Justice Dept. asks Supreme Court to allow transgender military ban

( Blls) People in America are sick and tired of a few small groups like this claiming they're speaking for the majority of us when they're not, ENOUGH.

The Trump administration is seeking aid from the Supreme Court to take the next step in imposing a ban on transgender people in the military.
In court filings Thursday, the Justice Department’s solicitor general — Noel Francisco — requested a hold against the lower courts, which are currently preventing the administration from enforcing the policy.
If approved, the hold will allow a temporary block of military recruitment of transgender individuals pending the outcome of the ongoing legal battle.
The move comes just weeks after the administration asked the Supreme Court to fast-track its review of the order, pushing the issue past the appeals court.
Many critics have chimed in against the ban since the president first announced it on Twitter last year, claiming the president is taking an anti-LGBTQ stance. However, the White House is adamant the decision is based off security concerns and is claiming the previous policy poses a risk to overall military effectiveness.
“The president’s expressed concerns since this Obama policy came into effect, but he’s also voiced that this is a very expensive and disruptive policy and based on consultation that he’s had with his national security team, came to the conclusion that it erodes military readiness and unit cohesion and made the decision based on that,” stated Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

Francisco is claiming this current legal battle is part of a “growing trend” by activist judges. He cited the numerous injunctions placed on the administration by the courts blocking policies involving national security, defense, and immigration.

Despite federal judge’s ruling, Obamacare exchanges are open for business, CMS official says

A spokesperson from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told Fox News early Saturday that open enrollment for Affordable Care Act’s health insurance will continue despite the federal judge's ruling that the law is unconstitutional and must be "invalidated in whole.”
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, a federal judge in Texas appointed by President George W. Bush, ruled that last year's tax cut bill knocked the constitutional foundation from under Obamacare by eliminating a penalty for not having coverage. The rest of the law cannot be separated from that provision and is therefore invalid, he wrote.
The decision came on the evening before the Dec. 15 deadline for Americans.
The spokesperson from CMS told Fox that the judge’s decision, which was applauded by President Trump, is still working its way through the courts and is not the final word on the matter.
"There is no impact to current coverage or coverage in a 2019 plan," the spokesperson said.
Congress is unlikely to act while the case remains in the courts. Numerous high-ranking Republican lawmakers have said they did not intend to also strike down popular provisions such as protection for people with pre-existing medical conditions when they repealed the ACA's fines for people who can afford coverage but remain uninsured.
Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general, vowed to appeal the decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.
"Today’s ruling is an assault on 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, on the 20 million Americans who rely on the A.C.A.’s consumer protections for health care, on America’s faithful progress toward affordable health care for all Americans," Becerra said in a statement, obtained by The New York Times.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is expected to become House speaker in January, vowed to fight what she called an "absurd ruling."
Trump tweeted his support for the ruling, saying, "Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster!" He continued, "Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions."
About 20 million people have gained health insurance coverage since the ACA passed in 2010 without a single Republican vote. Currently, about 10 million have subsidized private insurance through the health law's insurance markets, while an estimated 12 million low-income people are covered through its Medicaid expansion.
The White House said late Friday that it expects the ruling to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The five justices who upheld the health law in 2012 in the first major case -- Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's four liberals -- are all still serving.

Elizabeth Warren admits she's not 'a person of color' during commencement speech

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday said she is "not a person of color," during a commencement speech at a historically black college.
“As a country, we need to stop pretending that the same doors open for everyone, because they don’t,” she said during a commencement speech at Morgan State University in Baltimore, according to the Washington Post.
“I’m not a person of color,” she continued. “And I haven’t lived your life or experienced anything like the subtle prejudice, or more overt harm, that you may have experienced just because of the color of your skin.”

"I’m not a person of color. And I haven’t lived your life or experienced anything like the subtle prejudice, or more overt harm, that you may have experienced just because of the color of your skin."
— Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren

The acknowledgment from the Democrat, who’s been making concrete steps to prepare for her 2020 presidential run, came after a months-long agony of trying to refute criticism that she falsely claimed Native American heritage.
Warren insists she never used Native American heritage to gain advantage, though she listed herself as a “minority” before the University of Pennsylvania offered her a job, according to the Boston Globe. She later asked the university to change her listed identity as “Native American.”
In October, she released her DNA analysis results that showed “strong evidence” that she has a Native American ancestor dating back six to 10 generations.
The analysis claims that if Warren’s great-great-great-grandmother were Native American, Warren would be considered 1/64 Native American. Should Warren’s ancestor date back 10 generations, the senator would be only 1/1,024 Native American.
WARREN RELEASES DNA ANALYSIS ON NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE, FIRING BACK AT TRUMP ATTACKS
But the DNA analysis results only emboldened Warren’s critics, who say President Trump and the nickname he gave to the senator – “Pocahontas” – was apt because the results didn’t prove Warren was really a Native American.
“To put that in perspective, Warren might even be less Native American than the average European American,” Republican National Committee Deputy Communications Director Mike Reed told Fox News in October, while saying this would “not give you the right to claim minority status.”
The Cherokee Nation also criticized Warren.

"A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong."
— Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr

“A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship,” Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr., said. “Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong.”
The DNA results rollout reportedly irked Warren who now may be regretting the move as rather than closing the matter, it only invited more attacks against her, according to the New York Times.
Warren reportedly expressed concerns that the stunt only ruined her relationship with the Native American community. Outside advisers also told the newspaper that the issue won’t go away and she will have to tackle it again on the campaign trail.
WARREN MAY BE REGRETTING DNA ANALYSIS ON NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE, REPORT SAYS
Yet Warren’s chances of having a viable path to presidency in 2020 appear to be dwindling after the Boston Globe’s editorial board said the Democrat is too divisive to run for president.
“While Warren is an effective and impactful senator with an important voice nationally, she has become a divisive figure,” the editorial stated. “A unifying voice is what the country needs now after the polarizing politics of Donald Trump.”

Kamala Harris’ DOJ received misconduct claim involving aide months before she left: report

Sen. Kamala Harris insisted earlier this month that she was “unaware” of the harassment allegations against her top aide during her time as California’s Attorney General, but the agency that she oversaw: California's Department of Justice was informed about the complaint three months before she exited in early 2017, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Larry Wallace, the longtime aide who went to Washington with Harris, resigned earlier this month after the newspaper asked about the 2017 settlement with Danielle Hartley, a woman who made the accusations. Harris’ senate office said the senator had no knowledge of the alleged harassment.

"We were unaware of this issue and take accusations of harassment extremely seriously. This evening, Mr. Wallace offered his resignation to the senator, and she accepted it."
— Sen. Kamala Harris spokeswoman Lily Adams

“We were unaware of this issue and take accusations of harassment extremely seriously,” Harris spokeswoman Lily Adams said. “This evening, Mr. Wallace offered his resignation to the senator, and she accepted it.”
KAMALA HARRIS AIDE RESIGNS OVER $400G HARASSMENT SETTLEMENT
On Friday, Harris – who’s mulling her 2020 presidential run – told the newspaper that she took “full responsibility for what happened in my office.”
She went on to reiterate that she wasn’t aware of the allegations against Wallace and said she was “frustrated” by the “breakdown” in the system.
“That’s what makes me upset about this. There’s no question I should have been informed about this. There’s no question. And there were ample opportunities when I could have been informed,” she added.

"That’s what makes me upset about this. There’s no question I should have been informed about this. There’s no question. And there were ample opportunities when I could have been informed."
— Sen. Kamala Harris

But some expressed skepticism that Harris had no idea of the harassment caused by Wallace. GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in a tweet that the senator was either “lying or grossly incompetent.”
“No one is buying Kamala Harris’s claim she didn’t know her top aide of 14 yrs was accused of sexual harassment, resulting in a $400K settlement,” she wrote.
According to the report, an intake form from the Equal Employment Rights and Resolution Office, which administers the issues concerning discrimination at the state DOJ, reveals that the department was alerted on Oct. 3, 2016 that Hartley will pursue legal action.
Hartley had also already requested the right to sue from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Bee reported. Her complaint, filed a month earlier, detailed the allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation – naming Wallace and “those who worked for him” as the culprit.
KAMALA HARRIS TO KEEP SEAT ON SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, BOOSTING POTENTIAL 2020 BID
The lawsuit filed by the woman alleged that Wallace demeaned her based on her gender while she worked for him as his assistant.
She said Wallace placed his computer printer under his desk and often asked her to crawl under and refill it with paper as he sat and watched, sometimes with other men in the room. Wallace refused to move the printer to another location when Hartley asked him to do so, according to the suit.
The lawsuit also claims Wallace instructed Hartley to run his personal errands such as booking flights for his children and washing and performing maintenance on his car. When she would return from the assigned tasks, the lawsuit states, “co-workers would make hostile comments to her including, ‘Are you walking the walk of shame?’”
Hartley claims she tried to solve the matter internally, reporting the harassment allegations in 2011, but this only prompted retaliations against her. She was involuntarily transferred to another office at the state Department of Justice at the end of 2014, the suit said.
The lawsuit was settled for $400,000 in May 2017, just two months after Wallace went to work for Harris as her senior adviser.

Out Of Control FBI Cartoons

Alleged Russian Spy Cooperating Ahead of Hearing, U.S. Officials Say

In this courtroom sketch, Maria Butina, left, is shown next to her attorney Robert Driscoll, before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, during a court hearing at the U.S. District Court in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. Maria Butina, a Russian accused of being a secret agent for the Russian government, has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in federal court in Washington. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

Alleged Russian Spy, Maria Butina, pleads guilty to one-count of conspiracy against the U.S. on behalf of a Russian Official as apart of a plea deal.
The 30-year-old Russian National made the admission in federal court on Thursday, claiming she inflitrated U.S. political circles under the orders of Alexander Torshin, according to CNN. She initially plead not guility to the charges.
Prosecutors accused Butina of infilitrating groups like the National Rifle Association to establish informal lines of communications with powerful Americans and push Russian interests.
She is being held in solitary confinement in a nothern Virginia jail, where she has been held since her arrest in July.
Cooperation from an accused Russian Spy is highly unusual. U.S. prosecutors say Butina has been offering information about her American boyfriend and the Republican political operative who helped her network with conservative groups. However, it is unclear how much information she can offer on Russian influence operations.
Her attorney said her guilty plea was voluntary and she is happy with her legal representation.

Chris Christie, Trump meet to discuss chief of staff job, report says

Chris Christie, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, and President Trump reportedly discussed the open chief of staff job at a face-to-face meeting in Washington on Thursday. (Getty Images)

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and President Trump had a face-to-face meeting in Washington on Thursday to discuss the possibility of Christie replacing John Kelly as White House chief of staff, a report said.
Trump called Christie a “top contender” for the role, a source told Axios.
“He’s tough; he’s an attorney; he’s politically savvy, and one of Trump’s early supporters," the source added, referring to Christie, 56, who is also a former federal prosecutor.
Christie endorsed Trump after dropping out of the 2016 presidential campaign and also oversaw the transition process before the president took office.
A longtime friend of the president’s, Christie’s name was floated earlier this week as several rumors surfaced as to who could potentially replace Kelly.
“I am in the process of interviewing some really great people for the position of White House Chief of Staff,” Trump wrote Sunday in a tweet. “Fake News has been saying with certainty it was Nick Ayers, a spectacular person who will always be with our [Make America Great Again] agenda. I will be making a decision soon!”
But their relationship has been complicated by the fact that Christie, while a U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 2002 to 2008, convinced real estate developer Charles Kushner to accept a plea deal on corruption charges in 2004. Kushner, now 64, is the father of the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The younger Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka and is already a White House adviser, met with the president on Wednesday to talk about his own candidacy for the chief of staff job, the Huffington Post first reported.
Christie’s name has previously come up as a possible attorney general before the president said last week that he will nominate William Barr, who led the Justice Department under former President George H.W. Bush.
Christie served two terms as governor of New Jersey, from January 2010 to January 2018. He left the office because of the state's term-limit laws.

FBI misses deadline to provide docs to Judiciary Committee probing whistleblower raid

The Justice Department and FBI have missed a Wednesday deadline to provide information about the government's mysterious raid on a former FBI contractor-turned-whistleblower's home last month.
Sixteen FBI agents on Nov. 19 raided the home of Dennis Nathan Cain, who reportedly gave the Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) documents related to the Uranium One controversy and potential wrongdoing by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The documents in question allegedly showed that federal officials failed to investigate possible criminal activity related to Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and Rosatom, a Russian nuclear company. Its subsidiary purchased Canadian mining company Uranium One in 2013.
OBAMA-ERA URANIUM ONE DEAL: WHAT TO KNOW
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, whose panel has oversight of the Justice Department, penned a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Justice Department IG General Michael Horowitz, requesting information on the justification for the raid. Grassley gave Wray and Horowitz until Dec. 12 to respond to his request.
That deadline has come and gone, and neither the FBI nor DOJ has produced any documents or response.
"We have not yet received answers to the chairman's questions on this matter," a Judiciary Commitee spokesperson told Fox News late Thursday.
The FBI consistently has refused Fox News' request for comment on the whistleblower raid and the Judiciary Committee's requests. On Thursday, an FBI spokesperson told Fox News the agency would respond only to inquiries from the entity that requested the documents -- in this case, the Judiciary Committee.
Questioning whether “we now live in a secret police state,” Cain took his frustration about the situation to Twitter earlier this week.
“So I blow the whistle on the FBI, get raided by the same FBI, and now they want to keep the FBI’s reasons secret? Do we now live in a secret police state? Feels a little like 1984,” Cain tweeted late Monday. The tweet eventually was deleted.
The Daily Caller requested that a court unseal the relevant search warrant materials, but the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, in a court filing, said: “the request should be denied.”
“Public disclosure of any search warrant materials would seriously jeopardize the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” the filing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Continued sealing is essential in order to guard against possible tampering of witnesses and destruction of evidence, to maintain the ability of the grand jury to investigate this matter, and to prevent the disclosure of sensitive investigative techniques and methods.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur declined to comment.
Cain's lawyer, Michael Socarras, told The Daily Caller the agent who led the raid accused his client of possessing stolen federal property. In response, Cain reportedly claimed he was a protected whistleblower under federal law, and said he was recognized as such by Horowitz.
Socarras also claimed Horowitz had transmitted information on the sale of Uranium One to a Russian firm’s subsidiary to both the House and Senate intelligence committees.
A spokesperson for the inspector general declined to comment.
“As frustrating and violating as this feels to me and my family. I will continue to put my trust in God. Some day this life will pass away. I will stand before my maker with a clean concience[sic] and Jesus as my defender. Until then I continue to fight the good fight with God’s help,” Cain tweeted Monday night.
ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENTS' PHONES COMPLETELY WIPED AS DOJ WATCHDOG LOOKS FOR THEIR TEXT MESSAGES
On Tuesday, he added: “Thank you for the outpouring of encouragement. You all are awesome. A boxer goes into his corner to rest for a minute, refocus, and get some sideline coaching. Then the bell rings and he’s ready to go another round. This fight is spiritual and God is in our corner. Ding! Rom 8:31.”
Fox News has previously reported that Douglas Campbell, an FBI informant involved in the Uranium One deal, has testified to lawmakers that Moscow paid millions to American lobbying firm APCO Worldwide to influence Clinton and the Obama administration.
“The contract called for four payments of $750,000 over 12 months,” Campbell said in his statement this past February. “APCO was expected to give assistance free of charge to the Clinton Global Initiative as part of their effort to create a favorable environment to ensure the Obama administration made affirmative decisions on everything from Uranium One to the US-Russia Civilian Nuclear Cooperation agreement.”
STATE DEPT PROVIDED 'CLEARLY FALSE' DOCS TO DERAIL CLINTON PROBE, 'SHOCKED' FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS
APCO has denied Campbell's claims while Clinton called any claims of wrongdoing related to the Uranium One deal "the same baloney they’ve been peddling for years, and there’s been no credible evidence by anyone.
"In fact," Clinton told C-SPAN in October 2017, "it’s been debunked repeatedly and will continue to be debunked.”
Separately, the DOJ and Special Counsel Robert Mueller face a Friday afternoon deadline to turn over documents related to their questioning of fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn's team has alleged the FBI pressured him not to have a lawyer at the White House meeting in January 2017, after which Flynn was charged on one count of lying to federal authorities.
Flynn -- who had to sell his house this year amid mounting legal bills -- later pleaded guilty to lying to agents about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador in December 2016 about sanctions that had recently been imposed by then-President Barack Obama. Flynn has since acknowledged seeking to convince Russia not to retaliate for those sanctions during the presidential transition period.
But Flynn's lawyers, in an explosive Tuesday court filing that threatens to upend his pending sentencing, charged that the FBI had not finalized their pivotal, and only, account of Flynn's statements until August 2017 -- nearly eight months after their interview with him. Fired FBI Director James Comey has since admitted the Flynn meeting broke normal agency protocol.