How Trump's Obsession With a Conspiracy Theory Led to the Impeachment Crisis

https://time.com/5691641/trump-conspiracy-fears/

The warning signs were there. In a tweet or offhand remark, President Donald Trump would touch on what he said Ukraine had done to him during the 2016 election. Top Administration officials got an earful. Foreign leaders were treated to the stories. Occasionally his rants would unspool on live TV. “And Ukraine!” Trump shouted down the line to a Fox News host on June 19, the night after he formally announced his re-election bid. “Take a look at Ukraine!” he went on, as the host tried to move to other subjects.

Few people, even those closest to him in the White House, grasped exactly what the President of the United States seemed to believe: that Ukraine, a nation consumed over the past five years by a crippling armed conflict with Russia, had found a way to conspire against him during the 2016 election, and to collude with his rival, Hillary Clinton, by hiding the Democratic National Committee’s email server and feeding her allies dirt about Trump. It was an idea Tom Bossert, his first homeland-security adviser, described as a “completely debunked” conspiracy theory. Few saw in his Ukraine outbursts anything more than the effusions of a cable-news showman.

It took a complaint from an intelligence-community whistle-blower, released late last month, to reveal the weight of Trump’s Ukraine conspiracy theory and just how far the President has gone to support the notion that a vast network of enemies inside and outside his own government has been working against him. Trump has tried to mobilize the vast resources of his presidency–from Attorney General William Barr and the U.S. Justice Department to America’s national-security apparatus–and a team of investigative irregulars, led by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. This band of conspiracy cops has traveled the globe in a disorderly hunt for proof of the conspiracy Trump says is arrayed against him.

Intelligence Inspector General to GOP: - refutes Trump supporters' nonsense

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/whistleblower-inspector-general-trump-ukraine-impeachment-conspiracy.html

Last Thursday, Sean Davis of the conservative news site The Federalist broke an explosive revelation. The Intelligence Community had secretly changed a requirement in its whistle-blower statute to allow whistle-blowers to report secondhand allegations, whereas firsthand knowledge had been required before. This suspicious rule change allegedly allowed the whistle-blower to accuse President Trump of misconduct despite lacking firsthand knowledge of said conduct. The shocking exposure of yet another Deep State plot quickly became the foundation for Trump’s defenders as they fanned out across the media.

“The hearsay rule was changed just a short period of time before the complaint was filed,” claimed Senator Lindsey Graham. The whistle-blower “has no firsthand knowledge,” charged Congressman Jim Jordan on CNN, and when host Jake Tapper noted that firsthand knowledge is not required to file a complaint, Jordan shot back that this was only “because they changed the form. You used to.” Meanwhile, Trump demanded, in all caps, “WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT?”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed, “Just days before the Ukraine whistleblower came forward, the IC secretly removed that requirement from the complaint form,” and promised that Republicans would “not rest until we have answers.”

They had answers. They just didn’t like them. Actual experts in intelligence law immediately pointed out that Davis’s reporting was false and was based on a simple misreading of a change in the wording of a form.

Then yesterday, the Intelligence Community’s inspector general, Trump appointee Michael Atkinson, posted a short statement online correcting Davis. Using heavily bureaucratized language and the patient and polite tone city officials use to assure the local gadfly that the water department is not sending alien nodes through his plumbing, the I.G. made a few basic points. First, the rules governing whistle-blowers have not changed. At all.

The latest on Trump's impeachment inquiry

Justice Department's inspector general: "Whistleblowers need to be able to report what they see"

Grassley, a top Republican from Iowa, broke with Trump yesterday when he said that the whistleblower who raised concerns about Trump’s dealings with the Ukrainian government “ought to be heard out and protected.”

The latest: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted today that he was on the July 25 phone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian leader.

Alleged serial pedophile Malka Leifer ordered released to house arrest

https://www.timesofisrael.com/alleged-serial-pedophile-malka-leifer-ordered-released-to-house-arrest/

A court on Wednesday ordered that an Israeli woman wanted in Australia for alleged serial crimes of pedophilia be released to house arrest.

The ruling by Jerusalem District Court Judge Ram Vinograd came a week after a judge at the same court cast doubt on the evidence against Malka Leifer and ordered the convening of a psychiatric panel to determine whether she is feigning mental illness to avoid extradition.

At the request of prosecutors, Vinograd agreed to put off Leifer’s release to her sister’s home in Bnei Brak until Friday.

Leifer, 52, faces 74 counts of child sex abuse from her time as the principal of the Adass Israel girls’ school in Melbourne. Australia filed for extradition in 2014, but the process has stalled several times, with a district psychiatrist changing his legal opinions regarding Leifer’s mental fitness, allegedly due to pressure from Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.

Kol V’oz, an organization that combats child abuse in Jewish communities around the globe, condemned the ruling as “an absolute travesty” and said it brought “shame” on Israel.

“Malka Leifer will now be released to the care of her sister at an address within around 500 meters of two schools and six synagogues,” it said in a statement.

“If Leifer is genuinely unwell, she should be held in a medical facility or jail where she can be appropriately cared for until her extradition to Australia is approved.”

Dassi Erlich, one of Leifer’s accusers, said she was left “reeling” by the ruling, which she described as a “massive betrayal of justice.”

Leifer was recruited from Israel to work at the Adass Israel ultra-Orthodox girls school in Melbourne In 2000. When allegations of sexual abuse against her surfaced eight years later, members of the school board purchased the mother of eight a plane ticket back to Israel, allowing her to avoid being charged.

After authorities in Melbourne filed charges against her, Australia officially filed an extradition request in 2012. Two years later, Leifer was arrested in Israel but released to house arrest shortly thereafter.

Judges deemed her mentally unfit to stand trial and eventually removed all restrictions against her, concluding that she was too ill to even leave her bed.

She was rearrested in February 2018 following a police undercover operation that cast doubts on her claims regarding her mental state, and has remained in custody since. The operation was launched after the Jewish Community Watch organization hired private investigators who placed hidden cameras in Emmanuel, a Haredi settlement in the northern West Bank where Leifer had been living, that showed the alleged sex abuser roaming around the town without any apparent difficulty.

Three Jerusalem district psychiatrists determined in legal opinions submitted to the court that Leifer has been feigning mental illness, but the chief district psychiatrist, Dr. Jacob Charnes, has changed his determination three times and most recently recommended that a new psychiatric panel be convened to make an updated determination.

Column: Trump’s Ukraine scandal may have just thrown Joe Biden a lifeline

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-10-01/donald-trump-impeachment-ukraine-scandal-biden

One of the defining dynamics of politics today is negative partisanship. As Emory University’s Alan Abramowitz and Steven Webster wrote in 2017, “Negative partisanship explains nearly everything in American politics today.” The idea is simple: Republicans vote less for Republicans than they do against Democrats — and vice versa. Hillary Clinton lost because more people in several key states voted against her than voted against Trump.

Hence the possibility that an attempt to destroy Biden could one day be remembered as his lifeline.

TRUMP'S 'CIVIL WAR' QUOTE TWEET IS ACTUALLY GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT, SAYS HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-civil-war-tweet-grounds-impeachment-1462044

IMPEACHMEN

President Donald Trump's recent tweet quoting a longtime evangelical pastor who warned of a "Civil War" if Democrats seriously pursue removing him from office could actually be grounds for impeachment, one Harvard Law professor said.

"If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal," Trump tweeted on Sunday night.

The tweet was a quote from Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor who gave the comment during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend. Trump added his own parenthetical aside to Jeffress' quote, in which the president asserted that Congress won't be successful in their impeachment efforts.

The president's tweet was immediately met with backlash, and Harvard Law professor John Coates argued that the social media post itself is an "independent basis" for lawmakers to remove him from the White House.

"This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment - a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power," Coates wrote on Twitter on

HISTORIAN WARNS TODAY'S AMERICA LOOKS 'EERILY SIMILAR' TO PERIOD BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, COMPARES MOVEMENT CONSERVATIVES TO SLAVEHOLDER ELITE

https://www.newsweek.com/historian-trump-civil-war-impeachment-movement-conservatives-slaveholders-1462240

Trump, facing impeachment by the House over the Ukraine-Biden affair, tweeted comments made on Fox News by the evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress that the president's removal "will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal."

Heather Cox Richardson, a history professor at Boston College who is an expert in 19th century America, laid out on Twitter what she described as the "eerily similar" parallels after Trump's controversial civil war tweets.

"The parallels between the consolidation of elite slaveowners' power from 1830-1860 and the rise of Movement Conservatives from 1954-2019 are eerily similar," Richardson said, remarking that they both took power by "denigrating black Americans."

"Their racial dogwhistles won voters and they began to pass laws that moved wealth upward. The more those laws hurt regular people, the more they doubled down on racism against all POC, and then turned on 'Feminazis,' all of whom they said threatened white men's liberty.

"As they got richer and lost popular support, they came to believe they were the nation's natural leaders who should rule even as people turned against their policies. They stayed in power by gaming the system: gerrymandering, voter suppression, and a compliant SCOTUS.

"But that is now crumbling. When Trump threatens civil war, he is not just talking about saving his own hide; he is calling for his supporters to rally around race and gender so they protect the oligarchy that has been gathering power for a generation or more."

How Donald Trump Triggered an Unprecedented Impeachment Fight

https://time.com/5686822/trump-biden-ukraine-call-favor/

The accusation Trump faces is grave. The President allegedly pressured Zelensky to reopen investigations into previously dismissed and widely debunked accusations involving Joe Biden, the former Vice President. Before making the call, Trump took extraordinary steps to withhold aid approved for Ukraine by majorities of both parties in Congress. These and other actions by Trump so alarmed an intelligence-community official detailed to the White House that the official filed a whistle-blower complaint. By law, the complaint would be forwarded to Congress. The Administration blocked it.

The implications go beyond the fate of a presidency to the heart of our democracy. Trump stands accused of using America’s vast wealth and the presidency’s unmatched sway to hold onto power for himself. In this era of hyperpartisan politics, the impeachment process will test the mechanisms of accountability built into our system of government by the Founders, who anticipated many things–but could not have envisioned Trump.

The President, for his part, responded to the House’s action with characteristic fury, denying wrongdoing and accusing his critics of “presidential harassment.” Trump was in New York City for the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly when the dam broke. Speaking to reporters on his way to a meeting with the President of Iraq, he said, “Listen, it’s just a continuation of the witch hunt.” In shifting statements as the Ukraine story unfolded, Trump has offered different rationales for the withheld aid but insisted there was no quid pro quo. His allies have sought to reframe the scandal as a “deep state” plot by hysterical Trump antagonists, and to deflect attention from the allegations of corruption by the Bidens, which numerous independent observers have determined to be unfounded, the Ukrainian government has denied and Biden decries as a smear.

The Whistleblower's Complaint on Trump and Ukraine Has Been Released. These Sections Will Receive the Most Scrutiny

https://time.com/5687055/whistleblower-complaint-allegations/

The whistleblower complaint detailing concerns over President Donald Trump’s July phone call with the Ukrainian president alleges that the President “is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

In addition to the July phone call, the complaint, which was released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning, details an alleged effort by White House officials to keep records of the call secret and efforts to follow up with Ukrainian officials about the call. The whistleblower described the President’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as a “central figure” in the effort to pressure Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election, and that Attorney General William Barr “appears to be involved.” (Giuliani has defended his work and denied wrongdoing while the Department of Justice has denied that Barr has communicated with Ukraine).

Drain the swamp? Trump has named more lobbyists to Cabinet than Bush or Obama did in 8 years

https://www.salon.com/2019/09/19/drain-the-swamp-trump-has-named-more-lobbyists-to-cabinet-than-bush-or-obama-did-in-8-years/

President Trump has named more former lobbyists to Cabinet positions in his first three years in office than Barack Obama or George W. Bush did over eight years, The Associated Press reports.

“Trump’s actions upon taking office also demonstrate — despite the tough campaign rhetoric attacking Washington, D.C.’s ‘revolving door’ — not only an unwillingness to take on special interests, but a continued expansion of the influence of lobbyists on his administration,” the group said in a statement. “Trump has abjectly failed to ‘drain the swamp.’ To the contrary, he has repeatedly turned to industry insiders and lobbyists to advise him.”

Republicans are hanging their defense of Donald Trump on the thinnest of threads

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/26/politics/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-ukraine/index.html

Know who got this all exactly right? Lindsey Graham. In 1999 -- when he said this: "A president doesn't even have to be convicted of a crime to be impeached. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office."

“IT’S MANAGEMENT BEDLAM”: MADNESS AT FOX NEWS AS TRUMP FACES IMPEACHMENT

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/madness-at-fox-news-as-trump-faces-impeachment-lachlan-murdoch

In public, Donald Trump’s allies are putting on a brave face, repeating talking points, mostly staying on message. But in private, there are few who believe that the allegations leveled by an intelligence agency whistle-blower that Trump abused American foreign policy to leverage Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden won’t result in considerable damage—if not the complete unraveling of his presidency. “I don’t see how they don’t impeach,” a former West Wing official told me today. “This could unwind very fast, and I mean in days,” a prominent Republican said.

RABBI REFUSES TO WED LIBERMAN'S SON: ENEMY OF THE HAREDI COMMUNITY

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Rabbi-refuses-to-wed-Libermans-son-Enemy-of-the-Haredi-community-602786

Rabbi Baruch Dov Diskin refused to wed Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman's son Amos, because he didn't want to meet Liberman at the event, according to Mako.

Liberman has said multiple times that he refuses to sit with Haredim in the government and supports a draft law that would require Haredim to draft into the IDF. His son is Haredi and learnt with Diskin and became very close with him in recent years. Nevertheless, the rabbi refused to officiate the wedding since Liberman would be present at the event.

Rabbi: I never refused to officiate Liberman's son's wedding

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269497

Bnei Brak rabbi writes to Amos Liberman, expressing sorrow on the pain caused to him by 'fake news.' 'I don't even officiate at weddings.'

Joe: Attorney General Barr Took This To A New Level | Morning Joe | MSNBC

An alleged cover-up, a secret server and more bombshells in Trump whistleblower complaint

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/biggest-bombshells-in-trump-whistleblower-complaint-cover-up.html

Here are the biggest bombshell claims in the complaint:

• Trump used the power of the presidency to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to interfere in the 2020 election by launching an investigation of Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of a Ukraine company.

• Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was a “central figure” in that effort, who reached out to and met with key Zelensky advisers.
• Officials told the whistleblower that Ukrainian leaders were led to believe that a meeting or call between Zelensky and Trump would depend on whether Ukraine’s president “showed willingness to ‘play ball’ on the issues” that Giuliani was raising.

• Attorney General William Barr appeared to be involved in the effort to get Ukraine to cooperate with Trump’s desire for a probe of Biden.
• White House officials were “deeply disturbed” by a July 25 phone call Trump had with Zelensky. There were discussions “with White House lawyers because of the likelihood,” in the minds of officials, “that they had witnessed the President abuse his office for personal gain.”

• Senior White House officials intervened to “lock down” records of the call with Zelensky, which “underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call.”

• White House lawyers directed White House officials to remove the electronic transcript of the Zelensky call from the computer system where such transcripts normally are stored. That transcript then was loaded into a “separate electronic system” that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature. “One White House official described this act as an abuse of this electronic system because the call did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective.”

Trump's Top Intelligence Official Defends Handling of 'Unprecedented' Whistleblower Complaint

https://time.com/5686687/joseph-maguire-house-intelligence-testimony/

That whistleblower’s complaint, which was declassified overnight, became public just minutes before Maguire’s testimony.

“I have received information…that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the whistleblower, whose identity is being protected, wrote in the report. He alleged that not only did Trump improperly ask Zelensky to investigate his political rival, but White House officials were engaged in a cover-up in which they removed the transcript of the call into a more secure system only meant for sensitive classified information.

The whistleblower said White House officials “told me that they were ‘directed’ by White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system” in which they are usually stored, and put into a different system for highly classified information. The whistleblower said an official called it “an abuse of this electronic system because the call did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective.”

New Haven Rabbi Found Guilty In Abuse Case

https://www.wnpr.org/post/new-haven-rabbi-found-guilty-abuse-case

Prominent New Haven Rabbi Daniel Greer was found guilty Wednesday in the criminal trial that had centered around sexual abuse of a former student.

After a week of testimony the jury found 79-year-old Daniel Greer guilty on four counts of risk of injury to a minor.

According to prosecutors, Greer could potentially now face a maximum sentence of 80 years. He will be sentenced November 20th.

After the verdict was read, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Maxine Wilensky asked for an increase in bond. Judge Alander, noting that the situation was now dramatically different, increased bond from $100,00 to $750,000.

Dow told reporters outside the courtroom they were disappointed in the verdict.

"We wish the jury had seen things our way," he said. "We felt we put on a compelling case. The credibility of the complainant, we felt, was extremely questionable and a shaky foundation upon which to return a guilty verdict."

Dow said they'll review the trial notes and file an appeal.

Judge Andrew Napolitano: In Ukraine call, Trump apparently personally and directly committed a crime

President Donald Trump Shifts Explanation For Withholding Ukraine Aid | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Trump-Ukraine Call Log Clearly Demonstrates Quid Pro Quo Demand

Santorum's portrayal of Ukraine transcript stuns Cooper

New: Site offers free access to ancient Jewish texts

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269430

The British Library, the largest national library in the world by number of items cataloged, has for the first time ever put some of its rarest and most ancient religious texts online for the general public to be able to access them from around the world.

The unparalleled online collection titled ‘Discovering Sacred Texts’ includes some which subsequently became the authoritative texts for Jews around the world. They include one of the only copies of the Talmud that somehow escaped the public burnings suffered by most of the other Jewish law books during the Middle Ages and was left unmutilated or uncensored, the first complete printed text of the Mishnah, and the Gaster Bible, one of the earliest surviving Hebrew biblical codices, thought to have been created in Egypt around the 10th century CE.

Some of these over 250 texts, many available to the public for the first time, include Johann Gutenberg’s Bible, probably the most famous Bible in the world and the earliest full-scale work printed in Europe using movable type, the earliest surviving copy of the complete New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus, which dates from the 4th century, and the Ma'il Qur'an, one of the very earliest Qur'ans in the world, dating back to the 8th century.

Discovering Sacred Texts provides access to the richness and diversity of the texts from the world’s great faiths. Designed for Religious Education students, teachers, lifelong learners, and the general public, it features nine faiths: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, the Baha’i Faith and Zoroastrianism.

The project has been generously supported by Dangoor Education since its inception and by Allchurches Trust, alongside other funders.

Ethiopian Orthodox Girl Sentenced to Languish in IDF Prison Over Rosh HaShana for Her Faith - for Refusing to Enlist

BS"D

25 Ellul 5779 / Sept. 25 '19

By Binyomin Feinberg, Contributor to The Jewish Press*

feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com

*  The perspectives and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the ownership or management of The Jewish Press.

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

For Giyus Banos updates throughout the week, visit:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dPo1_Y-0u6ry7tLcfF2RbQuEFrIG-BccszjeG9FAdSw/edit?usp=sharing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As reported, an indisputably religious 19 y/o girl, Ziva bas Mazal M., was sentenced last Thursday to an outrageous THIRTY ONE DAYS IN MILITARY PRISON - for her steadfast refusal to violate Torah Law - and her personal modesty - by enlisting in the IDF.  Ziva M. hails from an Orthodox religious Ethiopian family.  

Apparently, another Ethiopian girl, S. bas Adna,  is similarly imprisoned for her steadfast refusal to enlist in the notoriously promiscuous IDF. However, few details are known heretofore, apparently because certain elements are impeding the requisite flow of information needed to assist her. She is reportedly scheduled for an interview with Avner Lotati, deputy commander of "Maitav" (the IDF draft division) tommorow. Given the track record Mr. Lotati has in denying girls IDF exemptions, this girl is in grave danger. This is what occurs when the appropriate Rabbinical authorities and associated activists are not allowed access to basic information about imprisoned girls.

~~~~

Again, even according to Israeli law, religious girls are to be exempted from military service. With regards to the girl that we do know about, Ziva, there is no question about her religiosity. Additionally, her brothers learn in Hesder Yeshivos, and her parents are similarly religious.

Again, IDF enlistment is forbidden by all Torah authorities, across the spectrum. Thus, Ziva is being persecuted for her dedication to follow the Torah.  

Zivah was arrested because she was - allegedly - late in submitting her religious certification. In dealing with her predicament, she encountered complications with draft authorities earlier this year. It needs to be widely understood that since that enlisting in the military is something a girl is obligated to sacrifice her very life to avoid, the requirement on her to enlist in the military merely for being late in submitting documentation of religiosity is not only draconian, but, in effect, constitutes an anti-religious policy.

Unfortunately, she was not put in contact with the proper advocates, probably because of the natural cultural disconnect between many Orthodox Jews of Ethiopian extraction and the other sectors of the Orthodox community. Consequently, she had to resort to a court appointed attorney, and was hit with this harsh prison sentence. Although, belatedly, demonstrations were held for her, her information didn't get out in time.

The Orthodox community has an obligation to stand up for the disadvantaged, including Ethiopian girls totally unfamiliar with how to deal with secularist Draft Office procedures - and their attempts to advance the antireligious agenda articulated in Feb. 2019 by Col. Keren Levy (now heading the Jerusalem Draft Office) : 

"I will profane (or, more accurately, "violate") The Vineyard, and I will start with your daughter," as reported by Professor Ruth Ester Leemor Hauseband, in regards to her daughter Avigail Leah. (See The Jewish Press, in the Dispatch column of three weeks ago, regarding her daughter's plight.)

Another aspect of this case is the biased reaction of Avner Lotati, deputy commander of Maitav, whom Ziva was advised (improperly) to meet for an interview to determine if he would be able to deny her the religious exemption to which she would normally be entitled. The report of that meeting mentions that her brothers served in fighting units of the IDF, and reportedly that was a reason for denial of her religious exemption. If service of a sibling is so contrary to being religious that it disqualified Ziva, the entire campaign to draft religious boys into the IDF is now called into question... by the IDF itself. Just what is going on here?  The IDF is robbing a religious girl of her rights because she's an easy target. Is it easier to persecute Ethiopian girls due to their natural cultural isolation?  Is this the proverbial antireligious/secularist "Israeli WASP" racism against Jews of color, historically Sefardic Jews, Yemenites, and now Ethiopians? Is it now open season on Ethiopian Jewish girls?

Multiple demonstrations have been held, but much more needs to be done to free her before Rosh Hashanah. Her incarceration on the Day of Judgement would be an unimaginable Heavenly Accusation against those who failed to move Heaven and Earth to ensure no girl suffers IDF military persecution for her faithfulness to Torah.

Please stay tuned for updates. 

RIVLIN GIVES NETANYAHU MANDATE TO FORM GOVERNMENT

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Rivlin-meeting-with-Netanyahu-Gantz-602868

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has another chance to form a government after failing to do so following the April election.

President Reuven Rivlin formally gave Netanyahu four weeks to form the government after a meeting at the President's Residence with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz failed to bring about a breakthrough.

Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, transcript shows

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript/index.html

President Donald Trump repeatedly pushed for Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky to investigate a potential 2020 political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter, during a July 25 phone call, according to a transcript of the conversation released by the White House.

Trump also asked the Ukrainian leader to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and US Attorney General William Barr on the issue, the call transcript reveals.

"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it ... It sounds horrible to me," Trump says, according to the document.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters Wednesday that the President's message to the Ukrainian President was clear, despite some debate over whether there was quid pro quo.

"There is no quid pro quo necessary to betray your country or your oath of office. Even though many read this as a quid pro quo. I'm not concerned whether it is a quid pro quo or not. Ukraine understood what this President wanted," the California Democrat said.

Napolitano: Trump's admitted contact with Ukraine is a crime

‘Shut up, moron. Shut up. Shut up’: Trump lawyer Giuliani abuses fellow TV guest live on air as impeachment rocks White House

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-impeachment-news-latest-ukraine-rudy-giuliani-fox-news-chris-hahn-a9119401.html

Rudy Giuliani hurled abuse at a fellow Fox News guest, calling him a “serial liar” and a “moron” as the president’s opponents pledged to seek Donald Trump’s removal from office.

With the threat of impeachment hanging in the air, Mr Giuliani’s outburst on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle came as he looked to defend Donald Trump and himself from allegations the president had offered to trade aid for political favours with the government of Ukraine.

The lawyer lambasted fellow guest Chris Hahn, a former aide to senior Democrat Chuck Schumer, saying he should “sue him for libel” after the liberal commentator implied Giuliani was asked by the US State Department “to dig up political dirt on Trump’s opponent”.

In Extraordinary Step, Pelosi Announces Democrats Will Open Formal Impeachment Inquiry

https://time.com/5685104/pelosi-impeachment-inquiry-trump-ukraine/

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that House Democrats would launch an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, an extraordinary step that came in the wake of a whistleblower complaint that Trump sought to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival for personal gain.

“The President must be held accountable,” Pelosi said in a televised statement outside her office on Capitol Hill, against a pointed backdrop of six American flags. “No one is above the law.”

After months of wavering, House Democrats have inched closer and closer in recent days to beginning a full-fledged impeachment process. On Tuesday the floodgates finally opened. A rapidly growing number of lawmakers who previously had reservations about impeachment came forward in support of launching proceedings.

Trump changes story on withholding Ukraine aid

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/24/donald-trump-ukraine-military-aid-1509070

President Donald Trump on Tuesday shifted his explanation for temporarily withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, citing what he criticized as a lack of similar financial contribution by other Western powers to the Eastern European nation.

Trump’s latest remarks are at odds with his assertion Monday that he denied the assistance because he feared bureaucratic corruption within Ukraine’s government. The new claim also comes after weekend reports that he repeatedly pressured newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a July phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son.

“As far as withholding funds, those funds were paid. They were fully paid,” Trump told reporters Tuesday, ahead of his address to the United Nations General Assembly.

“But my complaint has always been, and I'd withhold again, and I'll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine,” he continued. “Because they're not doing it. Just the United States. We're putting up the bulk of the money. And I'm asking, why is that?”

Trump Ukraine call: What's this story all about?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49800181

There's a new political controversy in the US - involving Donald Trump, foreign nationals, questions about legal and ethical behaviour, and allegations against a political rival.

This feels a bit like déjà vu from 2016, with Russia, then-candidate Trump and Hillary Clinton, but it's a new country (Ukraine) and a new cast of characters (Joe Biden and his son Hunter).

Mr Trump is still right smack in the middle, of course.

The story can be difficult to follow, so here are some answers to the most pressing questions.

Leah Litman Trump's Ukraine call mentioning Biden is the strongest reason yet for impeachment

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-ukraine-call-mentioning-biden-strongest-reason-yet-impeachment-ncna1057921

Even if Trump did not explicitly dangle a quid pro quo over Ukraine to get the country to launch an investigation into Biden’s son, the fact that Trump as president has control over foreign aid and military assistance to Ukraine distinguishes this scenario from his request to Russia. Candidate Trump didn’t hold the keys to Russia’s security in his hands; President Trump does with respect to Ukraine. And his request that a foreign government investigate a political opponent under those circumstances is troubling. (Ukraine reportedly stopped cooperating with the Mueller investigation because it was concerned about losing U.S. military support.)

FOX BUSINESS NETWORK'S LOU DOBBS BLASTS TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER BRAD PARSCALE'S 'DYNASTY' BRAGGING

https://www.newsweek.com/fox-business-networks-lou-dobbs-blasts-trump-campaign-manager-brad-parscales-dynasty-bragging-1458296

Fox Business Network host and frequent defender of Donald Trump, Lou Dobbs, ridiculed the president's 2020 campaign chief for bragging about the establishment of a Trump "dynasty."

"The great Lou Dobbs," as Trump once referred to the cable news host at a Missouri campaign rally, lashed out at Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale Sunday for making the bizarre claim the Trump family is setting themselves up to run the country "for decades to come!" The former digital media director for the successful 2016 Trump campaign was quoted telling the Associated Press over the weekend he believes Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are preparing to take over the U.S. government for decades.

Parscale, who has a long history of public self-aggrandizing and Trump touting, told a convention of Republican Party delegates meeting in Indian Wells, California, that he and the Trumps are helping to transform politics far into the country's future.

"The Trumps will be a dynasty that will last for decades, propelling the Republican Party into a new party," he said. "One that will adapt to changing cultures. One must continue to adapt while keeping the conservative values that we believe in."

According to the AP, Parscale later declined to clarify his comments to reporters before adding, "I just think they are a dynasty. I think they are all amazing people with ... amazing capabilities." But Parscale seemed to enjoy his grandiose commentary, tweeting out the Fox News version of the story with a #TrumpDynasty hashtag.

Dobbs reacted by blasting the Trump digital campaign manager: "This may be one of the dumbest things a campaign manager for a populist candidate ever said: Trump family building 'dynasty' for decades to come #MAGA #AmericaFirst #Dobbs."

Trump instructed administration to withhold military aid for Ukraine days before call with president: report

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/462715-trump-instructed-admin-to-withhold-military-aid-for-ukraine-days

President Trump instructed acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to place a hold on nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine shortly before a phone call in which he allegedly tried to persuade the nation’s president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Trump Ordered an Aid Freeze Days Before Speaking to Ukraine's Leader

https://time.com/5684661/trump-aid-ukraine-biden-impeachment/

President Donald Trump ordered his staff to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before a phone call in which he pressured the Eastern European nation’s leader to investigate the family of political rival Joe Biden, a new revelation that comes as more Democrats move toward impeachment proceedings.

Trump’s order was first reported by The Washington Post and was confirmed to The Associated Press by two people familiar with but not authorized to discuss private conversations. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

Unblock whistleblower's complaint on President Donald Trump's call to Ukraine over Biden

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/22/trump-call-ukraine-biden-unblock-whistleblower-complaint-editorials-debates/2410464001/

The intelligence community's inspector general, Trump appointee Michael Atkinson,  was so troubled by the report that he deemed it of "urgent concern." 

The law requires that an urgent-concern whistleblower complaint "shall" be turned over to Congress. But the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, blocked this. His legal response, supplied by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, is that the alleged target of the complaint — presumably Trump himself — is not a member of the intelligence community, so the urgent-concern requirements for the whistleblower law are not applicable.

That justification is painfully reminiscent of the legal gymnastics Mueller employed when he concluded that he was barred from saying whether Trump broke the law by obstructing justice in the Russian influence investigation, but that he also couldn't "exonerate" him.

A system of checks and balances guaranteed by the Constitution should inform the American people when their president violates the law or commits an impeachable offense. That system is being stretched to the breaking point.

Now it's up to members of Congress — not just Democrats but also Republicans who claim to believe in the rule of law — to get to the bottom of this latest tawdry tale by holding hearings, obtaining transcripts, and finding a way to gain access to the whistleblower complaint or that person's testimony. 

Aguna, Get Meusa, Mamzer and Moredet Explained - Meir Kin

Link to my previous video https://youtu.be/_2zklZqhnmE 1. Three documents from Israeli rabbis condemning the practices of the rabbanut as well as other bais dins around the world: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Zkp... and https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Fzh... and https://drive.google.com/file/d/11TBp... 2. Boyfriend Rachmiel Strausberg video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkLsR... 3. Hachadoshot Haboker interview: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=353... 4. Murder-for-hire in divorce cases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiryas_... and https://www.gq.com/story/epstein-orth... and https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crim... https://www.thedailybeast.com/who-ord... 5. Mamzer reporting site: http://mamzeralert.blogspot.com/

Child-abusing daycare operator released from jail

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269250

A daycare center operator from central Israel was released to house arrest Sunday, drawing protests from neighbors, as well as the families of the alleged victims.

Carmel Mauda, 25, was released to house arrest Sunday, following a Supreme Court ruling last week enabling her to remain out of prison during her trial.

Last Thursday, the court ruled that because of the very specific nature of the kind of abuse Mauda carried out, she may be permitted to stay in house arrest until the end of her trial.

“Given that the dangers posed by Mauda are limited to the very specific circumstances of children under her care, it is decided that she may be released to house arrest, with limiting conditions,” wrote Justice Yitzhak Amit.

Mauda was originally slated to be released Thursday to house arrest at a home in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Following protests led by parents of the alleged victims, however, the family which was to have hosted Mauda backed out at the last minute.

Whistleblower: Trump 'Urged' Ukraine's President to Investigate Biden's Son

https://time.com/5683001/whistleblower-trump-ukraine-biden-investigation/

President Donald Trump urged the new leader of Ukraine this summer to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. Democrats condemned what they saw as a clear effort to damage a political rival, now at the heart of an explosive whistleblower complaint against Trump.

It was the latest revelation in an escalating controversy that has created a showdown between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration, which has refused to turn over the formal complaint by a national security official or even describe its contents.

Trump defended himself Friday against the intelligence official’s complaint, angrily declaring it came from a “partisan whistleblower,” though he also said he didn’t know who had made it. The complaint was based on a series of events, one of which was a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people were not authorized to discuss the issue by name and were granted anonymity.