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In the sadly contentious matter of remembering Sergeant La David Johnson, the villain turns out to be Congresswoman Fredericka Wilson, more of a ghoulish clown, really. President Trump plays the role of a loyal guard dog who doth bark too much, and General John Kelly comes off as a brave knight with a scratch in his armor. The sudden frenzy already is old news and much picked over, but maybe insufficiently considered. The flurry happened fast. President Trump called Myeshia Johnson, the widow of a soldier fallen in a raid in Niger to express his condolences. The next day, news...

MSNBC star Rachel Maddow’s latest anti-Trump conspiracy theory was so outlandish that even the dependently liberal HuffPost criticized it as "so flimsy that it could be debunked by a quick glance at a map." On Thursday evening, "The Rachel Maddow Show" opened with a somber 25-minute diatribe that attempted to connect the tragic ambush attack that killed four American soldiers in Niger to the latest version of President Trump’s proposed travel ban, which included the nation of Chad. Maddow essentially claimed that the inclusion of Chad, which recently pulled its troops out of Niger, in the revised travel ban resulted...

WASHINGTON — A senior congressional aide who has been briefed on the deaths of four U.S. servicemen in Niger says the ambush by militants stemmed in part from a "massive intelligence failure." The Pentagon has said that 40 to 50 militants ambushed a 12-man U.S. force in Niger on Oct. 4, killing four and wounding two. The U.S. patrol was seen as routine and had been carried out nearly 30 times in the six months before the attack, the Pentagon has reported.

Rep. Frederica Wilson's (D-Fla.) offices in Washington and Miami have reportedly been inundated with phone calls and threats following a war of words with President Trump this week. Staffers at one point had to turn off the phones in Wilson's D.C. office after callers bombarded the phones lines, forcing many callers to only reach a voicemail, a local CBS affiliate reported Friday. The number of calls has apparently reached the thousands over the past few days, according to the report, which said that fax machines were turned over to investigators as threats rolled in, pulling in the Capitol Police, Homeland...

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said President Trump’s White House is “full of white supremacists” in a new interview Friday. “The White House itself is full of white supremacists,” she told The New York Times. It is the latest response in a four-day controversy over Trump's response to military families who have lost a loved one. Wilson earlier this week described a phone conversation she was listening in on between Trump and the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in Niger. The White House later accused Wilson of politicizing a "sacred" issue. Wilson's interview is not the...

If the name of U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson is not familiar to you, the Florida congresswoman gained props for speaking up about the injustice suffered by the family of Trayvon Martin and more recently Charles Kinsey. After news regarding slain soldier La David Johnson and Wilson confirming President Donald Trump was insensitive to the family surfaced, a trending topic, “#IBelieveFrederica” has cropped up defending her from Trump’s attack that Wilson’s comments were false. Wilson, who was a family friend of Johnson, was in a limousine with the soldier’s widow when Trump placed a call this week to offer condolences. Johnson’s...

Rep. Frederica Wilson is laughing off criticism lobbed at her from White House chief of staff John Kelly, saying his comments show "I'm a rock star now." The Florida Democrat made the comment to Miami Fox affiliate WSVN-TV Thursday in response to Kelly. "You mean to tell me that I have become so important that the White House is following me and my words?" Wilson said. "This is amazing. It's amazing, that is absolutely phenomenal. I have to tell my kids that I'm a rock star now." She also said she has been getting threats from white nationalists in the...

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., kicked off President Donald Trump’s public feud with a Gold Star family after she accused him of making an “insensitive” remark to the soldier’s widow.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., says she will no longer comment on a Gold Star widow's phone call with President Trump after White House chief of staff John Kelly's emotional press briefing in which he criticized the lawmaker for politicizing the call. "The congresswoman will not be making any further comment on the issue because the focus should be on helping a grieving widow and family heal, not on her or Donald Trump," Wilson's spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. Earlier in the day, Wilson had said Kelly's statements were motivated so he could keep his position in the White House....

Rep. Frederica Wilson on Friday accused White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly of lying about her and using a “racist term” when he publicly admonished her for politicizing the president’s condolence call to a Special Forces’ widow. Mr. Kelly, a retired Marine general whose son was killed in action in Afghanistan, on Thursday denounced the Florida Democrat for listening in on President Trump’s call to Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow and then accusing the president of being disrespectful. “He has my sympathy for the loss of his son, but he can’t just go on TV and lie...

Sgt. La David Johnson married his childhood sweetheart and was expecting his third child. Staff Sgt. Bryan Black learned Hausa because he wanted to communicate directly with Nigeriens. Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson earned more than a dozen military commendations. And Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright came from a family deeply rooted in military service, dating back to 1812.

Chief of staff John Kelly took to the podium in the White House press briefing room yesterday just after 3 p.m. What ensued was the most stunning 12 minutes in that room in long memory. He educated. He excoriated. He earned the respect of America yet again. He was there to set the record straight about President Trump’s condolence phone call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who died in a terrorist attack in Niger on Oct. 4. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, a Florida Democrat, listened in on the call and loudly claimed that Trump had insulted the...

Not all Gold Star families are upset with President Donald Trump. Trump was buffeted this week by growing controversy over his conversation with the widow of an American soldier killed in Niger, after a Democratic congresswoman said that Trump told the widow her late husband “knew what he signed up for.” Trump denied that, though the mother of the soldier confirmed the account of the lawmaker. But the father of another one of the four American soldiers killed in Niger said Wednesday that Trump was respectful when he called with his condolences. Arnold Wright, the father of the late Staff...

With almost a million Twitter followers, Hollywood actor James Woods is perhaps one of the most prominent openly conservative celebrities. His social media following is huge and his tweets often echo the thoughts, views, and attitudes of the right-wing part of his loyal fan base. The actor doesn’t shy away from openly expressing his views, which sometimes prompts him to go on full-blown Twitter rants. His most recent targets? Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, Frederica Wilson, the Democratic Party, and the mainstream media. Woods’ Twitter feed is currently exploding, with his fans cheering him on and retweeting his thoughts. Mr. Woods,...

A Florida woman is grieving the loss of her husband Army Sgt. La David Johnson. She's thinking about the orphaned children her husband left behind, probably wondering how she will parent a six-year-old, a toddler, and an unborn child who will never know her father. But down in Florida, Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson is enjoying her newfound fame after she politicized the president's call to the widow. According to a local news report, Wilson is even laughing. "You mean to tell me that I've become so important that the White House is following me and my words?" she said laughing,...

(snip) Joy Reid ✔@JoyAnnReid Again: why are US troops in Niger? And why haven’t the relevant Republican committee chairs scheduled hearings? https:// twitter.com/riotwomennn/st atus/920866002455416832  … 10:16 AM - Oct 19, 2017 304 Replies 352 Retweets 775 likes Does she really think Trump sent the US troops to Niger? Stephen Miller ✔@redsteeze Hi Joy. Troops were sent to Niger by Barack Obama. Hope this helps https://www. reuters.com/article/us-usa -niger-forces/u-s-military-personnel-arrive-in-niger-obama-in-letter-to-congress-idUSBRE91L0NN20130222  … https:// twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/sta tus/921017104320684033  … 10:21 AM - Oct 19, 2017 115 Replies 1,183 Retweets 2,074 likes Would someone PLEASE teach this woman how to Google? And we know what she’s trying to...

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain says the Trump administration needs to explain how four U.S. soldiers were killed in Niger. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson, Dustin Wright, and La David Johnson were told not to expect enemy contact on that mission to meet with community leaders two weeks ago. It will take an investigation to determine if any warning signs were missed, but Sen. McCain says the administration is not being upfront and he's demanding more information about the attack. In a pre-mission briefing they were told "no enemy contact expected," but the group, about 40 in all, were...

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the White House does not have a recording of President Trump's call with the widow of fallen U.S. soldier Sgt. La David Johnson, after Mr. Trump claimed he had "proof" of the conversation. The call has become a point of intense controversy, after Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, said Mr. Trump told Johnson's widow, Myeshia Johnson, her husband "knew what he signed up for." During Wednesday's press briefing, Sanders did not dispute the details of Wilson's account, although she said she would not divulge the details of the president's private conversation. Mr. Trump tweeted...

Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) even went so far as to say the Obama administration — which he repeatedly slammed as weak on defense — was better at working with him. Asked by The Hill whether the administration has been forthcoming with information on Niger, McCain said “no.” “I had a better working relationship, as far as information back and forth, with [President Obama’s Defense secretary] Ash Carter than I do with an old friend of 20 years,” McCain said.

The mother of the Green Beret killed in Africa said President Trump disrespected her son and family when the commander in chief called the soldier’s widow and said her husband ” knew what he signed up for,” according to a report on Wednesday. “President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Cowanda Jones-Johnson told the Washington Post. She commented on the controversy that exploded after Rep. Frederica Wilson said she was in the car with the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson when Trump called and told her that the soldier...