Wall Street Journal warns Liz Cheney's 'revenge' tour could 'divide' GOP and ruin Trump's 2024 chances

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/wall-street-journal-warns-liz-cheneys-revenge-tour-could-divide-gop-ruin-trumps-2024-chances

The board, however, did not go so far as to praise Cheney. It acknowledged she lost for a fair reason; her willingness to embrace the partisan January 6 Committee. Though it also maintained the lawmaker "is a conservative by any measure and she has the courage of her convictions."

The Wall Street Journal opened the column by summing up its nuanced perspective on Cheney, writing, "Liz Cheney lost her Republican primary in Wyoming Tuesday because she bravely stood up to the stolen-election falsehoods of Donald Trump. Liz Cheney lost the primary because she alienated too many Republicans by making common cause with Democrats like Rep. Adam Schiff."

Joe: I Plead With Republicans, Please Call Out Conspiracy Theories Against IRS

First Republicans attacked the FBI. Look who they're coming for now

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/17/opinions/irs-taxes-funding-increase-inflation-reduction-87000-michel/index.html

Republicans have been making the scurrilous claim that the Biden administration aims to deploy a ramped-up "army" of IRS agents to target middle-income workers and small businesses. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig -- who was appointed by former President Donald Trump -- said earlier this month that the agency will only be increasing audits of the wealthiest Americans.

THE GOP IS TRYING TO CONVINCE AMERICANS THE IRS IS COMING TO KILL THEM

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/08/gop-irs-agents-fear-tactics

Apparently not content to stop at unleashing paranoia-fueled violence on the Capitol and FBI agents doing their jobs, Republicans would now like people to believe that the number-crunchers at the IRS are going to start knocking down the middle class’s doors and murdering them for not paying taxes. As a result of the $80 billion in additional funding the Internal Revenue Service will receive as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Yes, we wish we were joking. No, incredibly, we are not.

The new IRS employees: An 'army' or harmless programmers?

 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-call-it-an-army-irs-hires-will-replace-retirees-do-it-says-treasury-2022-08-19/

But the actual net staff increase would be far lower, as the IRS expects over 50,000 employees to retire over the next five years alone, said Natasha Sarin, Treasury counselor for tax policy and administration.

Claims that all 87,000 would be auditors, criminal enforcement agents or armed are "deeply dangerous nonsense - and false," Sarin told Reuters.

"The speed and voracity with which (Republicans) are coming at this is really a testament to how important these resources are going to be - because there are many wealthy tax evaders that stand to lose a lot," Sarin said.

If You Like the IRS, You’ll Love the Global Revenue Service

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-like-the-irs-youll-love-the-global-revenue-service-janet-yellen-treasury-inflation-reduction-act-tax-american-businesses-sovereignty-code-revenue-constitution-11660754243?mod=opinion_lead_pos7

As the Internal Revenue Service prepares to spend its $80 billion gift, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is working on global tax rules that would require a global revenue service. The overwhelmingly complex plan, which includes the global minimum tax, amounts to a new global tax code.

Antisemitic threats persist following the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/antisemitic-threats-persist-following-the-fbis-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago/

The torrent of antisemitic vitriol against them have raised concerns that Trump’s base, which has already shown potential for violence, could channel that rhetoric into action.

Alex Jones Endorses 'Someone Way Better Than Trump' - rats deserting sinking ship

 https://www.newsweek.com/alex-jones-endorses-someone-way-better-trump-1734661

Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has stopped supporting former President Donald Trump, announcing he's backing Trump's potential 2024 presidential rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Prohibition to return to Egypt was only temporary

 Rabbeinu Bachya (Devarim 17:16) “and the Lord has said to you: “you shall not return again on this way.” This commandment was valid only during the period when it was promulgated. It was intended to ensure that Israelites traveling to Egypt would not learn to copy the abominations practiced in that country as the Torah spells out in detail in Leviticus 18,3. This does not mean that there is a permanent prohibition for Jews to reside in Egypt. Had the Torah intended these words as a permanent prohibition it would be inconceivable that so many Torah scholars, pious individuals, made their home in Egypt after the destruction of the Temple. Even if individual Jews had ignored this prohibition and settled in Egypt, the sages would have spoken out against this and we would have records of their protest. The only people who were forbidden to dwell in Egypt were Jews who left the land of Israel to do so. 

What Cheney won: Liz Cheney, roundly defeated in her Wyoming primary, has done a service to the nation

https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edit-what-cheney-won-20220817-djuy77r6ufdsplywoao23tzpgq-story.html 

Liz Cheney didn’t survive the Republican primary judgment of 170,000 Wyomingites, who more than two to one backed an election-results-denying lawyer over the GOP elected official who has led the charge to expose and condemn Donald Trump’s attempts to steal the presidency from Joe Biden. But in doing this necessary work, Cheney has earned the thanks of 330 million Americans, including the 28% of adults who identify as Republicans. The only way forward for the party and the nation is biting the wound and extracting the poison of the snake.

You don’t have to be a spy to violate the Espionage Act – and other crucial facts about the law Trump may have broken

 https://theconversation.com/you-dont-have-to-be-a-spy-to-violate-the-espionage-act-and-other-crucial-facts-about-the-law-trump-may-have-broken-188708

But spy cases are rare. More typically, as in the Trump investigation, the act applies to the unauthorized gathering, possessing or transmitting of certain sensitive government information.

Current claims by Trump supporters of the seemingly innocuous nature of the conduct at issue – simply possessing sensitive government documents – miss the point. The driver of the Department of Justice’s concern under Section 793 is the sensitive content and the connection to national defense information, known as “NDI.”

One theory floated by Trump defenders is that by simply handling the materials as president, Trump could have effectively declassified them. It actually doesn’t work that way – presidential declassification requires an override of Executive Order 13526, must be in writing, and must have occurred while Trump was still president – not after. If they had been declassified, they should have been marked as such.

Trump Raid Documents Could Reveal Informants on U.S. Payroll

 https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-trump-raid-documents-could-reveal-intel-sources-us-payroll-1733230

In the aftermath of the search, the Trump camp insists that President Trump had the right to declassify information, and thus none of the records were classified. Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist who served in intelligence and defense positions in the administration (and who also identifies himself as one of Donald Trump's representatives to the National Archives), told the Just The News podcast that Trump was the "ultimate arbiter" of the classification of a document and thus there could be no wrongdoing.

That characterization is incorrect, experts say, because documents that are covered by statute, and not classified under presidential executive order, cannot be classified or declassified by the president. That includes nuclear secrets (under the Atomic Energy Act) and documents that might identify CIA case officers or agents (under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982). The Washington Post has reported that the documents sought at Mar-a-Lago related to nuclear weapons.

Cheney to launch anti-Trump organization after primary defeat

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/17/cheney-launch-anti-trump-organization-after-defeat-00052344

The new group, which will serve as Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) primary political vehicle as she considers whether to run for president in 2024, does not have an official name yet. An informed guess: The Great Task, which was the name of Cheney’s final ad of the campaign. The phrase is from the last sentence of the Gettysburg Address, and Cheney also referenced it in her concession speech from Jackson, Wyo., on Tuesday night.

Liz Cheney Primary Loss Could Be Her Biggest 2024 Boost Yet: Experts

 https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheney-primary-loss-could-her-biggest-2024-boost-yet-experts-1734243

But while Cheney was unseated, her primary loss is unlikely to be the deathblow that the former president is hoping it will be. Republican strategist Alex Patton told Newsweek that the loss elevates Cheney to the "bonafide leader of the resistance" while also raising her national profile.

Republican strategist Jay Townsend told Newsweek that Cheney's courage to break away from the pack has helped her stand out "in the ocean of cowards populating the Republican caucus in Congress." He said that regardless of Tuesday's defeat, "history will someday regard her as one of the greatest heroes of our time" and that she'll be remembered for her conviction in refusing to back down to Trump and his congressional loyalists.