Oct. 1, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising President Donald Trump for concluding the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement:

“It has been clear for a number of years that NAFTA was outdated and in need of modernization. President Trump’s U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement, while hardly acronym friendly, reflects the three nations’ needs moving forward in the 21st Century. One critical component is the increase in country of origin requirements to 75 percent, which will ensure that automobiles which purport to be made in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will have at least three-quarters of their parts made in North America. Additional concessions on agriculture, intellectual property, manufacturing, currency and labor put America first.

“President Trump continues to keep his promises and on first blush, the USMCA looks like a better deal. However, the devil is always in the details, which deserve full scrutiny during the Congressional approval process.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 28, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the call for President Donald Trump to order the FBI to conduct another investigative background check on Judge Brett Kavanaugh:

“So, the Democrats now agree that the President of the United States has the authority to tell the FBI to open or presumably close any investigation. President Trump’s asking the FBI to re-open the Brett Kavanaugh investigation for the next few days to accommodate Senate Democrats and Sen. Jeff Flake’s demands is a glaring demonstration for the whole country to see that the President does indeed control the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation with the power to tell them to open or close investigations.

“Remember, the FBI announced that they were not going to investigate the unsubstantiated and uncorroborated claims of Christine Blasey Ford beyond including them in the briefing file. The potential re-opening of the investigation for a short time period by order of the President of the United States shows everyone that Donald Trump has the power to open and determine the length of any investigation by the DOJ, FBI or any of their designees.  Today’s Pyrrhic win for the Democrats ends, once and for all, any discussion of whether the President had the authority to fire James Comey and whether his alleged comments on the Mike Flynn investigation were legal — the new Christine Ford standard shows that they were.

“Given this exercise of his authority at the behest of the Democrats and Flake, the last shred of rationale behind the Mueller investigation is shattered. Somehow, I don’t think this was the result that the Democrat Character Assassination team had in mind – because in their primal scream, they legitimized and acknowledged President Trump’s constitutional authority and have effectively ended Mueller.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 28, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) for pledging to vote yes on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court:

“Senator Flake’s statement in support of the Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court demonstrates that for some senators the presumption of innocence and the rule of law matters. Senator Flake knows that nothing would be gained through a continuation of this already prolonged and extensive process. His refusal to cave into the childish temper tantrum of the left should be praised by all. Thank you, Senator Flake, for demonstrating that he has the capacity and willingness to be an adult are acting like spoiled children.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 28, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement thanking Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for his handling of the confirmation hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court:

“Against all odds, the Article II advice and consent process outlined in the U.S. Constitution is working in the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. It has afforded a thorough and fair evaluation of the nominee’s qualifications. Chairman Grassley deserves the thanks of the American people for the outstanding job he has done in leading the Senate Judiciary Committee through these dangerous waters for our republic.  The unusual allegations raised and outright duplicity by the minority in the handling of the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court required the exact combination of fairness, yet firmness which Grassley displayed throughout the proceedings.

“I know that the entire staff of the Judiciary Committee has worked tirelessly over the past few months to ensure that the Senate’s role in the advice and consent process was handled as the Constitution demands and each of them deserve praise for their respective roles. Thank you for standing up for the rule of law against the mob which you faced.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 27, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Sept. 24 to investigate Comcast to review the outcomes that have followed the Comcast-NBC merger. Here follows some excerpts:

“Comcast/NBCU merger remains far more dangerous to Comcast’s distribution rivals than the AT&T/Time Warner combination is to AT&T’s distribution… Comcast/NBCU programming is significantly more important to consumers than is Time Warner’s programming. While the national programming of both cable distributors may be similar, Comcast/NBCU owns many widely considered “must-have” television broadcast stations and regional sports networks (RSNs). Time Warner, by contrast, owns no broadcast stations or RSNs. In the markets where Comcast owns these local stations and RSNs, Comcast’s market share is on average greater than 50%, compared to AT&T/Time Warner national market share which is about 25%. Comcast would profit much more from acquiring a rival’s subscriber than AT&T/Time Warner because Comcast can sell all new customers video and wireline broadband. AT&T/Time Warner only has that capability in limited areas…

“[I]t is imperative these issues are not only raised at your upcoming hearing, but discussed at length in order to open an investigation into the past practices and future operation of Comcast/NBCU. Then, upon reviewing the findings of such an investigation, conditions should be put in place that will enforce anti-competitive rules and regulations. At the very least, to protect consumers and rivals, Comcast/NBCU should be subjected to the same arbitration commitment as AT&T/Time Warner.”

Attachments:

Full Letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee, Sept. 27, 2018 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/HouseEnergyAndCommerceLetter-Comcast-9-24-18.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 26, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging President Donald Trump to veto the cromnibus spending bill:

“President Trump should veto the Congressional spending plan that breaks the budget while not funding many of his top priorities including the wall. The President vowed when he signed the last budget-busting appropriations bill that he would never do it again. The so-called cromnibus funds approximately 90 percent of the discretionary budget of the government, deliberately denying the President the ability to veto individual appropriations bills that fall short of his vision. Perhaps the most incredible aspect of the funding bill is that it was written with the objective of allowing the Senate minority to have a virtual veto over the President’s and presumably the Republican Congress’ priorities. As a result, passage of this bill will effectively fund year 11 of the Obama administration.”

Attachments:

“Congress deferring to another continuing resolution for end of fiscal year—again,” By Robert Romano, Sept. 26, 2018 at http://dailytorch.com/2018/09/congress-deferring-to-another-continuing-resolution-for-end-of-fiscal-year-again/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 24, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement reacting to the removal of DOJ employee Allison Hrabar after she used federal government resources to target political opponents:

“Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ rapid response to the revelation that DOJ employee Allison Hrabar was abusing government resources to further her political objectives demonstrates that the system can work. There is simply no excuse for allowing anyone to abuse the civil service system with the arrogant expectation that they cannot be fired. While Allison Hrabar is a small fish in the swamp, her rapid removal from employment sends a clear, unambiguous message to her colleagues that this type of abuse will no longer be tolerated. The Attorney General has been under constant pressure to clean the mess at DOJ largely due to civil service laws that block action. Hrabar’s case was so extreme that the archaic laws could not protect her. However, in order to root out bad actors who are abusing the government trust as well as those who are lazy and incompetent, Congress needs to take action now and pass the MERIT Act.”

Attachments:

ALG President Rick Manning quoted in Project Veritas video advocating, “Not only can she be fired, but she should be fired!” Sept. 19, 2018 at https://www.projectveritas.com/2018/09/19/breaking-deep-state-unmasked-doj-official-resists-from-inside-cant-get-fired-leaks-at-hhs/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 24, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement reacting to the resignation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reported by Axios.com:

“Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was right to resign. The confirmed reports that he jokingly or not advocated wearing wires to the White House in an attempt to entrap President Donald Trump destroys his capacity to perform his duties. The most disappointing aspect of this resignation is that Rosenstein did not submit it 18 months ago when he contemplated a direct attempt to subvert the Trump presidency. Given the sunlight placed on Rosenstein’s opposition to the Trump presidency, one wonders why he accepted the appointment to serve in the Trump administration in the first place.

“Rosenstein’s resignation is a fitting ending to his odd tenure at the Justice Department under President Trump. It was Rosenstein who recommended firing James Comey and then 10 days later appointed a special counsel to get to the bottom of the firing of James Comey. It was Rosenstein who continually blocked any transparency related to the DOJ efforts during the 2016 election and after Trump was sworn in to undermine the President through the false Russia collusion claims. And it was Rosenstein who participated in perpetuating the Russia witch hunt through his signature on a FISA warrant that he had to know was based on universally accepted to be false information.

“Rosenstein’s resignation will hopefully mean that the Justice Department is starting to get this sordid tale of political obstruction into the rear-view mirror and it is to be hoped that the American people will soon receive a full, open accounting of the actions taken at DOJ designed to undermine the duly elected President of the United States.

“This combined with the lesser news that Allison Hrabar, a DOJ paralegal, who was exposed by James O’Keefe using government resources to target political opponents, furthering her radical political beliefs, gives hope that the #NeverTrump cabal within DOJ is finally being broken up.”

Attachments:

“Is the Mueller special counsel probe all about protecting Rod Rosenstein’s reputation?” By Robert Romano, Sept. 24, 2018 at http://dailytorch.com/2018/09/is-the-mueller-special-counsel-probe-all-about-protecting-rod-rosensteins-reputation/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Sept. 21, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement calling for the resignation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after the New York Times broke news that he suggested wearing a wire to the White House to record President Donald Trump:

“It is deeply troubling that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly proposed that he wear a wire to the White House to entrap President Donald Trump in the wake of the James Comey firing on Rosenstein’s recommendation. It is further reported that Rosenstein suggested that others with access to the President similarly wear a wire and that Cabinet officials be organized to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office. Rosenstein’s denial where he states ‘Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment’ rings hollow as it fails address to real accusations leveled against him. It doesn’t matter what Rosenstein’s opinion is today, what matters is if he was engaged and actively leading a legal coup to take down the President of the United States in the early days of the Trump presidency.

“Given that Rosenstein named Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the almost immediate wake of the Comey firing there is ample reason to believe that Rosenstein was determined to take down the President. Subsequent calls for Rosenstein to rein in Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation have been met with defiance. He renewed the Carter Page FISA warrant in June 2017 based on the Christopher Steele dossier even though at that point Comey had already testified that it was ‘unverified.’  It is clear that Rod Rosenstein has sought from the outset of his tenure as Deputy Attorney General to cripple and end the Trump presidency. If he has a shred of honor he will resign. If he doesn’t he should be fired.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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