What Newt’s Reading | May 15, 2020

What Newt’s Reading Andy McCarthy says Judge Sullivan’s actions are a travesty, but sadly not a surprise. – Newt The Politicized Order Inviting Amicus Briefs Against the Flynn Case’s Dismissal By Andrew C. McCarthy National Review On Tuesday, federal district Judge Emmet Sullivan invited third-party groups with no legal interests in the case to file amicus briefs addressing the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the charge against Michael Flynn of making a false statement. Sullivan knows the law calls for him to accede to Attorney General William Barr’s decision, but Sullivan is nonetheless engaging in anti-Trump politics. There is no complex legal issue to resolve in Flynn’s case, and the federal judiciary is supposed to protect the accused from overbearing action by the government. “If there is anything legally dubious here, it is the proposition that a judge may deny a dismissal motion filed by the Justice Department.” But Sullivan’s goal here is “to frame the Justice Department as politicized,” not to uphold the law. Rep. Adam Schiff has been lying for 3 1/2 years on "evidence" that ties President Trump to Russia. It is time for the media to hold him accountable and ignore his pronouncements going forward. – Newt All the Adam Schiff Transcripts By The Editorial Board Wall Street Journal Last week, the House Intelligence Committee released 57 transcripts of interviews it conducted in its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Most of the transcripts were ready for release long ago, but Adam Schiff refused to release them after becoming the committee’s chairman. He only released them now because the White House threatened to do so first. Now we know why: They show that he “spread falsehoods shamelessly about Russia and Donald Trump for three years even as his own committee gathered contrary evidence.” Since 2017, Schiff had claimed he had evidence of President Trump’s campaign colluding with Russia. The transcripts prove that Schiff was lying, and a complicit media helped him mislead the American people. Stephen Moore: “Unfortunately, most blue-state governors, with a few notable exceptions, are imperiling their states’ recoveries and the very survival of their businesses by remaining shuttered.” – Newt Grading Governors on Economic Response to Crisis By Stephen Moore Daily Journal In most states, the American economy is beginning to move into the recovery stage from the coronavirus. “One definite pattern has emerged: Republican states are reopening much more swiftly than Democratic states.” And many governors in Democratic states are endangering their states’ businesses and recoveries by remaining on lockdown. “States that start to open up immediately will have fewer small-business bankruptcies and steeper declines in unemployment and poverty rates this summer and fall than states that keep commerce shut down for another month or longer.” Of course, states must reopen safely, with public health in mind. Reopening in itself doesn’t put people in danger, however: “There is minimal, if any, relationship between how strict a state has been in stay-at-home orders/business lockdowns and death rates of the coronavirus.” Saving lives is the highest priority, but states that remain on lockdown risk sinking into a depression, without even necessarily keeping residents safer. When planning to move our supply chain away from China, countries in the Middle East could facilitate a seamless production transition. – Newt How to Decouple Key Supply Chains From China By Jonathan Schanzer Newsweek Tensions between the US and China, exacerbated by the coronavirus, continue to rise. But America and its allies are heavily reliant on cheap Chinese products and Chinese-controlled supply chains. Americans now want to decouple from China economically because of the virus, but Beijing is a major supplier of medicine and medical gear to the US. “Clearly, America must diversify. And as it turns out, the Middle East may offer attractive alternatives.” American partners like Egypt and Jordan can provide cheap labor and have the capabilities to produce pharmaceutical goods. And “with its strong track record in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, Israel may have a role to play in establishing these Egyptian and Jordanian supply chains.” President Trump has requested that the federal pension fund divests its portfolio from Chinese companies. This request highlights his growing displeasure with China's lies about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. – Newt Trump Orders Federal Pension Fund Not to Invest in Chinese Stocks By Demetri Sevastopulo Financial Times President Trump has ordered the main federal government pension fund not to invest its portfolio in Chinese companies. The Trump administration says these companies pose a national security risk to the US. “The intervention comes as the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, an agency that manages almost $600bn in its ‘Thrift Savings Plan,’ prepares to shift the international component of the fund into an index that includes Chinese companies.” Senior officials in the administration say that using the MSCI All Country World ex-US Investable Market index would “expose the retirement funds to significant and unnecessary risk” because of the risks posed by Chinese companies. Plus, America may in the future impose economic sanctions on these companies, in part because of China’s role in spreading the coronavirus. Newt's Latest Features: