Mike Huckabee

Under cover of coronavirus, more big news is dropping that normally would be the top story. Thanks to the civil suit against Christopher Steele by the owners of Alfa Bank, we’re learning more about Steele’s role in creating and disseminating the “dossier.” And now --- better sit down --- we see that Steele met with --- I know you’ll never believe it --- lawyers for the DNC and the Clinton campaign.

That’s right, the same Christopher Steele who was meeting with the FBI and Fusion GPS and the media was also meeting with Clinton attorneys Michael Sussmann and Marc Elias of the law firm Perkins Coie. And Sussmann appears to be the source for the phony story about computer “pings” from the Alfa Bank tower providing a link between the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin. A week after he published a memo about that ludicrous story, he met with Marc Elias, who served as general counsel for the Clinton campaign.

RELATED READING: Steele "wiped" his documentation, and not with a cloth

These meetings were previously unreported. It’s all in court transcripts obtained by Chuck Ross at the DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION.

I think we know where the “Russian disinformation” really came from: Hillary’s campaign and people like Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS who were associated with her campaign. Russian disinformation my foot.

As Ross reports, to spread the Alfa Bank story, Sussman contacted James Baker, his former colleague who served as general counsel to the FBI. This was on September 19, 2016, the same day Steele provided the FBI with six memos that were part of the “dossier.” Right away, the Crossfire Hurricane team started drafting their FISA warrant against Carter Page, accusing him –- without evidence –- of being a Russian agent and a key link between Trump and the Kremlin.

Three days after this, Steele met with Elias. He also met with three journalists, one of whom was Michael Isikoff, who went on to write the story about Carter Page.

So here we have a conspiracy involving Clinton’s attorneys, including the general counsel for the Clinton campaign; the “oppo research” firm working for the Clinton campaign, whose researcher’s husband worked for the DOJ; the general counsel for the FBI; the head of the FBI; the FBI agents who surveilled the Trump campaign by faking a FISA warrant, and cooperative members of the media, all to do everything they could to make sure Hillary won and Trump lost. They all seem to have a connection to Steele. Of course, then-CIA Director John Brennan was shopping the “dossier” material around, too. Let’s see, have I left anyone out of this conspiracy?

I keep thinking I’m leaving someone out. Someone pretty big.

Mike Huckabee

STUPID QUESTION

Here is video of President Trump’s full COVID-19 (Chinese) coronavirus task force press briefing from Monday…

Trump took a couple of days’ off from his briefings because he was fed up with dealing with hostile, accusatory and downright stupid questions from the media. But I’m glad to see the media didn’t let that time go to waste. New York Magazine’s Oliva Nuzzi obviously spent it working extra hard, trying to craft a question even stupider and more accusatory than last week's "injecting Lysol" idiocy:

"If an American President loses more Americans over the course of 6 weeks than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War, does he deserve to be re-elected?"

Trump kept his cool and gave a much better answer than the question deserved. David Marcus at the Federalist examined why it was such a ridiculous question, and how Trump might have answered it or how she might have expected him to answer it.

Personally, I might have pointed out that each year, over 38,000 Americans die in car accidents, which means that over Obama’s eight-year term, over 5 times as many Americans were slaughtered on the highways as died in Vietnam, and he did nothing to prevent it. I look forward to Ms Nuzzi’s article in New York Magazine calling for Obama to be brought up on war crimes charges because over 300,000 people died violently while he was in office.

(NOTE: The original version of this piece had an incorrect number of highway deaths because our source mistakenly quoted the global death number, not the US number. We corrected it and own up to the mistake because we’re not CNN.)

DEMOCRATS: CONTINUE TO DENY REALITY

There are times when I almost feel sorry for loyal Democrats. Over the past few years, in order to keep from being slandered and hounded by Twitter mobs, they’ve had to force themselves to live in a constant state of denial. And I don’t just mean pretending not to notice how badly their cherished leftist policies failed during the Obama Administration and everywhere else they've been tried.

Starting in 2016, to remain a Democrat in good standing, you had to deny that Donald Trump was really the President (or “my President”), that his negotiating tactics really had resulted in better trade deals for the US, that the tax cut benefited people other than the “super rich,” that the economy really was creating record numbers of jobs, and that pay for lower and middle class workers really was rising. It took a pandemic to derail that booming economy.

Just since January, Democrats have had to deny that Trump was right to block travel from China and Europe, that the pandemic was caused by China’s carelessness and lies, that it’s worth studying promising treatments like hydroxychoroquine and UV light even if Trump did say good things about them, and that globalism and open borders have proven to be disastrous ideas, even more dangerous than densely-populated urban living, mass transit and reusable grocery bags.

But the denial of reality shifted into hyperdrive this week. Democrats across the nation are refusing to listen to Americans as they demand to reopen their businesses, even when some of those on the verge of open revolt are other Democratic politicians…

They accuse Republicans of being “science deniers,” yet they refuse to listen to doctors and researchers who say the data indicate that the coronavirus is far more widespread and less lethal than we originally thought, and that keeping society shut down is doing more harm than good. It’s even doing irreparable harm to the health care system (laying off doctors and shutting down hospitals) and causing deaths by preventing people from getting necessary medical care (here’s just one example…)

…all in the name of keeping hospitals free for the projected crush of COVID-19 patients that never materialized.

When two urgent care doctors in California discovered that the virus was far more widespread in their counties than previously believed, and that the real odds of dying from it were only 0.03%, they were denounced for no solid reasons and YouTube (a subsidiary of ultra-liberal Google) removed their video because it didn’t jibe with the World Health Organization – the same group that’s repeated patently bogus Chinese propaganda since the beginning.

And those aren’t the only doctors who are speaking up against the “shut down the world or we’ll all die” Democratic party line:

Some Democrats are even denying their own previous statements…

And speaking of denying your own alleged principles, whatever happened to “Believe all women?” Two more women have come forward to verify that former Joe Biden staffer Tara Reade told them of her sexual assault allegation against Biden in the 1990s, and both women are Democrats.

Speaking of denial, one of the women who spoke up for Reade said, "I personally am a Democrat, a very strong Democrat. And I'm for Biden, regardless. But still I have to come out and say this." Remember the outrage from Democrats when Trump facetiously said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his supporters wouldn’t abandon him? Well, here’s someone corroborating an allegation of sexual assault of a friend against the presumptive Democratic nominee and adding, “I’m for Biden, regardless.” And she's actually serious.

Yet the Party and its PR flacks in the media are sticking their fingers in their ears and “la-la-la’ing” all the way to the election. The Washington Post even seems to think the only newsworthy part of this story is that “Trump allies” are “amplifying” Reade’s story by paying attention to her. Well, somebody should, don’t you think?

Move over, Cleopatra! We have millions of new contenders for the title “Queen of Denial.”

FAKE NEWS TUESDAY

Fake News Tuesday: No, it was not President Trump’s idea to put his name on the coronavirus relief checks that are being mailed to Americans who don't have direct deposit. That was Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s idea. And he says that despite rumors, it did not cause any delay in sending the checks.

REAL NEWS

However, here’s some real news: Chuck Schumer is pushing a bill to try to keep Trump’s name off the checks, and that actually would delay them being delivered to Americans who desperately need them. But I’m sure those people will appreciate that it’s much more important that they not see Trump’s name on a check for the ten seconds it will take them to endorse and deposit it than it is for them to get the money quickly so they can squander it on rent and food.

TOO FAR

A judge in Illinois has ruled that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order exceeds his emergency powers and infringes on citizens’ Constitutional rights. Pritzker railed that the questioning of his authority on this is “insulting,” “dangerous” and will put people’s health at risk, and he vowed to appeal the ruling.

The irony is that the other major controversy Pritzker is facing is anger over his releasing prison inmates who might be at risk of contracting the coronavirus. So if you’re a convicted criminal, you have to be released to keep you healthy. But if you’re a law-abiding citizen, you have to be locked up to keep you healthy. Understand? If so, please explain it to me.

FYI: Gov. Pritzker probably won’t want to appeal his case to Attorney General Bill Barr, who just told federal prosecutors to report any excessively restrictive shutdown orders that violate Americans' civil rights…

SUPPLY CHAIN WOES

I don’t want to give you even more to worry about, but here’s another reason to end the lockdown and let Americans get back to work: because we’d all like to be able to eat in the future.

GONE

Latest on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un: It’s still unclear whether he’s dead or just locked down due to the coronavirus, like everybody else.

RIP TROY SNEED

I am saddened to report that the coronavirus has taken another talented musician from us. Grammy-nominated gospel singer Troy Sneed died Monday in Jacksonville, Florida, of complications from the virus. He was only 52.

Sneed started his career with the Georgia Mass Choir, which appeared in the film “The Preacher’s Wife” with Whitney Houston. He then formed Youth For Christ before launching a gospel record label with his wife Emily and releasing seven solo albums. His hits include “Work It Out” and “My Heart Says Yes.” Our deepest condolences and prayers for his wife and family. Here are some samples of the inspiring musical legacy he left us.

C-H-I-N-A

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was asked about attempts to hold China accountable for causing the worldwide deadly coronavirus pandemic, and he brushed that off as “a distraction.” He’s right: holding China to account might distract from all the medical care, quarantines and funerals we have to arrange all over the world BECAUSE OF CHINA!

THANKS AGAIN COLIN K.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the football league plans to reopen in a “safe and responsible” manner, but he declined to say whether that means playing games with no fans in the stands. If so, then I guess they owe Colin Kaepernick thanks for getting people used to empty stadiums before we even knew there was going to be a virus to avoid.

HUCK'S HERO

A big Huck’s Hero salute to New Jersey newspaper deliveryman Greg Daily. When an elderly customer asked if he could throw the paper closer to the garage, it made him think that if she couldn’t walk that 20 feet, how could she go out for groceries during the lockdown?

So he put a note inside every newspaper, offering his services to shop for and deliver groceries free of charge to his elderly customers. He’s now busy helping nearly 100 people, some of them not even on his paper route. One grateful 85-year-old widow called him “one of the finest people in the world.” Daily said the seniors appreciate the help so much, he’s decided to keep doing it even after the lockdown ends. He said, “There’s something about being able to do something really nice for people.”

There sure is! Our thanks to Greg Daily for reminding us all that “social distancing” doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to the people around you who really need your help.

And on that subject, here’s another story that could have gone a very different way, if it weren’t for the kindness and compassion of a grocery store owner in Ontario.

Mike Huckabee

I am saddened to report that the coronavirus has taken another talented musician from us. Grammy-nominated gospel singer Troy Sneed died Monday in Jacksonville, Florida, of complications from the virus. He was only 52.

Sneed started his career with the Georgia Mass Choir, which appeared in the film “The Preacher’s Wife” with Whitney Houston. He then formed Youth For Christ before launching a gospel record label with his wife Emily and releasing seven solo albums. His hits include “Work It Out” and “My Heart Says Yes.” Our deepest condolences and prayers for his wife and family. Here are some samples of the inspiring musical legacy he left us here and here.

Mike Huckabee

Several states are gearing up to start letting businesses gradually reopen, and not a moment too soon. All around the nation, Americans are signaling that they have had enough, and while some political leaders want to continue the lockdown indefinitely, citizens are assessing the relative dangers of the disease compared to losing their businesses, jobs, salaries and homes, and judging the latter as worse than the former.

For instance, in Dallas, Texas, the owner of a hair salon defied the shutdown last week and reopened, while observing strict hygiene standards. She said if she'd waited any longer, she would have to fire her employees and declare bankruptcy. She's been ordered to “cease and desist,” but she’d had enough of ceasing and desisting, and she has plenty of support.

Meanwhile, the Dallas suburb of Colleyville declared that business owners couldn’t wait any longer and some could start reopening in defiance of state and county leaders.

And this is in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has been one of the most lenient, pro-business leaders. In states such as Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been channeling Mad King George and imposing inexplicable, rights-crushing edicts, many people are on the verge of rebellion.

I sympathize with the protesters, but if I may offer one bit of advice: Please remember that while the threat of the virus may turn out to have been wildly overstated, we still don’t know its full effects (stories are circulating of possible links to blood clotting and strokes in younger victims, among other unknowns.) And while far more people than we initially knew were apparently exposed to it and suffered little or no ill effects, for those who are vulnerable, it can be a terrible, even fatal disease (nearly 55,000 deaths in the US so far.)

If you are going to protest to reopen the government, please do so responsibly. Wear face masks, keep up social distancing, and don’t shake hands with strangers (I’ve seen video of protesters violating all these common sense rules.)

Even if you don’t believe the coronavirus is as bad as advertised, why take unnecessary chances? If not for your own safety and that of your family and community, you should follow the health guidelines at protests to prove that you are responsible citizens who can be trusted to go back to work without spreading the disease. Consider this: If you don’t, you’re giving PR ammunition to the people who want to keep America locked down forever.