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If only the Democrats in D.C. were as nice to conservatives as they are to Chinese spies maybe the country wouldnt be so divided.

Do you agree, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell?

According to reports, the California congressman and former presidential candidate had a close relationship with a Chinese national called Fang Fang.

How close? Well, Axios reported that, Amid a widening counterintelligence probe, federal investigators became so alarmed by Fangs behavior and activities that around 2015 they alerted Swalwell to their concerns giving him what is known as a defensive briefing.

This is where the story getsreallyinteresting.

Fang left the country unexpectedly in mid-2015 amid the investigation, the report reads. In other words, not long after Swalwell was briefed by the FBI, Fang Fang skipped town.

Im no Sherlock Holmes, but the timing of Fangs sudden farewell seems slightly suspicious to me. But rather than resign or even admit wrongdoing, Swalwell did what all good Dems do when in a bind he blamed Donald Trump. After all, being a Democrat means never having to say youre sorry.

When asked about the Axios report, Swalwell said, Ive been a critic of the president. Ive spoken out against him. I was on both committees that worked to impeach him. The timing feels like that should be looked at.

Swalwell has spoken out against the president. In fact, he was one of the most prominent promoters of the bogus Russia hoax. He once even accused the presidents son of being a Russian agent on live TV.

During a hit on MSNBC, Swalwell criticized Trumps son for meeting with a Russian lawyer and said, Stated plainly, the presidents son met with a Russian spy.

Perhaps if Swalwell had merely had one meeting with Fang Fang, he wouldnt be in his current predicament. But based off the reports, he did far more than meet her.

Perhaps worse, as of Saturday 10 days after the original Axios report was released the congressman has not been kicked off the House Intelligence Committee. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has full confidence in Swalwell.

In reality, she simply doesnt want to give President Trump the satisfaction of seeing one of his most smug detractors dumped.

Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdytold Fox News, Thats the best Nancy Pelosi could do?At 230 members, the best you can come up with is a former city councilman in California whos not smart enough to know when a woman is expressing interest in you, [whether] shes a spy?

But in all fairness, why should Eric be treated any differently than the other well-known liberals who are in bed (or in cars) with Chinese spies.

Theres Sen. Dianne Feinstein, another sharp-as-a-tack California pol, who employed a Chinese spy as a driver for over 20 years. The mainstream media had little interest in Driving Miss DiFi. They have even less interest in Erics explosive scandal.

After all, these respected publications like NPR and the New York Times have bigger news to cover like Mayor Petes love of airports or Hunter Bidens new art gallery.

According to Vanity Fair, Hunter creates his work with a metal straw he uses to blow alcohol ink onto Japanese Yupo paper, creating abstract layers of colors and concentric circles.

The smartest man Joe Biden knows is not just an artist. He also has made a name for himself in China. No, not because of his concentric circles, though Im sure those will be well received.

ABC News reported that a source familiar with Hunter Bidens tax probe said investigators are particularly interested in a 2.8-carat diamond he received from a Chinese business associate in 2017.

While Hunter says the ring is valued at $10,000, his ex-wife Kathleen claims its worth closer to $80,000.

Either way thats a lot of metal straws!

All of this begs the question: Do we have to get to the bottom of the Democrat leaders untrustworthy relationships with members of the Chinese Communist Party?

Can someone ask Rep. Maxine Waters if she can connect the dots between a Chinese businessman, a 2.8 carat diamond and the former vice presidents troubled son?

Does Pelosi think all roads lead to Xi Jinping, as they did to Putin?

And perhaps most pressing: Is Joe Biden really confident that China wont eat our lunch, or is he just confident that theyll pay for his?

Go here to see the original:
Curley: Democrats, as usual, look the other way on Eric Swalwell scandal - Boston Herald

WASHINGTON Democrats on Friday shot down Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs campaign for a prized seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee instead appointing fellow New York Rep. Kathleen Rice.

The New York congresswomen had been jockeying for the seat and lobbying colleagues behind the scenes, but Rice ultimately won in a vote of 46-13, Politico reported Friday.

The committee oversees everything from public health to climate issues, foreign commerce and consumer protection.

Democratic lawmakers on the Steering and Policy Committee were reportedly forced into an awkward vote Thursday when some members presented their views on who should win.

According to Politico, some Democrats cautioned against giving the plum role to AOC, 31, because she had encouraged several liberal challengers to take on her own colleagues.

Im taking into account who works against other members in primaries and who doesnt, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said on the call.

Other members on the Energy and Commerce Committee reportedly worried how Ocasio-Cortezs progressive policies, including the Green New Deal, could cause problems in the new Congress, where Democrats will have a slimmer majority.

Rice, 55, a Long Island Democrat and former prosecutor, said she was honored to be selected.

New Yorkers deserve a fighter to lower the cost of prescription drugs, address climate change and improve our drinking water, Rice said in a statement to Patch.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to help the incoming Biden-Harris Administration combat the COVID-19 pandemic and build back our economy.

Rices appointment to the committee marks a huge turnaround in fortunes for the lawmaker, who was denied a seat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee after she spoke out against Nancy Pelosis speakership.

Ocasio-Cortez has recently echoed Rices calls, telling the Intercept she believes the 80-year-old needs to go but has no clear successor.

Go here to read the rest:
AOC passed over by Democrats for spot on key House committee - New York Post

Florida Republicans dominated the most competitive races this year, flipping five state House seats, a state Senate seat and two congressional seatsheld by Democrats.

And the winning candidates including Sarasota state Rep. Fiona McFarland in six of these eight swing districts have something in common they all are women.

The GOP often is viewed as the party of older white men, but 2020 was a big year for GOP women in Florida, and it didnt happen by accident.

I think the speaker-designate in the House definitely made it a goal to recruit quality female candidates, said Anthony Pedicini, a GOP consultant who worked with GOP state House Speaker Chris Sprowls on legislative races.

The Florida GOP used the same playbook that Democrats used in 2018 when they won many of these same swing seats with female candidates, a number of whom were defeated by GOP women this year.

Pedicini said the swing voters in these swing seats often are women, so it makes sense to give them a candidate they can identify with.

From a pure political, practical standpoint, when suburban women were going to decide so many of these races, Pedicini said, the GOP should put up candidates that look like those voters.If were trying to convert suburban women, the message carrier should be one of their own.

Voters want to be able to identify with a candidate, Pedicini said.

There are two questions a voter asks when deciding who to vote for: Is that candidate like me and do I like them? he said. And if they answer yes to both of those questions, youre likely to get them to vote for you.

Pedicini noted that its still important to recruit quality candidates who have strong credentials. McFarland, for example, is a Navy veteran with leadership experience and an extensive record of service. Running a good campaign also matters. McFarland raised more money than her opponent and knocked on more than 25,000 doors during the general election.

But all things being equal, Pedicinibelieves women have an advantage.

Definitely being a political practitioner you want an edge in the election, I think female candidates give you an edge for many reasons, Pedicini said, adding: I give an edge to the women because I think theres a sincerity, a connection.

McFarland said that when she was considering running for the District 72 seat, which covers much of northern Sarasota County, she heard from consultants that a female candidate had the best shot at winning the seat.

It worked for Democrats in 2018. Sarasota Democrat Margaret Good flipped District 72 from GOP control two years ago. This year, Democrats nominated Sarasota attorney Drake Buckman to run against McFarland. He ended up losing by 9.2percentage points.

Still, McFarland said she didnt focus on the gender issue during the campaign. Instead she tried to emulate other aspects of what made Good successful in 2018.

I looked at how she flipped the seat ...in my mind she won because she raised a lot of money, and she knocked on a lot of doors and worked real hard and had other personal attributes not related to gender that made her successful, McFarland said.

But McFarland doesnt discount gender being a factor, saying some voters might want to see more women in office and some may assume women are better listeners and consensus seekers and thats something people want in this time of divisiveness.

McFarland is glad to see diversity among the new crop of GOP elected officials, which wasnt just a trend in Florida this year.

Its pretty cool, isnt it? She said. Im proud of the Republican Party but I think its indicative of the times.

The 2020 election resulted in 17 new Republican women in Congress, boosting the partys female representation to a record level, according to the Washington Post. Republican women defeated 10 of the 13 Democratic incumbents who lost their seats in Congress.

Its about time, right? Pedicini said of the GOPs diversity push.

Of course, the GOP still has plenty of white men in office. Floridas congressional delegation has 16 Republicans and just one is a woman, Maria Elvira Salazar, who defeated a Democratic woman in a Miami swing district this year.

However, the delegation also added a Black Republican man and anotherHispanic Republican man this year, bringing more diversity.

McFarland noted that diversity can take many forms.

To me when I say diversity I think diversity of experience is most important and in some ways thats guided by sex or race or ethnic background, she said.

Read more from the original source:
Florida GOP found success in swing districts this year with female candidates - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., supports bringing earmarks back with limits. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., supports bringing earmarks back with limits.

When earmarks were a regular feature of congressional business, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said Democrats and Republicans were able to cut more deals and pass more bills with bipartisan support.

"This used to be time where everybody was 'Hallelujah,' I mean Republicans, Democrats, dancing, kissing. This is the time to be saved," he recalled at a congressional hearing this year in regard to legislation such as the highway bill.

Cleaver served on the bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress that Democrats established after they won control of the House of Representatives in 2018. One of the conclusions issued in the committee's final report released in October: Bring back earmarks. (The committee ditched the term "earmark" for a new "Community-Focused Grant Program.")

The committee's recommendations were weighed after hearing testimony from advocates such as the Brookings Institution's John Hudak, who has long argued the earmark ban overcorrected the problem. Then-Speaker John Boehner instituted the ban in 2011, but the practice had been under scrutiny for years following a series of spending scandals in the mid-2000s. Democrats overhauled the process when they controlled the House from 2007 to 2010, but they did not ban them.

"Earmarks were painted as a coven for corruption, a practice reserved for the funding of needless projects to benefit the friends, supporters and donors of members of Congress. Much of this was hyperbole, as earmarking was only abused by a handful of members in the past," Hudak told the committee.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is one of the leading advocates to reinstate earmarks but with stricter limits and more transparency. He argues the ban didn't stop earmarks; it just transferred spending power from Congress, where it constitutionally belongs, to the executive branch, where it doesn't.

"My belief is that members of Congress elected from 435 districts around the country know, frankly, better than those who may be in Washington what their districts need," he told the House Rules Committee in October.

In the past decade, both parties have attempted and failed to reinstate earmarks primarily due to concerns about how it would play politically. Currently, there is broad support for it among House Democratic leaders, including Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and incoming House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. "It is a dynamic environment, and I think we are in a better position now to move forward in this area," DeLauro told NPR.

Steve Ellis runs Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group that helped expose earmark abuses. "House Democrats can push as much as they want, but they're going to have to have a dance partner in the Senate and they're going to have to have a dance partner with Republicans," he said, "It's one of these things where it just won't stand politically and optically if they don't all jump together."

Senate Republicans voted to ban earmarks permanently in their internal party rules just last year, but control of the Senate won't be clear until after a pair of Georgia special elections in early January. Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a longtime appropriator, made it clear the Senate is not currently rushing to join with House Democrats. "I don't think senators are thinking about this much until it's clear what the House really intends to do," he said.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, supports bringing back earmarks and said, in private, the idea is quite popular. "Oh yes, there's very quiet support for it among Republicans. There will be some opposed, but they don't have to have earmarks if they don't like them."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., both appropriators who have embraced earmarks in the past, haven't yet taken a position on this round to revive them.

Former President Barack Obama opposed earmarks, famously pledging to veto any bill that came to his desk that included them. President-elect Joe Biden also hasn't weighed in, but Biden says he wants to bring Republicans and Democrats together, and advocates say earmarks is one way to do it.

Read more here:
Democrats Want To Bring Earmarks Back As Way To Break Gridlock In Congress - NPR

As Democratic leaders in New York institute more stringent restrictions to combat the coronavirus and urge people to follow them, one group of local Democratic power brokers did not seem to get the message.

At a birthday party last weekend for Carlo Scissura, president of the New York Building Congress, an influential trade organization, some leaders sipped drinks, rubbed shoulders and rarely wore masks.

Photos that surfaced this week from the event, held last Saturday at a private residence in Brooklyn, according to an official familiar with the gathering, prompted cries of hypocrisy, calls for resignations and, eventually, a round of apologies on Friday.

This is a particularly trying time and there were shortcomings that I regret, Mr. Scissura said in a statement that noted that the party was not his idea. I greatly appreciate the gesture of my friends to throw me a surprise party, but we all must follow strict protocols so we can get past this pandemic.

The photos from the party, which were published by The Daily News, show Frank Seddio, the former chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, chatting closely with Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the deputy Brooklyn borough president. Neither wore masks.

The party took place just as New York City has been fighting a resurgence of the virus. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has limited gatherings in homes to 10 people, and Mayor Bill de Blasio closed public schools this week and is urging New Yorkers to avoid visiting family for Thanksgiving.

This party was asinine, counterproductive and insulting to all New Yorkers, Mr. de Blasios spokesman, Mitch Schwartz, said in a statement on Friday. Every attendee should apologize and then match their words with actions. City Hall expects them to start by holding responsible, virtual Thanksgiving celebrations next week.

The timing was particularly awkward for Ms. Lewis-Martin, who is a deputy for Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president who announced his campaign for mayor this week. Mr. Adams, a Democrat, appeared in a video that showed him wearing a mask and greeting New Yorkers with an elbow bump.

Ms. Lewis-Martin, a longtime adviser to Mr. Adams since his days in the State Senate, said in a statement that all New Yorkers should wear masks and follow public health guidelines.

I apologize for my lapse in compliance with Covid-19 precautions, she said. As a public figure in Brooklyn, I know it is my responsibility to lead by example.

Mr. Adams said in a statement that he accepted Ms. Lewis-Martins apology. We are all human and have lapses in judgment; what is important is that we recognize when we make mistakes and commit ourselves to the high level of vigilance that is necessary to prevent the spread of this terrible virus, he said.

At the party last weekend, guests were given masks, each persons temperature was taken and the event was primarily held outside, according to someone who attended the party.

But many New Yorkers were dismayed by the lack of caution depicted in the photos. James Patchett, the president of the citys economic development corporation under Mr. de Blasio, called on the officials at the party to step down.

This is an embarrassment, he wrote on Twitter. Every one of these people should resign.

Joseph Borelli, a Republican city councilman from Staten Island, said Democrats were being hypocritical after criticizing him for saying earlier that he would hold a large family gathering for Thanksgiving. He pointed to Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California who apologized for attending a lavish dinner without a mask, as another example.

Many of the most panicked purveyors of Covid craziness are actually members of the good for thee, not for me set, he said.

Mr. Seddio gave The Daily News two estimates from that night; he put the partys attendance at roughly a dozen, and, oddly, the number of times he passed gas at four. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Seddios successor as leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Rodneyse Bichotte, released a statement through a spokesman: We encourage everyone during this period to abide by safety measures such as social distancing and wearing a mask.

Some New Yorkers have bristled at the restrictions on gatherings. During Mr. de Blasios weekly appearance on the radio station WNYC on Friday, a caller asked the mayor if the shutdowns were just because you want to destroy Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mr. de Blasio said he was disappointed that he would not be seeing relatives this Thanksgiving, but he said the restrictions were necessary to save lives.

We have to keep people alive so they can celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas going forward, he said.

See the article here:
Democratic Leaders in Brooklyn Mingled at a Party. Few Wore Masks. - The New York Times