Mitt Gets Tough, Servergate Immunity, Terrorists Streaming In

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Mitt Gets Tough -- 4 Years Too Late - I am not happy with the prospect of Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. But if you are hoping for someone else to be the nominee, I think what happened this morning hurts rather than helps.

Former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney delivered a major speech this morning at the University of Utah attacking Donald Trump. Parts of Romney's speech were conveniently leaked to major news organizations in advance.

Romney called the 2016 front-runner "a phony" and "a fraud." He said Trump's "promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University," adding that he is "playing the American public for suckers."

But Mitt was just getting warmed up. Here's more:


"[Trump's] domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill."I have said many times that Mitt Romney is a wonderful family man and a decent fellow. But in what world is this speech from a two-time loser a good idea?

From a practical standpoint, it makes it more difficult for Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio to make their case about why they are a better alternative than Donald Trump. What are the media talking about today? Mitt Romney. Not Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio. If Mitt wanted to run for president, he should have thrown his hat into the ring!

More importantly, where was this aggressive and forceful Mitt Romney in 2012 when he was facing Barack Obama? Obama's policies made it a lot harder to say that America is still a shining city on a hill.

By the way, the same Mitt Romney who attacked Trump as a flip-flopping fraud gladly accepted Trump's endorsement in 2012 and sang his praises then. Romney has also pledged to support the Republican nominee this year. This is the kind of hypocrisy that makes people cynical about politics.

Romney was really good at tearing down conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in 2012. His speech today exemplifies the worst aspects of the GOP establishment. It attacks conservative, populist candidates with zeal, but turns to Jell-O when confronting left-wing socialists.

Where has this Mitt Romney been the past three years? Why has he not been giving major speeches going after Obama or softening up Hillary Clinton? He attacked her today for the first time that I can recall. Will he do it again?

I shouldn't be surprised. The GOP establishment did this to Ronald Reagan, too. (And, no, I am not comparing Donald Trump to Ronald Reagan.) That faction of the party has little respect for the blue collar voters who were drawn to Reagan and Trump, and it has no clue as to why they are so upset today.

Mitt Romney left millions of Republican votes on the table in 2012. Cruz, Rubio and Trump have brought record numbers of Republicans into the primaries so far. I suspect that the only thing Mitt Romney accomplished today was to harden the resolve of the working class voters who already support Donald Trump. In that sense, his speech was counterproductive.

Servergate Immunity - The news that broke last night would be a dagger in the heart of the Clinton campaign on any other day. But thanks to the chaos in the GOP, it is not getting nearly as much attention as it deserves.

Late yesterday evening, it was reported that the FBI granted immunity to Bryan Pagliano, the former State Department employee who set up Hillary Clinton's private email server that she used for official government business. According to the latest release of her emails, more than 2,000 messages on her private server contained classified information.

You may recall that Mr. Pagliano refused to testify before a congressional hearing last year. When asked to tell members of Congress what he knew about the private email server, Pagliano invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Mrs. Clinton insists that she has done nothing wrong. If that is the case, I'd love to know why Mr. Pagliano wouldn't talk to Congress and what laws he thinks he broke on her behalf that necessitate a grant of immunity. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey suggested this morning that Clinton may have broken four laws. But now that Pagliano is immune from prosecution, perhaps we are closer to getting the truth.

While the news is significant, indicating a new phase in the criminal investigation of Mrs. Clinton, I still remain skeptical that Obama's so-called "Justice Department" will actually do anything about it.

Terrorists Streaming In - Earlier this week, I told you how hard it was for Syrian Christians to get into the United States through the refugee program. Just three Syrian Christians have been admitted since the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, compared to 647 Muslims. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is working hard to bring in even more refugees, meaning even more Syrian Muslims.

But while Christians struggle to get out of Syria, the terrorists are evidently finding it quite easy to get out. NATO's Supreme Allied commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. He told senators that the daily flow of refugees into Europe was "masking the movement" of ISIS terrorists.

Gen. Breedlove warned that intelligence agencies believe at least 1,500 foreign fighters have reentered Europe after fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He added that ISIS was "spreading like cancer," threatening Europe and the United States. Gen. Breedlove also said that Russia was "deliberately weaponizing migration in an attempt to overwhelm European structures and break European resolve."

That's what happens when nations do not or cannot control their borders.

With that in mind, it is worth noting that our southern border is experiencing another wave of mass migration. According to Rep. Trey Gowdy, current trends suggest that we could experience a "30 percent increase in the record high numbers we witnessed in 2014." If that is correct, well more than 325,000 illegal immigrants, including many unaccompanied minors, will walk across our southern border this year.

And if children can simply walk across, it would be foolish to assume that terrorists are not coming in. Border security is national security.
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Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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