Judge has second thoughts hours after praising Trump administration for family reunifications

In this June 28 photo, protesters chant, "Families belong together!" as they walk to the front doors of the federal courthouse in Brownsville, Texas.  (AP)

The same judge who praised the Trump administration for its “collaborative” effort to reunite families separated at the border is now saying he's having second thoughts about whether the government is acting in “good faith.”

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw criticized the administration late Friday evening, calling into question the safety of a new plan filed by the Department of Justice to reunite more than 2,500 children over the age of 5 by the July 26 deadline.

After Friday’s hearing, the DOJ filed a reunification plan that would meet the July 26 deadline via "truncated" procedures to verify parentage and perform background checks, which exclude DNA testing and other steps to reunify families of children under 5.
The administration said the abbreviated vetting puts children at significant safety risk but is needed to meet the deadline.
Chris Meekins, the deputy assistant health and human services secretary for preparedness and response, said that while he is committed to meeting the deadline, he does not believe "placing of children into such situations is consistent with the mission of HHS or my core values."
Sabraw fired back, second-guessing remarks he'd made hours earlier.
"It is clear from Mr. Meekins' declaration that HHS either does not understand the court's orders or is acting in defiance of them. … At a minimum, it appears he is attempting to provide cover to defendants for their own conduct in the practice of family separation, and the lack of foresight and infrastructure necessary to remedy the harms caused by that practice.”
He said that the official’s statement “calls into question” his earlier comment that the government was acting in “good faith.” Sabraw said that safe reunification could and will occur by July 26.

Pentagon: China Spying On Major U.S.-led Military Exercises After Being Disinvited

FILE – The Pentagon is seen in this aerial view in Washington, in this March 27, 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

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UPDATED 6:26 PM PT – Sat. July 14, 2018

The Pentagon is accusing China of spying on U.S.-led military exercises near Hawaii.
Navy officials confirmed the U.S. Pacific Fleet is monitoring a Chinese surveillance ship, in a statement to CNN.
It’s located just outside of U.S. territorial seas.
This comes after Beijing was disinvited from the exercises back in May, over its aggression in the South China Sea.
U.S. officials say they expect the Chinese vessel to stay put and don’t anticipate any disruption to the on-going exercises.
The exercises are held every two years and feature around 25 thousand personnel from over 20 countries.

HHS departures signal new secretary's 'no-nonsense' approach: report

Two U.S. Health and Human Services appointees left the agency this week after months of igniting controversy on social media, according to a report.
The departures signaled what one HHS source described as a "no-nonsense" and "highly professional" management approach being taken by HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Politico reported.
“There could be more changes to come as the secretary gets fully on board and staffed up,” the source told the news outlet.

“There could be more changes to come as the secretary gets fully on board and staffed up.”
- HHS source

Azar has been leading the agency since January, when the Senate confirmed his appointment by President Donald Trump.
The Politico report identified the two HHS staffers who've left the agency as Gavin Smith, a policy adviser who resigned Friday, and Tim Clark, the agency’s White House liaison, who is expected to depart in the coming weeks.
Prior to his HHS appointment, Clark was the Trump campaign’s California chairman. On more than one occasion, Clark punctuated tweets with the hastag "#SpiritCooking," in reference to a debunked conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta engaged in Satanic ritual, the report said.
Smith gained a reputation for routinely mocking critics of the president, for example referring to U.S. senators as "crazy" or "clueless."
The appointees’ incendiary posts had long been a headache for HHS, which received heightened attention after a Politico report. 
Azar’s predecessor Tom Price resigned after reports of his use of “costly” private jets and fractious leadership.
Azar, 51, is married with two children. Prior to joining HHS, he lived in Indiana with his family for about a decade, according to his Health and Human Services Department biography.
The Yale-educated lawyer also attended Dartmouth College, where he graduated summa cum laude, according to the biography.
Azar, who once clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, has spent a large chunk of his career in the healthcare industry.
He previously served as general counsel of HHS and later as deputy secretary of HHS under former President George W. Bush.
Fox News' Madeline Farber contrinbuted to this story.
Editor's Note: After this story was published, Fox News received an email from Riley N. Althouse, press assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at HHS. The message, attributed to Peter Urbanowitz, chief of staff, said the following:
“Mr. Clark has long planned this position change and delayed that move for several months to assure a smooth transition for the new Secretary. He has been a huge help and strong partner in our success.”
Bradford Betz is an editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @bradford_betz.

Rod Rosenstein Cartoons

Mueller's indictments of 12 Russians could have waited, former US diplomat says

John Negroponte served in several high-level positions under five presidents.  (Fox Business)

A former high-level diplomat from President George W. Bush’s administration said Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller could have waited until after next week’s Trump-Putin summit before announcing indictments against 12 Russian military intelligence officers.
“It could have just as well waited until the president had left Europe,” John Negroponte, a former deputy secretary of state, told journalist Krystal Ball in an interview that will appear online Monday. Ball co-hosts the program “Rising,” on Hill.TV.
Negroponte, who also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and is a former director of national intelligence, added that he believes the Trump-Putin summit should proceed, regardless of the indictments.
"If it's been scheduled, it's important that these two heads of state meet,” Negroponte told Ball, according to the Hill. “Russia is a permanent member of the [U.N.] Security Council, it's a nuclear weapons state, it has global reach -- whether it's in the Middle East, or in the Korean Peninsula, or elsewhere -- and I think it behooves us to have that kind of dialogue.”

"If it's been scheduled, it's important that these two heads of state meet. Russia is a permanent member of the [U.N.] Security Council, it's a nuclear weapons state, it has global reach ... and I think it behooves us to have that kind of dialogue.”
- John Negroponte, former U.S. diplomat

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Friday that Mueller had charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with crimes related to the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
Rosenstein said Trump was briefed about the indictments earlier in the week and was “fully aware” of them before the announcement, Business Insider reported.
The presidents of the U.S. and Russia are scheduled to meet Monday in Helsinki, Finland. Trump has faced pressure from lawmakers in both parties to raise the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election during the meeting with Putin.
Others, in wake of the indictments, have urged Trump to simply cancel the meeting.
“Cancel the Putin meeting. Now,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted Friday.
Trump told reporters Friday morning that he planned to address election meddling with Putin, but he believed the Mueller investigation was a “witch hunt.”
“I think that we're being hurt very badly by the — I would call it the witch hunt,” Trump said during a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May, the Washington Post reported.
Trump then addressed the meddling issue.
“I know you'll ask, 'Will we be talking about meddling?’ And I will absolutely bring that up,” the president said, according to the Post. “There won't be a Perry Mason here, I don't think, but you never know what happens, right? But I will absolutely, firmly ask the question.”

Democrat's 'Purple Heart' remark at Strzok hearing spurs veterans to plan protest march

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (IDIOT)

Some veterans in Tennessee say they're planning a protest march following a congressman's comment this week that embattled FBI official Peter Strzok deserved a Purple Heart for enduring a House panel's grilling over allegations of bias against President Donald Trump.
Sean Higgins, an Air Force veteran from Memphis, is leading the upcoming march, the Tennessean reported. Higgins told the paper that many constituents of Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen are “pissed as hell” after Cohen said Strzok deserved the military award.
“How do you compare someone getting wounded in combat to someone getting in trouble for message he sent? How can Cohen claim (Strzok) get a Purple Heart for that?” Higgins said.
The Purple Heart typically is awarded to members of the U.S. military who are wounded in combat or given posthumously to those killed in combat.

“How do you compare someone getting wounded in combat to someone getting in trouble for message he sent?"
- Sean Higgins, U.S. Air Force veteran

Cohen, 69, defended Strzok, who was being questioned Thursday on Capitol Hill over a series of anti-Trump text messages he sent to his former co-worker and lover, Lisa Page, while investigating Russian election meddling and Hillary Clinton’s email server.
"If I could give you a Purple Heart, I would," Cohen told Strzok, accusing his GOP counterparts of attempting to undermine Strzok and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Higgins said that 30 veterans have so far committed to marching, including Army veteran Darien Price of Memphis, who told the paper he was “blown away” by Cohen’s statement.

“It is disrespectful to those alive who wear the Purple Heart but especially to families who lost loved ones to who fought for this country."
- Darien Price, Army veteran

“It is disrespectful to those alive who wear the Purple Heart but especially to families who lost loved ones to who fought for this country," said Price, who was denied his Purple Heart until Cohen's office stepped in. "Truly saddening.”
Retired Staff Sgt. Johnny "Joey" Jones, a Marine Corps veteran who received a Purple Heart after losing both of his legs and suffering other permanent injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Afghanistan, told “Fox & Friends” on Friday that Cohen's remarks were "disgraceful."
Following public outcry, Cohen backpedaled on his remarks during a joint hearing Friday.
“I regret mentioning the Purple Heart medal at yesterday’s hearing,” Cohen said. “My intent was to speak metaphorically to make a broader point about attacks against the FBI and Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into a Russian attack on our country.
“I have nothing but the highest respect for members of the armed forces, especially those who have been awarded Purple Hearts, as well as the hard working men and women at the FBI. We are safe because of their service and sacrifice," he said.
Higgins, a former VA hospital employee in Memphis, told the Tennessean he had previously tried working with Cohen for years in attempts to improve the hospital’s conditions before publicly blowing the whistle.
Higgins, who had been reporting problems in the VA since he was hired in 2007, was fired from his position for the third time in June 2017, and is appealing the firing, WREG-TV in Memphis reported. He appealed his first two firings and was hired back each time.
The march, which is also in protest of the VA hospital's treatment of veterans, has not been given a date.

'Cal 3' backer urges court to dismiss lawsuit opposing California break-up plan

The sponsor of the "Cal 3" initiative to split California into three states asked the state's Supreme Court on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit calling for the proposal to be pulled from the November ballot.
Tim Draper, a venture capitalist who spent more than $1.7 million supporting the initiative, told the court in a letter that there’s not enough time to properly consider the legal challenge to his effort.

Venture capitalist Tim Draper is the sponsor of the "Cal 3" initiative.  (Fox Business)

He said he wasn't properly served with the lawsuit, giving him less time to respond.
"I have been given just a day or two to respond to a complex, multi-faceted attack on my Constitutional right to initiative," Draper wrote. "This Court's long history of jealously guarding the exercise of initiative power should not be cavalierly disregarded now, especially on such a truncated timetable."
OPPONENTS OF PROPOSED CALIFORNIA BREAKUP SUE TO PULL IT OFF BALLOT 
The Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group, filed the lawsuit Monday, arguing that Draper's plan exceeds the scope of an initiative because it would drastically alter California's government and constitutional framework.
“The dislocation and the disruption that would be caused by something as great as this just can’t be understated,” said Carlyle Hall, a lawyer working on the lawsuit. “This will not make things better.”

“The dislocation and the disruption that would be caused by something as great as this just can’t be understated. This will not make things better.”
- Carlyle Hall, lawyer, Planning and Conservation League

The initiative could harm the environment if California’s strong environmental protections are scrapped and replaced with something weaker, which could happen if the state were split, Hall said.
Draper argued the "Cal 3" measure doesn't go beyond what can be accomplished in an initiative. If passed by voters, it would be only the first step toward dividing the state, he said.
The Cal 3 initiative would break the state into Northern California, California and Southern California.
Passing at the ballot box is just the first hurdle.
The measure then directs the governor to ask the U.S. Congress for the ultimate approval — likely a tall order.
If Congress were to give a green light, it would then be up the state's Legislature to determine exactly how the split would happen, including how the state's debts would be divided.
Each of the three states would determine their own governance structure.
Supporters of dividing California argue the nation's most populous state has become ungovernable because of its size, wealth disparities and geographic diversity.
CALIFORNIA 'THREE STATES' PLAN OK'D FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT
Meanwhile, Michael Salerno, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings, described the proposal as having profound ramifications if approved.
“It would not surprise me if the court took this off the ballot,” he said.
Although California as it exists today is heavily Democratic, the newly proposed Southern California might not be. Democrats have only a slim registration advantage over Republicans in that region.

Rosenstein target of impeachment filing being prepared by House conservatives: report

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is the target of an impeachment effort being undertaken by conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a report.
U.S. Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, both members of the House Freedom Caucus, are said to be leading the effort and could submit an impeachment filing in the next few days, Politico reported Friday.
Rosenstein has been clashing with some House Republicans for months over requests for Department of Justice documents, the Washington Examiner reported. The deputy AG oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the White House ordered that more members of Congress receive access to classified information about an FBI informant linked to the Russia probe, despite objections from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials.
It was Rosenstein who named Mueller to lead the Trump-Russia probe after Rosenstein’s boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself from the investigation because of Sessions’ own role in the Trump campaign.
Politico’s story on the possible impeachment filing against Rosenstein came on the same day that Rosenstein announced Mueller’s 12 indictments against Russian military intelligence officials on charges linked to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Speculation that President Donald Trump might fire Rosenstein increased in April, after FBI agents conducted raids at the office and home of Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal attorney, the Hill reported.

Europe Immigration Cartoons

Trump says immigration into Europe has 'changed the fabric' of the continent

President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Europe’s immigration policy, claiming it has “changed the fabric” of the continent in a negative way.
“I think you are losing your culture. Look around. You go through certain areas that didn’t exist 10 or 15 years ago,” the president said in an interview with the Sun.
“I think what has happened to Europe is a shame,” he added. “Allowing the immigration to take place in Europe is a shame.”
TRUMP SLAMS MAY OVER ‘VERY UNFORTUNATE’ BREXIT PLAN, SAYS ‘IT WILL PROBABLY KILL’ US TRADE DEAL
Trump pointed toward his own Scottish and German roots, saying “I have a great love for the countries of Europe,” but noting that immigration has taken a toll.
“I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way,” Trump said. “So I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad.”

"I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way."
- President Donald Trump

The Trump administration has taken a hardline view on immigration, touting its war on sanctuary cities that provide cover for illegal immigrants in the country and has ramped up the efforts to enforce existing immigration laws to secure the U.S. -Mexico border.
The White House recently won a court battle at the Supreme Court allowing to bar citizens from several mostly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
Trump told the newspaper that most British people actually support his stance on immigration. “I think they like me in the U.K.,” he said. “I think they agree with me on immigration.”