Oregon judge faces scrutiny for allegedly helping illegal immigrant escape ICE

An Oregon judge is being investigated after she allegedly helped an illegal immigrant elude ICE agents in January by guiding the man through a private entrance at the courthouse.
Multnomah County Judge Monica Heeranz was notified by court staff that ICE agents were waiting outside her courtroom to possibly apprehend Diddier Pacheco Salazar, a 22-year-old Mexican national attending a DUI hearing, U.S. Attorney Billy Willaims said.
Specific details about what happend inside the courtroom next is not clear. But Salazar reportedly somehow managed to leave the room using an employee exit.
"I prepped my client. I said, 'I don't know if they're going to pick you up outside or what, but here's how to prepare,'" John Schlosser, Salazar's court appointed lawyer, told a local paper. "After the court appearance, I went out in the hallway and sat. My client never came out. I can't say that I'm surprised he didn't come out, but I gave him his options, and assume he had to have been escorted out some other way."
Salazar was arrested two weeks after the incident.
ICE agents decided not to investigate Herranz, who is also on the board of directors of the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association, but Chief Judge Nan Waller is conducting an internal investigation.
Waller told Fox 12 Oregon she wants to figure out what happened before discussing the situation.
Williams calls Herranz’s alleged actions troubling.
“When you’re talking about the judicial system – whether it’s federal or by state – you have an expectation that people are going to abide by the law and not take steps based on their own motivations, their own politics – whatever the motivation was.”

Sessions: Meeting with Russian envoy 'hyped beyond reason'; criticism 'unfair'

Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in an exclusive interview Thursday that conversations between him and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. had been "hyped beyond reason" by the media and criticism of them was "unfair."
"I don’t believe anybody that was in that meeting would have seen or believed I said one thing that was improper or unwise," Sessions told host Tucker Carlson. "It was really a sad thing to be attacked like that, but I think we’ve explained it and we intend to move forward."
Sessions spoke to Fox News hours after he recused himself from “any existing or future investigations” regarding the 2016 presidential campaign. Lawmakers from both parties had pressed Sessions to step away from an ongoing probe into Moscow meddling during last year's race for the White House.
Sessions has repeatedly denied meeting with Russian officials or operatives while a surrogate for then-candidate Donald Trump's campaign. He testified during his confirmation hearing in January that he had no “communications” with Russia during the campaign, an answer he later said was "honest and correct."
However, Sessions also said Thursday that he would submit a supplement to the record of his hearing that would cover his conversations with Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak
The attorney general told Carlson that he had intended to announce he was recusing himself from any investigation of the Trump campaign's connections with Russian figures even before the Washington Post revealed his meetings with Kislyak Wednesday night.
"I believe I should recuse myself," Sessions said, "because I was involved in the campaign to a degree [that] I think [it] would have been perceived that I wouldn’t be objective[ly] participating in an investigation that might involve the campaign."
Sessions added that his recusal was "not an admission of any wrongdoing" and said that he had acted "exactly correctly" in the matter.
In the interview, Sessions detailed his two encounters last year with Kislyak, one of which happened during the Republican Convention in Cleveland this past July.
"I spoke at the Republican convention at a conference with some 50 ambassadors," Sessions recalled. "After I spoke, I walked down from the podium and mingled with a number of people and we met at that occasion and had a chat, and I left shortly thereafter."
Sessions said the other, more involved discussion with Kislyak took place Sept. 8 in his office and was one of several meetings he took with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"We talked about a number of issues. One of them was the Ukraine and we had a disagreement over that," the attorney general said. "The Ukrainian ambassador had been into my office for a meeting the day before, and so we had a little disagreement over the Ukrainian issue. So we had a number of discussions like that."
Sessions said the meeting with Kislyak in his office was witnessed by two of his senior staffers, whom he described as "non-political."
"I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with a United States senator meeting with an ambassador from Russia," he said. "I learned something perhaps in that meeting – I usually did – and so that’s what happened. Ambassadors were coming by to see me pretty often."
Several top Democrats, for whom the revelations of any Russia discussions only served to fuel long-running accusations that Trump-tied officials have sought to conceal past contacts with Moscow, have called for Sessions' resignation, including the leaders in both the House and Senate. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., went so far as to say Sessions had “lied” to Congress and committed perjury.
Many Republicans jumped to Sessions’ defense, saying Democrats were engaged in political theater and describing Sessions’ meetings as routine.
President Trump defended Sessions as an "honest man" in a statement released late Thursday.
"He did not say anything wrong," Trump said. "He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win."

New Interior Secretary Zinke reverses last-minute Obama lead-ammunition ban

WASHINGTON –  On his first full day in office, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued an order Thursday reversing a last-minute action by the Obama administration to ban lead ammunition and fish tackle used on national wildlife refuges.
Gun-rights supporters condemned the earlier order — issued a day before Obama left office Jan. 20 — as nakedly political. The order was intended to protect birds from lead poisoning, the Obama administration said.
Zinke, a former Montana congressman and avid hunter, said the new order would increase hunting, fishing and recreation opportunities on lands managed by Fish and Wildlife Service.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said Zinke's order "represents an important check on executive abuse and reverses what was a deliberate attack on Americans' fundamental rights and privileges" by the Obama administration.
The order reverses a decision by the Obama administration to phase out use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on wildlife refuges by 2022.
Zinke, who rode to work on a horse Thursday as a sign of solidarity with U.S. Park Police, said the hunting order and another order directing agencies to identify areas where recreation and fishing can be expanded were intended to boost outdoor recreation in all its forms.
"Outdoor recreation is about both our heritage and our economy," he said in a statement. "Between hunting, fishing, motorized recreation, camping and more, the industry generates thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity."
Over the past eight years, hunting and recreation enthusiasts have seen trails closed and dramatic decreases in access to public lands across the board, Zinke said. "It worries me to think about hunting and fishing becoming activities for the land-owning elite. This package of secretarial orders will expand access for outdoor enthusiasts and also make sure the community's voice is heard."
Environmental groups slammed the new directive on lead ammunition, arguing that spent lead casings cause poisoning in 130 species of birds and other animals.
Switching to nontoxic ammunition should be "a no-brainer" to save the lives of thousands of birds and other wildlife and to "prevent hunters and their families from being exposed to toxic lead and protect our water," said Jonathan Evans, environmental health legal director at the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity.
Evans called it ironic that one of the first actions by Zinke — a self-described champion of hunters and anglers — "leads to poisoning of game and waterfowl eaten by those same hunting families."

In possible response to Trump, EU parliament calls to end visa-free travel for US citizens

In what has been called a “visa war,” the European Union’s parliament on Thursday called on the bloc to force American tourists visiting Europe to first obtain visas because the U.S. excludes five EU countries from its no-visa policy.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the request is unlikely to change policy, but reflects “hostility among some European politicians to the Trump administration.”
The report said Parliament’s vote came six weeks into Trump’s presidency and after the legislature publically slammed Trump’s executive order banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.
U.S. citizens can travel to all EU countries without visas but the U.S. hasn’t granted visa-free travel to citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania.
NEW TRAVEL BAN COMING IN DAYS, PENCE SAYS
The legislature urged the European Commission to act within two months. The Commission was legally bound to propose by last April that visas be reintroduced for U.S. citizens for 12 months but the 28-nation bloc’s member countries preferred to take no action.
The Commission has cautioned that suspending the visa waiver for Americans would also hurt trade, tourism and the European economy.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European home-affairs commissioner, traveled to Washington last month to talk about the issue. He wrote to The Journal: “As you know, our approach brought results with Canada. We will continue our engagement with the United States on this matter as well our broader cooperation on migration and security.”
He was referring to Canada’s decision to lift all remaining visa requirements for EU citizens by the end of the year.

Sen. Rubio booted from Florida office building over rowdy protests

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was evicted from his Florida office due to the weekly protests that have occurred outside the building.
Jude Williams, the president of America’s Capital Partners and the owner of the nine-story building in Tampa, notified Rubio’s office on Feb. 1 that it will not renew the lease. He said the rallies have become too disruptive to the other tenants and a costly security expense for the company.
"A professional office building is not a place for that," Williams told the Tampa Bay Times. “I understand their cause, but at the end of the day it was a security concern for us.”
Rubio’s office said it was looking for a new office space. The newspaper reported that Rubio’s lease expired in December and the office has been working on a month-to-month basis. Now, they have until Friday to leave the building and they do not have a new location in place.
"We are actively looking for new office space, and our goal is to remain accessible and continue providing prompt and efficient service to all Floridians," Christina Mandreucci, a Rubio spokeswoman, said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
Several groups who oppose President Trump's agenda have gathered at least once a week at the building, lining up on the sidewalk to wave signs and shout messages.
Rubio's seven statewide offices have been lightning rods for demonstrations. Gatherings in front of the Tampa office have surpassed 150 people.
Williams said several of the building’s 21 tenants have complained about the protests. The demonstrations have blocked entranceways and have workers fearing for their safety.
"It's not political," he added. "It's for no other reason than good office management. Our duty is to keep a good peaceful office building environment for our tenants and that's not what they bargained for."
Rubio has other offices in Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Tallahassee and Palm Beach

Ex-Clinton volunteer slammed, loses job, after swipe at widow of fallen SEAL

A former Hillary Clinton volunteer drew swift condemnation -- and lost his job -- after mocking the widow of a fallen Navy SEAL who was honored by the president during his congressional address Tuesday night.
Dan Grilo, who said in his Twitter profile that he was a former volunteer for both Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, made the remarks after Trump paid tribute to Carryn Owens. She is the widow of U.S. Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who was killed in a counterterrorism raid in Yemen last month.
“Our veterans have delivered for this nation—and now we must deliver for them,” Trump said, eliciting an extended standing ovation from the entire chamber for a visibly emotional Owens.
“Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero – battling against terrorism and securing our nation,” Trump said.
While widely regarded as the most powerful moment of the night, Grilo was not impressed. Responding to a tweet from L.A. Times reporter Matt Pearce, who noted that Owens was crying and overwhelmed, Grilo tweeted:
“Sorry, Owens' wife, you’re not helping yourself or your husband’s memory by standing there and clapping like an idiot. Trump just used you.”
The tweet quickly zipped around social media as commentators on both sides of the aisle were outraged by the swipe. Donald Trump Jr. called the tweet an example of “hatred from the other side."
Grilo followed up, apologizing for what we called a “poorly worded tweet.”
Grilo’s account soon went private, and was then deleted entirely. But the tweets were saved and archived by other Twitter users.
Grilo’s LinkedIn page says he works as a principal for the Chicago-based Liberty Advisor Group. But as of Wednesday morning, Grilo’s profile page on the site had been deleted, and the company later confirmed that an employee had sent what they called "an offensive and inappropriate tweet" regarding the Gold Star family.
In a statement, the company said that while the message was from his personal account, "his comments were inconsistent with the Company's values."
"Regardless of whether the comments in the tweet were intended to cause the hurt and anger that they ultimately generated, they were unacceptable to us, and the individual who issued the tweet is no longer affiliated with Liberty," the statement said.

New travel ban coming in days, Pence says

President Trump is expected to finalize a new travel order in the next few days, Vice President Pence said in an interview.
Pence told CBS News Wednesday that the administration is “putting the finishing touches” on the new executive order.
Trump has not laid out specific changes on the new plan, but The Associated Press—citing four U.S. officials—reported that the order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary ban. Those predominately Muslim countries include Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The new order includes other changes as well. The officials said the 12-page document no longer singles out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban and instead includes them as part of a general, 120-day suspension of new refugee admissions.
The officials also said the order won't include any explicit exemption for religious minorities in the countries targeted by the travel ban. Critics had accused the administration of adding such language to help Christians get into the United States while excluding Muslims.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Fox News could not immediately confirm that Iraq was taken off the list.
Trump signed his original executive order in late January. It sparked immediate confusion, panic and outrage as some travelers were detained in U.S. airports before being sent back overseas and others were barred from boarding flights at foreign airports.
The government initially blocked U.S. green card holders before offering those legal residents special permission to come into the country. It finally decided the order didn't apply to them.
The State Department provisionally revoked roughly 60,000 valid visas in all, before a federal judge in Washington state blocked the government from carrying out the ban. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.
Under the revised order, officials said, all existing visas will be honored.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Trump on Tuesday evening defended his effort.
"We will shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe and to keep out those who would do us harm," he said.
After Trump signed the original order, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi refuted the ban and said he would consider reciprocal measures. Many Iraqi lawmakers urged the government to ban Americans from Iraq in response, despite the potential effects that might have on the anti-IS fight.
Al-Abadi then met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Baghdad this month and underscored the U.S.-Iraqi partnership. And Mattis walked back comments made by Trump, suggesting that Americans could get another chance to seize Iraqi oil as compensation for its military efforts there.
"We're not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil," Mattis told reporters on that trip. Al-Abadi also met with Vice President Pence in Munich earlier this month, where the two publicly discussed ways of strengthening cooperation.

Obama administration reportedly raced to preserve intelligence on possible contact between Russians and Trump associates

In the final hours of Barack Obama's presidency, some White House officials reportedly raced to spread and preserve information about possible communications between associates of then-candidate Donald Trump and Russians.
The New York Times, citing former American officials, reported that these officials were concerned that the information they were gaining on the Russian meddling in the election and the possible campaign contact could be compromised with the new administration, and they wanted to set up any future investigation with the information.
According to The Times, after Obama asked for an investigation into Russian tampering into the elections, officials found some "damning" evidence.
A former intelligence official confirmed to Fox News that the Obama administration was determined to keep the Russian issue alive and data on Moscow's election interference was circulated broadly.
The usual intelligence practice is to circulate assessments privately, but such was the gravity of Russia's actions that there were two versions - one for the public to digest and the other classified, the former official said.
The New York Times reported that intelligence agencies pushed forward as much “raw” intelligence they could analyze. The intelligence reports were also reportedly labeled a low classification level, so they would be accessible to more government workers — and some European allies.
The Obama officials reportedly wanted to make sure that as many individuals — with the proper clearances — could see the intelligence. One of the tactics reportedly used was that officials asked pointed questions during intelligence briefings. The report said the answers to those questions are archived.
Congressional staffers have said they are unaware of any evidence that materials related to Russia are not being preserved.
But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said last week: "There is real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts and other records that could shine a light on those connections. These records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations and must be preserved."
The Times report was released the same day that allegations emerged that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. during last year’s presidential campaign.
The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. investigators had examined contacts between Sessions and Russian officials and that the Justice Department was "wringing its hands" about how to proceed in the matter.
The Journal also reported that Sessions did not know that his communications were under investigation.
Reports about the meetings appeared to contradict a statement Sessions made during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., how he would respond "if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign."When contacted by Fox News late Wednesday, Sessions said, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Earlier this year, the FBI interviewed Michael Flynn, then Trump's national security adviser, about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. after the election. Flynn was fired after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Pence and other White House officials about the nature of his discussions with the envoy.
Trump, for his part, has denied that his campaign had any contact with Russian officials. The Times report pointed out that Trump has accused Obama officials with playing up the Russia story.
“The only new piece of information that has come to light is that political appointees in the Obama administration have sought to create a false narrative to make an excuse for their own defeat in the election,” Sean Spicer, the current White House spokesman, said, according to The Times. “There continues to be no there, there.”
The intelligence community has assessed that Russia's hacking of Democratic groups and operatives was carried out to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump has denied having any knowledge that aides were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election.