Category: Barack Obama

Bharara, Wall Street’s Cop, Among Prosecutors Asked to Quit

Wall Street enforcer Preet Bharara may be forced out as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan despite assurances he said he had received from the incoming Trump administration that he would remain in the job. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday abruptly asked for the resignations of 46 U.S. attorneys, all those remaining who had served under former President Barack Obama.

AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

Pivotal industry and consumer groups mounted intensifying opposition to the Republican health care bill as GOP leaders labored Wednesday to rally a divided party behind their high-stakes overhaul drive. Lawmakers cast Congress’ initial votes on the legislation as House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the proposal as “what good, conservative health care reform looks like.”

Let’s start investigating Russiagate

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JB Hi-Fi may replace cleaners with robots

JB Hi-Fi is considering replacing some of its cleaning contractors with robots in a bid to automate and save costs, according to one of the company’s non-executive directors, Wai Tang.In a roundtable discussion ahead of International Women’s Day, Ms Tang said disruption and volatility in the sector had led to many changes. Meet Method-2, the manned robot A South Korean giant robot has taken its first baby steps while shaking the ground beneath its weight.

Sessions’ path to remake Justice Department may be clearer

The political cloud over Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to step back from any investigation touching the Trump campaign may have a silver lining for a law enforcement officer who appears preoccupied by violent crime, drugs and immigration. Now that Sessions will no longer oversee any investigation into the 2016 election, his path to continue a refashioning of the Justice Department may be even clearer.

Trump alleges Obama wiretapped his phones, offers no evidence

President Donald Trump is accusing former President Barack Obama of having Trump’s telephones “wire tapped” during last year’s election, but Trump isn’t offering any evidence or saying what prompted the allegation. Trump says in a series of tweets that he “just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower.”

‘Radical Islamic terrorism’: Three words that separate Trump from most of Washington

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump appeared to revel in his forceful use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” even when his critics grimaced. Not one to be easily deterred, Trump continued his use of the phrase from the earliest moments of his presidency when he promised to eradicate the threat of radical Islamic terrorism “from the face of the earth” during his inauguration speech.

‘Radical Islamic terrorism’: Three words that separate Trump from most of Washington

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump appeared to revel in his forceful use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” even when his critics grimaced. Not one to be easily deterred, Trump continued his use of the phrase from the earliest moments of his presidency when he promised to eradicate the threat of radical Islamic terrorism “from the face of the earth” during his inauguration speech.

Trump to skip White House Correspondentsa Association dinner

President Donald Trump, who has been criticizing the news media and is famously thin-skinned, says he won’t be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner – sparing himself the dubious honor of being an in-the-house target of jokes. The annual fundraiser for college scholarships and venue for reporting awards mixes politicians, journalists and celebrities and is typically attended by the president and first lady.

NASA bets big on private sector to put humans on Mars

NASA will continue tapping the private sector to fund space exploration efforts under President Trump , marking a continuation in policy that first began under former president Barack Obama . “Public-private partnerships are the future of space exploration,” Dava Newman, a former NASA deputy administrator who resigned before Trump took office, told CNBC on Monday.

Is Trump Tweeting From a ‘Secure’ Smartphone? The White House Won’t Say

For some time, the public has known that Donald Trump does a lot of his tweeting himself, from the account @realDonaldTrump, and from an Android smartphone. But many cybersecurity experts believed that would change once Trump took the oath of office, because White House-approved communication devices are much more secured – and stripped down – than the smartphones the rest of us use.

Military: First-known combat death since Trump in office

In this Jan. 27, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in Washington. FILE – In this Jan. 27, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, in Washington.

Mnuchin Backs Fed Independence and Signals Reform Isn’t Priority

In written questions by senators following his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Mnuchin was asked about his thoughts on “politicizing decisions made by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the benefits of an independent central bank.” “The Federal Reserve is organized with sufficient independence to conduct monetary policy and open market operations,” Mnuchin responded to Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat.

Abortion opponents hope Trump will support, help their cause

US President Donald Trump prepares to sign several executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 23, 2017. Trump on Monday signed three orders on withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, freezing the hiring of federal workers and hitting foreign NGOs that help with abortion.

John Brennan Fast Facts

Was considered a shoo-in for the position of CIA director after President Barack Obama’s election in November 2008. Brennan dropped out of the running for the job after being criticized for supporting the enhanced terrorist interrogation techniques in use since September 11, 2001.

NASA issues climate warning before Trump inauguration

Last year was the hottest on record with temperatures rising across the planet, NASA has warned, just days before climate change denier Donald Trump takes over the US presidency. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research was published yesterday ahead of Friday’s inauguration of Trump, who has voiced support for polluting fossil fuel industries.

David Plouffe joins Zuckerberg’s philanthropy

David Plouffe, a former senior White House adviser and Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, is joining Zuckerberg’s philanthropic project as head of policy and advocacy efforts. The organization is also bringing on Ken Mehlman, a former campaign manager for President George W. Bush, to head a newly created policy advisory board.

All U.S. ambassadors directed to quit by Jan. 20

Ambassadors in some of the most desirable foreign capitals such as London and Paris have been told they must end their service immediately on Jan. 20, with “no exceptions,” State Department officials confirmed Thursday. The unusually stern and specific directive to “political” ambassadors – often presidential donors and friends – came at the behest of the incoming Trump administration, two officials said.

[Rachel Marsden] Accusations turn intelligence into propaganda

The outgoing Obama administration apparently isn’t quite finished politicizing intelligence for the purpose of propaganda. With his final term coming to an end, US President Barack Obama has signed an executive order to address a “national emergency with respect to significant malicious cyber-enabled activities.”

Obama has some big holes in his legacy

President Barack Obama’s legacy is particularly troubling in two aspects that will affect our youth for some time, in my opinion. I think he was a president that hid behind the race card whenever his decisions were questioned, he’s handing off a country with much more racial tension than the one he received.

Vladimir Putin’s lesson in score-settling

Settling scores is always petty, whether by pouty teenagers, embittered ex-spouses or soon-to-be former presidents. Barack Obama is making himself look small and insignificant when he could be looking like a big man making a graceful exit.

US states, leery of Russia malware, re-examine cybersecurity

Several states around the country on Saturday asked cybersecurity experts to re-examine state and utility networks after a Vermont utility’s laptop was found to contain malware U.S. officials say is linked to Russian hackers. The Burlington Electric Department, one of Vermont’s two largest electric utilities, confirmed Friday it had found on one of its laptops the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name the U.S. government has given to malicious cyber activity by Russian civilian and military intelligence services.