Tag: Trump White House

As DNI, Ratcliffe May Target Washington Post

Imagine the indictment of a former national security official in the Obama administration for violation of the Espionage Act. Imagine James Clapper or Sally Yates facing the same charges as Julian Assange or Chelsea Manning.

That dream of right-wing media (and some left-wing critics) came one step closer to reality Sunday, when President Trump announced the appointment of Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas as the new director of national intelligence. On Sunday, Ratcliffe told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, his number one idea for “investigation of the investigators”: prosecute a source of The Washington Post.

Ratcliffe expressed the hope that the Justice Department will investigate the leak to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius in January 2017 that led to the resignation of Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Ignatius’ reporting raised the possibility that Flynn had lied about a pre-inauguration conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was forced to resign after only 24 days on the job.

View the complete July 31 article by Jefferson Morley on the National Memo website here.

White House races to come up with health-care wins for Trump’s campaign

Washington Post logoWhite House advisers, scrambling to create a health-care agenda for President Trump to promote on the campaign trail, are meeting at least daily with the aim of rolling out a measure every two to three weeks until the 2020 election.

One of the initiatives would allow states to import lower-priced drugs from Canada and other countriesand another would bar Medicare from paying more than any other country for prescription drugs, according to two senior administration officials and lobbyists — controversial ideas in line with Democratic proposals. Yet it remains unclear whether the administration has the legal authority to execute some of these policies without Congress’s approval.

The White House is already facing fierce pushback on some proposals from Republicans on Capitol Hill and the pharmaceutical industry, which will probably go to court to challenge any measure it opposes.

View the complete July 31 article by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

White House aides panicked Trump’s descent into overt racism is about to blow up in his face: report

AlterNet logoAccording to a report in the New York Times, White House officials held a frantic meeting on Monday attempting to figure out a way to rein in Donald Trump’s increasing use of overt racist rhetoric — but that no one was sure how to tell him.

After a weekend of attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Times reports “Several White House officials expressed agreement during a senior staff meeting on Monday morning that the president’s attacks were a bad move.”

According to sources, the members of the meeting arrived at their conclusion but “they were uncertain who could intervene with him — or if anyone would even dare try.”

View the complete July 30 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Trump, a native New Yorker, never publicly got behind 9/11 responders bill

‘He back-channeled this one,’ says a White House official after president signed the measure

President Donald Trump on Monday signed legislation to help 9/11 first-responders and the families of ones who died from health complications, even though the New Yorker and his administration never publicly got behind the bill.

Aides contend the president chose to push for “yea” votes behind the scenes.

Trump, a Queens native who set up shop in Manhattan as an adult and real estate executive, weighs in on a range of issues, whether in person or on Twitter. Sometimes he inserts himself into Capitol Hill debates and legislative efforts, making things difficult for lawmakers trying to pass bills.

View the complete July 29 article by John T. Bennett on the Roll Call website here.

Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats is expected to resign soon, capping a tumultuous relationship with President Trump

Washington Post logoCoats’s resignation, which was confirmed by people familiar with the matter, follows years of the intelligence director being at odds with Trump over the wisdom of negotiations with Russia, Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the severity of foreign threats to U.S. elections.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.

View the complete July 28 article by The Washington Post staff on their website here.

Adviser, son-in-law and hidden campaign hand: How Kushner is trying to help Trump win in 2020

Washington Post logoAfter Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale decided he wanted to make the recruitment of donors a top strategy in President Trump’s 2020 reelection bid, his first conversation was with someone not officially employed by the campaign at all: Jared Kushner.

Parscale expected the effort to cost $20 million or more in this year alone, so he knew he had to get buy-in from Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser before moving forward.

“It was something that could make a huge impact on our winning and losing,” Parscale said in an interview. “Once he was onboard, we went together to sell the president.”

View the complete July 26 article by Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Top Democrat says Trump’s aides blocked a crucial briefing out of fear it would ‘bruise his ego’

AlterNet logoSpeaking on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia urged the country to pay more attention to the issue of election security in light of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony.

“Where we’ve been focused is the point that Bob Mueller made repeatedly yesterday, not only did Russia attack us in 2016, but they will be back in 2020,” Warner said. “I’ve got no interest in re-litigating 2016, I am interested in making sure that we have appropriate protections in 2020.”

But as I argued on Wednesday, we can’t really separate present election security issues from what happened in 2016 and President Donald Trump’s subsequent efforts to cover it up. As it stands, Trump is the primary force in American politics preventing the country from fortifying its election systems against foreign influence and corruption.

View the complete July 26 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

House panel approves subpoena for official White House communications

The Hill logoThe House Oversight and Reform Committee voted along party lines to authorize Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to subpoena for records from the White House in connection with an investigation into aides’ use of personal email and text applications for official business.

The panel voted 23-16 Thursday on a resolution that authorizes Cummings to subpoena White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney for official records and communications sent or received by noncareer White House officials using private email and nonofficial text-based accounts.

“There are serious questions about this White House’s use of personal email and text accounts. We must issue these subpoenas to get our answers,” said Cummings at the business meeting Thursday morning.

View the complete July 25 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

House Oversight schedules Thursday vote to hold Kellyanne Conway in contempt

The Hill logoThe House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday officially scheduled a vote for later in the week to hold White House counselor Kellyanne Conwayin contempt of Congress after she failed to comply with a subpoena to testify about her repeated Hatch Act violations.

The panel will hold a business meeting on Thursday, at which time lawmakers will vote on whether to hold Conway in contempt. The move comes amid an ongoing battle between Democrats and the White House over compliance with congressional oversight investigations.

The committee sought Conway’s testimony at two separate hearings in recent weeks about her violations of the Hatch Act, which bars White House employees from speaking about e

View the complete July 22 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

Stephen Miller defends Trump’s attacks on Rep. Omar

Washington Post logoA week after his racist tweets about four minority congresswomen, President Trump’s aides on Sunday defended his behavior, even as top Democrats sharply criticized him and pushed for greater accountability.

Stephen Miller, a White House senior adviser, had a heated back-and-forth with “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace over the president’s tweets as well as a North Carolina Trump rally where the crowd chanted “send her back,” targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Omar was born in Somalia and has been a U.S. citizen since she was 17.

Miller defended Trump and said the term “racist” has become a label used to silence and punish people.

View the complete July 21 article by Cat Zakrzewski and Felicia Sonmez on The Washington Post website here.