Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are encouraged by President Trump’s vow to enforce existing immigration laws. They also rip Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for her Syria trip and going easy on Assad in her analysis. They unload on disingenuous Democrats upset about Trump looking to end sanctuary cities, and they note the rise of Canada’s Trump – and it’s someone you may well be aware of.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud the vast majority of President Trump’s executive orders. They also groan at the news President Obama defied Congress to send $221 million to the Palestinian Authority on his final morning as president. And they shake their heads as two-thirds of Senate Democrats even oppose Mike Pompeo to lead the CIA.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get the popcorn ready as the Hillary and Sanders Democrats feud over the future of the party. They also rip the media for overblowing Donald Trump’s statement on NATO being obsolete but also scold Trump for stoking some of the confusion. And they unload on the radical leftists Project Veritas caught trying to ruin an inaugural ball with stink bombs and triggering the sprinklers.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer the news that the Clinton Global Initiative is shutting down. They also sigh as more and more Democrats publicly state that Donald Trump is an illegitimate president. And they unload on a reviewer who pans “Patriots Day” because a white male is the hero, the resilience of the Boston is presented as a good thing and police are the good guys.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleased to see the Democrats’ strategy against Jeff Sessions accomplish nothing – and they point out why the strategy was so stupid. They also groan as the Obama administration’s self-congratulations tour continues with Obama giving Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And they react to Sen. Kamala Harris grilling CIA director nominee Mike Pompeo about climate change, while Jim explains the “sure, whatever” strategy he would employ at a confirmation hearing.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are glad to see Donald Trump’s alleged Supreme Court short list coming down to mostly encouraging names. They also rip the right for its insane romance with Julian Assange, with Trump suggesting Assange is trustworthy and Sarah Palin even apologizing to Assange for condemning his publishing her own hacked emails years ago. And they groan as Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vows to stall at least eight Trump cabinet nominees.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud the RNC for beefing up cyber security so the Russians could not hack it successfully. They also groan as Facebook picks several liberal outlets to decide if users are posting “fake news.” And we discuss Democratic donors demanding answers for Hillary Clinton’s defeat and some of them thinking about not donating in the future.
Democratic Party officials in Fairfax County, Virginia, are categorically denying that pro-Democrat campaign materials were included in the same envelope as a voter’s absentee ballot, arguing that pamphlets were sent in a separate mailing to absentee voters from the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, or FCDC.
Earlier this week, Jena and David Jones shared their story of finding more than they expected in the envelope that contained her ballot.
“I found a letter from the governor of Virginia asking me to please vote Democrat and ‘help keep Virginia blue’ this year. Then I got a letter from the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, giving me a step-by-step, yes-and-no what I should vote for as far as the meal tax and all those other things on the ballot,” said Jena.
In recent days, at least two more people contend they received the same materials in the envelope with their absentee ballots.
After the report was first published, and shared on Facebook by David Jones, Fairfax County Democratic Committee Executive Director Frank Anderson replied to David’s post to dispute their account of what the ballot envelope contained.
“These materials were NOT sent in the same envelope as the ballot. The ballot is mailed separately by the Office of Elections. Political parties are free to mail items to voters who request absentee ballots. The two envelopes arrived at the same time,” commented Anderson, showing a photo of the pro-Democratic materials and the separate envelope they are designated to be sent in.
That triggered a quick back-and-forth between David Jones and Anderson.
“I hate to tell you but you’re wrong. All items came in one envelope,” said Jones.
“Impossible. That letter came out of my office. We never have access to other people’s ballots,” replied Anderson.
“Then it seems those that sent the ballots have access to YOUR letters,” said Jones. “Who should I believe? You or my lying eyes?”
Anderson then stated that political parties are informed when anyone requests an absentee ballot and mailings are sent to those voters to promote Democratic candidates and positions on ballot initiatives.
“I am literally sitting down the hall from the place where those envelopes are stuffed. We are a political office and have no business handling anyone’s ballots. You can believe what you want to believe,” concluded Anderson.
The Virginia Department of Elections did not respond to repeated attempts for a response. But after seeing our reports, Anderson protested the premise of the story.
“Please stop spreading these absurd allegations that are just hearsay from a misinformed voter who cannot verify his claim,” stated Anderson in an email, in which he also explained why he believed the Jones account could not be accurate.
He also shared a photo sent by State Sen. Scott Surovell, showing his absentee ballot envelope next to a separate envelope containing Democratic Party advocacy.
In a formal interview, FCDC Communications Adviser Bruce Neilson says the Jones version of opening the envelope cannot be true.
“It’s not possible,” said Neilson, who then explained how absentee voters are approached by the local Democrats.
“Voting is a sacred privilege and a right of every citizen. The activity of voting is also a public record. The Fairfax County Democratic Committee receives a notice of everyone who has requested an absentee ballot. We get that information as public information on the day the ballot is mailed,” said Neilson.
“The same day the ballot is mailed, our volunteers prepare materials to advise voters what the Fairfax (County) Democratic Committee knows to be Democratic positions on the ballot,” said Neilson, noting the materials include fliers on candidates and ballot proposals like the meals tax.
However, he insists those materials are never sent with the ballot itself.
“That material is mailed in a separate envelope, labeled with our initials – FCDC – and our return address in Fairfax, Virginia, and would be received either the same day, perhaps the day before or the day after she received her official absentee ballot from the government,” said Neilson.
“It’s a separate mailing. It’s a separate stamp. It’s a separate envelope. It’s very easy to confuse where they came from if you have all those materials on the table at the same time while you’re filling in your votes,” said Neilson.
Jones is standing by her story 100 percent, as is her husband. David says it’s a very clear memory.
“Jena opened the envelope that contained her ballot, the green sample ballot, the two-sided letter from the governor and card with kids on it saying “go vote” or something of that nature. There was also the return envelope which I signed,” said David.
The coverage of Jena’s story has also elicited similar stories from two other Fairfax County voters. Both of them commented on Reddit.
“I can confirm this. I live in Herndon, VA (Fairfax County) and also received these materials in my absentee ballot. I thought it was fishy at the time but didn’t look into it,” stated a comment by a reader using the handle thisisaterriblename.
Another, under the Reddit handle Nightingale-Nights, said the same thing happened to them and posted similar photos to the ones David and Jena shared last week.
Neilson says there is no way the county government, which sends out the ballots, could be including partisan materials in the envelope containing the ballot.
“They don’t have our materials. Our materials are printed for us, by our printer, and we have complete control over our materials in our office and they come from our office in our mailing. They don’t go anywhere else,” said Neilson.
“It’s not possible that the county government is distributing partisan Democratic materials. It’s never happened before. I’m not aware of it happening now. And I don’t think that it would happen anywhere in the future,” said Neilson.
There are only a few known complaints of stuffed ballot envelopes in Fairfax County, leading David Jones to believe an individual in the government is responsible. He accepts the explanation that the Fairfax County Democratic Committee is not responsible for what he and Jena discovered with her ballot.
“I understand Frank’s comments about his office has nothing to do with the ballots. I believe that. I think what we are seeing here is a person that actually stuffs and mails the ballots is taking it upon themselves to add in extra material. I don’t see how Franks office could be held accountable for what’s in the ballot envelope. But it does seem odd that others are now reporting similar issues,” said Jones.
Neilson says there is no chance of that scenario being true.
“I just can’t imagine that happening because of the internal controls that we have on the literature that we mail,” said Neilson.
He also says the internal controls at the county government are air-tight.
“I am an election official. On Election Day, I serve in a non-partisan capacity for our county election office. I can assure you, you have Democrats and Republicans working in the office. You have plenty of oversight of the voting process and there’s no way that a partisan political piece was mailed with her ballot. There is no way that happened,” said Neilson.
Democrats are engaged in damage control in the wake of undercover videos from Project Veritas showing party operatives admitting to stoking violence at Trump rallies and being open to engaging in mass voter fraud, and the group says these videos are just the tip of the iceberg.
On Monday, Project Veritas released a video depicting the recently-fired Scott Foval of the Democrat-linked Americans United for Change admitting to inciting violence at Trump events, including a riot in Chicago that injured police officers and another that shut down a road near a Trump rally in Arizona. Foval was quickly fired.
Tuesday, a follow-up video depicted Foval bragging about Democrats busing in voters from other precincts to influence elections and at least entertaining other forms of voter fraud this year. Longtime Democratic operative Robert Creamer resigned as head of Democracy Partners that same day. Creamer, who is married to Chicago-area Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., also served time years ago on a felony fraud conviction.
“In the first video, we see that they’re actually doing the things that are despicable. In the second video, we have them talking prospectively about what they’re going to do on Election Day. We have to be vigilant, go out and see if we can catch them on Election Day doing those things,” said Project Veritas Executive Director Russ Verney.
“But since they’ve already delivered on their violence at rallies, we have no reason to believe that they don’t intend to bus people around and commit other voter fraud,” added Verney.
In addition to dismissing Foval and Creamer, Democrats have pointed the finger of blame at Project Veritas and founder James O’Keefe. Media, such as the New York Times, usually refer to Project Veritas as “a conservative group led by the activist James O’Keefe that has been heavily criticized as using deceptive editing.”
Verney rejects the left’s effort to dismiss the videos by attacking Project Veritas and O’Keefe.
“Nobody has pointed to anything in either of the videos that’s untrue or that they challenge the veracity of. We’ve got them in their own words admitting to their own underhanded acts to subvert the Trump campaign and to commit voter fraud,” said Verney.
As for the suggestion that “deceptive editing” created this controversy, Verney says that is patently false.
“They attack the messenger instead of the message. You say that it’s heavily edited and imply that we’ve done something nefarious with the editing, but they can’t point to anything within the videos that are nefarious. They are the actual words of the targets in their own context. We allow the people to fully hang themselves in these videos,” said Verney.
Verney especially gets a kick out of broadcast media promoting the “deceptive editing” defense.
“Every video you watch on ABC, Fox, whatever, is edited. We would have to post hundreds of hours of video if you want it unedited,” he said.
But while Democrats try to wash their hands of the controversy by kicking Creamer and Foval to the curb this cycle, Verney doesn’t necessarily buy that they’re really off the stage.
“As they say in the video, ‘We don’t talk about things that we talk about.’ All this is a wink and a nod. So whether or not they’re actually fired or just moved to another company is yet to be seen,” said Verney.
Even if the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign and private groups really did cut ties with Creamer and Foval, Verney is confident the tactics aren’t changing.
“Regardless of whether or not those individuals are still in their positions, the organizations that they’re with are still in position and still carrying on, still committing the same kind of tactics as when Bob Creamer was the head of the operation or Scott Foval. They’ve still got plenty of other replacements out there doing the same things,” said Verney.
However, Verney warns Democrats that there damage control efforts are not over yet.
“They’ve fired two of the top people so far. The only thing that the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary campaign can do is try to attack the messenger. They can’t deal with the message. And believe me, this is going to get worse,” said Verney, referring to more Project Veritas videos that are on the way.
He didn’t say exactly what the forthcoming videos would show, but he did mention that as many as eight undercover reporters infiltrated various parts of the Democratic Party apparatus and discovered more evidence of illegal communicating and collaborating between organizations that are forbidden by law from working together.
“They gained the confidence of the highest level of Democratic operatives in multiple organizations: Americans United for Change, the Foval Group, Democracy Partners. They sat in and listened to conference calls where the campaign, the White House, the Democratic National Committee and the Super PAC were all on the conference call with these operatives making their plans,” said Verney.
He says that’s proof of the Democrats flagrantly violating the law.
“The Hillary Super PAC is involved in this coordination, which makes the whole thing totally illegal. This is a dark money conspiracy, where these organizations are prohibited from prior coordination with each other if they’re spending money to promote the Hillary election or the Trump defeat. They cannot coordinate. We’ve exposed exactly how they coordinate with each other in violation of the law,” said Verney.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Jim’s colleague, David French, for ripping the Democrats who are horrified over Donald Trump’s actions but were only too eager to defend Bill Clinton in the 1990’s. They’re also a bit uneasy as Russia moves missiles around, asks their people if they’re ready for nuclear war and makes other ominous moves. And they react to a poll showing Trump’s lead in Texas is now at the margin of error.
