The Daily Brief: Monday, June 19, 2017

The Daily Brief: Monday, June 19, 2017

1. Steve Scalise's Twitter Account Posts Touching Father's Day Tribute - The Huffington Post

"Take the time to be close with the ones you love."

As Americans recognize the incredible role fathers play in our lives this Father's Day, the holiday is said to have taken on a "special meaning" for the family of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.).

The House Majority Whip's Twitter account has shared a touching tribute to him that encourages others to "take the time to be close with the ones you love" as he continues to recover from last week's shooting.

In family photos accompanying Sunday's Twitter post, Scalise is seen smiling as he enjoys everyday moments with his wife, son and daughter. "Steve's greatest joy is being a father to Madison and Harrison, and a husband to Jennifer," the post begins. "This Father's Day has special meaning for the Scalise family, and they send their best wishes to every family, especially the dads. Take the time to be close with the ones you love."

The message goes on to thank those who have offered their "continued prayers, support and outpouring of love."

The tribute came one day after doctors upgraded the congressman's condition from "critical" to "serious." (Read more)
- Father, as we continue to pray for complete healing for this dear man, father, and leader, we also pause tonight and pray for his sweet wife, Jennifer (shown in the photo at the link), and his two children. May all who are close to him now be graced with "the peace that passeth all understanding" through Christ Jesus, and may each one come to know the love of our Father on this Father's Day, amen.

- "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:7)

2. Scalise shooter James Hodgkinson had list of Republican lawmakers' names - Fox News

The gunman who opened fire on congressmen at a Virginia baseball field on Wednesday had a list of Republican names in his pocket at the time of the incident, Fox News has confirmed. The handwritten list was found in a van belonging to James Hodgkinson by the FBI, and the lawmakers named on the list are known to be conservative members associated with the Freedom Caucus: Reps. Scot DesJarlais (R-TN) (pronounced day-zharr-LAY), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA).

Investigators believed Hodgkinson, 66, did not have any outside support and acted on his own. Officials also said he had a history of run-ins with the law, including arrests for battery and drunken driving. Hodgkinson appeared to be a volunteer with Bernie Sanders' failed presidential campaign, the Vermont senator said shortly after the incident in a statement. "I am sickened by this despicable act," Sanders said in a statement condemning all acts of violence.

News that the gunman had a list of names on him at the time of the shooting suggests that it wasn't a random incident but instead was a premeditated attempt to kill the politicians. (Read more)
- Father God, we are grateful this man was not able to carry out his full intentions of eliminating members of the Freedom Caucus. Bless You, Lord that this man was stopped. We pray that You would surround our lawmakers with Your protective angels to keep away evil and deranged individuals. We pray for a new attitude of courtesy and respect in our political discourse in America so that the atmosphere is not saturated with hatred. Only You can change hearts, Dear Lord, so we ask this to be done in Your name, amen.

- "They compassed me about with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause." (Psalms 109:3)

3. Trump allies on the offensive against Mueller - The Hill

President Trump's legal team and political allies have launched a preemptive strike against special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump's backers are furious about a story that appeared Wednesday in The Washington Post, in which five anonymous sources alleged that the president is the target of an obstruction of justice investigation for allegedly trying to bury an FBI probe into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

The timing of that story, which was published on Trump's birthday and a week after the White House believed the president had moved beyond allegations of collusion with Russia in the presidential election, was viewed by Trump's allies as evidence that the story was planted by law enforcement officials to ensure a shadow of suspicion would remain.

Instead, Trump's legal team, the Republican National Committee, conservative heavyweights and right-wing media are picking up the slack, launching a tandem effort to cast the special counsel as hopelessly corrupt. "This is the most coordinated communications effort on behalf of the president that we've seen in a long time," said Barry Bennett, a former adviser to Trump. "They need it - it's tough to fight nameless, faceless quotes from people purposefully twisting these stories on you." (Read more)
- Father, we are so grateful that You love truth and righteousness. We pray that You will continue to bring to light every lie and sinister motivation that opposes Your purposes for this time. Please cause all false accusations to cease and let no one's reputation be unjustly smeared. We desire that You bring to an end everything intended to prevent or delay the work that this administration is meant to accomplish. Please remove those who will not pursue truth with pure motives.

- "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight." (Proverbs 12:22)

4. Trump Says He's Being Investigated for Firing Comey 'By the Man Who Told Me to Fire' Comey - CNSNews.com

"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," President Trump tweeted on Friday morning. It's not clear if Trump was referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein wrote the memo explaining the reasons why Trump should fire Comey. Rosenstein also appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate all things Trump and Russia.

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that Mueller's investigation has now expanded to include potential obstruction of justice by Donald Trump. At a Congressional hearing last week, Comey confirmed that he told Trump three times that Trump was not being investigated as part of the Russia-collusion probe, and Trump tweeted "total and complete vindication" at that time. But on Friday, Trump said he is being investigated for firing Comey.

Trump also tweeted on Friday morning: "The Fake News Media hates when I use what has turned out to be my very powerful Social Media - over 100 million people! I can go around them." (Read more)
- Precious Lord, It looks like anti-Trump sentiment has no end, even to the widening of an investigation that is looking for a crime where none has been found in many, many searches already. In the name of Jesus, we come against the political use of this special counsel to hurt and bring down a sitting President. We pray that instead, those who have recently been in office and have done many, many questionable things will be investigated and that Your kind of justice will prevail.

- "Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
They say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows us?"

For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
The scornful one is consumed,
And all who watch for iniquity are cut off-

Who make a man an offender by a word,
And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just by empty words." (Isaiah 29:15; 20-21)

5. Trump Adds Top DC Lawyer to Personal Team - Newsmax

President Donald Trump has added another top lawyer to his personal legal team amid the escalation of the Russia probe, according to news reports Friday. John Dowd, who investigated Pete Rose for Major League Baseball in the 1980s, has joined the team headed by Marc Kasowitz, Politico reports.

Dowd, 76, who also represented Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain during the "Keating Five" scandal during the savings and loan crisis, declined to comment. He is a former prosecutor who has practiced law in Washington for decades, according to the report. Others on Kasowitz's team include Mark Bowe and Jay Sekulow. (Read more)
- Father, we pray wisdom on this legal team. Give them insight, skill, and ability to bring this investigation of the Russia probe to an end.

- "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16)

6. Did Comey take other government records, too? - WND

A key watchdog on government, Judicial Watch, is demanding the FBI reveal any other government records that fired FBI Director James Comey might have taken with him when he left office, in addition to the notes about his meetings with President Trump. Now, the revelation that Comey, who last year famously declined to refer Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified information for prosecution, was able to take government records with him as he left office [has] raised questions for Judicial Watch. The organization has sent a letter to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe warning that the agency has a responsibility under the Federal Records Act to retrieve all of the government documents Comey took with him. The letter from Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton notes Comey "confirmed that, while in office, he created various memoranda regarding his meetings with President Trump." "Mr. Comey also confirmed that, after his departure from the FBI, he provided at least some of these memoranda to a third party, Columbia Law School Professor Daniel Richman, for the purpose of leaking them to the press. Various media outlets now have reported that Professor Richman has provided these memoranda to the FBI. It is unclear whether he still retains copies of the memoranda." The letter argued that's not the proper place for government records to end up. (Read more)
- Father, we pray You shed truth on whether Comey took other government records. We reap what we sow. Bring everything into the Light.

- "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." (Luke 8:17)

7. Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson met with Senate investigators on Russia probe - Washington Examiner

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson met Monday with Senate Intelligence Committee investigators on the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Johnson arrived on Capitol Hill to meet with the committee this afternoon and spent approximately 90 minutes talking with investigators, a congressional aide told the Washington Examiner.

The former secretary of Homeland Security, who served under President Barack Obama, told reporters he was there to "voluntarily assist the Senate Intel Committee in their work on a very important investigation." The House Intelligence Committee is also expected to call on Johnson to testify on Russia's interference in the 2016 election. (Read more)
- Father, we pray the Russia probe will be brought to a close. We pray that all will be settled and the Trump administration can begin to focus on their agenda.

- "Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy." (Proverbs 12:20)

8. Trump rolls back parts of what he calls 'terrible' Obama Cuba policy - Reuters

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered tighter restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and a clampdown on U.S. business dealings with the Caribbean island's military, saying he was canceling former President Barack Obama's "terrible and misguided deal" with Havana. Laying out his new Cuba policy in a speech in Miami, Trump signed a presidential directive rolling back parts of Obama's historic opening to the Communist-ruled country after a 2014 diplomatic breakthrough between the two former Cold War foes.

But Trump left in place many of Obama's changes, including the reopened U.S. embassy in Havana, even as he sought to show he was making good on a campaign promise to take a tougher line against Cuba, especially over its human rights record.

"We will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer," Trump told a cheering crowd in Miami's Cuban-American enclave of Little Havana, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who helped forge the new restrictions on Cuba. "Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with Cuba," Trump declared as he made a full-throated assault on the government of Cuban President Raul Castro.(Read more)
- Father, we speak wisdom in every decision that is brought before President Trump. Surround him with godly advisors. Protect him from those who want to do him harm. May he succeed at everything his hand touches.

- "- Father, we speak wisdom in every decision that is brought before President Trump. Surround him with godly advisors. Protect him from those who want to do him harm. May he succeed at everything his hand touches. - "Then the Lord your God will make you prosperous in all the work of your hands . . . " (Deuteronomy 30:9)

9. ICE arrests of Iraqi Christians in US cause detainee families to feel betrayed - Fox News

Members of the Iraqi Christian community in the U.S. are expressing feelings of betrayal by their adopted country after dozens of members were detained in a deportation sweep.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the mass arrests over the weekend with a majority of them occurring in the Detroit area. More arrests occurred earlier this week. Relatives of those detained say most of those detained were picked up for committing low-level and nonviolent offenses, and some had already served prison sentences for those offenses. Mirvat, who declined to give her last name, says her 55-year-old uncle was arrested this past weekend as he went to his biannual check-in with immigration services for a nonviolent felony conviction from decades ago.

Despite completing his prison sentence for the conviction, he has been told that he will be sent back to Iraq next Friday.

"He went in and they immediately arrested him," Mirvat, who is from Warren, Mich., said to Fox News, "It's so unsafe there [Iraq]. They are literally throwing him into the fire." Mirvat said her uncle immigrated to the U.S. when he was only 5 years old with his family on a legal visa. He has no family in Iraq and the fact that he is from the U.S. and a Christian means he will certainly be a target once he arrives in Baghdad. (Read more)

See also: Deportation of Iraqi Christians 'Worse' Than Rejecting Jewish Holocaust Refugees, Chaldean Bishop Says - Christian Post

Go here.
- Oh, Lord, we pray for You to intervene in this policy of this particular government agency so that wisdom will be used to keep those from being deported that have only minor infractions or who have paid their debt to society and are not dangerous. We lift up our voices in behalf of those who face certain death in Iraq at the hands of Moslems who are following their extremist teachings. Father, we ask You to take over the meting out of justice for these Christians who would not even be alive if they were living in Iraq. Thank You, Dear Lord.

- "I have done justice and righteousness; do not leave me to my oppressors."
(Psalms 119:121)

10. Senate passes Iran 'non-nuclear' sanctions bill - Jerusalem Post

The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for a bill that would punish Iran for its ballistic missile activity, its human rights record and support for proxy terrorist organizations worldwide - its first legislative attack against the Islamic Republic since a landmark nuclear deal was reached among world powers and its government two years ago.

Passage of the bill should have no effect on the nuclear deal, argue its authors, who aim to target "non-nuclear" Iranian behavior deemed a threat to the region by Republicans and Democrats alike. But Iranian officials have warned the act may well threaten the accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as it would levy sanctions against some individuals and bodies promised relief under the deal. (Read more)

- O God, we know we live in dangerous times and that the nation of Iran poses great threat to Israel, the region and beyond. We ask that great wisdom be given to our lawmakers as to this new bill that may impose some new sanctions which the Iran nuclear deal had lifted. Please let the ears of our leaders be attentive to Your voice, O Lord, and lead them to deal wisely with this nation.

-"Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD-- that you alone are the Most High over all the earth." (Psalm 83:18)

11. Missing U.S. sailors found dead after collision with merchant ship off coast of Japan - Washington Post

A number of the seven U.S. Navy sailors missing after a collision between a destroyer and a container ship have been found dead, the Seventh Fleet said Sunday. The sailors were found in the berthing compartments of the ship that flooded after the collision, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning. The container ship appeared to have hit the Aegis class destroyer almost square on, severely damaging the berthing compartments where the sailors were sleeping.

A spokesman for the Seventh Fleet would not immediately confirm whether the bodies of all seven missing sailors had been found or just some of them. They were found after the Fitzgerald returned to its home port at Yokosuka on Saturday night and search and rescue crews were able to enter the ship.

The sailors' bodies have been taken to the naval hospital on the Yokosuka base to be identified. Their names will not be released until their families have been notified, the Seventh Fleet said in a statement.

Civilian and military investigators tried to figure out how the nighttime collision between two vessels - both with advanced navigation systems - could have occurred. "This has been a difficult day," Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, said as the badly damaged USS Fitzgerald, an Aegis guided-missile destroyer, limped back into its home port at Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Tokyo, after emergency efforts at sea to control flooding and before the deaths were announced. (Read more)

- Father, we ask that the Comforter go forth and visit all who now mourn the loss of these fine young men. Lord God, the circumstances surrounding this tragedy seem to be suspect, at best. We ask that all hidden facts be revealed in this matter, and for justice to be served, in Your name, amen.

- "For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light." (Mark 4:22)