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Blasting Drones & Regulations, McCain’s Diagnosis, Trump Vents About Sessions

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America start with an appetizer by cheering the U.S. Navy’s use of a new laser weapon meant to target small watercraft and drones. They also praise the Trump administration for its success in halting hundreds of regulations that would stifle job growth and business expansion. They also address the tragic news that Arizona Sen. John McCain is diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and they express disgust at the tasteless and nasty reactions from both sides of the political spectrum. And they sigh over President Trump griping to the media about his frustrations over Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the Russia investigation.

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GOP Flip-Floppers, Trump’s 2nd Putin Meeting, Mensch’s Russia Madness

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America shake their heads in disgust as a straight Obamacare repeal appears doomed in the Senate, due to opposition from multiple Republican senators who voted for the very same bill two years ago – when they knew it would be vetoed.  They also react to reports that President Trump engaged in a dinner conversation with Vladimir Putin without any other members of his staff, including a U.S. translator.  And they wonder if an intervention is necessary for liberal writer Louise Mensch, after she tweeted that unnamed people might seek the death penalty for White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon due to his supposed espionage on behalf of the Russians.

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Trump Jr. Turmoil, McConnell Delays Recess, Bourgeois Brooks

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America groan over Donald Trump Jr.’s stunningly poor judgment and apparent willingness to seek campaign assistance from a foreign government, while also lamenting the continued media hysteria over these latest revelations.  They are wary of Mitch McConnell’s decision to delay the traditional August recess, worrying that it might not be very productive and, therefore, more damaging to an already embarrassed GOP.  Finally, in a discussion of David Brooks’ controversial column about class divisions in America that features a bizarre anecdote about sandwich elitism, Jim admits that he himself is, to quote Shakespeare, “lowly taught, but highly fed.”

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ISIS Mauled in Mosul, Comey’s Classified Memos, Donald Jr.’s Dumb Move

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America celebrate the liberation of Mosul from ISIS control and the tightening of the noose around ISIS in Syria as well. They also discuss reports that former FBI Director James Comey’s memos on conversations with President Trump contain classified information. And they lightheartedly critique Donald Trump Jr.’s account of a fruitless meeting between top Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer who claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton but really wanted to talk about adoption policy.

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Optimism in Georgia Election, Hail to the Redskins, US Downs Syrian Drone

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Rich McFadden of Radio America feeling optimistic after a recent poll shows that Republican Karen Handel has a slim lead over Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff in the Georgia runoff election. They also praise the Supreme Court which ruled unanimously in favor of protecting trademarks that some parties may consider offensive or disparaging. And they applaud the U.S. military as they down the third pro-Syrian regime aircraft this month, an action which prompted a harsh Russian response.

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Russia’s ISIS Claim, Troublesome Trump Tweets, Kelly Controversy Continues

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Rich McFadden of Radio America discuss the legitimacy of Russia’s claims that they killed top ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in late May. They also express frustration over more heated tweets from President Donald Trump today in which he angrily states that he is being investigated for obstruction of justice.  And they have a field day with the news that Alex Jones of Infowars released secret recordings from behind the scenes of his interview with Megyn Kelly, an interview which sparked major controversy and outrage across the nation.

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Comey Pounds Press, Tory Gamble Gone Wrong, Bernie’s Anti-Christian Bias

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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America point out former FBI director James Comey’s evaluation of how untrustworthy much of the media was when reporting on Russia and the 2016 elections. They also discuss the major political disaster that befell British conservatives in the snap election Thursday, badly weakening the party and strengthening the position of the Labour Party’s far-left leader. And they decry Bernie Sanders’ blatant disregard for the 6th Amendment when questioning President Trump’s nominee for deputy budget director about his Christian beliefs.

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‘Trump Had a Good Day,’ Political Troubles Persist

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Thursday’s highly anticipated testimony of former FBI Director James Comey delivered devastating blows to the legal accusations against President Trump, but a former federal prosecutor says the political damage inflicted by Comey and the overall investigation could end up being a major wound.

In the hearings before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey confirmed that Trump is not and never was personally under investigation by the FBI as part of the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and, critically, that there is no evidence of collusion between Trump and his team and Russia.

He also said Trump never directly ordered him to cease any probe and that media reports suggesting extensive communications between the Trump campaign and the Russian government were almost entirely false.

However, Comey also said he took Trump’s overtures on behalf of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as a directive.  He also indicated that he started keeping memos only when Trump was elected to protect himself if there were any future dust-ups.

In his opening statement, Comey also slammed Trump for changing his public explanation for firing him, initially indicating that it was about the handling of the Hillary Clinton case before admitting it was about the Russia probe.  Comey then called Trump a liar for publicly suggesting that FBI personnel had lost confidence in him.

Between the media hype and the Democratic talking points leading into Thursday, Trump critics were preparing for an event that would be the tipping point towards his legal or political downfall.  They didn’t get it.

“If you just look clinically at the legal facts that came out, Trump had a good day as far as the allegations we’ve been looking at over the last six months,” said former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, who led the prosecution of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and others for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and planning to attack other landmarks.

“The testimony undermines the case for obstruction of justice, which I’ve been trying to argue was not strong at all to begin with.  There’s still no evidence of collusion and they acknowledged Trump was not the subject of an investigation,” said McCarthy.

He says the definitive remarks on collusion may well be the biggest stories of the day.

“Today probably puts to bed the notion that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Putin regime.  So Comey, who would have had every motivation to suggest such collusion if there had been any, really was very clear on the fact there was no evidence of that,” said McCarthy.

McCarthy says the intense politicization of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 elections has distracted officials from focusing on the actual, ongoing threat.

“What I’ve been concerned about is that our consideration of Russia has become so hyper-politicized that a lot people have a motivation to downplay it.  To me it’s very serious, so I hope we can put the politics part of that aside and start to focus on the Putin regime, which is a real problem for the United States,” said McCarthy.

But while Trump’s legal concerns ought to be greatly eased, McCarthy warns Comey’s blistering attack on Trump’s character may do lasting damage.

“Even in not formally or informally accusing Trump of not committing a crime, Comey paints a very unflattering portrait of the president as somebody who is conniving, dishonest, and a real operator in a sense,” said McCarthy.

“I’m not smart enough to know how this is going to play itself out, but I wonder if people will care more about the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of criminal wrongdoing or even deeply inappropriate behavior that straddles the line of the law versus how unflattering the portrait of the president painted by Comey is,” said McCarthy.

McCarthy notes Hillary Clinton never faced any charges over her private server or for mishandling top secret classified information, but the revelation of her conduct ended up carrying immense political consequences.

Shortly after Comey finished his public testimony, Trump’s personal attorney Marc Kasowitz, publicly highlighted what he sees as Comey’s exoneration of Trump while simultaneously disputing Comey’s assertion that Trump demanded a loyalty pledge or asked for the Flynn probe to be dropped.

McCarthy says it makes sense for Kasowitz to point out the testimony that boosts Trump’s legal standing, but he says accusing Comey of not telling the truth in other areas was not smart.

“I wouldn’t be asking for a credibility contest between Trump and Comey.  Trump has a long, long history of not having at 7 p.m. the position he took at 7 a.m. and he may have changed it two or three times in between.  Whereas, Comey has contemporaneous notes and is pretty solid as he moves from event to event to event even when he tells the same story multiple times,” said McCarthy.

“Trump’s going to lose a credibility contest with Comey and there’s no reason for his lawyer to get him into one,” said McCarthy.

Another key revelation from Comey centers on former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  Comey confirmed he went public with his summary on the Clinton case and his recommendation not to prosecute because of Lynch’s clandestine meeting with Bill Clinton on an Arizona tarmac.  He also revealed that Lynch pressured him not to publicly describe the Clinton probe as an “investigation” but rather as a “matter.”

Nonetheless, McCarthy says Lynch is not in any legal danger.

“I don’t think she’s in any legal trouble.  I think Comey’s point, and it was a good one, is that it’s not one side that tries to massage and politicize law enforcement,” said McCarthy.

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Comey Confirms Trump Claim, Trump’s Major Missteps, Celebrating Comey Day

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America dive into all things Comey as the former FBI Director gives his much awaited testimony. They point out that Comey confirmed President Trump’s contention that he was told three times that he was not under FBI investigation. They also highlight Trump’s inappropriate demands for Comey’s loyalty and the inconsistent reasons given for Comey’s firing. And they have some fun as Washington loses its mind with excitement over a congressional hearing.

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‘All About Nothing’

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Politicians and media are salivating over Wednesday’s Senate testimony from the top figures in the intelligence community and the opening testimony expected Thursday from former FBI Director James Comey concerning the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, but a former House intelligence committee chairman says so far nothing has really changed.

On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein joined Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

While each of the men seemed reluctant to say there had been no prodding from the Trump administration on the Russia investigation, all of them rejected the idea that Trump or his team did anything inappropriate.

“In the three-plus years that I have been director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything I believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate,” said Adm. Rogers.  “And to the best of my collection, during that same period of service, I do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so.”

Former House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra says that is the most important takeaway from Wednesday.

“What the senators did learn is exactly what they needed to learn, that the heads of these agencies and these departments did not feel any pressure at all from the president or from the White House to stop their investigations of what Russia did in the 2016 election, said Hoekstra, who served 18 years in the House.  He is now chairman of Hoekstra Global Strategies.

He says those hoping for a room full of smoking guns came up empty.

“It really ended up being all about nothing.  I think there were people expecting that they’d hear more about conversations between President Trump and some of these individuals who work with him and that there might have been a revelation that said they felt pressure from the president.  Really, nothing materialized today,” said Hoekstra.

However, Hoekstra says he is glad to see strong bipartisan cooperation from the Senate committee, a process he says ought to bring confidence to the American people that the investigation is being handled responsibly.

That’s also what Hoekstra expects to materialize on Thursday, when the immensely hyped Comey testimony takes place before the same Senate committee.  On Wednesday, the committee released Comey’s opening statement for Thursday.

Both parties are already seizing on different passages.  Trump critics cite Comey’s contention that Trump demanded loyalty from Comey and repeatedly asked Comey to find a way to ease up on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

At the same time, Comey seems to confirm that Trump himself was never personally under investigation and that Trump’s comments to him, while awkward and possibly inappropriate, did not constitute obstruction of justice or any other crime.

In the end Hoekstra suspects few minds will be changed.

“What the American people will probably see as a result is that the talking heads, for the next 24-48 hours, will both claim victory and some justification for their points of view.  Then we’ll get to next week and something else will take over the headlines,” said Hoekstra, who says investigators should then focus on where the evidence is screaming for them to go.

“(Special Counsel Robert) Mueller’s got to focus on what the original intent of this investigation was: the Russians.  What did the Russians do, not what did Trump do or what did Hillary do, what did their teams do or anything.  What did the Russians do?  That’s where the focus will hopefully now move to,” said Hoekstra.

Hoekstra says the American people will be the ultimate judges on whether the Democrats take their accusations too far.  He admits Republicans would be fiercely critical if Comey had ever suggested President Obama had asked for his loyalty or to go easy on a political ally.

Still, he says Republicans could do themselves a world of political good by actually doing what they promised to do, rather than letting the Russia story suck all the oxygen out of Washington.

“They’d like to have better roads, better bridges, more income, more jobs and those sorts of things.  They’re sick and tired of Washington,” said Hoekstra, who says there’s not reason for the GOP not to plow ahead on its legislative agenda.

As for the ongoing intelligence probe, Hoekstra says we also need to dig deeper into reports of extensive Obama administration surveillance on American citizens.

“I think there should be a lot of focus on the surveillance issue.  This is an issue that I’m not totally comfortable with.  I’d really like to better understand where NSA has evolved in terms of monitoring and unmasking Americans, where that has evolved to over the last seven to eight years since I’ve left the Hill,” said Hoekstra.

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