Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Immigration violations are majority of federal cases for first time
For the first time, immigration violations now make up more than half of all federal prosecutions, easily outpacing drugs, fraud, organized crime, weapons charges and other crimes.
In the last fiscal year, 52 percent of all federal prosecutions - 69,636 cases - involved an immigration violation, compared to 63,405 prosecutions for all other federal crimes, according to a new study by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Clearinghouse, which sued the Justice Department to obtain the information.
"Imagine the other crimes that are not being prosecuted because immigration is such a priority," study co-author Susan Long told Fox News.
The two most common charges pursued by prosecutors relate to illegal entry or re-entry to the U.S. The penalty for a conviction on either charge can range from a few months to typically two years in federal prison for a person who re-enters the U.S. after being deported.
However, a more serious outcome from a conviction isn't jail, but a 10-year prohibition from entering the U.S.
"The worst consequence isn't that you go to jail for six months, but you are legallly barred from entering the U.S. for a decade," said Peter Nunez, a former U.S. Attorney for San Diego. "It really screws up immigration status. If word got out, from the White House on down, that the goal is to prosecute every single person who enters the U.S. illegally, and we don't care if you go to jail for an hour or a month, we want the conviction on the record - because that is the greatest deterrent you can achieve to prevent further illegal entries not only by those people but other people."
A study by the Congressional Research Service found that criminal prosecution was the number one factor in reducing recidivism, or illegal immigrant re-entry. The Border Patrol calls it "consequence delivery" and it was first rolled out in 2005 on a pilot basis called Operation Streamline.
Since the operation requires the cooperation of Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the courts, its use was not widespread and immigrants quickly moved to other sectors to re-enter.
The Syracuse study found that Texas saw the most prosecutions, with almost 44,000, compared to just under 3,000 in California.
"When they say half of all criminal prosecutions are immigration related, I say 'so what'," said Jessica Vaughn, a policy analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies. "These are bread and butter, slam-dunk cases. It is not a big deal to prosecute an illegal alien when you catch them in the act. To me, it is a dog-bites-man story. Most immigration cases are handled on an administrative basis."
While Long questioned the expense of prosecuting so many low -level offenders, Nunez said the cases are not complicated and do not represent say '50 percent' of a prosecutor's office budget. Under Operation Streamline guidelines, up to 40 defendants can be tried simultaneously before a judge in a trial lasting as little as an hour because typically the facts are not in dispute.
"If you are a previously deported immigrant and return to the U.S., it's a pretty easy prosecution," said Nunez. "The role of the prosecutor is to convict people as quickly and easily as possible. There is nothing wrong that."
Trump's pick for HHS could be the key to dismantling ObamaCare
President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement Monday that he'll nominate longtime ObamaCare nemesis Rep. Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is perhaps the clearest and most concrete sign yet from the incoming president that he is serious about dismantling President Obama’s signature health care law.
Price, R-Ga., a former orthopedic surgeon, has been one of a number of physicians who has worked to form a Republican Party alternative to the Affordable Care Act amid claims by Democrats that the GOP has no realistic plan to replace the law.
Trump has made the repeal-and-replace of ObamaCare a signature issue of the campaign, although he has rarely gone into specifics. Through the primaries and campaign, he said that he would remove restrictions that prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines, a move he claims will lead to greater competition and therefore lower premiums.
Since his election, Trump has appeared to shift somewhat on the issue, saying there are elements of the Affordable Care Act he may keep – including provisions preventing insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and allowing children to stay on their parents’ health care plans until the age of 26.
Conservatives, grass-roots and congressional Republicans immediately welcomed the Price pick, with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., calling him the “perfect choice.”
“As a legislator, he has played a leading role in developing conservative health care solutions that put patients first. We could not ask for a better partner to work with Congress to fix our nation's health care challenges,” Ryan said.
The reason for the excitement among conservatives at the Price pick is that he has a proven record of being committed to replacing ObamaCare, and has even spearheaded what some experts call the Republican’s best idea to replace it in 2017.
“He’s a fabulous choice, a visionary leader who gets down in the details and really does the hard work,” Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, told FoxNews.com. “He’s an incredible spokesman for free market ideas.”
“There’s no question, this guy is a serious guy,” Robert Moffit, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former senior official at HHS during the Reagan administration, told FoxNews.com.
Price’s plan, the Empowering Patients First Act -- which he has introduced regularly since 2009 -- offers free-market solutions that include providing tax relief for individually-bought health insurance, and would offer customers the ability to own and control their health care policies, taking it with them from job to job. It would also allow those in government programs Medicare and Medicaid to opt out and receive tax credits with which to buy a private plan instead.
Price’s fundamental principle is to mix transparency with competition in order to give customers greater choice, and subsequently bring down premiums.
Experts say that Price’s experience not only as a physician, but in Congress, where many of the features of his plan were included in the House Republican’s official plan to replace ObamaCare, will make him a a secretary who can get things done.
“For sheer compatibility, collegiality and competence in terms of grasping the nuances of what has to be done in health policy, I can’t think of a better candidate,” Moffit said. “He’s best understood by his legislative record, he is author of a lot of amendments and bills, but especially the Empowering Patients First Act, because it’s a highly detailed legislative proposal.”
Turner said that because he has been so deep in policy, he will not merely be a foot soldier for the White House, but will know the powers and options available to him to act right away.
“When they wrote the Affordable Care Act, they gave the HHS secretary 2000 powers about how the law was to be implemented, so the secretary now has enormous power,” Turner said. “He understands the law and the powers the law gives him to protect people right away from things such as the individual mandate.”
Carrier says it has deal with Trump to keep jobs in Indiana
Air conditioning company Carrier said Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with President-elect Donald Trump that would keep 1,000 jobs in Indianapolis.
Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Indiana's outgoing governor, planned to travel to the state Thursday to unveil the agreement alongside company officials.
Details of the agreement were not immediately available. A Trump transition source told Fox News that Carrier executives went to Trump Tower Tuesday to hash out the deal.
Trump spent much of his campaign pledging to keep companies like Carrier from moving jobs overseas. His focus on manufacturing jobs contributed to his unexpected appeal with working-class voters in states like Michigan, which has long voted for Democrats in presidential elections.
In a September debate against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, he railed against Carrier's decision to move hundreds of air-conditioner manufacturing jobs from Indianapolis to Mexico.
"So many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this," Trump said. "We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States."
In February, Carrier said it would shutter its Indianapolis plant employing 1,400 workers and move its manufacturing to Mexico.
The plant's workers would have been laid off over three years starting in 2017.
United Technologies Electronic Controls also announced then that it planned to move its Huntington manufacturing operations to a new plant in Mexico, costing the northeastern Indiana city 700 jobs by 2018. Those workers make microprocessor-based controls for the HVAC and refrigeration industries.
Carrier and UTEC are both units of Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp. -- which also owns Pratt & Whitney, a big supplier of fighter jet engines that relies in part on U.S. military contracts.
Carrier wasn't the only company Trump assailed. He pledged to give up Oreos after Nabisco's parent, Mondelez International, said it would replace nine production lines in Chicago with four in Mexico. He criticized Ford after the company said it planned to invest $2.5 billion in engine and transmission plants in Mexico.
Trump tweeted on Thanksgiving Day that he was "making progress" on trying to get Carrier to stay in Indiana.
Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, which represents Carrier workers, said of Tuesday's news: "I'm optimistic, but I don't know what the situation is. I guess it's a good sign. ... You would think they would keep us in the loop. But we know nothing."
Thursday's event will mark a rare public appearance for Trump, who has spent nearly his entire tenure as president-elect huddled with advisers and meeting with possible Cabinet secretaries. He plans to make other stops later this week as part of what advisers have billed as a "thank you" tour for voters who backed him in the presidential campaign.
Trump to nominate Steven Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary, sources say
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin to be his Treasury Secretary, two sources close to the transition told Fox News late Tuesday.
One source told Fox that a formal announcement of Mnuchin's nomination could come as early as Wednesday.
Mnuchin had long been considered a favorite for the Treasury position. Two weeks ago, businessman and close Trump associate Carl Icahn tweeted that Trump was considering Mnuchin for the post.
Mnuchin, 53, was appointed Trump's campaign finance chair this past May. Through his work, Mnuchin grew close to Trump's children and son-in-law, Jared Kushner -- a top adviser to Trump -- and worked with them on fundraising events.
The campaign raised at least $169 million, in addition to the $66 million Trump spent out of his own pocket. Though that was far short of what Hillary Clinton raised, it represented an impressive haul given that Trump didn't begin fundraising in earnest until the end of May.
If approved by the Senate, Mnuchin would follow in the tradition of two previous treasury secretaries -- Robert Rubin in the Clinton administration and Henry Paulson in George W. Bush's. All had vast Wall Street experience gained from years spent working at Goldman Sachs.
Yet unlike Rubin and Paulson and unlike President Barack Obama's two treasury secretaries, Timothy Geithner and Jacob Lew, Mnuchin would bring no government experience to Treasury, something that could prove a hurdle in navigating the tricky politics of Washington.
After graduating from Yale in 1985. Mnuchin worked for Goldman Sachs for 17 years. His father, Robert Mnuchin, had himself worked for Goldman for three decades, becoming a partner in charge of equity trading.
The younger Mnuchin amassed his own fortune at the firm and then left in 2002. He worked briefly for Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund led by George Soros, before starting his own investment firm, Dune Capital Management.
As head of this firm, Mnuchin and other investors participated in the purchase of failed mortgage lender IndyMac in 2009 and renamed it OneWest. The failure of IndyMac in 2008 with $32 billion in assets was one of the biggest casualties of the housing bust.
Mnuchin became chairman of OneWest, which was sold to CIT Group in 2015. Before the sale, OneWest faced a string of lawsuits over its home foreclosure practices.
This month, housing advocates filed a complaint asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to investigate OneWest for possible violations of the Fair Housing Act. The lender failed to place branches in minority communities, provided few mortgages to black homebuyers and preserved foreclosed properties in white neighborhoods while allowing similar homes in minority communities to fall into disrepair, according to the California Reinvestment Coalition and Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California.
CIT declined to respond directly to the complaint but stressed in a statement that it is "committed to fair lending and works hard to meet the credit needs of all communities and neighborhoods we serve."
Mnuchin also became a major investor in Hollywood, helping finance a number of movies, including the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar."
As treasury secretary, Mnuchin would be the administration's chief economic spokesman, serving as a liaison not only to Wall Street but also to global investors, a critical role given the trillions of dollars in treasury bonds owned by foreigners. In addition, it would be his job to sell the new administration's economic program to Congress.
Mnuchin will also oversee a sprawling bureaucracy that includes the Internal Revenue Service and the agency that issues millions of Social Security and other benefit checks each month. Treasury also runs the agency that wages the financial war on terrorism.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump officially nominated Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., as Health and Human Services Secretary and tapped Elaine Chao, former President George W. Bush's Labor Secretary, to be secretary of transportation.
Price, a former surgeon, supports the repeal of ObamaCare and has offered a replacement that would provide tax credits to subsidize the purchase of individual and family health insurance policies. His proposal would also allow insurers to sell policies across state line, boost incentives for health savings accounts, and create high-risk pools to help individuals afford coverage, while barring assistance for nearly all abortions.
Price has emerged as a top advocate of House Speaker Paul Ryan's plan to transform Medicare from a program that supplies a defined set of benefits into a "premium support" model that would, similar to Obamacare, offer subsidies for participants to purchase health care directly from insurance companies. He also wants the Medicare eligibility age to rise to 67.
Price also backs, as does Trump, a plan by House Republicans to sharply cut the Medicaid health program for the poor and disabled and turn it over to the states to run. Like Trump and most other Republicans, Price wants federal funding withdrawn from Planned Parenthood, which has come under attack for its practice of supplying tissue from aborted fetuses to medical researchers.
If confirmed as Transportation Secretary, Chao would face many pressing issues, such as how to boost the nation's aging infrastructure so that it can accommodate population growth and not become a drag on the economy, modernizing the nation's air traffic control system, ensuring that new transportation technologies are adopted in a safe manner and responding to a surge in traffic fatalities.
After serving in the Bush administration, Chao served on the board of directors for Bloomberg Philanthropies, run by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She resigned last year after learning the organization planned to expand an environmental initiative to shutter coal-fired power plants.
Almost 90 percent of Kentucky's electricity comes from coal, and Chao's ties to the organization were used against her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, during his 2014 re-election campaign.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Ohio State police officer hailed hero for quick reaction to campus attacker
Officer Alan Horujko |
An Ohio State police officer was being hailed a hero for his quick reaction after killing a man a minute after he drove his car into a crowd and then stabbed multiple people Monday.
Officer Alan Horujko, who had only joined the department in January 2015, was responding to reports of a nearby gas leak when the suspect jumped a curb on campus at around 9:52 a.m.
Ohio State police officer Alan Horujko.
(Ohio State University Police via AP)
"The officer encountered the individual by 9:53 — the subject was neutralized by 9:53," Drake said, underscoring how quickly events unfolded.
Director of Ohio State’s Department of Public Safety Monica Moll echoed Drake’s sentiments, saying Horujko is owed a debt of gratitude.
"He did a fabulous job today," she said.
University police Chief Craig Stone said it was fortunate Horujko had gone to investigate the gas leak at the same time the attack was unfolding. It helped him respond quickly to the attacker.
Artan, 18, plowed a small gray Honda into the crowd outside Watts Hall, an engineering classroom building. Two law enforcement sources told Fox News that Artan came into the United States as a Somali refugee, and was granted status as a legal permanent resident.
The motive behind the attack is still unclear, but law enforcement sources told Fox News the FBI was examining a Facebook post that may have been written by Artan earlier Monday. The post appeared to condemn U.S. military action in Muslim countries.
“There has never been a more dangerous or complicated and challenging time to be a police officer, and we had a dynamic well-trained professional today save the lives of many of our residents and students," Ginther added.
Horujko, 28, was placed on administrative leave Monday and the investigation turned over to Columbus police, consistent with protocol for police shootings. Horujko appears to be an avid runner, with several half-marathons under his belt, according to online race results.
Gov. John Kasich praised the speed with which Horujko and other officers acted.
Kasich, a Republican, described the response as "an unbelievable, amazing and outstanding and heroic performance on the part of our first responders."
The university police department is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. It has officers on the main campus in Columbus and on regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark and Wooster.
Trump wins Michigan's 16 electoral votes, state board says
President-elect Trump mocks efforts to recount the ballots |
President-elect Donald Trump has won Michigan's 16 electoral votes.
The Board of State Canvassers certified Trump's 10,704-vote victory on Monday, nearly three weeks after the election. The two-tenths of a percentage point margin out of nearly 4.8 million votes is the closest presidential race in Michigan in more than 75 years.
Trump's win in Michigan gives the Republican 306 electoral votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 232.
Trump is the first Republican presidential nominee to win Michigan since 1988.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein is expected to ask for a recount. She has until Wednesday. Trump would have seven days to file objections to her request.
Trump to nominate Rep. Tom Price for HHS secretary, sources say
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to head the Department of Health and Human Services, two sources close to the transition told Fox News late Monday.
Trump was expected to formally announce Price's nomination Tuesday morning.
If confirmed by the Senate, Price will play a central role in Republican efforts to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Trump has pledged to move quickly on overhauling his predecessor's signature measure, but has been vague about what he hopes to see in a replacement bill.
The president-elect has said he favors keeping provisions that allow young people to stay on their parents' health insurance and that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
Price, a 62-year-old six-term congressman and orthopedic surgeon, has chaired the House Budget Committee for the past two years. A bookish conservative from the Atlanta suburbs, Price has worked closely with House Speaker Paul Ryan to assemble GOP budgets aimed at reducing the annual deficit.
Last week, Price said whatever Republicans do to replace Obama's health care law will bear a "significant resemblance" to a 2015 measure that was vetoed by the president. That bill would have gutted some of the health care law's main features: Medicaid expansion, subsidies to help middle-class Americans buy private policies, the tax penalties for individuals who refused to get coverage and several taxes to support coverage expansion. The bill would have delayed implementation for two years.
Price insisted that Republicans can keep the protections for those with existing medical conditions without mandating that all individuals carry coverage or pay a penalty to support an expanded insurance pool. Price said Republicans want to address "the real cost drivers" of health care price spikes, which he said were not necessarily sicker patients, but a heavy regulatory burden, taxes and lawsuits against medical professionals.
Plane crash in Colombia carrying members of Brazilian soccer team leaves at least 76 dead
At least 76 people died in a plane crash in Colombia and there were five survivors, police said Tuesday.
The chartered aircraft was carrying 81 people, including members of first division Chapecoense soccer team which was on its way to Colombia for a regional tournament final, crashed on its way to Medellin's international airport.
Gen. Jose Acevedo, head of police in the area surrounding Medellin, provided the information.
La Ceja Mayor Elkin Ospina, where the plane had crashed, confirmed at least three of the passengers were found alive. The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by the charter airline LaMia, declared an emergency at 10 p.m. Monday because of an electrical failure.
"It's a tragedy of huge proportions," Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio.
Authorities and rescuers were immediately activated but an air force helicopter had to turn back because of low visibility. Heavy rainfall is complicating the nighttime search and authorities urged journalists to stay off the roads to facilitate the entry of ambulances and rescuers.
Images broadcast on local television showed three male passengers arriving to a local hospital in ambulances on stretchers and covered in blankets connected to an IV. All were apparently alive and one of them was reportedly a Chapecoense defender named Alan Ruschel.
A video published on the team's Facebook page showed the team readying for the flight earlier Monday in Sao Paulo's Guarulhos international airport.
The team, from the small city of Chapeco, was in the middle of a fairy tale season. It joined Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s and made it last week to the Copa Sudamericana finals -- the equivalent of the UEFA Europa League tournament -- after defeating two of Argentina's fiercest squads, San Lorenzo and Independiente, as well as Colombia's Junior.
The team is so modest that its 22,000-seat arena was ruled by tournament organizers too small to host the final match, which was instead moved to a stadium 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the north in the city of Curitiba.
"Chapecoense was the biggest source of happiness in the town," the club's vice-president, Ivan Tozzo, told Brazil's SporTV. "Many in the town are crying."
Monday, November 28, 2016
Priebus: Trump will void Cuba deal unless Castro regime moves to concessions
President-elect Donald Trump will keep his campaign promise to void a 2014 deal that improves diplomacy and commerce between the U.S. and Cuba, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday, a day after the announcement of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s death.
“President-elect Trump has been pretty clear,” Priebus told “Fox News Sunday,” in a wide-ranging interview. “We’ve got to have a better deal.”
Trump, during his successful White House bid, argued against President Obama’s 2014 executive action that attempts to “normalize” relations between the United States and the communist country.
Obama used executive actions to ease sanctions against Cuba. The president ended the 180-day ban on ships docking at U.S. ports after sailing from Cuba, paved the way for doctors to work with Cuban researchers on medical investigations and allowed Americans to travel to Cuba in cultural exchange programs.
Obama visited Cuba in March, becoming the first president since Calvin Coolidge to visit the island nation. Coolidge took the trip in 1928.
Trump, during a campaign stop in September, said if elected president he would void Obama’s deal unless Cuba met his demands, which included “religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners.”
The incoming Republican president and other critics said Obama's deal vastly improves the island nation’s isolated economy, while the U.S. gets nothing in return.
Priebus repeated that Cuban leader Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro, will have to “meet our demands” for such a deal to continue.
He cited such issues as Cuba opening up its economic markets and putting an end to religious oppression and other human rights violations.
“These things need to change,” said Priebus, making clear that the continuing Castro regime has to at least show signs of moving in those directions.
“This isn’t going to be one way,” he said. “I think the president-elect has been clear on this.”
Priebus also slammed 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s efforts to have vote recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, calling the effort, which Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton joined Saturday, a “fundraising scheme.”
He called the effort a “total waste of time.”
Priebus also downplayed rumors about vicious infighting within the transition team about whether Trump should pick former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney as his secretary of state.
“He’s going to have the best possible people,” said Priebus, while acknowledging “teams of rivals” in the debate over who will run the State Department. “He’s going to make the best decision for the American people.”
Police detonate IED found near US Embassy in Philippines
Authorities in Manila detonated an improvised explosive device Monday that was found in a trash bin near the U.S. Embassy. No one was reported hurt in the incident.
At least two explosions were heard as a bomb disposal unit detonated what Metropolitan Manila police Chief Oscar Albayalde later described as an IED. Authorities were forced to shut a portion of a major roadway where the device was found.
The improvised bomb fashioned from an 81-mm mortar round, cellphone, blasting cap and a small battery could have been powerful enough to kill people within 110 yards, police officials said.
"After analysis, we can link it to the Maute because of what happened in Davao, the same (bomb) signature," dela Rosa said.
He added that the Maute group may have wanted to create a diversion after suffering heavy losses in its war against military and police in the south.
Senior Supt. Joel Coronel, the Manila city police chief, said they were checking security cameras in the area and seeking information from at least two eyewitnesses.
The trash bin where the device was found was about 22 yards from the embassy compound.
Philippine troops, backed by bomber aircraft, have recently attacked the Maute militants, including an operation launched last Thursday based on intelligence reports that the group was continuing to make bombs after the Sept. 2 bombing in Davao city, the president's hometown, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said.
Military officials say that the militants, a loosely organized group that has more than 200 members, were initially affiliated with an Indonesian terror suspect but have lately used black flags and arm and head bands with Islamic State group symbols in a possible attempt to gain support from the Middle East-based group.
Evolution or flip-flopping? Why Trump is drawing flak over emerging positions
Let’s imagine, in an alternative universe, that the
media were as sympathetic to Donald Trump as they were to Barack Obama
right after his election.
The coverage might look something like this:
President-elect Trump has shown himself to be surprisingly inclusive in reaching out to former rivals who bitterly criticized him, including Mitt Romney, who called him a “fraud,” Nikki Haley, who questioned his disavowal of the KKK, and Rick Perry, who dubbed him a “cancer on conservatism.”
President-elect Trump has called a temporary truce in his rhetorical war on the media, even venturing to the much-derided New York Times and describing the newspaper as a “jewel.”
President-elect Trump has shown striking flexibility in rethinking some of campaign promises, abandoning his support for waterboarding, declaring an open mind on climate change and walking away from overheated threats to have Hillary Clinton prosecuted. He also agreed to keep two key parts of ObamaCare.
Even before taking the oath, he appears to be growing into the job.
Now of course such positive assessments would have to be balanced with more critical ones. One man’s post-election evolution is another man’s blatant flip-flop. A Politico headline: “15 Trump Flip-Flops in 15 Days.”
But the positive analyses are, shall we say, muted.
Let’s face it, almost no one in the media expected Trump to win, and few are giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I never believed that Trump, if he won, would seek a special prosecutor after Clinton had already been cleared by the FBI. It would look like he was seeking revenge against a rival at a time when he’d have far bigger problems to tackle.
There has been some legitimate focus on disappointment on the right after all those “Lock Her Up” rallies. Breitbart, Steve Bannon’s former outfit, ran a “Broken Promise” headline. But more common are a bunch of Should-Hillary-Be-Jailed-Or-Not cable segments.
Similarly, Trump’s evolving views on some issues have either been played down or drawn left-handed compliments, as in this column by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria:
“One might wonder why he didn’t have that conversation during the campaign or why he pounded home the opposite views on all these topics for a year and a half. But at this point, it doesn’t matter. Trump is president-elect. We should all hope that he flip-flops some more.” The liberal Zakaria had earlier called Trump a “cancer on American democracy.”
From the right, Trump critic Kathleen Parker goes off on “Donald Trump’s many campaign lies. What else can one call the promises that he now treats as alien concepts?” Though she admits she’s happier with his new positions.
As for Trump trying to bring establishment Republicans into his tent, the press gave him some credit on Romney for an hour or two. But now the coverage is all about whether Romney critics and Rudy Giuliani fans can derail his nomination as secretary of State. That’s a legitimate story, and the best horse race we have at the moment. But it’s still incredible that Mitt is even in the running.
And it’s equally amazing that Nikki Haley, who was so critical of Trump during the campaign, was tapped as U.N. ambassador.
Other big media narratives at the moment:
Should Trump divest himself of his real estate empire to avoid conflicts of interest? That’s a thorny question, and some of his properties were promoted, rather than hidden, during the campaign. But the truth is it would take years to sell off his hotels and golf courses, even if he wanted to. Still, the New York Times yesterday ran a zillion-word lead story on the subject.
Should Jared Kushner play a role in his administration? There was much teeth-gnashing about whether Trump tapping his son-in-law would violate a nepotism law, but nothing prevents the president-elect from using him in an informal role. There are questions about his complete lack of government or diplomatic experience, but Kushner did help manage a winning presidential campaign.
Should there be a recount in Wisconsin (and Michigan and Pennsylvania)? Trump has ripped Jill Stein’s fundraising as a “scam” and chided the Clinton campaign for cooperating, even though she didn’t seek the recount and claims no evidence of foul play. But the story is somewhat overplayed because it won’t change who presides over the inauguration in January.
I am all for aggressive coverage of new presidents. The relationship between the media and an incoming leader of the free world should always be adversarial. But anyone who thinks Trump is being covered the way President-elect Obama was has a very short memory.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
The coverage might look something like this:
President-elect Trump has shown himself to be surprisingly inclusive in reaching out to former rivals who bitterly criticized him, including Mitt Romney, who called him a “fraud,” Nikki Haley, who questioned his disavowal of the KKK, and Rick Perry, who dubbed him a “cancer on conservatism.”
President-elect Trump has called a temporary truce in his rhetorical war on the media, even venturing to the much-derided New York Times and describing the newspaper as a “jewel.”
President-elect Trump has shown striking flexibility in rethinking some of campaign promises, abandoning his support for waterboarding, declaring an open mind on climate change and walking away from overheated threats to have Hillary Clinton prosecuted. He also agreed to keep two key parts of ObamaCare.
Even before taking the oath, he appears to be growing into the job.
Now of course such positive assessments would have to be balanced with more critical ones. One man’s post-election evolution is another man’s blatant flip-flop. A Politico headline: “15 Trump Flip-Flops in 15 Days.”
But the positive analyses are, shall we say, muted.
Let’s face it, almost no one in the media expected Trump to win, and few are giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I never believed that Trump, if he won, would seek a special prosecutor after Clinton had already been cleared by the FBI. It would look like he was seeking revenge against a rival at a time when he’d have far bigger problems to tackle.
There has been some legitimate focus on disappointment on the right after all those “Lock Her Up” rallies. Breitbart, Steve Bannon’s former outfit, ran a “Broken Promise” headline. But more common are a bunch of Should-Hillary-Be-Jailed-Or-Not cable segments.
Similarly, Trump’s evolving views on some issues have either been played down or drawn left-handed compliments, as in this column by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria:
“One might wonder why he didn’t have that conversation during the campaign or why he pounded home the opposite views on all these topics for a year and a half. But at this point, it doesn’t matter. Trump is president-elect. We should all hope that he flip-flops some more.” The liberal Zakaria had earlier called Trump a “cancer on American democracy.”
From the right, Trump critic Kathleen Parker goes off on “Donald Trump’s many campaign lies. What else can one call the promises that he now treats as alien concepts?” Though she admits she’s happier with his new positions.
As for Trump trying to bring establishment Republicans into his tent, the press gave him some credit on Romney for an hour or two. But now the coverage is all about whether Romney critics and Rudy Giuliani fans can derail his nomination as secretary of State. That’s a legitimate story, and the best horse race we have at the moment. But it’s still incredible that Mitt is even in the running.
And it’s equally amazing that Nikki Haley, who was so critical of Trump during the campaign, was tapped as U.N. ambassador.
Other big media narratives at the moment:
Should Trump divest himself of his real estate empire to avoid conflicts of interest? That’s a thorny question, and some of his properties were promoted, rather than hidden, during the campaign. But the truth is it would take years to sell off his hotels and golf courses, even if he wanted to. Still, the New York Times yesterday ran a zillion-word lead story on the subject.
Should Jared Kushner play a role in his administration? There was much teeth-gnashing about whether Trump tapping his son-in-law would violate a nepotism law, but nothing prevents the president-elect from using him in an informal role. There are questions about his complete lack of government or diplomatic experience, but Kushner did help manage a winning presidential campaign.
Should there be a recount in Wisconsin (and Michigan and Pennsylvania)? Trump has ripped Jill Stein’s fundraising as a “scam” and chided the Clinton campaign for cooperating, even though she didn’t seek the recount and claims no evidence of foul play. But the story is somewhat overplayed because it won’t change who presides over the inauguration in January.
I am all for aggressive coverage of new presidents. The relationship between the media and an incoming leader of the free world should always be adversarial. But anyone who thinks Trump is being covered the way President-elect Obama was has a very short memory.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
Trump back to business as recount distractions loom large
President-elect Donald Trump will be back at the saddle Monday in New York as he looks to decide who will fill the integral appointments in his cabinet as concerns about a possible secretary of state choice rise and the distraction of a recount vote in Wisconsin, and possibly other key battleground states, set to press on.
Trump has a series of meetings scheduled to try and narrow down the foundation of his cabinet after spending Thanksgiving weekend at his Palm Beach, Fla. estate. As the talks are reportedly expected to intensify over the course of the week, concerns about the possible appointment of Mitt Romney as secretary of state were made known on Sunday.
Top adviser Kellyanne Conway said Sunday that she will support whoever Trump picks, but continues to argue that the grass-roots supporters who backed his improbable victory feel let down about Romney, considering he called Trump a “con man” and a “phony.”
"People feel betrayed to think that … Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump … would be given the most significant Cabinet post of all,” Conway said on NBC's "Meet the Press.”
Trump and his team of advisers appear to be split on whether Trump should pick Romney, a former GOP presidential nominee, or former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an early Trump loyalist.
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on “Fox News Sunday” downplayed rumors over vicious infighting over who will lead the State Department, saying that Trump's "going to make the best decision for the American people.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told “Fox & Friends Sunday” that a Romney choice would be disappointing, adding "I think there's nothing Mitt Romney can say that doesn't sound phony and frankly pathetic.”
Romney was one of the most notable Republicans to speak out against Trump during his campaign.
People involved in the transition process told the Associated Press Trump's decision on his secretary of state did not appear to be imminent. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and John Bolton, a former ambassador to the U.N., have also been under consideration.
Meanwhile, looming in the background of Trump’s cabinet picks is the recount that is slated to take place in Wisconsin. State election officials are expected to meet Monday to discuss a possible timeline for a recount of the state’s presidential election.
The recount comes at the request of Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who says it’s important to determine whether hacking may have affected the results. Stein also plans to request recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Trump went on a Twitter offensive Sunday in an attempt to assail that the recount front. He claimed widespread voter fraud in his storm of tweets.
"I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," Trump tweeted in the afternoon before alleging in an evening tweet "serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California."
Trump narrowly won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and, as of Wednesday, held a lead of almost 11,000 votes in Michigan, with the results awaiting state certification Monday. All three would need to flip to Hillary Clinton to upend the Republican's victory, and Clinton's team says Trump has a larger edge in all three states than has ever been overcome in a presidential recount.
There's been no evidence of widespread tampering or hacking that would change the results; indeed, Clinton's team said it had been looking for abnormalities and found nothing that would alter the results.
Clinton's lawyer Marc Elias said her team has been combing through the results since the election in search of anomalies that would suggest hacking by Russians or others and found "no actionable evidence." But "we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself," he said.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Yes, Hillary Clinton should still be prosecuted for her e-mails
One of the questions being bandied about these days is whether a Trump Justice Department should prosecute former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for all the laws she broke with her private e-mail server and subsequent breaches of security. An obvious answer lies in the concept of equal justice under the law and that none of us is above the law. But I believe a more important consideration is the fact that more than 64 million voters were willing to have Hillary Clinton as their president anyway. I largely attribute this sad reality to a corrupt and dishonest news media that has become little more than the propaganda machine of the Democratic Party. Not only would prosecuting Clinton serve to re-establish our nation’s concept of justice, it could also serve as an opportunity to prosecute and indict a news media that nearly facilitated a criminal becoming our nation’s next president.
Douglas Fleecs, Greeley
Trump calls Stein, Clinton vote recount effort 'ridiculous,' a 'scam'
Conservatives seek special prosecutor for Clinton |
President-elect Donald Trump broke his silence Saturday on the multi-state vote-recount effort led by Jill Stein and joined this weekend by Hillary Clinton, another failed 2016 White House candidate, calling the effort “ridiculous” and a scam.
Stein, the Green Party candidate, started the effort a couple of days ago to get recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- states that Trump surprisingly won.
Stein has raised $5.8 million toward her goal of $7 million and on Friday made her first official move -- requesting a recount in Wisconsin.
"The people have spoken and the election is over,” Trump, a Republican, said Saturday. “We must accept this result and then look to the future. … “This recount is just a way for Jill Stein. … to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount.”
The Clinton campaign joined the effort, despite Clinton having already conceded the race.
“Now that a recount is underway, we believe we have an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to participate in ongoing proceedings to ensure that an accurate vote count will be reported,” Hillary for America attorney Marc Erik Elias said on Medium.
Stein, who got roughly 1 percent of the national vote, says she wants to make sure hackers didn't skew the results in those swing states.
“We’re standing up for a voting system that we deserve,” Stein said Friday.
Wisconsin law calls for the state to perform a recount at a candidate's request as long as he or she can pay for it. The state has never performed a presidential recount. Election officials estimate the effort will cost up to $1 million.
Trump and his transition team had been quiet on the recount effort until the Clinton team announced its participation, instead focusing on the latest additions to Trump’s administration.
While there is no evidence of election tampering in the states, Green Party spokesman George Martin insisted "the American public needs to have it investigated to make sure our votes count."
Clinton, who was the Democratic presidential nominee, leads the national popular vote by close to 2 million votes. Trump scored narrow victories in key battleground states, however, giving him the necessary 270 electoral votes to assume the presidency.
While Trump won in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he holds a slim lead in Michigan, where a Republican presidential candidate hadn't won since 1988.
The Associated Press still hasn't officially called that race, but Trump's 10,704-vote lead was expected to be certified by the state elections board Monday. The deadline to ask for a recount is Wednesday.
Trump leads by little more than 22,000 votes in Wisconsin. State administrator Michael Haas cited recount requests by Stein and independent candidate Rocky De La Fuente when he announced Friday that the recount was expected to be completed by the Dec. 13 federal deadline.
"As Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, 'We must accept this result and then look to the future,' " Trump also said Saturday. "This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded.”
A group of election lawyers and data experts have been asking Clinton's team to call for a recount of the vote totals in three states -- to ensure that a cyberattack was not committed to manipulate the totals.
There is no evidence that the results were hacked or that electronic voting machines were compromised.
Any attempted hack to swing the results in three states would have been a massive and unprecedented undertaking. But electoral security was an issue that loomed large in many Americans' minds this year, considering emails from the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee were hacked and made public by WikiLeaks.
Clinton privately and publically conceded the Nov. 8 race to Trump, purportedly at President Obama’s urging.
Elias said the decision to join in the recount came after numerous meetings with experts.
He also said the Clinton campaign has received “hundreds of messages, emails and calls urging us to do something, anything, to investigate claims that the election results were hacked and altered in a way to disadvantage Secretary Clinton.
Elias also said that the campaign has taken those concerns “extremely seriously and “understand the heartbreak felt by so many who worked so hard to elect Hillary Clinton.”
Obama Whitewashes Castro's Tyranny in "Carefully-Worded" Statement
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro |
Victims |
President Obama and the Mainstream Media are mourning the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro -- whitewashing his crimes against the Cuban people while comparing him to George Washington.
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"We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," the president said in a statement.
One journalist called the statement "carefully-worded."
It
is absolutely sickening to watch the White House and the Mainstream
Media mourn the loss of their beloved Castro -- a ruthless dictator who
was the personification of evil.
Sen. Marco Rubio was enraged by President Obama's half-hearted attempt to whitewash Castro's atrocities.
Sen. Marco Rubio was enraged by President Obama's half-hearted attempt to whitewash Castro's atrocities.
ABC's
Jim Avila said Castro "was considered, even to this day, the George
Washington of his country among those who remain in Cuba."
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell lavished the evil man with high praise mentioning he "will be revered" for education and social services and medical care to all of his people."
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell lavished the evil man with high praise mentioning he "will be revered" for education and social services and medical care to all of his people."
Our friends at Newsbusters have compiled some of the most offensive comments from the American media.
President-elect Donald Trump, on the other hand, called out Castro for who he really was - "a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people.
"Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights," Trump said in a statement.
Even Vice President-elect Mike Pence offered the right tone on Castro's death -- posting this tweet:
President-elect Donald Trump, on the other hand, called out Castro for who he really was - "a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people.
"Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights," Trump said in a statement.
Even Vice President-elect Mike Pence offered the right tone on Castro's death -- posting this tweet:
President-elect
Trump is absolutely correct. Our sympathies and our prayers should be
with the Cuban people -- who have suffered for decades under the
oppressive regime of Castro.
Perhaps they can find a measure of solace knowing Castro will spend eternity with Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and a legion of history's most ruthless despots and tyrants.
Following is President-elect Trump's full statement:
Perhaps they can find a measure of solace knowing Castro will spend eternity with Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and a legion of history's most ruthless despots and tyrants.
Following is President-elect Trump's full statement:
"Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.
"While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve.And here is President Obama's statement:
"Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty. I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba."
"At this time of Fidel Castro’s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.
For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends - bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.
Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America."
Mosques in California receive letters threatening Muslims
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said that the same letter was sent to multiple mosques last week according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose all received the latter that was addressed to "the children of Satan." It was then signed by "American for A Better Way."
"There's a new sheriff in town — President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims," the letter states, CAIR reported. "And, he's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews (sic)."
CAIR-LA’s executive director Hussam Ayloush said the "irresponsible, hateful rhetoric" of the Trump campaign has fueled "a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters."
"I'm not saying (Trump) created racist people," Ayloush said. "He normalized it. While he might say he's not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans."
A spokesman for the San Jose Police Department said officials have opened an investigation in the incident.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Trump names deputy nat'l security adviser, presidential assistant
New York – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named Kathleen Troia McFarland as his future deputy national security adviser and Donald F. McGahn as assistant to the president and White House counsel.
The appointments were announced by the presidential transition office in New York, while Trump is away in Florida for the Thanksgiving holidays.
McFarland, whose appointment requires no Senate approval, will serve under retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who was previously picked by Trump to be his national security adviser. That designation must be approved by Congress.
The future deputy national security adviser is currently a security analyst for the Fox News television network.
She worked in that capacity for the administrations of Richard Nixon (1969-1974), Gerald Ford (1974-1977) and Ronald Reagan (1981-1989).
The statement announcing her new position included Trump's complimentary words about McFarland's "tremendous experience and innate talent."
For his part, McGahn, who is a partner in a Washington law firm, acted as an adviser to Trump during the electoral campaign and continues in that position as part of the presidential transition team.
Meanwhile, the transition office reported that Trump continues his telephone conversations with different foreign leaders who have congratulated him on his victory in the Nov. 8 election.
According to a statement by the transition team, he recently spoke with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela and with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, among others.
Previous reports indicated that Trump spoke with no less than 30 heads of state and government, who congratulated him on his victory at the polls.
Jill Stein raises more funds for recount than entire presidential campaign
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein hauled in $4.8 million to help finance recount efforts in three states, a figure that eclipsed the fundraising total for her entire presidential campaign.
Late Tuesday, Stein issued a press release calling on supporters to raise $2.5 million to fund a recount effort in three states that Donald Trump won - Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Stein’s campaign said that amount would be needed to meet Wisconsin’s Nov. 25 deadline and $1.1 million filing fee. But it was soon clear that goal would easily be met.
The campaign had raised $4.5 million goal by 11 p.m. on Thursday, according to The Huffington Post.
By Friday morning, the fundraising effort was nearing $5 million, a figure that exceeded the $3,509,477 reported on Stein’s final October 19 campaign finance report.
Stein has enough to cover the $1.1 million fee to file before the Friday afternoon deadline to file recount in Wisconsin. Under Wisconsin law, Stein must also show cause for a recount to take place.
Wisconsin GOP Executive Director Mark Morgan issued a statement Friday calling Stein's decision to seek a recount "absurd" and "nothing more than an expensive political stunt that undermines the election process."
In the days following the election, the doctor-turned- Green Party nominee was the target of disgruntled Democrats and liberals who believed her candidacy contributed to Clinton’s loss.
For example, Steve Benen wrote on MSNBC’s website that if voters had cast ballots in states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania for Clinton rather than for Stein or Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, the former First Lady would have won.
“But it’s nevertheless true that in Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, third-party voters had an enormous, [2000 Green Party candidate Ralph] Nader-like impact – had those states gone the other way, Clinton would be president-elect today, not Trump,” he claimed.
Criticism began turning to support for Stein as rumors and theories about hacked voting machines and a rigged election bubbled to the surface.
The initial fuel flaming the recount fire was set by blogger Greg Palast, who claimed in a November 11 post that the election was stolen by Trump.
Another theory that voting machines were hacked was soon trending on social media even before Stein announced the recount campaign, reported The Washington Post.
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