Another Major Winter Storm Is Expected Just Days After Gia

Meteorologists expect two more storms to hit the Midwest and Northeast starting Wednesday, just days after Winter Storm Gia dumped more than a foot of snow over much of the same area.

Winter Storm Gia swept through the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Jan. 11-13, causing around 500 vehicle accidents in Missouri alone. The storm was a factor in at least 13 deaths and knocked out power to tens of thousands. Several state and local governments, including South Carolina and Virginia, declared states of emergency, The Weather Channel reports.

The next storm, expected Wednesday night through Friday, will likely carry light to moderate snowfall from the upper-Midwest through the Northeast. An icy mix of snow and sleet is expected to drop along areas under the storm’s southern stretch.

“Fast movement of the storm from Thursday to Friday should limit the accumulations to a few inches in the snowfall area,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.

Meteorologists expect a second, larger winter storm to track a similar path from Friday to Sunday night potentially dumping more than a foot of snow along a stretch starting in Illinois, heading through New York and up to Maine.

“Cold air in the wake of the storm on Thursday and Friday, combined with extensive snowcover, may cause the storm that follows to track farther south than our indicators suggest,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

“It’s possible the storm this weekend may not cut toward the Great Lakes as suggested by computer models but may instead take more of a west-to-east track, similar to last weekend’s storm, but a bit farther north,” Pastelok added.

Republican Lawmaker Trolled After Introducing A Carbon Tax Bill

Florida Republican Rep. Francis Rooney received a yellow vest on Tuesday, which is meant to be a mockery of his support for taxing carbon emissions.

The American Energy Alliance, a free-market energy organization, sent Rooney a yellow vest after the Florida lawmaker signed onto carbon tax legislation. The bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives earlier in January, calls for a $15-per-ton carbon fee on fossil fuel producers, importers and processors, with the fee increasing by $10 every year.

Rooney still stands as the only Republican co-sponsor of the bill.

The yellow vest is a reference to the ongoing chaos that has rocked France since mid-November. After the French government proposed a carbon tax plan, part of President Emmanuel Macron’s climate change agenda, thousands of yellow vest-wearing protesters have taken to the streets of Paris and rioted, with some clashes becoming deadly. The protesters, already burdened with expensive gasoline prices, argue the country’s leaders are out of touch with the average citizen.

Despite scrapping the fuel tax proposal, the riots have continued to engulf the French capital.

“In solidarity with our French brethren who have protested expensive climate policies, we at the American Energy Alliance have enclosed in this package a yellow vest to object to your sponsorship of a destructive carbon tax, the inaptly named ‘Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act,’ that will raise energy costs on American families and put the U.S. in a weaker financial state,” AEA wrote to Rooney.

Rooney touts extensive work on climate change issues in Congress, despite representing a heavily Republican district in south Florida. The lawmaker previously cosponsored the same bill last session and he was recently named co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bi-partisan group of House lawmakers focused on environmental legislation.

“A carbon tax like the one you introduced would not only inflict harm on consumers and the broader U.S. economy, it would foist additional burdens on state and local governments, all while failing to make any meaningful dent in the total emissions profile worldwide,” AEA continued its letter to Rooney.

Meet The Nation’s Youngest Black Legislator, Caleb Hanna

The West Virginia House of Delegates convened Wednesday with a record-setter in their midst — freshman Del. Caleb L. Hanna, who became the nation’s youngest black legislator when he was elected at age 19 in November 2018.

“I always knew that I was not satisfied with the leadership I was getting within my own house district,” Hanna told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. “I told myself if I ever had my opportunity to take that, I would give it my shot.”

At first, his small Republican campaign was designed to push Democratic incumbent Dana Lynch to be “more proactive in the legislature,” Hanna told TheDCNF. But things shifted when Hanna realized he could win the Republican primary — even if he was running his campaign from his dorm room at West Virginia State University, where he studies economics.

Leading up to the general election, Hanna faced doubts about his age and experience, a shoestring budget and one instance of racist flyers he reported to law enforcement. But Hanna defeated Lynch by roughly 25 points in West Virginia’s House of Delegates District 44 in November.

Making It To Charleston

Now Hanna is in the state capital Charleston as a member of the majority party in the House of Delegates. He said he’s ready to get to work on the economic issues that motivated West Virginia voters in 2018 as well as to stand for his principles, which he sums up as “God, guns and babies.”

Gun rights is one of the first issues Hanna wants to dive into as a legislator by cosponsoring a campus carry bill. It’s an issue that has attracted the attention of party leadership in the House of Delegates, reported West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

“The Constitution clearly lays out our constitutional right to keep and bear arms, not just in our homes but also in our places of work in our places of study,” Hanna told TheDCNF. “I live in my college dorm while I’m at the legislature. … I consider that to be my home. I feel like I should have the right to protect myself in my home.”

Help Along The Way

Learning the ropes of being a lawmaker hasn’t been easy, but Hanna said his colleagues, including those in leadership, are always ready to answer his questions.

“Not far from my office is Del. Ben Queen, who is only 23. He’s served a term here already, and he’s also a young member, so he kind of was in the same shoes as me. He was a great inspiration for me to learn from,” Hanna said.

Queen said he first met Hanna when the younger man was in high school. They were both fired up over the success of former West Virginia Del. Saira Blair, who upset a Republican incumbent in the primaries and became the youngest lawmaker in the U.S. at age 18 in 2014.

Hanna is eager to listen to others and learn about issues, which are qualities that make a young lawmaker successful, Queen told TheDCNF.

“Putting your name on the ballot is intimidating enough, let alone going through with a campaign,” Queen said of Hanna. “It’s really nice to have a seat at the table. I think that’s what young people are looking for here in West Virginia.”

Hanna’s district is rural and spread out. He recalls driving for hours to cover enough ground while door-knocking. At least 70 percent of voters in each of the four counties in Hanna’s district voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election, according to Politico.

“For them to elect a young African-American goes to show that I don’t think racial discrimination in Trump supporters is actually there,” he said.

Generation Z Enters The Political Arena

Hanna traces his interest in running for office to former President Barack Obama.

“It had nothing to do with policies,” Hanna told TheDCNF. “I was in third grade at the time, but I knew that that was something new. That wasn’t something normal, to have an African American hold the highest office in the United States. I kind of thought to myself in that moment, if he can do it, I can do it. That’s when I started following politics.”

We’re officially on the board and on the floor! Great things are coming in 2019!??

Posted by Delegate Caleb L. Hanna on Friday, January 4, 2019

Now Hanna is in the vanguard of Generation Z politicians. He chuckled at a comparison of himself and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a millennial who became the youngest member of Congress at 29 in 2019. Before Ocasio-Cortez, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik held the record for youngest woman elected to Congress.

“I’m not a huge fan of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s policies, the way that she goes about things, but I respect that she is a young person who set out to make a difference. I think you’re starting to see that throughout the country,” Hanna told TheDCNF. “We realize we have to stand up as Americans to do what’s best. That’s one thing I ran on in my campaign. We may be Republicans, and we may be Democrats, but we’re all West Virginians so we all have to come together.”

Hanna is wary of making a career out of politics, however. He envisions starting a family and doesn’t think that’s something he wants to do in the public eye.

“I didn’t come from a political family,” he told TheDCNF. “I’m living it one thing at a time.”

NAACP, Black Journalists Hit CBS For Not Having Enough ‘Diversity’ On 2020 Politics Team

The civil rights group NAACP and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) are adding to criticism of CBS News for not including a black journalist on its initial 2020 politics reporting team.

Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York drew attention to the supposed slight at the black community on Twitter Saturday after Ben Mitchell, an associate producer for CBS News, shared the outlet’s team for 2020 political coverage.

“CBS News’ decision to not include Black reporters on their 2020 Election news team further proves the voting power and voices of Black America continue to be undervalued,” the NAACP said in a statement. “As the voting bloc that will most certainly determine the direction of this country in the upcoming election, it is vital any and all media outlets have a diverse newsroom, including individuals of color in decision making positions to speak to and address the issues and concerns directly impacting the Black community.”

“It is unfortunate that we are still having these discussions about diversity and inclusion,” NABJ President Sarah Glover said in a statement. “In 2019 we’re still asking media organizations specifically, and society as a whole to do the right thing. CBS’s political team takes previously heralded steps back half a century.”

CBS has responded to the perceived scandal by promising to add more people to the team. The current group of a dozen reporters and editors is “an initial wave of what will be an outstanding and diverse group of journalists assigned to cover the 2020 election for CBS News,” CBS said in a statement, according to the NABJ.

CBS officials met with Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California over the issue. Waters said the media company has promised to place black reporters on its 2020 politics team, Newsweek reports.

Martha McSally Will Be Appointed To John McCain’s Seat

Arizona Republican Rep. Martha McSally will be appointed to John McCain’s former Senate seat after Republican Sen. Jon Kyl announced he would resign from the U.S. Senate at the end of December.

Governor Doug Ducey, announced in a Tuesday statement that McSally will be taking the seat. This comes as McSally lost her Senate bid to Democratic Sen. Krysten Sinema in a tight Nov. 6 midterm race.

“All her life, Martha has put service first — leading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times,” Ducey said in his statement. “With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done.”

Kyl, who replaced Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain after his death, told The Arizona Republic that he will be leaving office on Dec. 31, when the legislative calendar ends. He said he agreed to finish working until the 115th Congress concluded, he also thanked Republican Gov. Doug Ducey for his appointment.

McCain’s wife, Cindy, tweeted out her support for McSally shortly after the news broke, saying “Arizonans will be pulling for her” and that she respected Ducey’s decision.

McSally said she was “humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to serve and be a voice for all Arizonans,” in a Tuesday statement. “I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Kyrsten Sinema and getting to work from day one,” she continued.

New York To Spend Millions Putting DREAMers Through College

New York state lawmakers have approved a measure that aims to dole out millions in taxpayer-funded aid to illegal immigrants attending college.

The now-Democratic controlled New York State legislature on Wednesday passed the Dream Act, legislation that would make thousands of illegal immigrants eligible for financial aid to attend public colleges in the state. The bill, which has attracted praise from New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would cost $27 million.

The measure is “a slap in the face for all the hardworking taxpayers who play the rules and struggle for the costs of a college education,” Republican state Sen. Daphne Jordan said of the bill. Jordan was joined by other Republican state legislators in criticism of the Dream Act, who argued it would unfairly take money away from legal residents who struggle to pay their college tuition.

The bill had been introduced in the New York legislature before, but Republican-control of the state Senate had prevented it from ever moving forward — until Democrats gained control of both chamber after the 2018 midterms.

“We do this as a symbol that you will be guaranteed an education and that the door to higher education is open to all children of New York State,” stated De La Rosa, sponsor of the bill and immigrant from the Dominican Republic.

While Cuomo has not yet signed the bill into law, but he has expressed support for tuition for undocumented immigrants and he has already included his own version in the state budget plan.

Passage of the Dream Act came one day after New York legislators passed a bill dramatically expanding access to abortion. The bill, which was promptly signed into law by Cuomo, allows women to have abortions after 24 weeks in situations where “there is an absence of fetal viability, or at any time when necessary to protect a patient’s life or health.”

New York Democrats say that have just begun.

Supporters of the Dream Act say they will also consider allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses and give them better housing protections. Cuomo has also expressed interest in forcing insurance companies to provide free contraceptive care.

Macron’s Approval Rating Craters As France Braces For Another Round Of Protests

French President Emmanuel Macron’s approval rating dropped to its lowest level Thursday amid a growing sense that the former banker is losing touch with France’s working-class citizens.

Macron’s approval rating slipped 4 percentage points in a month to 23 percent, according to an Elabe survey for Les Echos published Thursday. His approval rating is now lower than socialist predecessor Francois Hollande.

“There’s a battle being fought between Macron and public opinion,” Bernard Sananes, head of Elabe, told reporters at a local news outlet. Many of the respondents said Macron “doesn’t know the people and doesn’t understand them.”

Macron enacted a slew of new carbon taxes in January designed to wean consumers off fossil fuels and transfer France’s entire economy to electric cars. The price hikes triggered a wave of protest from demonstrators calling themselves the yellow vest movement. The government has since suspended the tax.

French riot police closed popular tourist areas Saturday and fired tear gas as they tried to quell the chaos in the streets. At least 110 people were injured while protesters associated with the grassroots-driven demonstrations clashed with authorities and vandalized the Arc de Triomphe.

Other polls suggest the French president’s numbers are hovering below 20 percent. A YouGov poll published Friday shows Macron’s approval rating is falling to 18 percent. It was conducted the day before Saturday’s riots, and surveyed 1,006 people across France.

The French government is going to extremes to prevent future protests this weekend. More than a dozen armored vehicles are expected to patrol Paris – which hasn’t happened in the capital city since World War II. There concerns are likely warranted, as the yellow vest movement is picking up steam.

The protests are gaining widespread support, especially among those in the rural areas of the country. Nearly 73 percent of the French approve the demonstrations, according to an Elabe poll conducted during the protests. Support is still divided between Macron’s urban supporters and small-town people who rely on cars.

Comey Continues To Falsely Claim That Republicans Started Steele Dossier

  • Former FBI Director James Comey continues to falsely claim that Republicans were the initial backers of Christopher Steele and his infamous dossier.
  • In congressional interviews on Dec. 7 and Monday, Comey repeatedly claimed that Steele had Republican backers.
  • In reality, Steele was hired in June 2016 by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was working at the time for the law firm for the DNC and Clinton campaign.

Former FBI Director James Comey falsely claimed throughout two recently congressional interviews that Republicans were the initial backers of the infamous Steele dossier, which alleges a vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government to influence the 2016 election.

Comey claimed twice in an interview Monday with the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees that Republicans initially commissioned the work of Christopher Steele, the former British spy behind the dossier. He made similar claims twice more in an interview with the same committees on Dec. 7.

“I remember being told that Steele’s work had been funded first by Republicans opposed to Trump, then by Democrats opposed to Trump,” Comey said at one point during Monday’s interview, according to a transcript of the session.

“It was Republicans opposed to Trump, and then it was Democrats opposed to Trump,” he said later in the same interview.

Comey, who was fired as FBI chief on May 9, 2017, made the same mistake in his interview earlier this month.

“I thought [Steele] was retained as part of a Republican-financed effort — retained by Republicans adverse to Mr. Trump during the primary season, and then his work was underwritten after that by Democrats opposed to Mr. Trump during 110 the general election season,” Comey said during his Dec. 7 interview.

Later, he said that he believed that it was important for investigators to understand that the dossier was “a politically motivated effort, first by Republicans, then by Democrats.”

It is clear from the transcripts of Comey’s interviews that he was unfamiliar with details of the dossier and how it was handled within the FBI. He was fuzzy on dates and said that he was not familiar with Fusion GPS, the firm the hired Steele, or Perkins Coie, the law firm that hired Fusion on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC.

Comey is not the only Trump opponent to falsely claim that Republicans were involved in the dossier. Democrats and many journalists have repeated the inaccurate claim. The source of confusion revolves around the timeline of Fusion GPS’s investigation into Trump.

The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website owned by Republican donor Paul Singer, paid Fusion GPS during the 2016 primary season to investigate Trump. But executives with the website and with Fusion GPS have said that they discontinued the Trump research effort after it became apparent that the real estate baron would win the GOP nomination.

“I think we started in September or October, and I think it wound down in April [2016], sometime in the spring,” Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson testified to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Nov. 14, 2017. “As the Republican primaries came to an end, it became obvious that that work was going to end.”

Fusion went looking for a new client soon after to continue its investigation of Trump. The firm found Perkins Coie.

With a new client funding its anti-Trump effort, Fusion GPS hired Steele in June 2016. Perkins Coie paid Fusion around $1 million through November 2016, and Fusion paid Steele around $170,000.

Steele, a former MI6 officer who worked in Russia before retiring, relied on intermediaries to obtain information about Trump and his campaign advisers.

Steele would go on to produce 17 memos dates from June 20, 2016, to Dec. 13, 2016. The FBI relied on his unverified memos to obtain four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Republicans have accused the FBI and Comey of misleading the FISA Court by relying so heavily on the dossier, which was unverified when the FBI included information from it in FISA applications.

Republicans have also argued that the FBI should have told FISA judges that the Clinton campaign and DNC were the ultimate funders of the dossier.

Comey rejected that idea in his House interviews.

“Whether it was Sally Smith or Joe Jones, Republican, or Sally Smith, Democrat … to me, it didn’t matter,” Comey said in an exchange with North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican on the Oversight Committee.

The FBI did disclose in its FISA applications that Steele’s information was funded by a client that opposed Trump’s campaign.

Comey claimed that he believed it was important only that the FISA Court knew that “there was potential bias in this information.”

“That’s really important.”

Senate Intel Chairman: ‘We Don’t Have Anything That Would Suggest There Was Collusion’

After more than two years of investigation, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has not found evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government, the committee’s Republican chairman said in interview.

“If we write a report based upon the facts that we have, then we don’t have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia,” North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr told CBS News.

“If I can finish tomorrow, I would finish tomorrow,” said Burr, adding, “We know we’re getting to the bottom of the barrel because there’re not new questions that we’re searching for answers to.”

The Senate panel has conducted more than 200 witness interviews and reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents as part of an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The investigation, which has focused heavily on the collusion question, began in January 2017, alongside a parallel probe run out of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Republicans on the House committee released a report on April 27, 2018, that found no evidence of collusion. But that report was dismissed by Democrats, who have accused California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House panel, of failing to conduct a full investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Burr has not been marred by the same sniping from Democrats. He and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the committee, have largely operated in sync during the Senate probe. Burr noted in his CBS interview that he and Warner agreed early on that they would only take major investigative steps — subpoenas or witness interviews — only if both of them approved.

But unlike Burr, Warner has been a prominent presence in the media, appearing frequently for cable TV interviews to discuss Russia and the Trump campaign.

Burr has said in the past that he has not seen evidence of collusion involving the Trump campaign. In September, he told Fox News that the committee had not seen “hard evidence” of collusion. But his remarks to CBS are his strongest comments to date on the topic. They also indicate that the committee has not received any new evidence in recent months that would undercut that assessment.

They could also portend a partisan rift as Democrats face political pressure to prove that members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives.

Warner has not said that he has seen evidence of collusion, but he has touted various developments in the Russia probe as evidence of possible conspiracy with Russia.

Burr’s remarks come just as the House Intelligence panel is re-upping its own Russia investigation. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the committee, said Wednesday that the panel will begin exploring five areas of inquiry, including whether Trump associates colluded and whether foreign actors have leverage over President Trump or his associates.

Jussie Smollett Pleaded Guilty to Giving Officials False Information In 2007

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded guilty for not only driving under the influence of alcohol, but also for driving without a license and giving law enforcement false information in 2007.

Smollett was sentenced to two years of probation, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office confirmed with NBC News Tuesday. He also had to choose between jail time or paying a fine.

The case comes as Chicago Police Department (CPD) are seeking to meet with Smollett over an alleged attack.

Smollett claimed he was attacked, doused with an unknown chemical substance, had a rope tied around his neck and two men who yelled “This is MAGA (Make America Great Again) country” at him on Jan. 29.

There have been reports, however, that the attack was organized by Smollett and two brothers who were allegedly paid to help, according to CNN.

Smollett’s attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson released a statement Sunday saying such allegations were “nothing further from the truth.”

Sources have said a potential motive for staging the attack was over a threat letter that did not receive enough attention, CBS 2 Chicago reported.

“When the letter didn’t get enough attention, he concocted the staged attack,” a source said to CBS 2 Chicago.

The alleged attack initially caused outrage among several celebrities and Democratic politicians, with some blaming President Donald Trump. Democrats like California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker kept their original statements on the issue while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  deleted her original tweet.

Eric Schiffer of Reputation Management Consultants said to The Daily Caller News Foundation that Smollett’s career and reputation could end if the alleged attack turned out to be fake.

“Many people on the left will be privately devastated but most won’t apologize for false accusations and instead they will just move on to another controversy,” Schiffer said. “Politically those on the right may call for Smollett to be prosecuted as a hate crime for spewing an incitement of hatred against millions of MAGA members and white people.”

Smollett will need to “come clean” and “lay out the facts” in order to fix a damaged reputation, Schiffer added. But “his reputation for trust is going to take years to revitalize.”