The Morning Briefing: Ejecting Pelosi, Comey's NYT Field Trip, B'more Sued and Much, Much More

Good Friday Morning.

Here’s what is on President Trump’s agenda today:

  • In the morning, President Donald J. Trump will meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly.
  • The President will then meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
  • Later in the morning, the President will sign the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017.
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House Democrats plot to eject Pelosi

I’m on Team Pelosi. She’s picking up the slack for the incompetent center-right support system.

A dozen unhappy House Democrats met Thursday afternoon to discuss if — and how — they can replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi as minority leader.

Led by Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), at least some in the group believe Pelosi has to go in order for Democrats to have a chance to win the House back in Nov. 2018. Ryan unsuccessfully challenged Pelosi for party leader back in November.

“There are many more people today, even from November, who are much more vocal, who have approached us and said, ‘I’m done. We need to move forward and we need to get a new leadership team in place,’” Rice said after the meeting. “There is a consensus, I think, that we can reach in the caucus that allows for a new leadership team to be put in place in a time that’s well before, hopefully, November of next year.”

But who wants to do Nancy’s job? No one has stepped forward.

At least a dozen Democrats attended the confab including Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond (La.), Tony Cardenas (Calif.), a member of House Democratic leadership, and Reps. Ami Bera (Calif.), Filemon Vela (Texas), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) and Del. Stacey Plaskett (V.I.).

Team Pelosi doesn’t think there are enough detractors to eject her.

“I would say that too if I were her. But I can tell you that I’ve been speaking to a lot of members of the caucus who have supported her in the past – as have I – but the time has come,” Rice said.

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Meanwhile, Pelosi sent out a directive for supporters to hit social media with positive messages about her.

James Comey’s day out

The Daily Mail is reporting former FBI Director was spotted going into the New York Times building.

Former FBI director James Comey made a quiet visit to The New York Times building on Thursday, one of few public outings since he admitted leaking stories to the newspaper about President Trump before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8.

Comey kept his sunglasses on and his gaze forward as he marched through the front entrance of the Eighth Avenue office building which houses the publication. He was accompanied by his wife Patrice Failor who also wore sunglasses.

Unmistakable as he towered over the crowds in a crisp navy suit and tie on one of the warmest days of the year, Comey drew second-glances from some stunned by-passers.

He spent almost three hours inside before emerging, having removed his sunglasses, to hail a cab.

This shouldn’t be a big surprise. Comey admitted that he leaked information to the NYT through a surrogate about a private conversation with President Trump. It’s safe to assume Comey went to the NYT on purpose to send a message. He could have just picked up the phone and called. (Of course the call could be monitored, as he well knows.) The Daily Mail was informed in advance about the visit because there were cameras outside the NYT taking pictures of the fired director entering the building with his wife. Visit the link above to see all the pictures of Comey.

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Baltimore businesses sue city for allowing rioters to burn down and “destroy space” during Freddie Gray turmoil

I hope the defendants are bled dry over this.

The complaint alleged that the city wasn’t fully prepared for the violence, despite the warning signs, and that officials didn’t do enough to stop the rioters once they started.

The complaint is 700 pages long with 60 plaintiffs, who are all business owners in Baltimore who suffered damage during the riots. The defendants are the city of Baltimore, the mayor and City Council, the Baltimore Police Department, former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, former Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and the state of Maryland.

“The city and other defendants failed them when they adopted a policy of restraint and issued stand-down orders, caring more about the public perception that they feared would result with increased police presence than preventing what were clearly preventable riots,” reads the complaint.

It’s critical there are consequences for lefty city governments that instruct police to allow violent tantrum-throwers to act out. The responsible parties need to find out the costs of sacrificing other people’s property for their social engineering experiment. And once there are consequences, other cities that allow this sort of unrest might crack down on their own local riot squads.

The suit says the city and Rawlings-Blake “were more concerned about the public perception that it feared would result with increased police presence and potential business interruptions.”

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“Even in locations where BCPD officers were present, business owners helplessly watched their stores being looted and destroyed as BCPD officers also simply watched and/or turned away, and let the destruction of property continue,” the documents read.

The taxpayers will ultimately pay for any damages, assuming the riot victims prevail in court, but those taxpayers vote and hopefully this civics lesson will teach residents they need to elect a government that will do their job and act in the interest of the city and the city’s businesses.

John Podesta on the hot seat

The House Intelligence Committee will interview Hillary henchman John Podesta next week.

Podesta will be one of the committee’s first major witnesses to meet with the panel behind closed doors as it tries to determine the extent of the Russian involvement in last year’s campaign and whether any of President Donald Trump’s associates coordinated with the Russians.

The committee sent out requests to interview six witnesses this week, sources said, with Podesta expected to be interviewed next week in a classified session. The committee is expected to question Podesta about the leak of thousands of his emails, which became a political headache and embarrassment for Clinton in the heat of the campaign season.

The panel also set a deadline, which is today, for the Comey memos to be turned over. Any predictions if that deadline will be met?

Hollywood idiots

Gwyneth Paltrow, owner of the poor-shaming website GOOP, was delivered a severe bitch slap from a former NASA scientist. Her website sells stickers, to the tune of $120, that claim to “rebalance the energy frequency in our bodies” because they use the same carbon conductive material NASA does in their spacesuits.

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Mark Shelhamer, who was once the chief scientist at the space agency, went the engineering equivalent of ballistic.

“Wow,” Shelhamer told Gizmodo. “What a load of BS this is.”

GOOP issued a statement disavowing any endorsement of the stickers and yanked them off their website. They are still available for sale from the company that manufactures them if you are so inclined to have your energy frequencies rebalanced.

Next up on the Hollywood idiot list is Johnny Depp.

While at the Glastonbury Festival on Thursday in the English county of Somerset, Depp brought up the president prior to introducing his 2004 film, “The Libertine.”

“Can we bring Trump in?” Depp says to the crowd, which responds with widespread boos, according to videos of the remarks. “No, no, no. You misunderstand completely. I think he needs help. And this is going to be in the press and it’ll be horrible. But I like that you are all part of it. When was the last time an actor assassinated a president? I want to clarify: I’m not an actor. I lie for a living however it’s been a while. Maybe it’s about time.”

As many people predicted, the assassination attempt on Republican congressmen has not led to any “tone change” from the left.

Other morsels:

North Korea calls Trump a psychopath

Federal appeals court rules Mississippi can allow religious exemptions

Judge blocks deportation of Iraqi Christians

Black Lives Matter falling apart?

Bill Cosby to go on tour warning youth about sexual assault allegations

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Whipped cream dispenser kills Instagram fitness star

Canadian sniper ‘kills IS militant two miles away’

Miami man faces $120 million fine for 96-million robocall spree

Mom messages on Facebook while her baby drowns

Italy allows “pesto exception” for transporting liquids on airplanes

Former nurse suspected of killing up to 60 children

Embattled Pelosi aides coordinate with pals for supportive social media message

And that’s all I’ve got, have a great weekend!

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