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Beacon Extra 12/16/19

The Dems lose a member, Greta travels in style, and Abrams writes better than she vote-counts

December 16, 2019

Welcome to the Washington Free Beacon’s morning newsletter, your comprehensive briefing on the Enemies of Freedom. To get this newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning, sign up here.

WELCOME TO THE PARTY … "Van Drew party switch imminent," via NEW JERSEY GLOBE: According to several high-level sources with ties to Van Drew who spoke on the condition of anonymity, [Jeff] Van Drew’s chief of staff has begun notifying the right-of-center Democrat’s campaign and congressional staffs that the first-term representative will join the Republican party.

Some of those that were told of the move have indicated they intend to resign.

PATERNITY UNCONTESTED … "EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden to be a daddy for the FIFTH time! New South African wife of VP's son is seen with a baby bump amid his messy paternity case and concerns over barrage of attacks from Trump loyalists," via DAILY MAIL: Melissa Cohen Biden, 32, showed off her blossoming baby bump as she ran some errands in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The pregnancy will come as a surprise to many, given scandal-ridden Biden's messy paternity case with another baby mama in Arkansas.

BERNIE BRO DISAVOWED … "Sanders retracts controversial endorsement less than 24 hours after making it," via YAHOO: Sen. Bernie Sanders retracted his endorsement of congressional candidate Cenk Uygur on Friday, less than 24 hours after making it, as allegations of sexism hit the former online talk show host …

There are no shortage of examples of Uygur’s disparaging remarks about women.

"Obviously, the genes of women are flawed," he wrote in a 1999 post online. "They are poorly designed creatures who do not want to have sex nearly as often as needed for the human race to get along peaceably and fruitfully."

THE THRILL IS GONE … "America's interest in impeachment fades," via AXIOS: Of the 10 biggest stories about impeachment since Sept. 16 — as measured by interactions on each story, such as likes, comments and shares — none have posted after Nov. 15, a sign that the intensity of the debate has died down over the last month.

Of the top 30 stories, only four have been posted after Nov. 15.

LIMOUSINE LIB IN TRAINING … "Greta Thunberg tackled over 'overcrowded' train tweet by Deutsche Bahn," via SKY NEWS: Responding, rail operator Deutsche Bahn said they were pleased to have her aboard their eco-friendly train and welcomed her support "in the fight against climate change."

But the company pointedly added: "It would have been even nicer if you had also reported how friendly and competent you were looked after by our team at your seat in first class."

CORBYNISM KILLS … "Labour’s Crushing Loss in Britain Adds to ‘Too Far Left?’ Debate in U.S.," via NYT: As Britain’s Labour Party grappled on Friday with its worst performance in more than 80 years, centrist Democrats across the Atlantic seized on those election results — with varying degrees of urgency — to argue that their own party risked losing in November by moving too far to the left. The day-after assessments threatened to deepen the tensions between moderates and progressives that have shaped the 2020 presidential campaign from the start.

BUSTED … "Meet the Organization Naming and Shaming Iran’s International Business Allies," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a U.S.-based advocacy organization, has been quietly waging a campaign to infiltrate business expos held in Iran and tell the world which companies continue to do business with Tehran at a time when the Trump administration is crippling the country's economy with sanctions …

The advocacy group's efforts have helped deny the Iranian regime potentially millions in cash windfalls and bolstered the Trump administration's tough sanctions regime. The most recent estimates from senior U.S. officials indicate Iran has access to just $10 billion in foreign currency, a drastic drop from the tens of billions freed up under the Obama administration's landmark nuclear deal.

STILL WAITING FOR MEDIA’S MEA CULPA … "Comey: I Was Wrong," by WFB’s Andrew Kugle: Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked Comey about his claims that he had "total confidence" in the FBI's handling of FISA warrants.

"I was overconfident in the procedures that the FBI and Justice have built over 20 years," Comey said. "I thought they were robust enough. It's incredibly hard to get a FISA. I was overconfident in those because he's right, there was real sloppiness. Seventeen things that either should have been in the application or at least discussed and characterized differently. It was not acceptable. So he's right, I was wrong."

Later in the interview, Comey said it was "fair" to say that the FBI gave false information to the FISA court.

SAN FRANCISCO SELF-PARODY … "How the rich and famous profess sympathy for left-wing sociopaths," via NY POST: The new chief law-enforcement official in San Francisco isn’t particularly concerned with enforcing the law. Chesa Boudin, the city’s recently elected district attorney, campaigned to end prosecution of "quality-of-life crimes" like "public camping, offering or soliciting sex, public urination, blocking a sidewalk, etc." …

The Yale-educated Rhodes scholar once worked as a translator and advisor to that benighted land’s late president-for-life, Hugo Chavez. A decade ago, after Chavez abolished term limits, Boudin cheered. According to San Francisco’s future DA, the man who did more to destroy democracy in Venezuela than anyone established the "first participatory democracy I have ever seen."

Singing the praises and whitewashing the crimes of leftist authoritarians runs in the Boudin family: Chesa is the son of two Weathermen terrorists who took part in a 1981 robbery that killed three people in Nyack, NY; he was raised by another pair of radical left-wing terrorists after his birth parents went to prison, and his grandfather was Fidel Castro’s lawyer.

MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY … "We Read The Stacey Abrams Romance Novel-Turned-TV Show So You Don't Have To," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: Though Abrams characterizes her work as "romantic suspense," the emphasis in Never Tell is certainly on the romance. Not for the faint-hearted, Abrams leaves no stone unturned in the book's frequent descriptions of sexual encounters between Erin and Gabriel … 

"Shrouded in the scent of him, Erin tested corded muscle at his neck. Unsatisfied, she nipped at his chest, soothing small wounds with delicate flicks of tongue. He tasted mysterious and familiar. She feasted."

DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,100. Come back, Joe!

"You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." —Former President Barack Obama

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Published under: Beacon Extra