, Trump also authorized Barr to declassify documents related to the Russia investigation.

"The memo grants Barr the authority to 'declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence' related to the Russia probe as he sees fit. ...

"Trump's memo directs the heads of several federal agencies, including the CIA, FBI and State Department, to 'promptly' provide assistance and information to Barr to complete his review."

"Among the most important roles of the federal courts is to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of other branches of government, including the legislature. The courts should look beneath the claimed justifications for investigations of individuals and decide whether these justifications represent the real reasons behind the issuance of subpoenas and other exercises of congressional power. There should be a balancing test to weigh the legitimate interests of Congress against the rights of those targeted by its investigations. Congress should not be given carte blanche, as the decision by Judge Mehta gives it, to investigate anyone and anything for any purpose as long as the committee chairmen can recite the correct words as purported justifications for their actions.

"All civil libertarians, whether Democrat, Republican, or independent, should indeed be concerned about abuses of power by congressional committees. Today, Donald Trump and his administration are the targets. Tomorrow, it may be Democrats. The next day, you could be the target."

"The Americans are now campaigning aggressively to contain [Huawei Technologies Co Ltd] as part of a much broader effort to check Beijing's growing military might under President Xi Jinping. Strengthening cyber operations is a key element in the sweeping military overhaul that Xi launched soon after taking power in 2012, according to official U.S. and Chinese military documents. The United States has accused China of widespread, state-sponsored hacking for strategic and commercial gain.

"If Huawei gains a foothold in global 5G networks, Washington fears this will give Beijing an unprecedented opportunity to attack critical infrastructure and compromise intelligence sharing with key allies. Senior Western security officials say this could involve cyber attacks on public utilities, communication networks and key financial centers."

Read entire article here.

"Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has flatly accused former FBI Director James Comey of mischaracterizing her statements by repeatedly alleging, under oath, that Lynch privately instructed him to call the Hillary Clinton email probe a 'matter' instead of an 'investigation.'

"Lynch, who testified that Comey's claim left her 'quite surprised,' made the dramatic remarks at a joint closed-door session of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees last December. A transcript of her testimony was released on Monday by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga.

"The episode marked the latest public dispute to break out among high-level ex-Obama administration officials, as multiple government reviews of potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct continue.

"In a June 2017 interview under oath with the House Intelligence Committee, Comey said Lynch had pressed him to downplay the significance of the Clinton email review in September 2015, just before a congressional hearing in which Comey was expected to be asked about the investigation. Comey said the moment led him to question her independence and contributed to his decision to unilaterally hold a press conference in July 2016 announcing the conclusions of the probe."

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"The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was the target of a rocket attack late Sunday, days after the Trump White House ordered American diplomatic personnel to pull out of the country.

"Iraqi military officials confirmed Sunday a single Katyusha rocket landed near the parade grounds inside the heavily-fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital, which is home to the U.S. embassy as well as the main headquarters for the American-led coalition battling the Islamic State.

"But eyewitnesses claim a second rocket also landed inside the Green Zone, according to unconfirmed reports.

"No casualties were reported and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the first against a U.S. diplomatic post in Iraq since the American mission in the southern port city of Basra was hit last September."

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"Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos said Thursday that the FBI tried to get his wife to wear a wire to 'entrap' him and that he thinks Congress 'probably has transcripts' of meetings he had that prove he was spied on by the FBI.

"'Besides the FBI trying to have my then-girlfriend, now wife, actually wear a wire to try to entrap me herself -- which was completely crazy -- she was an Italian citizen visiting me as a girlfriend. And they subpoenaed her and tried to flip her against me, which was incredibly bizarre,' Papadopoulos said on Fox News' 'The Ingraham Angle.'

"Papadopoulos said he believes his wife was targeted because she knew all about academic Joseph Mifsud's connection to Italian government.

"'But what we believed that they really targeted her for is, we believe she knew all about Joseph Mifsud's connections to the Italian government and his connections in Europe, which we just found out today that ... the prime minister ... just fired the heads of three intel agencies in Italy. And I think it has to do with the person, Joseph Mifsud, who the president and Devin Nunes and other people have been asking the government in Italy to examine a lot more because he's actually at the core of this entire scam,' Papadopoulos said.

"Mifsud, 59, a professor from Malta who helped ignite the Russia probe in 2016, has largely vanished from the public eye since his name began surfacing in news stories. Nunes, a California Republican, is ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee."

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"The Interior Department will publicly list attorneys' fees paid out, often to environmental activist groups, for legal settlements, according to a recent memo from Principal Deputy Solicitor Daniel Jorjani.

"Jorjani's memo states the Interior Department will develop a webpage within 30 days to publicly list details of legal settlements and cases, which the agency says is a big step in bringing sunshine to a non-transparent practice that the public is largely unaware is happening. ...

"Environmental groups have been particularly successful using 'citizen suits' to sue the federal government into taking an action, then getting taxpayers to pay their attorneys' fees. A 2016 Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found federal agencies paid out $49 million for 512 citizen suits filed under three major environmental laws during the Obama administration.

"Those laws -- the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act (ESA) -- allow certain groups to recoup attorneys' fees, which can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per case."

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"Pointed divisions within the Supreme Court over capital punishment reemerged Monday, as the justices issued new opinions rehashing recent last-minute death penalty appeals.

"The Court has barely concealed its sharp internal disagreement over late-arriving death penalty cases in recent months.

"One such dispute arose in Alabama, where inmate Christopher Lee Price asked to be put to death with nitrogen hypoxia, as opposed to a lethal injection protocol. Price asked the high court to stop his execution on April 11. The Court denied Price's application, over a seething dissent from Justice Stephen Breyer.

"Thomas wrote a separate opinion to 'set the record straight' Monday, hitting notes frequently sounded by the conservative justices in recent death penalty cases.

"'[Price's] strategy is no secret, for it is the same strategy adopted by many death-row inmates with an impending execution: bring last-minute claims that will delay the execution, no matter how groundless,' Thomas wrote. 'The proper response to this maneuvering is to deny meritless requests expeditiously.'"

Read entire article here.