ALAN KEYES — A senator and a representative solemnly read a new pledge of allegiance today in a dramatic Flag Day ceremony on the Capitol steps. As a new flag donated by the American Legion was raised high over the Capitol dome, Sen. Homer Ferguson, R-Mich., and Rep. Louis C. Rabaut, D-Mich., intoned the words of the allegiance approved by Congress last week.... (more)

JOAN SWIRSKY — I remember as a young teenager going by myself to see "On the Waterfront" at the Whalley Theater in New Haven. I was so mesmerized by the performance of Marlon Brando (30 years old at the time) that it took a dozen more viewings – really, that's how many times I saw the film, maybe more – before I realized that the greatest actors of the day – Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger – were also featured in the movie.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said it was "obnoxious to our Constitution" to put former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort behind bars prior to a trial.... (more)

BYRON YORK — It didn't take long for defenders of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation to claim that the Justice Department inspector general's report found no bias in the bureau's conduct of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, nor in the early days of the Trump-Russia probe.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — In the run-up to Saturday's heavyweight matchup, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took a quick break from trash talking late night host Jimmy Kimmel to play the expectations game. "It may be the biggest crowd assembled to watch the least talent in the history of basketball," Cruz joked to the Washington Examiner Friday night.... (more)

NATIONAL REVIEW — On Thursday, the Justice Department inspector general released a sprawling 568-page report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton emails investigation in 2015-16 by the FBI and DOJ. There's far too much in the report to detail here in one bite, as it covered (among other things):... (more)

REAL CLEAR POLITICS — Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton joins Tucker Carlson to talk about the Justice Department inspector general's report's findings in the handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation. Fitton said the 500-page I.G. report is "the beginning of the story" and "the connection between Peter Strzok, the Clinton emails, and the Russia investigation has yet to be investigated by the I.G."... (more)

FOX NEWS — President Trump broke his silence on the scathing inspector general's report with a vengeance Friday, first tweeting that the FBI boss he fired was the "worst" in the bureau's history, then crashing "Fox & Friends" for an impromptu interview where he ripped the "scum on top" of the Obama-era bureau and said the IG "blew it."... (more)

THE HILL — James Comey once described his position in the Clinton investigation as being the victim of a "500-year flood." The point of the analogy was that he was unwittingly carried away by events rather than directly causing much of the damage to the FBI. His "500-year flood" just collided with the 500-page report of the Justice Department inspector general (IG) Michael Horowitz. The IG sinks Comey's narrative with a finding that he "deviated" from Justice Department rules and acted in open insubordination.... (more)

FOX NEWS — The country is still digesting Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's scathing report on the FBI and the DOJ's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, but more bombshells could be looming from the same team of investigators.... (more)

FOX NEWS — Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, in a comprehensive and at-times scathing report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, exposed extraordinary text messages by a top FBI official vowing to "stop" Donald Trump -- while calling then-director James Comey's actions in the case "insubordinate."... (more)

WORLDNETDAILY — His administration has argued against providing abortions to illegal aliens who demand them and against taxpayer funding of abortion-business giants. He's worked to protect doctors who won't perform the procedure. And now the White House has moved a step further, reversing a trend at the Organization of American States to liberalize abortion laws.... (more)

CONRAD BLACK — The president's idiosyncratic methods conceal the strength of his effort to reverse the disintegration of America as a Great Power and a just force in the world. Beneath or with his almost avuncular comments on Kim Jong-un being "a nice guy," Trump has gained Kim's formal acquiescence to his definition of denuclearization in exchange for contemporaneous wind-down of sanctions and of the close presence of overwhelming military force.... (more)

NEWSMAX — The United States is committed to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, after briefing his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on President Donald Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un.... (more)

MICHAEL BARONE — It has been a week full of wins for Donald Trump -- at least from the perspective of those who share Trump's view of the way the world works, and perhaps even for some who don't.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — It is known in the industry as a good get. Andrew C. McCarthy has joined Fox News Channel as a contributor. A network spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Times that Mr. McCarthy will provide legal analysis during daytime and prime-time programming on Fox News as well as Fox Business Network.... (more)

ANDREW C. MCCARTHY — The House Intelligence Committee is investigating whether the government has used the Justice Department's awesome investigative authorities as a weapon against political adversaries. We learned yesterday that, in response to this very investigation, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein . . . threatened to use the Justice Department's awesome investigative authorities as a weapon against political adversaries.... (more)

NEWSMAX — Federal policy shifts that put a crimp in the Obamacare market are likely to drive up premiums for remaining policyholders next year -- especially those who are older and in poorer health, a report released Wednesday said.... (more)

THE NEW AMERICAN — Vermont will require all residents to have health insurance by 2020, despite the national backlash against ObamaCare's individual mandate that demanded the same requirement of all Americans. Just days after Vermont signed its individual mandate into law, New Jersey followed suit. The two states now join Massachusetts, which has had a similar mandate in place for years. The laws prove that the federal government is not the only government capable of overreach... (more)

THE NEW AMERICAN — When Abby Johnson quit her job as director of a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic in 2009, she had no intention of becoming a pro-life activist. Then Planned Parenthood tried to get a judge to slap a permanent gag order on her. The attempted silencing of Johnson not only failed in court but also spurred her to speak out.... (more)

NATIONAL REVIEW — Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar made clear this week that Catholic hospitals will be required to perform abortions if they wish to keep their government funding. Varadkar said that hospitals that follow Catholic medical ethics will have to find someone willing to perform the procedure.... (more)

NEW YORK POST — Where President Obama flew, so flew his trusty stenographer -- and now she's written a memoir that offers a fair share of drugs and sex, but is frustratingly short on naming names. Beck Dorey-Stein traveled for five years alongside the White House press corps, describing the experience as "summer camp on steroids" in her new book, "From the Corner of the Oval."... (more)

BYRON YORK — Reaction to President Trump's summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has broken down along the usual Trump-anti-Trump divisions. The truth is, it will take a while before it's clear whether the summit achieved anything or not.... (more)

ART MOORE — Culminating a historic summit described by Kim Jong Un as something out of a "science fiction movie," the North Korean dictator sat down at a ceremonial table in Singapore Tuesday and signed a document along with President Trump stating the rogue communist state would work toward "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — The way Mike Kennedy sees it, he's "just a plain old guy." He's no Mitt Romney, the millionaire Republican elder statesman and Kennedy's opponent for the party's nomination for Utah's soon-to-be-open Senate seat. And he's certainly no Ted Kennedy, the late liberal senator with whom he shares a surname but not a bloodline. Nope. Mike Kennedy's "just a plain old guy" who "comes from dirt."... (more)