Category: US Politics

Here’s what we know from the House hearing with FBI Director James Comey

Here’s what we know from the House hearing with FBI Director James Comey FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers appeared Monday before the House Intelligence Committee Check out this story on jconline.com: http://usat.ly/2mIt7Hx FBI Director James Comey says the FBI and Justice Department have no information to substantiate President Donald Trump’s claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped him before the election. FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers appeared Monday before the House Intelligence Committee .

Gorsuch promises not to legislate from the Supreme Court bench

Describing himself as a judge who will “apply the law” and not be a “secret” legislator, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch said he will attempt to be an independent justice who will “seek consensus” whenever possible. On the first day of his confirmation hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gorsuch steered clear of ideological labels and instead told the senators that “putting on” a judge’s black robe “reminds us judges that it’s time to lose our egos and open our minds.”

Sununu reaffirms Northern Pass support during Canada visit

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is reaffirming his commitment to the Northern Pass transmission line project and calling for revisions to NAFTA in a visit to Canada New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, left, greets Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard after being introduced at a foreign relations luncheon Monday, March 20, 2017 in Montreal. Sununu is in Quebec to discuss the economic relationship between the two and meet with business, political and community leaders.

The Latest: Meeting with Iraqis, Trump criticizes Iran deal

President Donald Trump is telling a delegation from Iraq that “nobody” can figure out why President Barack Obama signed a nuclear agreement with Iran. In his first meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Trump says Iran is one of the issues his team will discuss with the Iraqi delegation.

Roger Stone a focus at Comey Russia hearing

Longtime Donald Trump associate Roger Stone was mentioned several times at Monday’s House hearing on Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign. The Trump confidant was mentioned by Democrats pressing FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers over alleged links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

Sean Spicer: Just the ‘beginning phase’ of investigating whether Trump Tower was surveilled

White House press secretary Sean Spicer continued today to defend President Donald Trump’s claims that Trump’s predecessor ordered surveillance of Trump Tower during the presidential election campaign, even as FBI Director James Comey testified to Congress that there is “no information” supporting that claim. “We are still at the beginning phase of a look as to what kind of surveillance took place and why,” Spicer told reporters at his daily briefing at the White House.

US Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal, Clearing Way for Pretrial Litigation in Menendez Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to immediately take up a petition of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, claiming that corruption charges against him are pre-empted by the speech or debate clause of the Constitution. The court’s Monday order denying certiorari, clears the way for U.S. District Judge William Walls of the District of New Jersey to resume pretrial proceedings, which have been on hold since Menendez filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in November 2015.

FBI director confirms probe of Trump campaign and Russia

FBI director James Comey confirmed that the bureau is investigating whether there was coordination between Russian officials and President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 presidential campaign. The House Intelligence Committee opened hearings on Monday to determine the extent of Russian interference and whether campaign officials from either side helped.

Police: South Burlington man targeted teens for sex

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy is criticizing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch because of his support from conservative interest groups that the Vermont lawmaker called “anti-choice, anti-environment and pro-corporate.” Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy is criticizing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch because of his support from conservative interest groups that the Vermont lawmaker called “anti-choice, anti-environment and pro-corporate.”

FILE – This Wednesday, March 1, 2017, file photo shows President…

This Wednesday, March 1, 2017, file photo shows President Donald Trump, flanked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., right as he speaks during a meeting with House and Senate leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. The president is deploying an outside and inside strategy to fulfill his campaign promise to repeal and replace “Obamacare,” seeking support beyond Washington before making an in-person pitch on Capitol Hill.

Kremlin spokesman: Russian ambassador met with advisers to Clinton campaign too

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said in an interview Sunday that the Russian ambassador who met with Trump campaign officials also met with “people working in think tanks advising Hillary or advising people working for Hillary.” Hillary Rodham Clinton Kremlin spokesman: Russian ambassador met with advisers to Clinton campaign too Breitbart takes aim at GOP healthcare bill Tech’s SXSW festival takes on Trump MORE during her campaign, you would probably see that he had lots of meetings of that kind,” Dmitry Peskov told CNN “GPS” host Fareed Zakaria.

In 1st budget, Trump to push conservative view of government

President Donald Trump sends Congress a proposed budget this week that will sharply test Republicans’ ability to keep long-standing promises to bolster the military, making politically painful cuts to a lengthy list of popular domestic programs. The Republican president will ask his adopted political party, which runs Capitol Hill, to cut domestic agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, along with grants to state and local governments and community development projects.

Schiff: ‘I’m very pleased’ with increase in FBI cooperation

Ranking Democrat of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, on Sunday said the FBI director has increasingly started to work with his group’s investigation into Russia’s role in hacks during the 2016 presidential election. “I have been critical of the FBI and their willingness to cooperate in the investigation.

Fed has been doing a good job, Trump economic adviser says

President Trump’s top economic adviser issued a vote of confidence in the Federal Reserve on Sunday, expressing trust in the central bank as it aims to raise interest rates several times this year. The favorable commentary on the Fed from Gary Cohn, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, marks a major turnaround from Trump’s bitter campaign rhetoric about the central bank.

HHS: ‘Nobody will be worse off financially’ with new bill

Health and Human Services Sec. Tom Price Sunday vowed no Americans would suffer financially as a result of the healthcare replacement bill House Republicans have rolled out and hope to pass soon. “I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we’re going through,” Price told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd.

Hospitals worry about caring for newly uninsured in GOP plan

When Colorado expanded Medicaid coverage under former President Barack Obama’s health care law, the largest provider in the Denver region hired more than 250 employees and built a $27 million primary care clinic and two new school-based clinics. Emergency rooms visits stayed flat as Denver Health Medical Center directed many of the nearly 80,000 newly insured patients into one of its 10 community health centers, where newly hired social workers and mental health therapists provided services for some of the county’s poorest residents.

Donald Trump Jr. says he misses campaign trail

Donald Trump Jr. made his first political public appearance since his father’s inauguration, taking an election victory lap and growing nostalgic for the campaign trail. “I thought I was out of politics after election day,” Trump said Saturday, speaking at the Dallas County Republican Party’s Reagan Day Dinner, where he recalled his father’s unpredictable path to the presidency.

White House told to prove wire-tap

The White House says President Trump did not know until this week that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had been working as a representative for Turkey, although the issue was raised with the Trump team before the Republican took office. THE Republican-chaired intelligence committee has demanded the Trump administration provide evidence to back the US president’s claim that Barack Obama “tapped his wires”.

House committee wants evidence for Trump’s wiretap claim

The House intelligence committee is asking the Trump administration for evidence that the phones at Trump Tower were tapped during the campaign as its namesake has charged. President Donald Trump asserted in a tweet last week: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory.

Texas redistricting plan violates Voting Rights Act, judges say

A three-judge panel in a Texas redistricting case has ruled that the Texas Legislature’s 2011 congressional redistricting plan discriminated against minority voters. The judges in a San Antonio federal district court concluded in a 2-1 vote late Friday that the drawing of some of the state’s congressional districts violated the federal Voting Rights Act or the U.S. Constitution.

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Tapp, tapp, tapp

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes. But… At his Senate confirmation hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath that he had never had contact with the… Despite promising to release his tax returns in a televised debate with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump continues to show that… Brian Klaas put out his guide to just how much damage one man can do to two centuries of democracy in fifty days back on Friday, but it’s worth pulling it up again.

Patricia Jones: Should Salt Lake County be a pizza or a doughnut?

Rep. Jason Chaffetz listens to questions as many of those in attendance hold signs and yell during a town hall meeting at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Do you prefer pizza or doughnuts? And what do those food items have to do with a raucous, crowded town hall meeting recently held in Salt Lake County by U.S. Congressman Jason Chaffetz? Lest it be lost on Chaffetz and others who are scratching their heads in wonder or dismissing the town hall attendees as simply left-leaning outsiders: Salt Lake County residents had a pizza-shaped redistricting plan forced down their collective throats as a result of the 2010 reapportionment process.

World Briefs: 3-12-17

A Manhattan federal prosecutor who says “absolute independence” was his touchstone for over seven years as he battled public corruption announced he was fired Saturday after he refused a request a day earlier to resign. Preet Bharara, 48, made the announcement on his personal Twitter account after it became widely known hours earlier that he did not intend to step down in response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ request that leftover appointees of former President Barack Obama quit.

Under Trump, the Moon regains interest as possible destination

Washington: Dismissed by former US president Barack Obama as a place explorers had already seen, the Moon has once again gained interest as a potential destination under Donald Trump’s presidency. Private sector companies in particular are energized by the prospect of future space exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit, where the International Space Station circles the Earth.