Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Holder: Snowden did 'public service,' but should still be punished
Edward Snowden performed a "public service" in stoking a national debate about secret domestic surveillance programs, but he should still return to the U.S. to stand trial, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a podcast released on Monday.
As a National Security Agency contractor, Snowden leaked classified details in 2013 of the U.S. government's warrantless surveillance of its citizens before fleeing the country. He now lives in Russia and faces U.S. charges that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.
In a podcast interview with CNN political commentator David Axelrod, Holder said that Snowden had grown concerned that the domestic spying programs weren't providing a "substantial" return of useful intelligence even before even before he revealed the secrets.
Axelrod is a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, while Holder served as attorney general from 2009 to 2015.
"We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate we engaged in and by the changes that we made," Holder said. "Now, I would say doing what he did in the way he did it was inappropriate and illegal."
Holder said Snowden's leaks harmed American interests abroad and put intelligence assets at risk.
"He's got to make a decision," Holder said of Snowden. "He's broken the law. In my view, he needs to get lawyers, come on back and decide what he wants to do — go to trial, try to cut a deal."
He said Snowden should have to face consequences for his actions, including prison time.
"But in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, a judge could take into account the usefulness of having that national debate," Holder added.
Snowden has repeatedly said he would be willing to return to the United States if the federal government would provide him a fair trial. However, Snowden says he is concerned that under federal espionage laws he would not allow him to present a whistleblower defense, arguing in court he acted in the public interest.
Senate report slams VA watchdog for 'systemic' failures in probe of Wisconsin hospital
A Senate committee's report into overprescription of powerful painkilling drugs at a Wisconsin VA hospital slammed the agency's inspector general's office for discounting key evidence, narrowing its inquiry and failing to make its report on the matter public.
The report by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which will be released Tuesday and was first obtained by USA Today, says the VA watchdog's investigation into the Tomah (Wis.) VA Medical Center was "perhaps the greatest failure to identify and prevent the tragedies at the Tomah VAMC."
According to the report, the Inspector General's office began investigating claims that opiates were being overpresecribed to Tomah patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2011.
The investigation, led by physician Allan Mallinger, lasted until 2014, but failed to examine whether the opiates were being prescribed in dangerous combinations with other drugs, nor whether employees felt threatened with retaliation if they raised concerns.
The watchdog's report, made public last year, failed to find that the Tomah VAMC's chief of staff, Dr. David Houlihan, and nurse practitioner Deborah Frasher, had committed any wrongdoing, though "potentially serious concerns" were raised about the high level of opiates prescribed.
Instead of making the report public, the inspector general's office briefed local VA officials and closed the case. Assistant Inspector General for Healthcare Inspections John Daigh, who made the decision to keep the report secret, told Senate investigators he could not "publish reports that repeat salacious allegations that I can’t support."
The following year, the VA opened its own investigation after Marine Corps veteran, Jason Simcakoski, died at age 35 of "mixed drug toxicity". It found that Houlihan and Frasher had failed to meet the standard of care in the vast majority of cases, and removed them from their positions at the Tomah facility.
"In just three months, the VA investigated and substantiated a majority of the allegations that the VA OIG could not substantiate after several years," the Senate committee's report stated.
"The reasons the problems were allowed to fester for so many years is because ... for whatever reason, for years, the inspector general lacked the independence and had lost the sense of what its true mission was, which is being the transparent watchdog of VA system," said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the committee chair.
GOP convention no-shows threaten to undercut Trump unity push
Even as Donald Trump and Republican Party bosses
diligently work Capitol Hill in hopes of bringing the party together
after a fractious presidential primary, convention planners could still
be looking at a block of empty seats for the July convention.
A growing roster of senior GOP figures – from governors to senators to, most notably, nearly every living GOP presidential nominee – is vowing to skip the convention in Cleveland, despite the candidate starting to win over the rank-and-file.
In an unconventional election season where Trump has capitalized on an anti-establishment fervor, the case can be made that Trump does not need the blessing of party elders, or their attendance.
“Trump is a master entertainer and more than likely going to put together a convention program that attempts to highlight his strengths and sideline some of the major absences,” Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told FoxNews.com.
Still, since wrapping up the nomination, Trump and his surrogates have been regularly meeting with Hill Republicans, showing at least an effort to pursue party unity – a message that high-profile absences in Cleveland could undercut.
Trump hit the unity theme again Sunday night, as he responded to the latest prediction that an independent candidate would soon enter the race. On Twitter, Trump warned, “if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party.”
Yet Trump’s contemporaries will be nowhere near Cleveland.
Of all the living Republican presidential nominees and former presidents, only Bob Dole is expected to attend – and even then, only “briefly,” for the purpose of catching a luncheon hosted by his law firm, a source told Fox News earlier this month.
Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have said they will not attend, as have 2008 nominee John McCain and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney. Former 2016 White House candidate Jeb Bush also is expected to skip.
Of them, Romney is working most actively against Trump, having delivered a major address attacking his candidacy and frequently sparring with the now-presumptive nominee on Twitter. He also reportedly has been the focus of efforts to recruit an independent candidate, though so far to no avail.
Others claim to be skipping in order to focus on their own election battles – some of those potentially made more challenging by Trump’s primary success.
McCain seemingly counts himself among that group. The Arizona senator is facing a tough re-election fight in a state with a heavy Hispanic population, and has said Trump complicates his race.
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte also has said she will not be attending the convention, citing a tough re-election battle.
"Unlikely," Ayotte told CNN. "I've got a lot of work to do in New Hampshire, I have my own re-election and I'm going to be focusing on my voters in New Hampshire."
Other lawmakers in tight election battles who do not plan to be in Cleveland include: North Carolina’s Richard Burr, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Kansas’ Jerry Moran, Missouri’s Roy Blunt, and Illinois’ Mark Kirk, according to McClatchyDC.
FoxNews.com reached out as well to Republican governors for an attendance tally.
Most of those RSVPs remain outstanding, but representatives for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead told FoxNews.com they would not be in Cleveland. Mead’s spokesman cited a busy summer as the reason for the governor not making it.
No-shows could be more common for lawmakers in the House, where a faction remains skeptical of Trump’s candidacy. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill about 10 other conservatives are planning not to attend.
Many lawmakers and their staff remain tight-lipped about whether they’re attending, and their rationale.
Asked for comment on whether Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would show up, a representative for the senator sent FoxNews.com a Boston Globe article in which Flake is quoted as saying, “I’ve got other things to do.” Meanwhile, a rep for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley linked to a YouTube video in which the governor said she was undecided on whether to go.
This may be because Republicans are still evaluating how to deal with Trump’s victory.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, for one, is rumored to be close to endorsing the billionaire, though he hasn’t yet. Now that Trump has reached the necessary 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination, according to the latest AP tally, more top GOP lawmakers could feel pressured to step in line.
Marco Rubio, once an outspoken Trump rival who sold #NeverTrump merchandise on his website, said Sunday he will get behind the presumptive nominee.
“I want to be helpful,” the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."
The big unknown is whether Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who suspended his campaign in early May, will similarly get on board.
While the absence of major figures at the convention could damage the party’s ability to present a united front against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, some argue that Trump will be able to manage the dissension in the ranks.
“The absences won’t hurt Trump’s ability to unite the party,” Bonjean said, “but he must keep his focus now on Hillary Clinton and avoid getting into fights with other Republicans that may not agree with his pending nomination.”
It is not unheard of for Republicans, especially those in tight re-election races, to skip the national convention when political waters look choppy.
In 2008, several top Republicans chose to skip. Some were due to urgent state issues -- like then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger grappling with a budget stalemate or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal dealing with Hurricane Gustav. Gustav even forced then-President Bush not to attend, making him the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson not to attend his party’s convention. Instead, he delivered his address by satellite hookup from the White House.
Sens. Pat Roberts, of Kansas; Susan Collins, of Maine; Gordon Smith, of Oregon; and Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina, also stayed home from the GOP convention in order to campaign. At that time, Bush’s approval ratings were hovering around 30 percent.
This was a departure, however, from the 2000 convention where various interest groups in the party all came together behind their candidate with a single-minded determination to take back the White House. It didn't hurt that Bush was leading in the polls and had seen his last primary challengers fade away months before.
At that convention, there were no reports of prominent Republicans choosing not to attend.
Adam Shaw is a Politics Reporter for FoxNews.com. He can be reached here or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.
A growing roster of senior GOP figures – from governors to senators to, most notably, nearly every living GOP presidential nominee – is vowing to skip the convention in Cleveland, despite the candidate starting to win over the rank-and-file.
In an unconventional election season where Trump has capitalized on an anti-establishment fervor, the case can be made that Trump does not need the blessing of party elders, or their attendance.
“Trump is a master entertainer and more than likely going to put together a convention program that attempts to highlight his strengths and sideline some of the major absences,” Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told FoxNews.com.
Still, since wrapping up the nomination, Trump and his surrogates have been regularly meeting with Hill Republicans, showing at least an effort to pursue party unity – a message that high-profile absences in Cleveland could undercut.
Trump hit the unity theme again Sunday night, as he responded to the latest prediction that an independent candidate would soon enter the race. On Twitter, Trump warned, “if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party.”
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
Of all the living Republican presidential nominees and former presidents, only Bob Dole is expected to attend – and even then, only “briefly,” for the purpose of catching a luncheon hosted by his law firm, a source told Fox News earlier this month.
Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have said they will not attend, as have 2008 nominee John McCain and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney. Former 2016 White House candidate Jeb Bush also is expected to skip.
Of them, Romney is working most actively against Trump, having delivered a major address attacking his candidacy and frequently sparring with the now-presumptive nominee on Twitter. He also reportedly has been the focus of efforts to recruit an independent candidate, though so far to no avail.
Others claim to be skipping in order to focus on their own election battles – some of those potentially made more challenging by Trump’s primary success.
McCain seemingly counts himself among that group. The Arizona senator is facing a tough re-election fight in a state with a heavy Hispanic population, and has said Trump complicates his race.
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte also has said she will not be attending the convention, citing a tough re-election battle.
"Unlikely," Ayotte told CNN. "I've got a lot of work to do in New Hampshire, I have my own re-election and I'm going to be focusing on my voters in New Hampshire."
Other lawmakers in tight election battles who do not plan to be in Cleveland include: North Carolina’s Richard Burr, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Kansas’ Jerry Moran, Missouri’s Roy Blunt, and Illinois’ Mark Kirk, according to McClatchyDC.
FoxNews.com reached out as well to Republican governors for an attendance tally.
Most of those RSVPs remain outstanding, but representatives for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead told FoxNews.com they would not be in Cleveland. Mead’s spokesman cited a busy summer as the reason for the governor not making it.
No-shows could be more common for lawmakers in the House, where a faction remains skeptical of Trump’s candidacy. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill about 10 other conservatives are planning not to attend.
Many lawmakers and their staff remain tight-lipped about whether they’re attending, and their rationale.
Asked for comment on whether Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would show up, a representative for the senator sent FoxNews.com a Boston Globe article in which Flake is quoted as saying, “I’ve got other things to do.” Meanwhile, a rep for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley linked to a YouTube video in which the governor said she was undecided on whether to go.
This may be because Republicans are still evaluating how to deal with Trump’s victory.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, for one, is rumored to be close to endorsing the billionaire, though he hasn’t yet. Now that Trump has reached the necessary 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination, according to the latest AP tally, more top GOP lawmakers could feel pressured to step in line.
Marco Rubio, once an outspoken Trump rival who sold #NeverTrump merchandise on his website, said Sunday he will get behind the presumptive nominee.
“I want to be helpful,” the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."
The big unknown is whether Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who suspended his campaign in early May, will similarly get on board.
While the absence of major figures at the convention could damage the party’s ability to present a united front against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, some argue that Trump will be able to manage the dissension in the ranks.
“The absences won’t hurt Trump’s ability to unite the party,” Bonjean said, “but he must keep his focus now on Hillary Clinton and avoid getting into fights with other Republicans that may not agree with his pending nomination.”
It is not unheard of for Republicans, especially those in tight re-election races, to skip the national convention when political waters look choppy.
In 2008, several top Republicans chose to skip. Some were due to urgent state issues -- like then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger grappling with a budget stalemate or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal dealing with Hurricane Gustav. Gustav even forced then-President Bush not to attend, making him the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson not to attend his party’s convention. Instead, he delivered his address by satellite hookup from the White House.
Sens. Pat Roberts, of Kansas; Susan Collins, of Maine; Gordon Smith, of Oregon; and Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina, also stayed home from the GOP convention in order to campaign. At that time, Bush’s approval ratings were hovering around 30 percent.
This was a departure, however, from the 2000 convention where various interest groups in the party all came together behind their candidate with a single-minded determination to take back the White House. It didn't hurt that Bush was leading in the polls and had seen his last primary challengers fade away months before.
At that convention, there were no reports of prominent Republicans choosing not to attend.
Adam Shaw is a Politics Reporter for FoxNews.com. He can be reached here or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.
Former State Dept. watchdog debunks central Clinton email claim
EXCLUSIVE: The State Department’s former top watchdog, in an interview with Fox News, rejected Hillary Clinton’s repeated claims that her personal email use was in line with her predecessors’ – while saying he would have immediately opened an investigation if he caught wind of a secretary of state using such an account.
Howard Krongard, a George W. Bush administration appointee who served as the State Department inspector general from April 2005 to January 2008, cited his own experience in challenging Clinton’s insistence that her practices were nothing out of the ordinary.
“Certainly to my knowledge at least, Secretary [Condoleezza] Rice did not have a personal server. I certainly never either sent an email to one or received an email from one,” said Krongard, who served during Rice’s tenure.
Further, he said, “I would have been stunned had I been asked to send an email to her at a personal server, private address. I would have declined to do so on security grounds and if she had sent one to me, I probably would have started an investigation.”
Krongard noted that during Clinton’s four-year term, from January 2009 to January 2013, there was no Senate-confirmed inspector general in place. Suggesting the Clintons show a pattern of avoiding oversight, Krongard indicated that Hillary Clinton benefited from the fact there was no IG during her term.
"I would’ve been the most unpopular person in that building [had I been there]," Krongard said, emphasizing that the inspector general has broad powers and the ability to rein in even the most senior political appointees. "They are the people who enforce the rules, and there was no one enforcing the rules during that time."
Krongard spoke with Fox News before the current State Department inspector general’s office, led by Steve A. Linick, issued an extensive report on email practices of previous secretaries of state.
The day that report was issued, Clinton said in an interview that her use of personal email was consistent with predecessors Colin Powell and Rice.
"Just like previous secretaries of state, I used a personal email. Many people did. It was not at all unprecedented," she said.
But, as Krongard indicated, the May 25 IG report clearly stated that Rice did not use personal email for government business. It said Powell used personal email on a limited basis to connect with people outside the department, and he worked with the State Department to secure the system. The report found Clinton did neither.
The report concluded Clinton’s use of a private server and account was not approved, and broke agency rules. The report said by the time she became secretary, the rules had repeatedly been updated, and were “considerably more detailed and more sophisticated.”
Krongard resigned from the IG position in December 2007 after accusations he blocked Iraq-related investigations, charges he denied.
Regarding the 2,100 emails on Clinton’s server found to have contained classified information -- and another 22 “Top Secret” messages containing intelligence deemed too damaging to national security to make public – Krongard questioned how that material got there. He said it would take a deliberate act for the intelligence to "jump the gap" between the classified computer networks and Clinton's personal server.
"It could be done by taking a screen shot with … a camera of a classified email, take a screen shot and send it to an unclassified network. It could be copied, but there are restrictions in the State Department and elsewhere as to what copiers can work from a classified network and it can only be a secure copier. So that may not have been easy," Krongard said.
Asked if it could happen by accident, Krongard simply said, "No."
He also challenged Clinton and State Department claims that the emails in question were “retroactively classified.”
"I don't understand it, because it was either classified by the creator or it was classified by reason of where it came from or what network it was on,” Krongard said.
Clinton consistently has claimed nothing she sent or received was marked classified at the time. While technically correct, this distinction also appears misleading. A January 2009 non-disclosure agreement signed by Clinton confirms her understanding that "classified information is marked or unmarked.”
Rather, it is the content and source that determine classification. Former intelligence officials say the emails were improperly handled by Clinton and her team and, once reviewed by the authority that originated the information, the emails were given proper classification markings.
While there is no public confirmation the Clinton server was breached, former senior military and intelligence officials -- including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and former Defense Intelligence Agency chief Mike Flynn – have said they believe foreign intelligence services targeted Clinton's email system.
In a recent interview with Fox News, the Romanian hacker who goes by the name Guccifer said he accessed the Clinton server with ease in March 2013. Anonymous government officials were quick to dismiss the hacker's claims, while admitting he was very skilled and breached the accounts of 100 Americans, including Powell.
Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Veteran memorials in 3 states vandalized ahead of Memorial Day
LOS ANGELES – Memorials to veterans in a Los Angeles neighborhood and a town in Kentucky, as well as a Civil War veterans cemetery in Virginia, were damaged as the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day, officials said.
A Vietnam War memorial in the Venice area of Los Angeles has been extensively defaced by graffiti. The vandalism occurred sometime during the past week, KCAL/KCBS-TV reported. The homespun memorial painted on a block-long wall on Pacific Avenue lists the names of American service members missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.
News of the vandalism came as another veterans-related memorial was reported damaged in Henderson, Kentucky. Police say a Memorial Day cross display there that honors the names of 5,000 veterans of conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War has been damaged by a driver who plowed through the crosses early Saturday.
In Virginia, the Petersburg National Battlefield has apparently has been looted, the National Park Service said. Numerous excavations were found at the Civil War battlefield last week, Jeffrey Olson, and agency spokesman, said in a news release Friday. Petersburg National Battlefield is a 2,700-acre park marks where more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died fighting during the Siege of Petersburg 151 years ago.
In Los Angeles' Venice neighborhood, the wall for missing veterans has been tagged previously, but the latest vandalism covers the bottom half of the memorial for much of its length.
To George Francisco, vice president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce, it's not just graffiti. "It's a desecration. I mean it's very simple. There's no sort of other way around it, said Francisco, who also runs a nonprofit called Veterans Foundation Inc.
"I've known the sacrifices these people made in an incredibly unpopular war. So to continue the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans is somewhat shocking, somewhat shocking and quite sad," Francisco said.
Painted by a Vietnam veteran and dedicated in 1992, it declares, "You are not forgotten" and states the number of missing as 2,273.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the number of unaccounted-for Americans was listed at 2,646 in 1973. About half were those missing in action, and the others were those killed in action but the body was not recovered. Since then, the remains of more than 1,000 American have been identified and returned and about 1,600 have still not been accounted for, although efforts continue.
In Henderson, Kentucky, Jennifer Richmond, a spokesman for the Henderson Police Department, said the community is devastated and working frantically to repair and replace the crosses that were put on display for a Memorial Day ceremony in Central Park.
She said a 27-year-old local man drove straight through the cross display in the Henderson park, about 130 miles west of Louisville, just before 6 a.m. Saturday, but investigators don't know if it was deliberate.
Anthony Burrus has been charged with criminal mischief in the first degree and leaving the scene of an accident. Online jail records do not list an attorney for Burrus.
Sanders: Americans, superdelegates must 'take a hard look' at IG report on Clinton emails
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that American voters, superdelegates and others must “take a hard look” at the recent federal report that found primary rival Hillary Clinton’s email setup while running the State Department broke agency rules.
“It was not a good report for Secretary Clinton. That is something that the American people, Democrats and delegates are going to have to take a hard look at," Sanders told CBS' "Face the Nation," during one of two TV network interviews Sunday.
The inspector general’s report last week concluded Clinton broke agency rules by using a private email server and that she would have been denied permission to have one had she first sought permission.
On Sunday, Sanders, desperately trailing the front-running Clinton in the delegate count, continued to not comment directly on the controversy.
But he repeated the notion that superdelegates, of which he needs more in a longshot bid to take the nomination, should indeed scrutinize the report.
“I mean everybody in America is keeping it in mind, and certainly the superdelegates are," Sanders said.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
The campaign also said the report notes that Clinton's use of personal email was known to officials within the department and that there is no evidence to show any successful breach of the former secretary of state's server.
In a separate interview Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sanders said he is focused on “the future of the American middle class and how we deal with the fundamental problems they are facing.”
He also declined to comment on the FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal, including what impact the findings might have on a Clinton general election bid.
However, Sanders appeared to perhaps take his concerns about the emails a step further, suggesting Americans are “tired of those kinds of politics.”
And he made clear presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has and will continue to make an issue of them if and when he faces Clinton directly in the November election.
“Donald Trump and other Republicans will seize on it,” he told NBC. “There’s no doubting that.”
Rubio all-in for Trump, sorry for personal attacks
Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that he fully supports former rival Donald Trump’s White House bid, apologized for his personal attacks in the bruising primary and hinting that he’d even speak for Trump at the July nominating convention.
“I want to be helpful,” the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Rubio argued that supporting Trump, now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is the only way to keep Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton from becoming president, regardless of some of his scorched-earth campaign rhetoric.
“Despite all my differences with Donald Trump, I have a better chance to get a conservative-nominated Supreme Court with him than I ever will with Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Rubio said Trump also will support other parts of the conservative agenda including the repeal of ObamaCare and rolling back federal regulations that are “damaging” to the U.S. economy.
Rubio suggested early last week that he wanted to help Trump defeat Clinton but that his decision was difficult.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
With his campaign failing, Rubio later went on the counter-attack, challenging Trump’s manliness by saying he had “tiny hands.”
On Sunday, Rubio said he privately apologized to Trump for the remark.
Rubio also suggested no single mistake led to his failed campaign, which he ended in mid-March after losing his home-state primary. But he suggested the personal attacks on Trump and not attacking Christie’s record in the debate were significant.
“If I had to do it over again, I just would have gone after him and attacked his record,” Rubio said.
Rubio, who is not seeking re-election in November for his Senate seat, was non-committal about his political future, saying again only that he might have sought re-election had friend and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera not entered the race.
Trump aide Lewandowski defends Martinez criticism, says focus should be jobs and economy
Top Donald Trump aide Corey Lewandowski on Sunday defended Trump’s recent criticism of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a fellow Republican, and deflected a host of other complaints about Trump's presidential campaign, saying the real issues are jobs and the economy.
“The governor is not doing the job,” Lewandowski said about Martinez on “Fox News Sunday,” in a sharp exchange with host Chris Wallace. “Let’s get it right. … This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. We stand by our statement.”
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is being chastised by party leaders and others for attacking a Latino Republican governor, in her home state, particularly when Republicans sorely need the minority and female vote to win the general election.
"Your governor has got to do a better job," Trump said at a rally Tuesday in Albuquerque, hitting Martinez on high state unemployment and other issues. "She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."
The remarks quelled speculation that Trump might pick Martinez, also chairman of the Republican Governors Association, as his running mate and brought to her defense such GOP leaders as House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Martinez endorsed for the party’s presidential nomination.
Martinez's office responded by telling reporters in a statement: "Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the president's Syrian refugee plan."
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
“We need to stop illegal immigration,” he said. “We need to put people back to work, cut taxes. That’s what this is about.”
Lewandowski also argued his purported disputes with fellow top campaign adviser Paul Manafort are media hype, saying they speak several times daily and work together on key decisions.
He also defended Trump’s decision not to debate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, suggesting the billionaire businessman was joking when he brought up the idea.
Lewandowski said the campaign is “solely focused” on beating Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“We’re not going to waste our time debating Bernie Sanders when he’s not going to be the nominee,” he said.
Sanders said Friday night on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” that he would still “love” to debate Trump and essentially asked him to reconsider.
“Trump claims to be a real tough guy, pushes people around. Hey Donald, come on up and let's debate about the future of America," Sanders said.
Lewandowski also defended against criticism that the campaign staff is too small to win a general election against one as deep and far-reaching as Clinton’s.
“We’ve been leaner with better results,” said Lewandowski, arguing the campaign won’t have 700 or 800 people, like Clinton’s. “We spent less money, got better results.”
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Sanders, Clinton split delegates at Wyoming convention; Bernie supporters challenge
Clinton, Sanders supporters clash at convention in Nevada |
Where are all this Idiots coming from? |
Richard Kusaba, a land surveyor from Kemmerer in southwest Wyoming, said the state party's decision to accept the challenge and forward it to the Democratic National Committee defused animosity that had been building ahead of the convention.
"After Nevada, I think the party realized that it needs Bernie Sanders' supporters in order to win the presidency," Kusaba said.
In Nevada earlier this month, Sanders' supporters threw chairs and shouted down convention speakers. Later, the state party chairwoman said she received death threats.
Clinton won the Nevada caucuses in February, but Sanders backers had hoped to pick up extra delegates by packing county and state party gatherings.
Sanders responded to the Nevada turmoil by dismissing characterizations of his supporters as prone to violence and pressing party leaders to recognize that "millions of Americans are outraged at establishment politics."
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
On Saturday, the atmosphere in a Cheyenne ballroom was cordial and orderly. Top national advisers to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders worked together as some 300 Democrats' opened the state convention.
At a recent party meeting in Philadelphia, Wyoming officials asked Sanders' deputy campaign manager, Rich Pelletier, to attend, Pelletier told The Associated Press. He said his goal in Cheyenne was to ensure a smooth process and that all delegates could express any concerns they have.
"It's democratic party with a small D as well as a big D," he said.
Marlon Marshall, who is Clinton's director of state campaigns and political engagement, also said he wanted a smooth process. "At the end of the day, we all have the same goals in mind," Marshall said.
Wyoming will split the delegates equally but also has four superdelegates that are technically not bound and can vote any way they want at the national convention. They had earlier pledged to support Clinton.
Wyoming party chairwoman Ana Cuprill said they agreed to accept Kusaba's challenge in order to seek clarity at the national level. Cuprill, a super delegate, declined to name who she will support at the convention but said she will support whomever has the most pledged delegates.
Kusaba has 15 days to draft his challenge and gather enough signatures from registered voters.
Cleveland officials to outline security measures for Republican National Convention
Union chief: Police not ready for GOP convention. This is exactly why Americans are sick and tire of these sissy a** politicians. |
Officials in Cleveland are gearing up for the thousands of visitors expected to descend upon northeast Ohio for the convention from July 18 to 21. The convention is expected to nominate billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump.
Trump’s rallies themselves have drawn intense protests with demonstrations resulting in violence between supporters and opponents and arrests and rioting in some cities. At least 35 people were arrested Friday in San Diego after one of his events.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson will join the Police Chief Calvin Williams and other city officials Tuesday to go over a “comprehensive overview of security preparations” for the upcoming convention, Jackson said in a statement.
"Despite rumors, the Division of Police is prepared and is on track with its planning goals," the statement said.
A Cleveland police union official has been sounding the alarm for months about how Cleveland officers are not being properly trained to deal with potentially tumultuous protests.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
Furthermore, several police departments across the nation have already pulled out of going to the convention, citing security concerns.
Greensboro, North Carolina police had planned to send at least 50 officers to Cleveland, but decided not to after saying earlier this week the city isn’t providing workers’ compensation for coverage for out-of-town officers and is requiring them to get physical exams they’d have to pay for themselves.
Deputy Police Chief Brian James wrote in a memo to the city’s police chief that he had spoken with police administrators experienced in planning events like the GOP convention and that they expressed “a lack of confidence in the city of Cleveland and their preparedness.”
"We have a responsibility to ensure that we are sending our officers to an event that is well planned," James wrote.
A Cincinnati police spokesman said Friday that the previous police chief had discussed sending officers to Cleveland, but his successor decided against it because of the insurance issue and because Cincinnati is hosting the national NAACP convention the same week.
City Council members have said officials are deploying about 5,000 officers – including police from other law enforcement agencies – to provide security for the convention.
"A lot has been said that Cleveland is not prepared for the RNC," Williams assured Wednesday at a news conference. "Well, I'll tell you today, we are prepared."
Louisiana lawmaker labels Declaration of Independence racist in debate
Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Denham Springs) Idiot of the Day! The Declaration of Independence came under attack from an unlikely quarter—a state legislator. Louisiana lawmaker Barbara Norton (D-Shreveport), argued that America’s founding document was racist during debate on a bill requiring public school students in the state to recite the Declaration of Independence daily, Fox & Friends reported Saturday. “For the Declaration of Independence only Caucasians (were) free,” Norton, who is black, said Wednesday during the debate on the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives. “And for you to bring a bill to require that our children will recite the Declaration of Independence I think it’s a little bit unfair.” Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Denham Springs) shelved the bill before lawmakers could vote on the proposal, which she sponsored. The measure would have required public school students in fourth through sixth grade to recite a passage from the Declaration of Independence. Norton and Pat Smith (D-Baton Rouge) told Hodges that children shouldn’t have to recite words written at a time when slavery was prevalent, reading the document was used to bar blacks from voting at polling places and equality wasn’t extended to all people. “Back in 1776 our forefathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence, I don’t believe they had any idea or that they thought for a moment that America would be as diverse as it is today,” Norton told KTAL-TV. Hodges told the station Norton and the other critics of the bill were wrong. “They really just don’t get it and to me I really feel that it’s as important as Math and English and conjugating verbs,” she said, adding that it was important to educate children to become good citizens. She also told the station she was astonished and saddened “at the hatred that was expressed at the forefathers and this document” during the debate. Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Denham Springs) Idiot of the Day! |
Judge orders release of documents tied to Trump University lawsuit
And Now It Begins, The Trump Bashing. |
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego calls for the documents to be released Thursday. The order comes in a response to a request by The Washington Post.
Trump University has been cited repeatedly in anti-Trump political ads during the primary campaign as evidence that Trump fails to live up to his promises. Trump’s lawyers have denied any wrongdoing in the case before Curiel as well as another class-action suit in San Diego and a $40 million lawsuit filed in 2013 by the state of New York alleging that more than 5,000 had been defrauded.
The billionaire real estate mogul, for his part, has claimed that Curiel is a "hater of Donald Trump" and should be ashamed of how he has handled the case. Trump also has questioned whether Curiel, who is Hispanic, is biased against him because of his call for deporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
“I think Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself. I think it’s a disgrace that he is doing this,” Trump said Friday.
The lawsuit overseen by Curiel states that Trump University's nationwide seminars and classes were like infomercials and pressured students to buy more but didn't deliver as promised in spite of students paying as much as $35,000 for seminars. Curiel already has set a Nov. 28 trial date.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
The Post reported that Curiel's order to release an estimated 1,000 pages of documents cites heightened public interest in Trump and that he had "placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue."
The judge appeared to reject the argument by Trump attorneys that the information had commercial value, saying that there was no support for the assertion that Trump University may resume operations.
Since the early 1980s, Trump personally has been sued at least 150 times in federal court, records show. Only a handful of those cases are pending, with the ones involving Trump University being the most significant.
The judge had previously floated the idea of a June trial but then previously settled on an August date before Trump’s rise in the primaries.
Trump's attorneys have resisted a trial during the campaign.
"This will be a zoo if it were to go to trial," Trump lawyer Daniel Petrocelli said at a March hearing.
Trump has railed against the judge, calling him hostile and suggesting his positions in the case may be the result of Trump's stance on border security. The presumptive GOP nominee has noted the Curiel's ethnicity.
Trump said of the judge at an Arkansas rally in February: "I believe he happens to be Spanish, which is fine. He's Hispanic — which is fine."
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, when is Hillary Clinton's FBI report going to be released?? |
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Memorial Day 2016: As summer begins remember this beach
Beach at Buna, Papua New Guinea |
Memorial Day, what does it mean? As your long weekend unfolds look around. Take in your world and listen.
What do you see? What do you hear?
Will you hear this long weekend referred to as “the unofficial start of summer?” Will you hear people talk about parties, barbecues, trips to the lake and the beach, probably.
As you feel the warm rays of the sun, smell the inviting flavors of fresh food sizzling on the grill and watch your children run around the yard or splash in the surf there is something you should remember.
It is another beach, from a time long since past. You can see that beach in the photo accompanying this article. It is the beach at Buna, Papua New Guinea, and it depicts just three of the young lives this weekend memorializes.
The photo is of three dead American GIs. They lie half buried in the sand of an island far from their homes, far from their loved ones.
Photographer George Strock's memorable image, taken in February 1943, wasn’t published until September of that year. When it appeared in Life magazine it became the first photo published, during World War II, which depicted dead Americans.
Censors released this and other graphic photos for a number of reasons. Given the year and the war one of those reasons still shocks me every time I read it. President Franklin Roosevelt was concerned that the public had grown detached from the astronomical price being paid by some so that we could live free.
Their faces are hidden, their names were not included.
The photograph was accompanied by an editorial explaining the decision to publish such a horrifying image. It asked the question many readers might have “Why print this picture….” One explanation offered, “Words are never enough.”
“Words are never enough.” As I read and then write that line, I am reminded of the tradition of the moment of silence. It's a time when each one of us is left to our thoughts, when we go to our most private place. When you observe a moment of silence your mind may be filled with prayer or thoughts of those lost and their families.
Or, perhaps, you are filled with that impossible to describe sadness brought on by the memory of someone you loved and can no longer see or hold in your arms.
Australian journalist Edward George Honey is believed to be the person who first suggested observing a moment of silence for fallen soldiers. He did so in a letter to a London newspaper just after the end of World War I. In that letter he proposed, "Five little minutes only…Five silent minutes of national remembrance."
Five minutes would seem an eternity for many in this age of instant everything. And, I don’t mean to judge the time we live in. Rather, I hope that on this Memorial Day you will share a thought or prayer for those lost.
As the sounds of a long holiday weekend fill the air, I encourage you to locate your moment and in that moment to remember.
Perhaps you will attend a parade or ceremony and pay your respects there.
But if you don’t make it to a formal event you can still take a moment to stop and honor the people for which Memorial Day exits.
If you find yourself at the beach, take a moment to look out over the sand, to the sea and the horizon. As the waves crash remember for a moment the three men on the beach at Buna.
Keep in mind that they are but three of thousands upon thousands who we must always remember.
In some small way I can’t help but think that as we remember them these brave men and women are found again.
And then, when you've finished, if you are lucky enough to be in the company of people you love, break the silence and tell them so.
If your gesture surprises them, or catches them off guard, tell them about the boys on the beach at Buna and how, in some small way, they made the moment possible.
Family of Kate Steinle files lawsuit over deadly shooting on San Francisco pier
Kate Steinle and 'Sanctuary Cities' |
The killing of Kate Steinle in July 2015 and the arrest of Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez put San Francisco's leaders on the defensive as critics and outside politicians called for a change in the city's sanctuary law. Despite national outrage, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday upheld those protections for people in the country illegally.
The sheriff at the time of the killing, Ross Mirkarimi, is named in the lawsuit, along with ICE and the Bureau of Land Management. Mirkarimi previously defended the release of the suspect, a repeat drug offender and habitual border-crosser.
Frank Pitre, the lawyer for Steinle's family, said the lawsuit points out "failures at every level."
"We're approaching the one year anniversary of Katie's death and it is a particularly difficult time for the family."
He said a seven-time convicted felon was able to obtain a BLM officer's handgun due to negligence and ICE agents did not pursue his deportation.
The murder case and the broader immigration issue made waves in the presidential race. Donald Trump vowed to scrutinize existing "sanctuary city" policies while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders indicated their support for the rules.
Steinle was shot in the back during an evening stroll with her father and a family friend along San Francisco’s popular waterfront on July 1. She died in her father’s arms.
Lopez-Sanchez told police that he found a gun wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench on the pier and that it fired accidentally when he picked it up. The weapon belonged to a Bureau of Land Management ranger, who reported it was stolen from his car in downtown San Francisco in June.
Ballistic experts testified at a September preliminary hearing that the shot ricocheted off the pier’s concrete surface before striking Steinle.
“A champion marksman could not accurately hit a target after first striking a concrete surface,” Gonzalez said.
Prosecutors say the second-degree murder charge is appropriate. If the judge dismisses the case, the district attorney could refile less-severe charges.
Lopez-Sanchez was in the country illegally after being released from a San Francisco jail despite a request from federal immigration authorities that local officials keep him in custody for possible deportation. Lopez-Sanchez was previously deported five times to his native Mexico.
Earlier this week, San Francisco officials upheld the city's strict sanctuary proctions for people who are in the country illegally.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for a measure that clarifies when city workers, including police officers, can notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement of a person's immigration status. Generally, the defendant must be charged with a violent crime and is someone who has been convicted of a violent crime within the past seven years.
The measure, however, also grants San Francisco's sheriff leeway to contact immigration authorities in the limited cases of defendants charged with a felony if they have been convicted of other felonies in the past.
San Francisco and other municipalities across California have enacted so-called sanctuary policies of ignoring requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold inmates thought to be in the country illegally for deportation proceedings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Tit for Tat ? ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the an...
-
What's the role of government? To one award-winning academic, it's discrimination according to race. On February 9th, Mic...
-
NEW YORK (AP) — As New York City faced one of its darkest days with the death toll from the coronavirus surging past 4,000 — more th...