WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will not seek contempt charges against former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner for her refusal to testify before Congress, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced Wednesday.

It has been nearly a year since the House voted to hold Lerner in contempt in a mostly party-line vote. At the time, the charges were referred to the local U.S. attorney. The Justice Department officially informed House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, of U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen’s decision in a letter sent to Boehner’s office Tuesday.

“A team of experienced career prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office was assigned to carefully assess the referral. After extensive analysis, the team concluded that the House Committee followed proper procedures in notifying Ms. Lerner that it had rejected her claim of a Fifth Amendment privilege and gave her an adequate opportunity to answer the Committee’s questions,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “However, the team also concluded that Ms. Lerner did not waive her Fifth Amendment privilege by making general claims of innocence. The Constitution would provide Ms. Lerner with an absolute defense if she were prosecuted for contempt.” (link)

Democrat Senator Bob Menendez was one of the more openly public critics of the Obama administration’s acquiescence toward Iran gaining a nuclear weapon.

The negotiations are at a critical point.  Growing numbers of both Democrats and Republicans are openly criticizing the Obama/Kerry weak and inept diplomatic stumbling toward an agreement that IS NOT in the national interests of the U.S. or Allies.

How do Denis McDonough, Ben Rhodes, Valerie Jarrett and Tony Blinkin remove the oxygen from the media firestorm of criticism. Why, via Eric Holder of course.

WASHINGTON DC – Sen. Bob Menendez has been charged with using his office to improperly benefit a Florida eye doctor and political donor.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the New Jersey Democrat on charges including conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud.

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Yesterday the commander of the Basij militia of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards stated “erasing Israel off the map” is “nonnegotiable.” Militia chief Mohammad Reza Naqdi also threatened Saudi Arabia, saying the offensive it is leading in Yemen “will have a fate like the fate of Saddam Hussein.”

Against the backdrop of these latest threats, and with President Obama and Secretary Kerry willing to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds:

As we have outlined (with considerable criticism) over the past year, the only substantive inquiry into the Benghazi scandal will have to be held in non-public settings. When you dig into the substance, and avoid the political aspects, everything that matters regarding the Benghazi fiasco is covered under U.S. national security protections.

There is little of value available to discuss in public hearings. If you understand the Benghazi Brief you understand why.

The CIA and the State Department were conducting a joint covert operation labeled “Zero Footprint” in Libya. That operation was expanded into Syria after Panetta left the CIA. The congressional intelligence oversight known as the Gang of Eight were fully briefed.

Hence, if House Select Committee Chair Trey Gowdy wants to discuss email use, or communication methods therein, during the tenure of Clinton and Panetta, around Operation Zero Footprint, Gowdy has to make those inquiries in private.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House select committee investigating the Benghazi attacks asked Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday to appear for a private interview about her exclusive use of a personal email account when she was secretary of state.

“The committee believes a transcribed interview would best protect Secretary Clinton’s privacy, the security of the information queried, and the public’s interest in ensuring this committee has all information needed to accomplish the task set before it,” the chairman, Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, said in a letter sent Tuesday morning. (more…)

Hillary Clinton said the construct of her secret communication network was specifically because she only wanted to carry one device – obviously she lied right out of the gate.

The Associated Press has gained a total of FOUR emails from a FOIA request regarding correspondence between Hillary Clinton and her personal aide Huma Abedin search term “drone strikes”.

The emails show the Clinton led U.S. State Department focused an inordinate amount of time and energy discussing articles written by the media. It would appear at least a substantive portion of time in/around the State Dept was spent reviewing what reporters were writing about U.S. foreign policy outcomes.

One of the emails (Sept 18th 2011 – last in the pdf below) shows Hillary answering a question about floral arrangements amid a chain email discussing Pakistan’s efforts to battle the Taliban. Ms. Abedin responds curiously. (more…)

From within a generally well constructed New York Times article the new Mid-East normal begins to surface.  The vacuum left in the wake of Obama’s policies are leading to alignments of self interest….. And as a direct consequence a nuclear arms race. 

New York Times […] Through Egypt, a major beneficiary of Saudi aid, the kingdom is backing plans for a combined Arab military force to combat Iranian influence around the region. With another major aid recipient, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia is also expected to step up its efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, potentially setting off an arms race in the region.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, left, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, center, and the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, on Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

All this comes just a few weeks after the death of King Abdullah and the passing of the throne to a new ruler, King Salaman, who then installed his 34-year-old son Mohamed in the powerful dual roles of defense minister and chief of the royal court. (more…)

It is interesting, and not incidental, to see CNNi (CNN International) lead the shift in leftist talking points about Egyptian President Fattah el-Sisi by focusing on their collectivist opinion that el-Sisi is “a hardliner”.

However, actions -what CNN would like to avoid- of Sisi speak louder than the CNN words. Sisi has shown over the past two years his willingness to insure minority protections within Egypt yet he has simultaneously taken a zero tolerance position toward Islamic extremism.

The Muslim Brotherhood, as a political construct, is the extremist bane of all mid-East moderates. The Muslim Brotherhood is essentially the larger construct within ISIS; and yet the Muslim Brotherhood is discussed on leftist news media as if they are not a terrorist entity.

Because of the frequency and scope of this specific media narrative it simply cannot be coincidental; someone is driving this false narrative.

CAIRO (AP) – Arab League member nations formally announced on Sunday an agreement to form a joint military force. While details of how such a force would actually operate remain thin, the agreement is a telling sign of a new determination among Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies to intervene aggressively in regional hotspots, whether against Islamic militants or Iran-backed groups.

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On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry announced he’d be extending his stay in Switzerland to continue talks with Iran and the foreign ministers of five other countries. The parties involved in the talks haven’t revealed many details about how close they are to a deal.

“As you know we have never been so close to a deal,” European Commission Vice President Federica Mogherini said.

[…] Add increased instability the conflict in Yemen has brought to the region and the fact that the U.S. is helping in strikes against Iranian-backed rebels there, and progress in the talks suddenly seems more important. (more)

Meanwhile – President Barack Obama kicked off the spring season on Saturday with a weekend golf getaway in Florida, teeing off with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning and former sportscaster Ahmad Rashad.

During his stay at the Floridian National Golf Club, less than 50 miles up the coast from Palm Beach, Obama planned to be out of public view, with no official events scheduled. After arriving midday Saturday, he immediately hit the links with Mourning, Rashad and Cyrus Walker, a cousin of Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, the White House said. (more…)

Brave guy. The entire leftist world will be out to assassinate him.

An aide working for the Nuclear Negotiation team has defected in Switzerland. The aide immediately tells the authorities about his direct knowledge that Secretary Kerry and the U.S. Negotiation team are actually working to assist Iran. I’ll bet you a donut this was the substance of the courier letter from Rouhani to Obama yesterday.

WH says Pres Obama has received contents of letter from Iran Pres Rouhani., but WH choosing not to disclose contents or response.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 27, 2015

(Via UK Telegraph) A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.

Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA)

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….It was only near the end of the eight year plunge that everyone finally understood what was really happening. Only near the end when they began to scream…. By then it was too late:

READ EXCELLENT ANALOGY HERE