Esper Says He ‘Didn’t See’ Specific Evidence Iranians Planned to Attack 4 Embassies

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/us/politics/esper-iran-trump-embassies.html

 President Trump had claimed that a planned attack on four American embassies was a justification for the strike on an Iranian general.

Trump's Defense Secretary Says Iran's Soleimani Was 'Probably' Planning U.S. Embassy Attacks, But He 'Didn't See' Specific Evidence

 newsweek

  World Donald Trump Iran Qassem Soleimani Republicans

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Sunday that he "didn't see" specific evidence that Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was planning attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East, but he believed "probably" that was Soleimani's plan.

Esper's remarks, during an interview with CBS News' Face the Nation, came after President Donald Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Friday that he could "reveal" that he believed "it probably would've been four embassies" that were attacked through Soleimani's planning. The defense secretary did not directly corroborate Trump's remarks, noting that he had not seen evidence confirming the president's assertion.

YouTube purges videos of Rabbi Meir Kahane

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274442

 

Internet video giant YouTube has purged thousands of videos of former Israeli Knesset Member and Jewish Defense League founder Rabbi Meir Kahane, barring an account which uploaded the videos with no explanation given for the move.

According to a report by The Jewish Press, some 2,600 videos containing footage of Rabbi Kahane or his students were removed from YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, several weeks ago in late December.

Britain’s Iran envoy denies demonstrating against regime before he was arrested

https://www.timesofisrael.com/britains-iran-envoy-denies-demonstrating-against-regime-before-he-was-arrested/

TEHRAN, Iran — After he was briefly arrested, Britain’s ambassador to Tehran on Sunday denied an Iranian claim that he had taken part in a demonstration that broke out at a memorial for the 176 people killed when a plane was shot down.

56 Percent of Americans Disapprove of President Trump's Handling of Iran, Poll Says

https://www.newsweek.com/56-percent-americans-disapprove-president-trumps-handling-over-iran-poll-says-1481703

Trump and his administration argue that Soleimani was planning "imminent" attacks on the U.S., with the president saying that regional U.S. embassies were going to be targeted. However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also said that he did not know exactly where or when the attacks would occur, which critics have argued shows that the threat was not actually "imminent." Unidentified government sources also told The New York Times that the intelligence used to justify the attack was "razor thin."

"Pompeo: The attack was imminent, but 'we didn't know when and we didn't know where.' Well, if you don't know when and if you don't know where, that is not 'imminent,'" Democratic presidential candidate Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a veteran of the Iraq War, tweeted on Sunday, criticizing the secretary of state.

Fox News analyst responds to Trump attack: 'This is the way you treat your friends?'

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/29/fox-news-judge-andrew-napolitano-trump-obstruction-mueller-report-attack-response

 “He wanted to divert attention from what Mueller had said about him,” he said, “and what I had commented about Mueller to his relationship with me, his relationship with me is not the story.”

The former New Jersey superior court judge also denied asking for a supreme court seat, saying Trump had actually asked him, unprompted, to recite his qualifications for the job.

“He said, all right, give me a spiel as to why I should put you on,” he said. “Who would turn that down? I gave him the spiel.”

 

Four hospitalized after antisemitic mob rampages through Uman

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Four-hospitalized-after-antisemitic-mob-rampages-through-Uman-613918

  An armed mob stormed through the city of Uman, Ukraine over Shabbat, attacking Jews outside the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, Yeshiva World News reported.

Saudi military trainees to be expelled from US after Florida shooting

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Saudi-military-trainees-to-be-expelled-from-US-after-Florida-shooting-613896

More than a dozen Saudi servicemen who are training at U.S. military bases will be expelled from the United States in the aftermath of a Pentagon review prompted by the deadly Dec. 6 shooting by a Saudi Air Force officer at an American naval base in Florida, CNN reported on Saturday.

The Saudi personnel being expelled are not accused of aiding the Saudi Air Force second lieutenant who killed three American sailors at the Pensacola installation, CNN reported, quoting unnamed sources.

 

1/11/20 | President Trump News Today January 11, 2020

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Trump had no legal right to order killing of Soleimani

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/judge-andrew-napolitano-lawless-political-assassination

"America ... goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy." -- President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)


The president's supporters have argued that the general's death was revenge for Americans and others killed by the general's troops and surrogates. Trump has argued, more importantly, that he ordered the general's death because of what evil the general might order his own troops and surrogates to do in the future.

Can the president legally kill a person not engaged in an act of violence because of what the person might do in the future? In a word: No.

The president has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. The Constitution provides only two means for the federal government to kill a human being. The first is pursuant to a declaration of war, which only Congress can do. That permits the president to use the military to kill the troops of the government of the country against which war has been declared. Congress has not declared war on Iran.

The second way that the Constitution permits federal government killings is pursuant to due process. That means that the person to be killed is lawfully in custody, has been properly charged, lawfully tried and fairly convicted of a capital crime, and the conviction has been upheld on appeal.

Roaming the world looking for monsters to slay not only violates long-standing principles of American domestic and international law, but also it violates basic Judeo-Christian moral principles, which teach that the end does not justify the means and might does not make right.
Think about it. If the American president can kill an Iranian government official in Iraq because of fear of what he might do -- without a declaration of war or any legal process -- can the Chinese president kill a Mexican government official visiting in Texas or an American intelligence agent encouraging revolution in Venezuela for fear of what they might do?

Pence sinks Trump with accidental admission on stage at rally

Trump Offers New Explanation For Soleimani Killing | Deadline | MSNBC