90 Miles From Tyranny

Thursday, January 30, 2020

GOP’s Zeldin, Stefanik Correct NBC Reporter on Impeachment: ‘You’re Doing a Great Job as Schiff’s Shills’

Republican lawmakers took on NBC News reporter Heidi Przybyla when she denied rampant corruption in Ukraine during a press conference Tuesday about the Senate impeachment trial.

The tense exchange took place while Republican Reps. Lee Zeldin (NY), Elise Stefanik (NY), and Mike Johnson (LA) were briefing reporters about impeachment.

Przybyla first asked a question premised on the idea that Trump’s concern about corruption in Ukraine was illegitimate. “Congressman [Zeldin], so, DOD certified this money [military aid to Ukraine] in May,” she began. They said that Ukraine met all anti-corruption standards. So what specifically happened that made the president all of a sudden concerned about corruption? What specific corruption was he chasing at that point?”

Zeldin indicated Trump was interested in corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, his son, Hunter, and their connection to the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Moreover, Trump wanted to learn more about potential 2016 presidential election interference on behalf of Democrats stemming from Ukraine.

Seemingly, the NBC News reporter did not like the response and repeatedly interrupted the lawmakers. “You have to let me answer your questions,” Zeldin vented at one point — his second request for her to stop interrupting him. In response, Przybyla patted his arm, saying, “go ahead.”

“Listen, if I give a good answer, that doesn’t mean that you have to cut me off,” Zeldin continued. “I know that if you let me — if I give a bad answer, you’d probably let me go all day.”

He explained that Ukraine’s parliamentary elections and newly-created corruption initiatives happened within the timeframe designated by...

Lucas Gerhard, a 20-year-old student who was enrolled at Lake Superior State University (LSSU) in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., has been charged with making terroristic threats and faces years in prison for posting a picture of a legally-obtained rifle on social media.

Gerhard posted a picture in Aug. 2019 of his new firearm to a private Snapchat group with classmates, claiming that his AR-15 rifle would “make the snowflakes melt” when he returned to campus. The reference meant that far-left students would be triggered by his possession of the rifle and it would literally melt snow, as the LSSU campus is located in Michigan’s upper peninsula renowned for its icy conditions.

“Taking this bad boy up. This ought to make the snowflakes melt a — and I mean snowflakes as in snow,” he wrote on social media, according to a transcript of the preliminary examination obtained by Big League Politics.

One classmate in the private group – who stated in court proceedings that she did not feel threatened by the post – showed the picture to a left-leaning female student, who copied the image on her phone before they filed a complaint to the district supervisor. It was then kicked up to campus public safety, who got Sault Ste. Marie police involved in the matter.

“I seen the picture, and when he said like make the snowflakes melt, it kind of made me assume that, um, kind of like as with the gun and shoot other civilians and stuff with it,” the woman who initiated the report said during questioning. She also mentioned that media coverage about mass shootings contributed to her panic when seeing the weapon and admitted to having prior political disputes with Gerhard over...