The Morning Briefing: Strzok, Ellison, the NDAA, and Much, Much More

Good Tuesday Morning!

Here’s what you need to know.

The anti-Trump texter is out.

Yesterday, the FBI finally fired Peter Strzok over his anti-Trump texts. The move sent shock waves, with President Donald Trump responding in two ways.

First, Trump expressed relief that Strzok was “finally” fired.

Agent Peter Strzok was just fired from the FBI – finally. The list of bad players in the FBI & DOJ gets longer & longer. Based on the fact that Strzok was in charge of the Witch Hunt, will it be dropped? It is a total Hoax. No Collusion, No Obstruction – I just fight back!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018

Perhaps more importantly, he also called for a return to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, which he called a “sham” and a “total fraud.”

Just fired Agent Strzok, formerly of the FBI, was in charge of the Crooked Hillary Clinton sham investigation. It was a total fraud on the American public and should be properly redone!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018

Here’s Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on the subject.

.@TGowdySC: "Peter Strzok received a much fairer process than what he was giving to Donald Trump." #TheStory https://t.co/rLte0ZDjd7 pic.twitter.com/Y5ZIIr4c1O

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 13, 2018

But don’t you fret. Former FBI agents whose anti-Trump bias may have played a large role in the 2016 presidential election can still make money. As PJ Media’s Deb Heine reported, Strzok started a GoFundMe page, and has already raised $143,000.

Keith Ellison.

As Rick Moran reported in these pages on Sunday, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) faced allegations of sexual abuse mere days before the Democratic primary for Minnesota attorney general. He denied the allegations. Ellison is the co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The real story may be the way the press handled the scandal. “If Ellison were a Republican, the press would have knocked over the doors of the RNC demanding a statement,” former White House press secretary for George W. Bush Ari Fleischer noted. “But the DNC’s co-chairman? No comment from the DNC. No feeding frenzy from the press.”

It’s great to be the DNC. If Ellison were a Republican, the press would have knocked over the doors of the RNC demanding a statement. But the DNC’s co-chairman? No comment from the DNC. No feeding frenzy from the press. https://t.co/hqDDA7yLZz

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) August 13, 2018

One liberal woman’s group did speak up, however.

Liberal-leaning women’s group calling on Dem Rep. Keith Ellison to resign from Congress and end attorney general campaign following allegations that he physically abused his ex-girlfriend.https://t.co/8WVUXogaR8

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 13, 2018

Ellison is also the same Democrat leader who called for Amazon.com to ban all products sold by organizations the leftist smear factory the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) brands “hate groups.”

The NDAA.

Late yesterday, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to approve a defense budget of $717 billion for fiscal year 2019. The NDAA included a 2.6 percent pay increase for military personnel, as The Washington Examiner‘s Gabby Morrongiello reported.

Naturally, the press focused on the fact that Trump did not name Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), even though the bill was named after him.

How could @realDonaldTrump sign the John S. McCain Defense Authorization Act and speak for 25 minutes without mentioning @SenJohnMcCain? He even left “McCain” out of the name of the bill he signed into law. Memory loss? Unhinged? Bad staff work?

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) August 13, 2018

To be fair, Trump attacked McCain hours later, for refusing to vote for the repeal of Obamacare. CNN’s Jake Tapper went out of his way to praise McCain, “since President Trump would not do it.” Talk about virtue signaling.

One part the media seemed to ignore involves … RUSSIA. Yes, the same country that liberals think secretly controls Trump.

Among other things, the NDAA sends a strong message to Russia and China, according to Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin.

The bill “requires the president to designate a National Security Council employee to coordinate the interagency fight against malign foreign influence operations, including election interference. That is a direct response to Russian interference in the last election.”

Huh. Imagine that. Mr. “Russian spy” president just signed a military bill that responds to Russian election interference. And that’s not all the new NDAA does. “It includes $6.3 billion to reassure U.S. partners and allies and increase the U.S. military presence in Europe. It bars military-to-military cooperation with Russia … And, most importantly, it ties the hands of the president in recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, something that many in Congress feared that the president would do.”

Nail in the coffin: “There are literally dozens of provisions that target Russian aggression specifically. It is spelled out in a way that I have not seen before.”

Let’s think for just a second. If Trump were truly a Putin crony and seeking to advance the Kremlin’s interests, he would never sign this bill. But that doesn’t help the anti-Trump narrative, does it?

Supporting America’s military is important, but I have to say I’m a bit annoyed at the constant increase in spending. Trump has been slashing regulations, but those can be replaced by a future Democratic president. Trump and Congress lowered taxes and they funded the military — both good things, but things that do not directly address the deficit.

The U.S. needs to cut spending, and ballooning entitlements need serious reform. Sadly, it seems that when Democrats are in power, America spends a lot more on entitlements. When Republicans are in power, America spends a little more on military. This is not exactly sustainable.

Desperate ProPublica wants Kavanaugh dirt.

ProPublica, desperate to find any scandal to stop the approval of Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, solicited photos of Kavanaugh at a Nationals baseball game.

Did you attend a Washington Nationals game in 2017?

You might be able to help us. Really. https://t.co/LAhGBWiI6u pic.twitter.com/Y2Xhkx6ir0

— ProPublica (@propublica) August 13, 2018

The most damning photo so far?

Hey @ProPublica! We spotted Judge Kavanaugh with Tom, Abe, Ted, and George! What do we win? #PresidentsRace #Natitude pic.twitter.com/8YzGkKCUpp

— America Rising (@ARSquared) August 13, 2018