BREAKING: Subpoenas Issued for Trump Jr.-Russia Meeting, Grand Jury Convened to Investigate Russian Meddling in 2016 Election
Exclusive from Reuters: "Grand jury subpoenas have been issued in connection with a June 2016 meeting that included President Donald Trump's son, his son-in-law and a Russian lawyer, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, in a sign that special counsel Robert Mueller's...
Scaramucci is out as White House communications director 10 days after he was named to the job, sources say
Washington Post -- By Washington Post Staff July 31, 2017 at 2:47 PM The move comes on John Kelly's first day as the White House chief of staff. Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier, had been on the job for only a week. He immediately brought more controversy to...
Russia to seize US properties in retaliation over sanctions
Moscow (CNN)The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded Friday that the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia and said it would seize two US diplomatic properties in a sharp response to a new sanctions bill the US Congress passed a day earlier.
The order — which affects the US Embassy in Moscow and consulates in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok — would reduce US diplomatic and technical staff to 455, the same number Russia has in the United States, by September 1.
White House, business groups start major push to cut taxes
The White House and congressional Republicans — backed by business and conservative groups — are mustering forces to muscle through a large tax cut package later this year.
Trump administration officials hope to play a much more proactive role both in writing the legislation and in selling it to voters, following internal criticism that they ceded too much discretion to lawmakers who bungled passage of the health-care bills.
Trump tells police not to worry about injuring suspects during arrests
During a speech on Long Island on Friday, President Trump took a break from discussing gang violence and illegal immigration to give the law enforcement officers gathered for his remarks some advice on how to treat suspects.
“When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over?” Trump said, miming the physical motion of an officer shielding a suspect’s head to keep it from bumping against the squad car.
Trump names Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as White House chief of staff, ousting Reince Priebus
President Trump has ousted his White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and named his homeland security secretary, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, to replace him, the president announced on Twitter Friday afternoon.
Trump administration threatens retribution against Alaska over Murkowski health votes
Early Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to express displeasure with Murkowski’s vote. By that afternoon, each of Alaska’s two Republican senators had received a phone call from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke letting them know the vote had put Alaska’s future with the administration in jeopardy.
The response follows Trump’s no-holds-barred style of governing, even when it comes to his own party. It is his first strike of retaliation against Murkowski, however, despite her tendency to stray from the party line and the president’s priorities.
Pentagon caught flat-footed on Trump’s transsexual ban
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly declared a ban on transgender troops serving anywhere in the U.S. military, catching the Pentagon flat-footed and unable to explain what it called Trump’s “guidance.” His proclamation, on Twitter rather than any formal announcement, drew bipartisan denunciations and threw currently serving transgender soldiers into limbo.
Trump’s Scaramucci Deletes Tweet Claiming Release of his Public Financial Disclosure is a “Felony”
Trump’s new White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci has deleted a tweet calling for the FBI and Justice Department to investigate what he said was a “felony” leak of his financial disclosure forms.
The documents were actually available to the public four days ago.
The documents obtained by Politico show that Scaramucci still holds an ownership stake in his Wall Street hedge fund SkyBridge Capital and earned $4.9 million from it in the first six months of the Trump administration while working at the government’s Export-Import Bank. That’s on top of the $5 million salary he drew.
House Judiciary Committee votes to probe Comey and Clinton’s 2016 campaign
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to request documents about former FBI director James B. Comey’s conversations with the Obama administration and journalists, amending and replacing a Democratic resolution that was designed to obtain documents about Comey’s firing by President Trump.
Trump announces ban on transgender people in U.S. military
By tweets Wednesday morning the president wrote: “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
Trump gives Boy Scouts at jamboree a taste of Washington politics
It did not take long for Trump to veer from inspiration to denigration. The teenaged boys loved it, cheering wildly at each sick burn, hooting and hollering like they were at a wrestling match.
“Tonight we put aside all of the policy fights in Washington, D.C. you’ve been hearing about with the fake news and all of that,” he told the teenaged boys, sitting state by state in brightly colored t-shirts.
Trump renews Twitter attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions
President Trump launched another public assault Tuesday morning on his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, questioning why the Justice Department chief has not done more to investigate alleged “crimes” by Hillary Clinton and those who have leaked information to the media
New communications director moves toward possible staff purge at White House
Washington Post -- By Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker July 24, 2017 Photo: Anthony Scaramucci motions to newly appointed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in the White House briefing room on Friday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Anthony...
In tweet storm, Trump decries ‘illegal leaks’ and asserts ‘all agree’ he has complete power to pardon
NORFOLK — A defiant President Trump unleashed a flurry of nearly a dozen tweets Saturday morning, asserting that he has the “complete power to pardon” aides, family members and possibly even himself — an apparent response to the special counsel’s widening Russia probe — and decrying “illegal leaks” in the “FAKE NEWS.”
Break-in, ‘threatening note’ at office of GOP senator considered swing vote in health-care bill
Police said a “threatening note” was found over the weekend after a break-in at the Las Vegas office of Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican who could be a critical swing vote on the GOP health-care bill.
Las Vegas police said officers responded to a call about a burglary alarm Saturday morning at Heller’s office in southwest Las Vegas. There, they discovered what they described in a statement as a “threatening note” addressed to Heller (R-Nev.) near the door to his office.
Donald Trump Jr. releases email chain on his Russian meeting
Trump Jr. tweeted out the emails after The New York Times first reported on the meeting between Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer on Saturday. The Times subsequently reported that Trump Jr. had been informed that the information he was promised on Clinton was part of Russian government efforts to help his father’s campaign.
Trump Jr. Was Told in Email of Russian Effort to Aid Campaign
WASHINGTON — Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy, according to three people with knowledge of the email.
Trump accuses Comey of illegally leaking classified information
President Trump accused former FBI director James B. Comey of illegally leaking classified information to the media, part of an angry, early morning tweet storm Monday as the president faces new allegations about his 2016 campaign’s contact with the Russians.
Donald Trump Jr. met with Russian lawyer during presidential campaign after being promised information helpful to father’s effort
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, said in a statement Sunday that a Russian lawyer with whom he met in June 2016 claimed she could provide potentially damaging information about his father’s likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
He said he had agreed to the meeting at Trump Tower in New York because he was offered information that would be helpful to the campaign of his father, then the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Federal prosecutors step up probe of land deal pushed by wife of Bernie Sanders
Washington Post -- By Shawn Boburg and Jack Gillum July 10, 2017 Photo: Jane Sanders, wife of Sen. Bernie Sanders, stands by her husband after a rally in 2015. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post A federal investigation into a land deal led by Jane Sanders, the wife and...
Trump warns of ‘severe’ consequences for North Korea as Russia, China balk at tough U.S. talk
BEIJING — President Trump warned Thursday that North Korea could face “some pretty severe” consequences after its defiant test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, but Washington also confronted firm opposition from Russia and China over any possible response.
The White House is pushing back against reports that states are overwhelmingly rejecting its voter-fraud panel’s information request
The White House is pushing back at media reports that claim dozens of states are refusing to hand over voters’ private data.
Did Russia Collude with pro-Trump Web Sites?
"Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee... has said that at least 1,000 'paid internet trolls working out of a facility in Russia' were pumping anti-Clinton fake news into social media sites during the campaign... "Warner said there was...
Maryland elections officials deny Trump request for voter data
Baltimore Sun -- July 3, 2017. Luke Broadwater and Talia Richman photo: Letter from Linda Lamone regarding the request of the Presidential Advisory Commision on Voter Integrity. Maryland elections officials on Monday denied the Trump administration's request for...
AP Exclusive: US nuclear inspection results now concealed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has thrown a cloak of secrecy over assessments of the safety and security of its nuclear weapons operations, a part of the military with a history of periodic inspection failures and bouts of low morale
Trump blasts states for refusing to hand over voter data
Reuters -- July 2, 2017. Reporting by Joel Schectman, Chris Kenning and Toni Clarke; Editing by Bernard Orr and Jonathan Oatis Accessed 7/3/2017 Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump waits for the arrival of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jeong-sook...
President Trump locks heads with news media in a social media first
President Trump, who has reveled in his confrontational style with the news media, sparked fierce debate Sunday over whether he is inciting violence against journalists by posting a doctored video clip showing him bashing the head of a figure representing CNN
‘Uncomfortable’ meeting between Tillerson and top White House aides
By Elise Labott, Jeff Zeleny and Laura Koran, CNN Accessed 7/2/2017 Updated 11:59 PM ET, Sat July 1, 2017 Photo: found at slate.com Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Images may be subject to copyright....
Travel ban takes effect as State Department defines ‘close family
Washington Post --By Carol Morello June 29 at 9:52 PM. Accessed 6/30/2017 After five months of bitter legal squabbling, the Trump administration’s modified travel ban took effect Thursday night under new guidelines designed to avert the chaos of the original rollout....
‘It is really not normal’: Both sides condemn Trump for vulgar tweet about TV host
The first tweet contained the typical name-calling fare from President Trump, the kind of attacks that no longer surprise most people — labeling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as “poorly rated” and calling its hosts “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and “Psycho Joe.”
But the second tweet, landing about six minutes later, caused an immediate and sustained uproar, as it contained a deeply personal and vulgar attack on Mika Brzezinski
EPA chief met with Dow CEO before deciding on pesticide ban
By MICHAEL BIESECKER 06/28/2017 Original Article. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s top environmental official met privately with the chief executive of Dow Chemical shortly before reversing his agency’s push to ban a widely used pesticide after health...
EPA chief met with Dow CEO before deciding on pesticide ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s top environmental official met privately with the chief executive of Dow Chemical shortly before reversing his agency’s push to ban a widely used pesticide after health studies showed it can harm children’s brains, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
Mixing Business And The Presidency, Trump To Hold Fundraiser At His Washington Hotel
NPR -- June 27, 2017. Peter Overby Photo: Zachary Gibson, Getty Images President Trump, who is fond of dining at his Trump International Hotel near the White House, will have some company Wednesday — a roomful of people who paid as much as $35,000 or $100,000 each to...
Sarah Palin Sues New York Times
Sarah Palin is suing the New York Times for defamation.
Senate GOP updates health care bill to include 6-month lockout for uninsured
Sen Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday updated the health care bill he is whipping votes for to penalize people who do not have insurance and wish to purchase it on the exchanges.
The new bill says that people who have lacked insurance coverage for 63 days or more must wait six months before reentering the marketplace
SCOTUS Overturns Arkansas Ruling on Birth Certificates
The justices ruled in favor of lesbian couples by throwing out a December ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court decision.
Supreme Court allows limited version of Trump’s travel ban to take effect, will consider case in fall
The action means that the administration may impose a 90-day ban on travelers from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the United States, with the exceptions noted by the court.
Supreme Court to take case on baker who refused to sell wedding cake to gay couple
WashingtonPost -- By Robert Barnes June 26, 2017 at 9:41 AM. Accessed 6/2/2017 The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider next term whether a Denver baker unlawfully discriminated against a gay coulple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake. Lower courts had...
Kushner firm’s $285 million Deutsche Bank loan came just before Election Day
Washington Post - By Michael Kranish June 25 at 9:04 PM Accessed 6/25/2017 One month before Election Day, Jared Kushner’s real estate company finalized a $285 million loan as part of a refinancing package for its property near Times Square in Manhattan. The loan came...
Rick Perry just denied that humans are the main cause of climate change
Washington Post -- By Steven Mufson June 19 at 2:40 PM. Accessed 6/19/2017 Photo:In this Dec. 12, 2016 photo, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry smiles as he leaves Trump Tower in New York. President-elect Donald Trump selected Perry to be energy secretary. (Kathy...
Supreme Court to hear partisan gerrymandering case
CNN -- By Ariane de Vogue and Daniella Diaz, CNN Updated 4:47 PM ET, Mon June 19, 2017. Accessed 6/19/2017 Washington (CNN)The Supreme Court will take up the most important gerrymandering case in more than a decade, it announced Monday. The case involves district...
Democrats to halt Senate business in health care protest
CNN -- CNN Digital Expansion DC By Manu Raju, Senior Congressional Reporter Updated 5:58 PM ET, Mon June 19, 2017. Accessed 6/19/207 Washington (CNN)Senate Democrats will move to bring the chamber to a halt Monday night to protest the Republicans' closed-door process...
Off-camera, no audio broadcast: White House keeps undermining press briefing
CNN -- by Tom Kludt June19, 2017 Accessed 6/19/17 The White House press briefing has seen better days. Lately, in fact, the briefing is often not seen at all. For four days last week, representatives for President Trump skipped the usual on-camera briefing to take...
Education Dept. Says It Will Scale Back Civil Rights Investigations
NY Times -- June 16, 2017 By ERICA L. GREEN. Accessed 6/17/17 WASHINGTON — The Department of Education is scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at the nation’s public schools and universities, easing off mandates imposed by the Obama...
Trump Will Allow ‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S., Reversing Campaign Promise
NY Times -- June 15, 2017 By MICHAEL D. SHEAR Accessed 6/16/2017 WASHINGTON — President Trump has officially reversed his campaign pledge to deport the so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as small children. The Department of...
Senate backs measure limiting President’s power to lift sanctions
NYTimes -- July 14, 2017 by MAYA SALAMJUNE . Accessed 7/15/2017 Photo: “We cannot let Russia’s meddling in our elections go unpunished,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said Wednesday. Credit Zach Gibson/Getty Images NY Times --...
Trump Admin. Quietly Rolls Back Civil Rights Efforts Across Federal Gov’t
June 15, 2017 -- Talking Points Memo/ ProPublica -By Jessica Huseman ProPublica and Annie Waldman Published JUNE 15, 2017 10:59 AM For decades, the Department of Justice has used court-enforced agreements to protect civil rights, successfully desegregating school...
D.C. and Maryland to sue President Trump, alleging breach of constitutional oath
Washington Post -- Aaron C. Davis June 12, 207 Photo Credit: Artist and filmmaker Robin Bell says he projected "Pay Trump bribes here" onto the front of Trump International Hotel in Washington. Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland...
How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business
LIKE AUTUMN LEAVES, sponsored Cadillacs, Ferraris and Maseratis descend on the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, in September for the Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational. Year after year, the formula is consistent: 18 holes of perfectly...
Trump lashes out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, again
CNN -- By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN Updated 2:26 PM ET, Mon June 5, 2017 US President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday, a day after attacking his handling of the weekend's terror attack in the city. Trump, writing on Twitter Monday,...
Trump Announces Plan To Privatize Air Traffic Control
NPR.ORG -- June 5, 201712:06 PM ET by David Schaper Accessed 6/5/2017 Photo: The Dulles International Airport Air Traffic Control tower. Cliff Owen/AP President Trump announced Monday a plan to privatize the nation's air traffic control system — a move that would...
White House Blocks Agencies from Responding to Congressional Oversight from Democrats
In another unprecedented assault on the U.S. Constitution, the White House has instructed agencies of the Executive branch to ignore information requests from congressional Democrats. From Politico: "At meetings with top officials for various government departments...
Comey to testify publicly about Trump confrontations
CNN -- By Eric Lichtblau, CNN Investigates Updated 1:24 PM ET, Wed May 31, 2017 Accessed 5/31/2017. Fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly in the Senate as early as next week to confirm bombshell accusations that President Donald Trump pressured...
Trump targets ‘negative press covfefe’ in garbled midnight tweet that becomes worldwide joke
Washington Post -- Travis M. Andrews May 31 at 6:18 AM Accessed 5/31/2017 At 12:06 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday, President Trump tweeted a strange sentence fragment. “Despite the constant negative press covfefe,” the tweet read. That was it. It ended abruptly, as if...
President Faces Recruiting Challenge Amid Proposed Staff Shake-Up
From The New York Times: "Back from overseas and confronting an unforgiving political environment, President Trump appears increasingly isolated inside the White House, according to advisers, venting frustration over the performance of his staff and openly talking...
Dubke resigns as White House communications director
Washington Post -- Phillip Rucker May 30 at 7:57 AM Accessed 5/20/2017 Mike Dubke has resigned as White House communications director in the first of what could be a series of changes to President Trump's senior staff amid the growing Russia scandal. Dubke, who...
Clapper: Russia ‘absolutely’ meddled in the 2016 election
CNN -- Eugene Scott Updated 8:52 AM ET, Tue May 30, 2017 Accessed 5/30/2017 Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said there has never been a case of election interference more aggressive than that involving Russia and the 2016 presidential...
Trump scolds NATO allies over defense spending
CNN -By Jeremy Diamond, May 28,2017. Accessed 5/28/2017. - Brussels (CNN)President Donald Trump on Thursday chided NATO member countries directly for not meeting their financial commitments to the alliance and declined to reiterate US commitment to the alliance's...
While campaigning, Merkel says Europeans can’t ‘completely’ rely on US, others
CNN -- By Eli Watkins Updated 4:58 PM ET, Sun May 28, 2017 Accessed 5/28/2017 Washington (CNN)German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her experience at recent international summits featuring US President Donald Trump showed her Europe can't "completely" rely on the...
Anti-Muslim Wife of Nazi Sympathizer Named Advisor to Dept. of Homeland Security
From The Intercept: "Katharine Gorka, a controversial national security analyst and anti-Muslim activist, has been named as an 'adviser' to the Department of Homeland Security’s policy office, after serving on President Trump’s transition team for the department....
Facing fuming British prime minister, Trump vows to plug leaks
CNN -- By Kevin Liptak and Jeff Zeleny. Updated 10:48 AM ET, Thu May 25, 2017. Accessed 5/25/2017 Brussels (CNN) -- President Donald Trump arrived at NATO headquarters here Thursday under a cloud of suspicion about the security of foreign intelligence shared with the...
Trump scolds NATO allies over defense spending
CNN --By Jeremy Diamond. Updated 11:15 AM ET, Thu May 25, 2017. Accessed 5/25/2017 Brussels (CNN)President Donald Trump on Thursday chided NATO member countries directly for not meeting their financial commitments to the alliance and declined to reiterate US...
Supreme Court rules race improperly dominated N.C. redistricting efforts
Washington Post -- By Robert Barnes May 22 at 6:45 PM Accessed 5/22/2017 Photo: Monday’s decision continued a trend at the Supreme Court, where justices have found that racial considerations improperly tainted redistricting by GOP-led legislatures in Virginia,...
Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence
Washington Post -- By Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima May 22 at 6:23 PM Accessed 5/22/2017 Director of National Intelligence Daniel R. Coats, left, and National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael S. Rogers prepare to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee...
Dems: New documents show Flynn lied to investigators about Russian trips
CNN -- By Lauren Fox and Manu Raju, Updated 5:30 PM ET, Mon May 22, 2017. Accessed5/22/2017 (CNN)A new letter from the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, reveals new information about former national security adviser Michael Flynn...
Sheriff David Clarke denies claims he plagiarized in his master’s thesis, lambastes CNN reporter
Washington Post -- By Samantha Schmidt May 22 at 7:01 AM Accessed 5/22/2017 Before the news broke, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke alerted Twitter that a reporter was accusing him of plagiarism. “Guy is a sleaze bag,” Clarke said of CNN reporter Andrew...
Trump to propose big cuts to safety-net in new budget, slashing Medicaid and opening door to other limits
Washington Post -- Damian Paletta May 21 at 6:54 PM Accessed 5/22/2017 President Trump’s first major budget proposal on Tuesday will include massive cuts to Medicaid and call for changes to anti-poverty programs that would give states new power to limit a range of...
White House Legal Team Explores Ethics Rule to Undermine Special Counsel Investigation
Reuters reports that the Trump administration is exploring use of a little-used ethics rule against the special counsel investigation into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. From Reuters: "Within hours of Mueller's appointment on Wednesday, the White House began...
James Comey to Testify Publicly Before the Senate
From The Guardian: "Former FBI director James Comey will testify in an open hearing of the Senate intelligence committee at some point after Memorial Day, the committee announced Friday.... "'The committee looks forward to receiving testimony from the former director...
Trump pulls trigger for NAFTA talks
CNN Money -- by Patrick Gillespie May 18, 2017: 1:15 PM ET Accessed 5/18/2017 President Trump gave formal notice Thursday he will renegotiate NAFTA, the free trade deal between the US, Canada and Mexico. Administration officials sent a letter to Congress that...
Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources
Reuters -- By Ned Parker, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016...
Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election
Washington Post -- By Devlin Barrett, Sari Horwitz and Matt Zapotosky May 18 at 8:13 AM Accessed 5/18/2017 The Justice Department appointed a special counsel Wednesday to investigate possible coordination between President Trump’s associates and Russian officials — a...
Trump claims to be victim of ‘witch hunt’ following appointment of special counsel in Russia case
Washington Post -- By Ashley Parker May 18 at 9:16 AM Accessed 5/18/2017 President Trump described himself as the victim of a “witch hunt” Thursday morning, a day after the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between ...
House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump
Washington Post (Exclusive) -- By Adam Entous May 17 at 8:16 PM Accessed 5/18/2017 KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically...
Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation
WASHINGTON — President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after...
Trump’s disclosure endangered spy placed inside ISIS by Israel, officials say
By BRIAN ROSS JAMES GORDON MEEK RANDY KREIDER. May 16, 2017, 6:44 PM ET Accessed 5/16/2017 The life of a spy placed by Israel inside ISIS is at risk tonight, according to current and former U.S. officials, after President Donald Trump reportedly disclosed classified...
Sources: Comey wrote in memo that Trump asked to end Flynn investigation
CNN -- By Pamela Brown, Jake Tapper and Dan Merica, CNN. Updated 6:42 PM ET, Tue May 16, 2017. Accessed 5/16/2017 Former FBI Director James Comey wrote in a memo that President Donald Trump asked him to end the investigation of national security adviser Michael Flynn,...
At a Besieged White House, Tempers Flare and Confusion Swirls
By GLENN THRUSH and MAGGIE HABERMANMAY 16, 2017 Photo The White House on Monday. Earlier in the day, President Trump told his communications staff they needed to “get on the same page,” according to a person briefed on the meeting. CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times...
Trump Revealed Highly Classified Information to Russia during Oval Office Meeting
DIRECTLY SOURCED FROM THE WASHINGTON POST ON 5/15/17. President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said that Trump’s...
Soverign Citizens Movement Ignored by Trump Administration
From The Guardian: "Although the Trump administration is reportedly planning to restructure the Department of Homeland Security’s countering violent extremism (CVE) program to focus exclusively on radical Islam, a 2014 national survey of 175 law enforcement agencies...
Callista Gingrich set to be named ambassador to the Vatican
CNN -- By Jeff Zeleny and Caroline Kenny Updated 11:58 AM ET, Sun May 14, 2017 Callista Gingrich, the wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is the preferred nominee to be the next ambassador to the Vatican. The White House hopes to announce her nomination...
Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to ruling striking down NC voter ID law
CNN -- By Ariane de Vogue and Daniella Diaz Updated 10:53 AM ET, Mon May 15, 2017 The Supreme Court is letting stand a lower court opinion from last summer that struck down North Carolina's voter ID law. The law was challenged by civil rights groups and the Obama...
One Republican’s plan to save money: Turn 82,000 non-English-speaking kids over to ICE
Washington Post -- By Peter Holley May 12 at 9:55 AM Accessed 5/12/2017 Photo: Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Ritze, right, on the floor of the House in Oklahoma City on April 17. (Sue Ogrocki/AP) Republicans in the Oklahoma state legislature have a challenge on their...
Trump threatens Comey in new tweet
CNN --By Eugene Scott, CNN Updated 9:52 AM ET, Fri May 12, 2017 Accessed 5/17/2017 (CNN)President Donald Trump issued a thinly veiled threat Friday to fired FBI Director James Comey, an extraordinary development in the ongoing feud between the President and the...
Trump threatens to cancel White House briefings because it is ‘not possible’ for his staff to speak with ‘perfect accuracy
Washington Post -- By Philip Rucker May 12 at 9:23 AM Accessed 5/12/2017 President Trump threatened Friday morning to end White House press briefings, arguing that “it is not possible” for his staff to speak with “perfect accuracy” to the American public. Trump's...
Jeff Sessions’ Role in Comey Firing Creates Legal Jeopardy
From The Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin writes in her Right Turn column: "Refusing to recuse oneself from a conflict or breaking the promise to recuse from a conflict is a serious breach of legal ethics. 'Someone could file a bar complaint, and/or one with DOJ’s...
FBI employees notified of Comey firing 2 hours after White House briefed media
Washington Post -- Lisa Rein May 10 at 5:57 PM. Accessed 5/11/2017 The 35,000 employees at the Federal Bureau Investigation were not notified — officially — until after 8 p.m. Tuesday that Director James B. Comey had been fired by the president, more than two hours...
Mitch McConnell Averse to Independent Russia Investigation
From The Washington Post: "On Wednesday, one of the most powerful lawmakers in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), basically flat-out said he wouldn't support a special investigation. The various committees in Congress already looking into...
Washington Post’s The Fix on Trump Firing of Comey
From The Washington Post: "What's clear a little more than 12 hours later is that the White House now has a major perception problem in firing the man who is in charge of investigating alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. And what appears to have been a...
Days Before He Was Fired, Comey Asked for Money for Russia Investigation
NY Times -- By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and MATT APUZZOMAY 10, 2017. Accessed 5/10/2017 Photo: The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the bureau’s J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Washington -- Days before he was fired, James...
President Trump fires FBI Director Comey
Washington Post -- By Devlin Barrett, Adam Entous and Philip Rucker May 10 at 7:35 AM Accessed 5/10/2017 Photo: Getty Images. Donald Trump and James Comey. President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey on Tuesday, at the recommendation of senior Justice...
Behind the scenes of James Comey’s epic firing
CNN -- By Kevin Liptak, CNN White House Producer May 10, 2017 Accessed 5/10/2017 Photo: NBC News. James Comey A little past 5 p.m. Tuesday, a black Ford Taurus slowed to a stop just outside FBI headquarters in Washington and dispatched a white-haired man in a dark...
Comey’s Testimony on Huma Abedin Forwarding Emails Was Inaccurate
ProPublica -- by Peter Elkind, special to ProPublica, May 8, 2017, 10:39 p.m. Accessed 5/9/2017 FBI director James Comey generated national headlines last week with his dramatic testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining his “incredibly painful” decision...
Trump singles out historically black college funds in signing statement
CNN -- By Athena Jones and Sophie Tatum Updated 6:22 AM ET, Mon May 8, 201 Accessed 5/8/2017 Image: Over 100 collegiate institutions in the United States are recognized by the federal government as historically black colleges and universities ( HBCUs). The White...
Kentucky Judge, Citing Conscience, Declines to Hear Same-Sex Adoption Cases
NY Times -- DANIEL VICTORMAY 1, 2017. Accessed 5/7/2017 A Family Court judge in Kentucky has recused himself from adoption cases involving gay and lesbian parents, saying that “as a matter of conscience” he could not be impartial. In a court order on Thursday, the...
White House Proposes Cutting Drug Control Office Funding by 95%
NY Times -- By ALAN RAPPEPORTMAY 5, 2017. Accessed 5/6/2017 Police search a man for drug paraphernalia in Huntington, W.Va. On Friday, the Trump administration revealed plans to gut the 2018 budget of his Office of National Drug Control Policy. Credit Brendan...
Trump Names Birth Control Czar Who Is Anti-Birth Control (Surprise!)
From The Washington Post: "...the person chosen to help manage the $286 million Title X family planning program, which mainly serves low-income and uninsured men and women, has spent much of her career denigrating family planning methods. 'Of course, contraception...
Web Services Provider Enables Hate Groups
This isn't technically a government story, but still important for all you Monitors out there. From ProPublica: "The widespread use of Cloudflare’s services by racist groups is not an accident. Cloudflare has said it is not in the business of censoring websites and...
Trump Administration Hires Official Whom Five Students Accused of Sexual Assault
Pro Publica -- by Justin Elliott ProPublica, May 3, 2017, 12:44 p.m. Accessed 5/4/2017 Photo:Steve Munoz (from his Facebook page) A political appointee hired by the Trump administration for a significant State Department role was accused of multiple sexual assaults...