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Obama effort leads to surge of Gitmo releases . . . Fed up with the stalled progress toward closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, President Barack Obama summoned top administration officials to the White House for an unusual meeting last month to make it clear he wanted action. Associated Press

Judge sets hearing on bid to block amnesty . . . A federal judge has set a court hearing later this month on a request from Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio to block the series of executive actions President Barack Obama recently announced allowing millions of illegal immigrants to obtain work permits and quasi-legal status. Politico

Biden: CIA report "a badge of Honor" . . . "Every country and engage inactivities somewhere along the line that it has not been proud of. Name me another country that's prepared to stand up and say, 'This was a mistake.'" Politico

Hacked Sony execs joked about Obama's race . . .  Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?” asked Sony Pictures chair Amy Pascal. Producer Scott Rudin responded: “12 YEARS.” Pascal quickly continued down the path of guessing Obama preferred movies by or starring African Americans. “Or the butler. Or think like a man? [sic]” Rudin’s response: “Ride-along. I bet he likes Kevin Hart.” Buzzfeed

Obama's Thursday schedule

ISIS trying to sell body of James Foley for $1M . . . Middlemen in touch with ISIS or its associates say the group has turned a grim new page in its deadly hostage trade — by trying to sell the remains of at least one of the U.S. citizens it has executed in Syria. Buzzfeed​

Uriah Heep comes before Congress . . . Jonathan Gruber probably walked away from the Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing with some smug satisfaction that he had endured a dragging over the coals without really being responsive to the committee, while projecting himself as completely contrite. But Americans, who contrary to Gruber’s assumption are far from stupid, surely saw through his humility act. White House Dossier

What's Hillary hiding? . . . The State Department has failed to turn over government documents covering Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state that The Associated Press and others requested under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act ahead of her presumptive presidential campaign. Fox News

Former CIA officials refute torture report . . . Former CIA bosses have put out an open letter spelling out step-by-step how enhanced interrogations after the 9/11 attacks led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Washington Times

Cheney: Report "full of crap" . . . Former Vice President Dick Cheney slammed the recently released Senate report on CIA interrogation techniques Wednesday, calling it “full of crap,” and a “terrible piece of work” that was “deeply flawed.” He said some of the controversial techniques used on militants had been previously tested and the interrogations produced results. Cheney also refuted claims that George W. Bush was kept in the dark about the interrogations. Fox News

Psychologist: Report makes false charges . . . One of the two psychologists who devised the CIA's harsh Bush-era interrogation methods said on Wednesday that a scathing U.S. Senate report on the torture of foreign terrorism suspects "took things out of context" and made false accusations. Reuters

Dems, conservatives balk at spending bill . . . Congressional Democrats objected on Wednesday to controversial financial and political campaign provisions tucked into a $1.1 trillion U.S. spending bill, keeping the risk of a government shutdown alive. Many conservative House Republicans oppose the bill, claiming it fails to deny funding for President Barack Obama's controversial executive action on immigration. Reuters

Palin: Block Obama amnesty or face Americans' wrath . . . In a post on her Facebook page late Wednesday evening, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin—the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee—said that Republicans in Congress must block Obama’s amnesty and his “fundamental transformation of America” or face “America’s wrath” in the next elections. Breitbart​



World sticks it to U.S. over torture report . . . China and Iran, whose own human rights records have often been criticized by Washington, denounced the abuses -- but so did Germany and the new pro-US leader of Afghanistan. "Such a gross violation of our liberal, democratic values must not happen again," German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, reflecting the embarrassment of Washington's European allies. AFP​



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Pastor forced to cover abortions . . . This fall, the unimaginable happened: Garlow discovered the state of California was forcing him and the staff of his church to pay for health insurance plans that cover elective abortions. They have no choice. The state’s rule, the pastor says, defies every fiber of his being: "I feel that not only [that] the killing of babies in the womb is wrong foundationally, but as a father who had the privilege of adopting four children … was repulsive beyond words." Daily Signal

Graham: Islam a "religion of war" . . . Reverend Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and son of its world renowned founder, Pastor Billy Graham, said that Islam has not changed in 1,500 years and has “not been hijacked by radicals,”  but is “a religion of war.” CNS News

Minimum wage, maximum unemployment . . . University of California at San Diego professors Jeffrey Clemens and Michael Wither found that the $7.25 minimum wage passed in 2007 contributed to job losses for entry level and low-skilled workers. The wages may have been high on paper, but the take home pay for workers fell during the first three years of the new wage. Washington Free Beacon

Dunham, U.Va. cases could change rape equation . . . As victims go, college men who contend they have been wrongly punished for sexual assault don’t get a lot of sympathy. But the fallout from the debacles surrounding the University of Virginia and Lena Dunham rape allegations could change that. Washington Times

NBC finally gets to the Gruber story! . . . NBC News on Tuesday finally devoted a segment to covering MIT health economist Jonathan Gruber and his controversial statements regarding the Affordable Care Act’s “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of the American voter.” Washington Examiner

Driving while black: There's an App for that . . . The app allows drivers to send an alert to friends and family that they have been pulled over. There's also a recording function to document the interaction with an officer. Associated Press​

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Keith Koffler
Editor
White House Dossier