This Week's Top Five Stories

Your weekly update of the most popular content from The Federalist. Be lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray [View this email in your browser]( 1. Reminder: Susan Rice Lied About Her Role In The Obama Admin Unmasking Scandal By David Harsanyi Susan Rice lied. Devin Nunes did not. --------------------------------------------------------------- On March 22, Rep. Devin Nunes made his ham-fisted disclosure that the Obama administration had conducted incidental surveillance collection and unmasking of Trump administration officials. It was a revelation that ignited widespread criticism from nearly every corner of Washington “I have seen intelligence reports that clearly show that the president-elect and his team were, I guess, at least monitored,” the House intelligence chairman said at the time. “It looks to me like it was all legally collected, but it was essentially a lot of information on the president-elect and his transition team and what they were doing.” Nunes went on to claim that the information was spread across a number of agencies and had “little or no apparent intelligence value.” [Full Article]( 2. Jemele Hill’s Tweets Are Bad, But Her ESPN Show Is Even Worse By Ben Domenech When everything’s a hate group, dialogue becomes impossible. --------------------------------------------------------------- Last night ESPN’s 6 PM Sportscenter host Jemele Hill chose the 16thAnniversary of 9/11 to go off on the fitness of Donald Trump’s white supremacy in a series of tweets responding to randos on the internet. “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists. Trump is the most ignorant offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period. The height of white privilege is to be able to ignore his white supremacy because it’s of no threat to you. Well, it’s a threat to me. Donald Trump is a bigot. Glad you could live with voting for him. I couldn’t, because I care about more than just myself. He is unqualified and unfit to be president. He is not a leader. And if he were not white, he never would have been elected.” You can see the full roster of tweets here. Apparently it was inspired by an argument about Kid Rock, connected to a protest of his performance at the Red Wings new arena. Surely that will stop him. [Full Article]( 3. Democrats Keep Their Mouths Shut As Menendez Trial Gets Weirder By Bre Payton In Washington, Democrats keep their heads in the sand while the bizarre trial against Sen. Bob Menendez unfolds in New Jersey. --------------------------------------------------------------- In 2008, Sen. Bob Menendez sent a letter of support to the State Department to get two women from the Dominican Republic a U.S. visa, and one of these women happened to be the girlfriend of a wealthy eye doctor who prosecutors say bribed the Democratic senator with gifts and luxury vacations in exchange for favors. At least, that’s what Menendez’s former staffer, Mark Lopes, said while testifying against his old boss in court on Monday. Today, Menendez and his wealthy friend, Dr. Salomon Melgen, face 18 counts of bribery and fraud. Both say they’re innocent of wrongdoing. Melgen was convicted of Medicaid fraud earlier this year and was the single largest Medicaid recipient in 2012 — snagging a cool $21 million that year. At the heart of the case against the eye doctor is a $8.9 million billing dispute, which is when prosecutors say Melgen asked Menendez to intervene with the government on his behalf. [Full Article]( 4. They Serve Gay Clients All The Time. So Why Won’t They Cater A Same-Sex Wedding? By Josh Shepherd A florist and baker at the heart of major legal cases explained why they won't use their creative talents and services to affirm same-sex marriage. --------------------------------------------------------------- On Wednesday, Colorado baker and businessman Jack Phillips spoke publicly in detail for the first time about his upcoming case at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2012, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission fined Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Co. He had declined to design, bake, and sell a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. Five years later, on June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court granted his appeal of a lower court decision. Phillips answered questions at a policy forum hosted by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. “The Commission ruled that I am required now to make cakes for same-sex weddings,” he stated. “In order to comply with that ruling and obey the law, we decided we wouldn’t make wedding cakes at all. It was 40 percent of our business and we lost that. Before the two men came into our shop, I had ten employees. Now I have four.” [Full Article]( 5. Witness: Sen. Menendez Helped Me Get A Visa After My Rich Boyfriend Gave Him Money By Bre Payton A Dominican woman testified on Tuesday that Sen. Bob Menendez, who faces felony corruption charges, helped her with her U.S. visa application after her alleged ex-boyfriend, who is also on trial, asked the Democratic senator to intervene. Rosiell Polanco-Suera told the court her visa application was initially denied in 2008, but after her wealthy ex-boyfriend — Dr. Salomon Melgen, who was convicted of Medicaid fraud earlier this year — asked “the senator” to intervene, her application was green-lighted, the Associated Press reports. [Full Article]( Copyright © 2015 The Federalist, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail because you opted in to receive e-mail updates from TheFederalist.com. Our mailing address is: The Federalist 8647 Richmond Highway Suite 618 Alexandria, VA 22309 [Add us to your address book]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( The Federalist · 8647 Richmond Highway · Suite 618 · Alexandria, VA 22309 · USA