Clinton's ties to corporate donors questioned . . . Hillary Clinton's ties to large corporations have come under more scrutiny after it was revealed that dozens of companies that have donated millions to her family's foundation also lobbied the State Department during her tenure as secretary of state. The Wall Street Journal reports that the 60 companies who lobbied Clinton's State Department between 2009 and 2013 donated over $26 million to the Clinton Foundation in that period. The donors include instantly recognizable names like General Electric, Exxon Mobil, and Boeing. Fox News

Clinton-tied firm accused of campaign finance violations . . . A Democrat-aligned business founded by a longtime Clinton confidant is being accused of giving valuable voter lists to party committees and candidates, as part of a "scheme" that allegedly runs afoul of campaign finance law. Fox News​

Where's the liberal press on this stuff? They're doing a great job investigating probably Republican candidates.

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Obama campaigns for Rahm at taxpayer expense . . . President Obama Thursday arrived in Chicago for a campaign stop for former Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, fully paid for by U.S. taxpayers. The stop was disguised as an event to declare the Pullman Historic District a national monument, making it Chicago’s first national park. White House Dossier

Psaki to become White House communications director . . . President Barack Obama has picked U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki to take over as White House communications director, bringing someone with whom he has a long history back into his inner circle as other long-time aides depart. "Jen worked on both my campaigns, she's served in the White House and she's traveled the world as an advisor to Secretary (John) Kerry," Obama said in a statement. "I fully trust Jen - and I am thrilled she's agreed to come back to the White House," he said. Reuters

But Harf won't succeed her, according to report . . . Marie Harf, the embattled State Department deputy spokeswoman who insisted this week that helping ISIS jihadis find gainful employment was a better strategy than killing them, is not in line for a promotion when her boss moves to the White House on April 1, a State Department official said Thursday. "Jen's move to the White House isn't something that happened overnight," the official said, "and Marie's TV appearances were an audition of sorts, a test run, and she failed spectacularly." Daily Mail

FBI chief not invited to extremism summit . . . The White House declined to invite FBI Director James Comey to a three-day summit held this week to develop strategies to combat violent extremism, according to senior administration officials. Comey’s absence was in stark contract to the presence of his Russian counterpart, Aleksandr V. Bortnikov, the director of the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet KGB. Daily Caller

Obama wants $20 million to get kids to parks . . . Obama’s “Every Kid in a Park” initiative would cost about $20 million per year, and is aimed at ensuring that kids have a chance to “visit and enjoy” America’s outdoors. He proposed it in a speech in Chicago in which he also announced new national monuments in Colorado, Hawaii and Illinois. The Blaze

Quote of the Day || February 20, 2015

Obama Schedule || Friday, February 20, 2015

Cartoon of the Day || February 19, 2015

Why would we tell anyone? . . . Retired Gen. Thomas McInerney said the United States is "aiding and abetting the enemy" by announcing it is training 20,000 Iraqi troops to retake the city of Mosul this spring. CNS News

Homeland chair: Admitting Syrians "very dangerous" . . . "Why in the world do we have a federally sanctioned government program to bring thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States that could pose a greater risk to Americans?" House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said he is trying to find out. CNS News

Christie bleeding support to Bush . . . New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is rapidly losing support among some of his most prominent home-state donors and power brokers, who are either hesitant to back him or shifting allegiance to former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Washington Post

Republicans lobbying Rubio to stay in the Senate . . . Determined to protect their new Senate majority, Republican officials are lobbying Florida Sen. Marco Rubio heavily to seek re-election to Congress next year even though he says he’ll forgo that campaign if he makes an expected bid for the White House. Associated Press

Students get extra credit for opposing Scott Walker . . . A literature professor at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater has offered students in her courses extra credit for attending a Thursday evening rally against budget cuts to the University of Wisconsin System proposed by Gov. Scott Walker. Daily Caller

GOP wants to limit Obama's monuments . . . While the Obama administration celebrated naming three new national monuments on Thursday, the Republican-led Congress signaled it could move to limit the president’s authority to designate large swaths of land unilaterally under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Washington Examiner​

Why Israel broke with Obama over Iran . . . Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of intelligence, said that the nuclear agreement contemplated by Obama would ratify Iran as a threshold nuclear-weapons state, and that the one-year breakout time sought by Washington wasn’t adequate. Washington Post 

Obama has gone from trying to eliminate Iran's nuclear program to train to contain it. And that's very dangerous.

Opportunity knocks for France's National Front . . . The political party presents itself as the protector of France — of both its cultural heritage and its borders — and the crowd had come together in St.-Raphaël to support the candidates at what might be a crucial moment of opportunity for the party. New York Times​

Government takes a seat at the kitchen table . . . The federal committee responsible for nutrition guidelines is calling for the adoption of “plant-based” diets, taxes on dessert, trained obesity “interventionists” at worksites, and electronic monitoring of how long Americans sit in front of the television. DGAC said its recommendations to eat less meat are intended to “maximize environmental sustainability” out of concerns for climate change. Washington Free Beacon

Michelle's healthy kids initiative metastasizes into more government intervention in your life.

Liberal magazine accuses Bill O'Reilly of false reporting . . . O’Reilly has said repeatedly on and off-air that he saw combat while in Argentina to cover the Falklands War for CBS News. In his 2001 book, O’Reilly said that he has reported from “active war zones,” citing that conflict. An article in Mother Jones on Thursday, though, says that O’Reilly was never with combat troops fighting during the war, and alleges that he has misrepresented a protest that he covered as a combat experience. "It's a hit piece," O'Reilly said. The Hill

MSNBC axes Ronan, Reid . . . In a bid to stem cataclysmic ratings declines and waning relevance, MSNBC has cancelled the daytime shows "Ronan Farrow Daily" and "The Reid Report." In their place, MSNBC will bring in Thomas Roberts to anchor a new daily two-hour block of news programming from 1-3 pm. Ronan Farrow will launch a new series of primetime specials. Joy Ann Reid, the host of Reid Report, will become MSNBC’s national correspondent across platforms. Politico​

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Keith Koffler
Editor
White House Dossier