Steve Bannon Attacks President Trump

Steve Bannon gave an interview to author Michael Wolff for his book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”

While the White House was prepared for the Wolff book to be bad for them, they weren't prepared for Bannon to give such demeaning comments. 

According to The Guardian, Bannon stooped as low as going after the president's family. He attacked Don Jr., by describing the meeting in Trump Tower with the Russian lawyer as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic." Bannon also predicted this of the Russia investigation: "They're going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV".'

House Intel Committee Demands Documents Regarding the “Trump Dossier”

The House Intelligence Committee set a deadline of Wednesday for the Department of Justice and FBI to turn over documents related to the Christopher Steele dossier purporting to investigate ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. 

Senior Intelligence Committee members and staff are cleared to read classified information, and Congress has the constitutional authority to oversee the executive branch whose offices it funds. 

The Justice Department has refused to provide Congress with the most basic documents demanded under the subpoenas. These include reports detailing the FBI’s interactions with sources such as Mr. Steele, who was hired by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was funded by associates of the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The DOJ also refuses to make available crucial witnesses, including FBI agent Peter Strzok (a lead investigator in the Trump-Russia probe), former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr (whose wife worked for Fusion GPS) and FBI attorney James Baker (former FBI Director Jim Comey’s right-hand man).

Congressional Investigators Find Irregularities in FBI's Handling of Clinton Email Case

Republicans on key congressional committees say they have uncovered new irregularities and contradictions inside the FBI’s probe of Hillary Clinton’s email server. 

Investigators say they have secured written evidence that the FBI believed there was evidence that some laws were broken when the former secretary of State and her top aides transmitted classified information through her insecure private email server. 

Investigators said, that the evidence includes passages in FBI documents stating the “sheer volume” of classified information that flowed through Clinton’s insecure emails was proof of criminality as well as an admission of false statements by one key witness in the case. The name of the witness has been redacted. 

Investigators also confirmed that the FBI began drafting a statement exonerating Clinton of any crimes while evidence responsive to subpoenas was still outstanding and before agents had interviewed more than a dozen key witnesses. 

On Dec. 21, lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee attended a closed-door briefing by FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The lawmakers said the bureau official confirmed that the investigation and charging decisions were controlled by a small group in Washington headquarters rather the normal process of allowing field offices to investigate possible criminality in their localities. 

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, acknowledged the FBI’s handling of the case was unique, but argued Republicans are politicizing their own panel’s work. 

“To the extent that the Assistant Director of the FBI was involved in that investigation, and recognizing that the investigation itself presented a unique set of circumstances, his testimony did not raise any concerns that would justify the Republicans’ outsized obsession with Hillary Clinton’s emails two years after the fact,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

University Study Analyzes 6,000 Trump Tweets Which ‘Prove’ Racial Bias in Immigration Stance

Students at UCLA published a report that studied President Donald Trump’s tweets and speeches over the course of more than two years, explaining how his language shows an anti-immigrant bias and “false narrative.”

The UCLA study looked at more than 6,000 tweets and 300 speeches from Trump, during both his campaign and presidency. 

The study claims that Trump used generalizations and loaded words to promote the idea that immigrants–particularly Latinos - are criminals, Mexico is an enemy, and that Trump will protect American citizens, who are victims of an invasion of criminal aliens. 

UCLA divided their examples into three categories:

1)    Trump creates code-words as false as they are powerful

2)    Trump uses metaphors to propel his false narrative

3)    Trump’s language about legally protected groups

Trump to North Korean leader Kim: My nuclear button ‘is bigger & more powerful’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he has a "nuclear button on his desk" and is ready to use it against the United States. On Twitter, late Tuesday, President Trump said that his own nuclear button "is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" 

In a televised speech Monday, Kim had said: "The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat." 

While Trump boasted about his "nuclear button," the president doesn't actually have a physical one. The process for launching a nuclear strike is secret and complex and involves the use of a nuclear "football," which is carried by a rotating group of military officers everywhere the president goes and is equipped with communication tools and a book with prepared war plans. 

If the president were to order a strike, he would identify himself to military officials at the Pentagon with codes unique to him. He would then transmit the launch order to the Pentagon and Strategic Command.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, warned North Korea earlier Tuesday against staging another missile test and said Washington would not take any talks between North and South Korea seriously if they did not do something to get Kim to give up his nuclear weapons.

North Korea and South Korea Set to Meet Next Week

North Korea and South Korea established contact on a hotline that's been dormant for almost two years on Wednesday. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave the order to open the line at 3:00 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), according to an announcement on state media in the hours before two phone calls to South Korea took place. 

During the initial 20-minute connection, the two nations "checked technical issues of the communication line," according to a statement from South Korea's Unification Ministry.

The Unification Ministry said North Korea phoned for a second time several hours later on, suggesting the two sides wrap up business for the day. Other than checking that the link-up was operational, it is unclear what was discussed.

Behar Suggests U.S. on Verge of Killing Gay People in the Streets

"The View" host Joy Behar suggested Tuesday that the U.S. is on the verge of stoning gay people in the streets during a conversation on Iran that went off the rails, saying "not yet" when a co-host said it was silly to compare America to Iran. 

President Donald Trump has weighed in on support of the protesters in Iran, who are angry at the Islamic Republic's regime over high prices and economic mismanagement. Trump has also tweeted criticisms of the regime's support for terrorism. 

Behar objected to this, saying that Trump should stay out of it and keep playing golf. Behar drew a comparison between the Iranians rising up against the regime and Americans rising up against Trump. 

Twenty-one people have been killed and 450 people arrested during the anti-government rallies, which began Thursday over the country's stagnant economy and rising costs of living but quickly developed into a broader outcry against the government.

The protests have become the most powerful challenge to the Iranian government's authority since mass demonstrations in 2009.

Mail Time!

• "Bill, when you say things like the collapse of the media will be the big story of 2018, how do you figure that out? I've heard you say things like that before and you're always right."
• "Bill, glad you're on the web. You have to keep advertising that you're there though. So many of my friends still think you simply went away. I tell them about the podcast but the majority of people my age don't know what that is."
• "Bill, you defended kids sitting for the anthem, but you have to remember the kid is at school and when you are at school you have to behave and obey the rules. You've got this all wrong." 

Word of the Day: Pawky