The Morning Briefing: You Need to Pass Funding Bill to Know What's in It and Much, Much More

Good Thursday morning and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s story of the day: Romance scams swindled people out of more money than any other consumer fraud last year

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president participates in a national pro-life conference call
The president meets with the secretary of Homeland Security

1159-page deal released

I don’t know what’s in it and the authors don’t want you to know either. They want this sack of sh!t signed ASAP, no questions asked so we can discover the poison pill ex post facto.

Summaries of the legislation say that besides nearly $1.4 billion to build new barriers, there’s over $1 billion for other border security programs. That includes money for inspection equipment for border ports of entry. There is more than $400 million in humanitarian aid for detained migrants plus funds to buy aircraft and to hire 600 more customs officers and additional immigration judges.

Like I said you have to pass it, to find out what’s in it. A true Pelosi product.

Lawmakers have until 11:59 p.m. Friday to get the agreement through both houses of Congress and signed by Trump before several Cabinet-level departments shut down and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed in what would be the second partial government shutdown this year.

Oh hell no. The Freedom Caucus is totally hip to this game.

Some of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies in the House of Representatives introduced a continuing resolution on Wednesday as an alternative to the “bad border deal” that will prevent another government shutdown.

The House Freedom Caucus created the short-term funding bill — to keep funding at current levels for one week — as an alternative to a government funding bill that a bipartisan conference committee has spent several weeks crafting. The measure was introduced by Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who expressed frustration that the current legislation “ignores input from experts on our southern border.” The one-week time frame would be aimed at providing “time to negotiate more effective border security,” Biggs said.

I’ll say. “The conference report is projected to be thousands of pages long and was negotiated behind closed doors,” said the caucus chairman Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican, in a statement. “We believe that Members should be given enough time to read it before voting on it.” Right on.

Congress advances border security bill without Trump border wall

Judge says Manafort lied, plea bargain goes out the window

Oh boy.

In a brief four-page ruling, Judge Jackson determined that Manafort “intentionally made multiple false statements to the FBI, the [special counsel] and the grand jury concerning matters that were material to the [ongoing Russia] investigation.”

Chief among the special counsel’s various allegations of dissembling a la Manafort is the idea that the defendant lied about sharing polling data with Russian political operative Konstantin Kilimnik during the 2016 presidential campaign. Manafort admittedly conspired with Kilimnik to tamper with witnesses. And Kilimnik is alleged to have substantial ties to intelligence agencies affiliated with the Russian Federation.

The effect this ruling will have on Manafort’s sentence is yet to be determined.

Garbage Jew-hater congressperson from MN in headlines once again

Rep. Ihlan Omar (D-Minn.), who is an immigrant from the corrupt, sh!thole country of Somalia, was in the headlines yesterday for her grotesque treatment of Elliot Abrams, envoy to Venezuela, during his congressional testimony. Abrams is J_WISH, I might add, and Omar doesn’t like J_WS. I hope she will have a very short stint in office.

Anyway, this dummy, who cannot even pronounce the words her handlers wrote for her, was very provocative and hostile to Mr. Abrams, whom she called Mr. Adams. Watch below:

.@IlhanMN berated Elliott Abrams at House Foreign Affairs.

"Mr. Adams (sic)… I fail to understand why this Committee or the American ppl should find any testimony you give truthful."

"If I could respond—"

"It wasn't a question."

"It was an attack!"pic.twitter.com/NcFY95jBOT

— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) February 13, 2019

Now, the media who are the gatekeepers of information and instigators of national outrage protect progressive waifs like the illiterate trash Omar. UNLESS…UNLESS…UNLESS…wait for it…the trash turns on the presumed media ally. And that’s what happened.

Rep. Ilhan Omar in no mood to talk about her controversies this week. First, she said: “No thank you” when asked to comment on Trump saying she should resign. Second time I saw her, she yelled: “Are you serious?” when I tried to question her.

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 13, 2019

If you don’t want to face questions from reporters, don’t run for Congress https://t.co/gTlH0sxw51

— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) February 13, 2019

Tater weighs in:

This attitude from @IlhanMN — don't question me, just quote my tweets — is a problem on both sides of the aisle. Politicians' tweets aren't a substitute for journalism, they're a starting point for journalism. https://t.co/3m1JgKoGRt

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 13, 2019

Omar even tweeted some smack at Trump, I guess to keep the heat off her:

Hi @realDonaldTrump–

You have trafficked in hate your whole life—against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more. I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you? https://t.co/EqqTyjkiNE

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 13, 2019

Say, wasn’t Somalia on the list of countries Trump wanted to stop immigration from? #askingforafriend

My colleague David Steinberg has the 411 on Omar — catch it all here.

Historical picture of the day:

A U.S. soldier holds the face of a comrade, seriously wounded by a Viet Cong claymore mine on “Hell’s Half Acre,” near Cu Chi, South Vietnam, Feb. 14, 1966. Three weeks after he arrived in Vietnam this was photographer Charlie Chellappah’s last photo. Moments later, a second mine exploded, killing Chellappah and several soldiers. (AP Photo/Charlie Chellappah)

Other morsels:

GET THE MONEY BACK: Trump demands California return $3.5B in federal high-speed rail money

Iranian Children Chant ‘Death to America’ at Revolution Day Rally

Fairfax accuser to meet with law enforcement to detail sexual assault claim

House panel advances bill to expand background checks for gun sales

Democrats Express Openness To Federal Gun Registry

Oklahoma gun bill to remove permit and training requirements clears House vote

I would think it was more. One quarter say they believe God wanted Trump to become president: poll

What a peach! Menendez threatens to call police on reporter asking about Green New Deal: report

Uh oh, Nobel Peace Prize winner accused of sexual assault by six women

Rep. Adam Kinzinger deployed to U.S.-Mexico border

Suicide bombing in Iran kills at least 27 Revolutionary Guards