Sharyl Attkisson

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Sharyl Attkisson

Epoch Times: Did Ukraine and U.S. Democrats join to "sabotage" Trump in 2016?

The following is an excerpt of my article in Epoch Times. Read the full article at the link below.

As we rapidly approach campaign 2020, Democrats and Republicans have fired up a new debate over which foreign entities tried to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Both sides agree that Russian interests made attempts to meddle in the 2016 campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller wasn’t able to connect any Americans to the alleged scheme, but filed a case against 13 Russians. He charged they were instructed to write social media posts opposing Clinton and “to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.” Although it hasn’t been widely reported, Mueller also testified there were instances of Russian social media support for Hillary Clinton, as well.

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But there’s widespread disagreement on the role Ukraine may have had in U.S. election interference in 2016.

This past week, Democrats stepped up efforts to dismiss such allegations as “debunked” and a “conspiracy theory.” Republicans doubled down, stating that the alleged Ukrainian efforts may not have been a “top down” operation—as they believe Russia’s was—but could have been significant all the same and deserves serious investigation.

The Republican heads of two senate committees have asked the FBI and the Department of Justice for records related to reported collusion between Ukraine and U.S. Democrats to get “dirt” on the Trump campaign from Ukraine in 2016.

At least part of Ukraine’s alleged role has been easier to piece together than the Russian interference, thanks to public reporting and interviews with some of those involved. Additional facts are available through federal lobbying disclosures filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and from documents published by WikiLeaks. (Continued...)

Read more by clicking the following link:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/timeline-of-alleged-ukrainian-democrat-meddling-in-2016-presidential-election_3156376.html

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Why Soldiers Miss War

Nolan Peterson (second from left) as a combat photographer

The following is from the description of the new book, "Why Soldiers Miss War," written by former combat pilot Nolan Peterson.

Ask most combat veterans to name the worst experience of their lives, and they’ll probably tell you it was war. But ask them to choose the best experience of their life, and they’ll usually also say it was war. For someone who has not been to war, this is nearly impossible to understand. The spectrum of emotions experienced by a combat veteran is far wider than that experienced in civilian life and for that reason it can be hard for a veteran to re-assimilate to civilian life.

Order "Why Soldiers Miss War."

What is it about war that soldiers miss? This is a question that every civilian should try to understand. Weaving together a wide range of stories from the flight deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier off Syria to climbing a forbidden Himalayan pass into Tibet, this moving and insightful book explains one of the most everlasting human pursuits – war. But its focus isn’t solely war; it is also about coming home and confronting another kind of struggle that we all share — the search for happiness.

Listen to my "Full Measure After Hours" podcast with Peterson: "Important stuff you didn't know about Ukraine"

In this collection, Peterson writes of war from the perspective of both a combatant and a witness taking the reader from combat missions over Afghanistan as an Air Force special operations pilot to the frontlines against ISIS in Iraq, and the trench and tank battles of the war in Ukraine. Interweaving his frontline reports with a narrative about his own transformation from a combat pilot to a war journalist, Peterson explores a timeless paradox – why does coming home from war feel like such a disappointment? 

Veteran Nolan Peterson (left) as a combat photographer

About Nolan Peterson: A former U.S. Air Force Special Operations pilot and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Nolan Peterson is an acclaimed war correspondent and globetrotting travel writer whose adventures have taken him to all seven continents.With his wife Lilya by his side, Peterson divides his time between Washington and Kyiv, continuing to work as a foreign correspondent. He is currently working for The Daily Signal and held previous journalist positions with UPI and National Security Forum.   Peterson is a graduate of the USAF Academy in Political Science which included an internship at NATO HQ in Brussels. He has also achieved a MS in Journalism from Northwestern, a MA from Middlebury as well as a Diploma for French Language from La Sorbonne.

I'll be interviewing Peterson on an upcoming edition of Full Measure.

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READ: Federal court: ex-White House counsel must testify

Former White House Counsel Don McGahn

A federal judge has ruled that former White House counsel Donald McGahn must testify before Congress.

The White House says it will appeal.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made the ruling, stating that the president "does not have the power" to block aides from appearing under congressional subpoena. 

Today, this Court adds that this conclusion is inescapable precisely because compulsory appearance by dint of a subpoena is a legal construct, not a political one, and per the Constitution, no one is above the law.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Read more by clicking the links below:

Read the decision

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/25/judge-former-white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-must-testify-before-congress/4295727002/

READ: Supreme Court grants Trump temporary on his taxes

Today, the Supreme Court continued to block House Democrats' efforts to obtain years of President Trump's tax returns and financial records from his accountants.

The action by the high court reversed, at least for the moment, a federal appeals court that had ruled in favor of House Democrats.

The block will remain in effect during a "full review" of the case if the Supreme Court agrees to conduct such a review. If the court denies the review, Trump's financial records must be provided to House Democrats.

The Supreme Court has asked for additional legal arguments to be submitted by December 5.

Read more by clicking the link below:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/19a545.html

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POLL: Most say they'd rather hear nothing more about impeachment

The vast majority of respondents would rather hear nothing further about impeaching President Trump.

That's according to the latest unscientific poll here at SharylAttkisson.com.

Seventy-one percent (71%) said they would like to "move on" and leave impeachment talk behind.

Three percent (3%), though, said they would like to hear more about impeachment.

Read the full results below. Meantime, be sure and vote in our latest poll at SharylAttkisson.com on the home page. Look for the black box in the right sidebar or scroll way down on the mobile site!

I'd like to hear:

3% More about impeachment

20% Less about impeachment

7% About the same

71% Nothing; move on

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Independents souring on impeachment

The following is an excerpt from an article in The Hill.

New public opinion polls are moving against Democrats on impeachment as independents sour on the House inquiry and increasingly express opposition to the hearings that have consumed Washington in recent weeks.

The new data comes as a surprise to Democrats, many of whom believe witnesses have offered damning testimony about President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

Witnesses have testified that Trump pressed Ukraine’s leaders to conduct investigations of the energy company Burisma Holdings — which was seen as code for probes of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, given the younger Biden’s work for the company as a board member.

Read the article in The Hill by clicking the link below.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/471723-independents-souring-on-impeachment-underscores-risk-for-democrats

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Impeachment revelation: The Swamp Bites Back

The following is an excerpt from my article in The Hill.

Many will debate the substance of the public impeachment testimony against President Trump. To me, each of the Democrats’ witnesses of the past two weeks appeared to be well-intentioned and hard-working, and seemed genuinely to believe they know what’s best.

But a picture also emerged of U.S. diplomats who appear to believe they, rather than the U.S. president, have the ultimate authority to determine our foreign policy. And if the president doesn’t go along? He clearly must be wrong — in their view. Or, even worse, he’s a traitor. He’s to be obstructed. Taken down. 

In an odd turnabout, they actually make the case for President Trump’s mantra that we need to “drain the swamp.”

One can first look at the language witnesses used as they vented about Trump’s tutelage in ways that veered far from relevance to the impeachment allegations. They conveyed hurt feelings, bruised egos and strong differences of opinion. At times, the testimony sounded a bit like a human resources conference or psychotherapy session.

The diplomats testified that they were “shocked and devastated” to learn that Trump and Ukraine’s new president did not have faith in them. They complained that, under Trump, “foreign service professionals are being denigrated and undermined” and the State Department isn’t getting the “attention and respect” it deserves. They expressed “disappointment” that Trump had the nerve to defy the federal agencies by not discussing “any of our interagency agreed-upon talking points” in Trump’s first call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. They were “embarrassed” in front of Ukrainians when they didn’t have answers about U.S. policy. (Continued...)

Read the rest of the article by clicking the link below:

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/471643-impeachment-inquiry-its-a-question-of-who-should-run-the-show

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