Gabbard Admits Assad Meeting UPDATE: she's now in trouble re: ethics rules

[Mr. Morden]

Btw, Gabbard just posted this account of her trip to Syria:

https://medium.com/@TulsiGabbard/the-syrian-people-desperately-want-peace-e308f1777a34#.2jc43o76k

And she also posted some pics like this on her FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/VoteTulsi/photos/a.176069725782788.44124.174866249236469/1292546434135106/?type=3&theater

[Mr. Morden]

Btw, Gabbard just posted this account of her trip to Syria:

https://medium.com/@TulsiGabbard/the-syrian-people-desperately-want-peace-e308f1777a34#.2jc43o76k

And she has a new op/ed piece which covers much of the same ground:

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/in-the-news/op-ed-us-must-stop-helping-terrorists-fighting-syria-s-government

It seems she met with the pretend opposition (the Assad stooges who “run against him” in elections where he’s getting 97% of the vote), and they told her things like this:

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IMHO, it’s a totally respectable position to say that it’s counterproductive to arm any of the rebel groups, because we’re just prolonging the inevitable, or we don’t know where the weapons will end up.  But Gabbard seems to go farther than that and seems to have gone on a trip to Syria to meet with people exclusively in Assad-held territory, hearing Assad’s side of the story from people who say that all of those who have taken up arms against him are “terrorists”….and she takes all of this at face value.  No mention of Assad’s war crimes here…

[Mr. Morden]

Assad is the lesser evil compared to ISIS

He's still, y'know, evil.

He's a horrible person, no doubt, but I'd rather have him run things than ISIS.

But Gabbard hasn't simply said he's better than ISIS.  She's gone on a trip to Syria in which she (apparently) only visited Assad-controlled territory, and talked to Assad-approved Syrians, then came back to the US, seemingly believing everything they said.  No acknowledgement in her commentary of Assad's crimes, or that Assad might be manipulating the stories she was hearing on this trip.

[Mr. Morden]

So the group that allegedly funded her trip no longer exists?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/how-tulsi-gabbard-became-assads-mouthpiece-in-washington/2017/01/29/215e9c70-e4bf-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html

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[Mr. Morden]

More on the Khawams (who accompanied Gabbard and Kucinich on the trip):

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/26/democratic-congresswoman-used-affiliates-of-a-violent-anti-semitic-political-party-to-take-tea-with-assad.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Gabbard will reimburse the cost of her trip out of her pocket:

http://origin-nyi.thehill.com/homenews/house/317270-gabbard-to-repay-syria-trip-costs

[Mr. Morden]

Ethics committee problems stemming from this trip:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/07/tulsi-gabbard-in-new-trouble-over-her-syria-jaunt.html

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She now says that she’ll reimburse the cost of the trip, but she’s still required to report on who originally paid for it.  More:

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[Mr. Morden]

Gabbard filed an amended report with the Ethics Committee yesterday, and it details who she met with on the trip:

http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/playbook/2017/02/newsflash-why-dc-will-continue-to-face-gridlock-who-tulsi-met-with-in-syria-reince-struggles-to-fill-comms-director-job-jen-psakis-next-move-bday-manu-raju-218649

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