An Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress and their spouses to a party retreat in West Virginia was involved in a collision, Wednesday, according to members who were on the train.
Train carrying congressional Republicans to GOP retreat hits garbage truck in Virginia (Photos - Video)
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/GOP-Members-of-Congress-Retreat-Train-Collision-471966623.html
Most people are unhurt, according to House members and senators who are communicating from the train. NBC News reported that a person who was standing at the time of the incident, which took place near Charlottesville, Virginia, was taken off the train to be treated.
House Speaker Paul Ryan was not hurt, sources told NBC News. President Donald Trump, who is meeting with his national security team, was made aware of the incident, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Images from the scene showed damage to the Amtrak train and a warped, overturned truck. NBC News reported that the train hit a garbage truck.
An Amtrak representative said the train collided with a truck on the tracks in Crozet, Virginia, at 11:20 a.m. ET, and that there were no injuries to the train’s passengers or crew. The incident is under investigation by local law enforcement, according to the Amtrak statement.
Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, a doctor, said that he and his wife Laina were OK and he was “helping those that are injured.”
Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., was on the train with his wife when “there was a sudden impact, a loud noise and everyone was jolted,” he said on MSNBC.
“My wife who was in front of me, her cellphone went flying,” he continued. “It was just uncomfortable for a few minutes and as we started realizing that everyone was okay I think people started feeling a little better.”
Curbelo said there were some minor injuries but “most people are OK here.”
Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., tweeted that he had his wife are OK as well after the collision. “Security and doctors on board are helping secure the scene and treat injuries,” he added.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., was on board the train. He said he was thrown around, but is OK.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis is actively considering banning US military and civilian personnel from bringing their personal cell phones into the Pentagon, the world's largest office building, according to three US defense officials familiar with an ongoing review of the issue.
Exclusive: Mattis seeking to ban cell phones from Pentagon Wed January 31, 2018 (Video)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/31/politics/mattis-pentagon-cellphone-ban/index.html
The officials told CNN that while the issue is under review and a final decision has not been made,
the recent revelations that a fitness tracking app that maps people's exercise habits could pose security risks for US troops has only underscored the need for the review.
The officials added that the review was ordered after Mattis expressed his intent to ban personal cell phones in the Pentagon.
A defense official told CNN that the intelligence about the risk of cell phone vulnerabilities that drove the Pentagon's review is the same intelligence that helped lead to a similar ban of personal cell phones among White House staffers in the West Wing, a ban that went into effect this month.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters Monday that Mattis had been recently briefed on the issue of wearable devices and that the Department of Defense was reviewing policy regarding the use of smartphones and wearable devices by military personnel.
There are approximately 23,000 military and civilian staff that work in the Pentagon. (Article continues.)
Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown is now a federal inmate.
Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown turns herself in to prison
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/corrine-brown-to-report-to-prison-by-noon/690892983
She turned herself in at Federal Corrections Institution Coleman’s minimum security prison camp about 15 minutes before Monday’s noon deadline.
Brown was sentenced last month to five years in prison for fraud, filing false tax returns and more. Brown lost her fight to remain out of prison while she appeals.
The former Congresswoman arrived at prison on Monday in a rented black limo bus. The bus paused at the prison complex’s entrance and waited for Bishop Kelvin Cobaris to cross the highway and get on board.
Cobaris had parked across the street from the prison, awaiting Brown’s arrival.
Cobaris, who is the president of the African American Council of Christian Clergy, described himself as Brown’s spiritual advisor.
“She had a humble demeanor. Very emotional, but yet graceful,” said Cobaris. “And as soon as I got on the bus, she greeted me with a smile and a hug, and said, ‘Pray.’”
Cobaris said Brown brought a bag into the prison with her, but did not know what was inside. “The guards, as far as I saw at the door, they were very kind to her. They just asked her what the things were that she had with her, and escorted her in, and said, ‘We’ll discuss more when you come in,’” said Cobaris.
According to Coleman’s minimum security prison camp Admission and Orientation Handbook, Brown would have been issued a green jumpsuit and basic hygiene supplies when she was admitted.
Each inmate at the prison camp is assigned to a job after being medically cleared by Health Services.
“I think the biggest worry and fear is obviously being separated from family members. As you know, she has an elderly mother who’s in her 90s. Obviously, she’s concerned for the welfare of her daughter. But I think, most of all, she’s concerned about the impact that this will have on her reputation and legacy,” said Brown’s trial attorney James Smith.
Brown will continue to collect her Congressional pension while she’s in prison until the appeals process has been exhausted.
WASHINGTON —FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has told FBI staff he is stepping down effective Monday, sources tell CNN.
FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping down, sources say
http://wgntv.com/2018/01/29/fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-stepping-down-sources-say/
McCabe had become a central target of President Donald Trump’s ire toward the FBI over its involvement in the investigation into potential collusion between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
McCabe was eligible to retire in March, but with his accumulated leave, he is able to step down earlier. His departure came as a surprise even to some expecting his March retirement.
Various sources described McCabe’s departure as a mutual decision, while others said it was the result of pressure to step down. One source briefed on the matter said McCabe announced his decision to senior executives and portrayed it as his choice. The source disputed the characterization that McCabe was removed.
But a source familiar with the matter said FBI Director Christopher Wray told McCabe he is bringing in his own team, which he would not be a part of, and that it was McCabe’s decision whether to stay at the FBI or leave.
Trump learned about the departure Monday morning, a White House official told CNN. The President did not answer a reporter’s question at the White House about McCabe’s departure.
The Justice Department's internal watchdog has been investigating former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for apparently sitting on emails obtained from Anthony Weiner's laptop, the Washington Post's Devlin Barrett and Karoun Demirjian reported Tuesday (of note, Barrett was recently outed as a potential source of FBI leaks, according to text messages between FBI employees accused of political bias)
Andrew McCabe Under Active DOJ Investigation For Sitting On Weiner Laptop Emails
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-31/andrew-mccabe-under-active-doj-investigation-sitting-weiner-laptop-emails
The DOJ Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, wants to know why McCabe allegedly took little to no action for approximately three weeks on the trove of emails sent by Hillary's top aide, Huma Abedin - Weiner's wife, which were discovered during an unrelated investigation into Weiner "sexting" with an underage girl.
The inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, has been asking witnesses why FBI leadership seemed unwilling to move forward on the examination of emails found on the laptop of former congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) until late October about three weeks after first being alerted to the issue, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
A key question of the internal investigation is whether McCabe or anyone else at the FBI wanted to avoid taking action on the laptop findings until after the Nov. 8 election, these people said. It is unclear whether the inspector general has reached any conclusions on that point. -WaPo
In late September 2016, approximately five weeks before the US election, thousands of Huma Abedin's work-related emails were found on Weiner's laptop. According to WaPo, the New York FBI office alerted FBI headquarters within days - though accounts as to the exact date vary.
Either way, McCabe was made aware of the matter by late September or early October, as the NY field office agents wanted to discuss the issue with DC Clinton email investigators to compare notes. According to people familiar with the matter, officials at FBI headquarters requested the emails' metadata - which include the sender, recipient and timestamp.
While McCabe is said to have been involved in those discussions, accounts vary as to how much then-FBI Director James Comey knew of the situation.
Some people involved at the time said Comey learned of the issue around the same time as McCabe. Others contend Comey did not know about it until weeks later. Senior Justice Department officials, according to several people familiar with the issue, were not notified until mid-October.
But for a period of at least three weeks, according to people involved at the time, nothing much happened a lag that has sparked the inspector generals questions. -WaPo
McCabe announced his departure from the FBI on Monday following a meeting with FBI Director Christopher Wray, in which they reportedly discussed the Inspector General's investigation.
McCabe had previously announced a March retirement. Several media outlets reported that McCabe is using his remaining vacation days to go on "terminal leave" and that his official retirement from the agency won't happen until March, allowing him to collect the full pension.
Also notable is that Wray was reportedly "shocked to his core" Sunday night after viewing a four-page confidential FISA memo said to detail egregious surveillance abuses by McCabe's team. The next day, McCabe was forced to step down.
Hannity sat down once again with journalist Sara Carter this week, whose sources say McCabe may have also instructed FBI agents to alter their "302" forms - the paperwork an agent files after interviewing someone:
Shocked him to his core, and not only that, the Inspector General's report - I have been told tonight by a number of sources, there's indicators right now that McCabe may have asked FBI agents to actually change their 302's - those are their interviews with witnesses. So basically every time an FBI agent interviews a witness, they have to go back and file a report.
If the reports from Sara Carter and the Washington Post's ever-connected Devlin Barrett are true, McCabe not only sat on the Weiner laptop emails related to the Hillary Clinton email investigation - but also asked FBI agents to commit crimes by altering paperwork.
Or, as Sarah Westwood summarizes, this report suggests:
1.McCabe tried to stall probe of Weiner laptop emails til after the election
2.McCabe's colleagues got suspicious about the delay
3.Comey sent 11th-hour letter that reopened the probe in order to correct for McCabe's perceived bias
Further pointing towards evidence of political bias is an October, 2016 Wall St. Journal article which reported that McCabe's wife received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from close Clinton ally, then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe for her failed run at VA state legislature.
President Trump allegedly chided McCabe over his wife's loss during a phone call following the May 9th dismissal of ex-FBI Director Comey. According to three people who recounted the alleged incident to NBC News, Trump was so enraged by footage of Comey boarding a government airplane following his dismissal that he brought up McCabe's wife during the conversation:
The president was silent for a moment and then turned on McCabe, suggesting he ask his wife how it feels to be a loser...
McCabe replied, "OK, Sir." Trump then hung up the phone.
An anonymous White House official disputed the account off the record, telling NBC, "this simply never happened. Any suggestion otherwise is pure fiction."
Whether or not Trump said mean things to McCabe (a conveniently timed story from the MSM), the fact remains that he is now out of a job - and purportedly the focus of Inspector General Horowitz for a variety of politically motivated crimes.
Donald Trump 1 – Deep State 0
House Intel Votes To Make “Shocking” FISA Memo Public
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-29/house-intel-committee-votes-make-shocking-fisa-memo-public
In a highly anticipated decision, on Monday evening the House Intelligence Committee voted to make public the memo alleging what some Republicans say are “shocking” surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice regarding the Trump presidential campaign.
In immediate response to the vote, the Committee’s top democrat Adam Schiff said that “we’ve crossed a deeply regrettable line”, adding that the “committee voted to put the president’s interest above the interest of the country.”
Adam Schiff’s full post-memo release press conference is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGhQ3RIKqxk (15:34 min.)
The decision weeks of speculation over whether the memo, which was drafted by staff for committee chairman Devin Nunes (R- Calif) would be made public. At the same time, it intensifies the dispute over what Democrats say is an all-out assault by Republicans to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Now the fate of the 4-page FISA memo is in the hands of Donald Trump: as we discussed earlier, the document will not be immediately released as under the House rule Republicans used to override the classification of the four-page memo, President Trump now has five days to review and reject its publication.
But, as per Bloomberg’s reporting earlier, the White House has signaled support for the document’s release and is widely expected to defy the DOJ in allowing the publication to go forward. The DOJ has opposed the release of the document, reportedly infuriating President Trump.
While Nunes has described the memo as “facts,” Democrats have slammed it as a collection of misleading talking points they are unable to correct without exposing the highly classified information underpinning the document.
As Bloomberg disclosed earlier on Monday,
releasing the memo without allowing them to review it on those grounds, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote to Nunes, would be “extraordinarily reckless.”
Of course, the reason for the DOJ – and the Democrats’ fury – is well-known:
Republicans who have read the memo have hinted heavily that it contains information that could unravel the entire Mueller investigation, long described by the president as a “witch hunt.”
In an amusing twist, now that transparency appears to be the watchword, the Republican controlled House Intel Committee also plans to release the transcript of the business meeting dealing with releasing the FISA memo.
While the precise contents of the memo remain unknown, it’s believed to contain allegations that the FBI did not adequately explain to a clandestine court that some of the information it used in a surveillance warrant application for Trump adviser Carter Page came from opposition research funded by the Clinton campaign, now known as the “Steele dossier.”
As Bloomberg reported earlier, citing three House lawmakers who have read the memo,
the memo claims FBI officials didn’t provide a complete set of facts in requests made to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to obtain a warrant or warrants on Carter Page, Trump campaign associate.
Furthermore, the memo claims important details were left out that might have kept a judge from issuing a surveillance warrant, or possibly two, targeting Page. Those include its claims that investigators were relying partly on an unverified dossier put together by an opposition research firm that hired a former British spy, Christopher Steele — work that was funded by Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and Democrats.
The memo also spotlights Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein’s role in approving the warrant application, according to the New York Times.
Rosenstein appointed Mueller and has become a recent target on the right — as well as reportedly garnering the frustration of the president.
* * *
According to The Hill, it’s unclear how much input the DOJ will have prior to the publication of the memo. Typically, when sensitive documents are declassified, the agencies with equities in the intelligence weigh in to assess whether its release would damage national security. But the committee initially stonewalled the DOJ from viewing the document because, as one committee member put it last week, “They’re the ones that have the problem.”
On Monday morning, deputy press secretary Raj Shah hinted on CNN that the DOJ would also not have an opportunity to review the document during the White House pre-release review. “The Department of Justice doesn’t have a role in this process,” he told CNN.
FBI Director Christopher Wray was reportedly allowed to view the document in the committee’s secure spaces over the weekend. A committee spokesperson declined to comment on Monday, as did the FBI.
Another unanswered question revolves around the highly-classified intelligence that underpins the memo, which came from documents provided to the committee by the DOJ as part of an agreement brokered by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The DOJ has said that the release of the memo would be an abrogation of the terms of that agreement, an assertion that spokesmen for both Ryan and Nunes reject.
Lawmakers say the underlying intelligence justifying the memo’s allegations is so sensitive that only eight members of Congress are able to view it. Nunes and ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are two of the eight figures, but the other members of the Intelligence Committee are not. The top two lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee are also part of the so-called Gang of Eight, but while they have access to the underlying intelligence, Nunes has denied committee requests to see the memo.
“Seeking Committee approval of public release would require [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] committee members to vote on a staff-drafted memorandum that purports to be based on classified source materials that neither you nor most of them have seen,” Boyd told Nunes.
Nunes has brushed aside the notion that the memo wouldn’t be persuasive without the underlying intelligence to substantiate its claims, calling the argument Democratic obstruction of his investigation into DOJ misconduct. The memo is a committee work product and the responsibility for releasing it, or not releasing it, rests with Congress.
The underlying intelligence, however, belongs to the executive branch, and Trump could unilaterally make it public if he wished.
For now, however, the decision whether the FISA memo will be made public – an event which is supposed to help Trump greatly in his ongoing battle against Special Counsel Mueller – is entirely in Trump’s hands, which will be a welcome change for the president.
And incidentally, Trump will be delighted to learn that, in addition to blocking the Democrat memo, House Intel Committee member Adam Schiff admitted that the committee was also probing the DOJ and FBI, i.e., the “deep state” itself.
The numbers are in, and Democrats aren’t going to be happy about this.
Polls Show a Majority of Americans Approved of Trump’s SOTU Speech, Most Tweets Ever
https://thepoliticalinsider.com/trump-sotu-poll-cbs/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=criticalimpact&utm_campaign=TPI_Morning_Newsletter_1_31_2018&utm_content=1d09840caddec138a6473c7b9fa19141&source=CI
A majority of Americans approved of President Trump’s very first State of the Union speech. In fact, the numbers are unequivocal: it was a smashing success! Take a look at this CBS poll conducted last night:
From the report: “Three in four Americans who tuned in to President Trump’s State of the Union address tonight approved of the speech he gave. Just a quarter disapproved.”
That’s an incredible disparity. A president who can bring together 75% of Americans on something is truly a president who can lead.
And who wouldn’t have loved Trump’s speech? From highlighting Congressman Steve Scalise, the lawmaker who survived multiple gunshot wounds over the summer, to paying special recognition to a little boy who started an initiative to decorate the graves of veterans, there were many highlights during the big speech.
But one of the biggest high points during the address didn’t happen during Trump’s remarks. It happened online, where the President just shattered another record.
Trump’s SOTU speech was the most tweeted about SOTU speech in American history. Twitter even verified that fact:
How very fitting! A president who used the social media platform to bypass the mainstream media just made history on the very same platform. 
