January 30, 2017

Ireland to review US customs pre-clearance at Irish airports

Source: Reuters


30 JAN 2017 AT 14:33 ET

Ireland will conduct a complete review of U.S. customs pre-clearance arrangements at its airports following the concern caused by President Donald Trump’s curbs on immigration, the government said on Monday.

Ireland’s Dublin and Shannon airports are among a handful of locations outside North America where passengers can clear customs and immigration before traveling to the United States under an international agreement between the two governments.

Pre-clearance duties are carried out by U.S. officials who have been carrying out the four-month hold Trump put on allowing refugees into the United States and temporary barring of travelers from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan, the U.S. Embassy in Dublin said.

“I have asked for a complete review of the pre-clearance facilities here in Ireland. I would say that pre-clearance has been of enormous convenience, so these are issues that we are happy to negotiate upon,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny told a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/ireland-to-review-us-customs-pre-clearance-at-irish-airports/

January 30, 2017

Company Says It Gave Price Exclusive Stock Deal, Contrary To His Testimony

Source: Talking Points Memo


By MATT SHUHAM Published JANUARY 30, 2017, 3:51 PM EDT

An Australian pharmaceutical company says it gave President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services an exclusive deal to purchase stock, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

That directly contradicts Price's testimony in his confirmation hearings that discounted shares of Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd. “were available to every single individual that was an investor at the time."

Innate Immuno CEO Simon Wilkinson said in an interview with the Journal that those investors who had previously participated in private placement had been invited to “make friends and family aware of the opportunity” to buy discounted shares.

The Journal confirmed the exclusive discount in an interview with Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY), who owns a 17 percent stake in the company and who made Price aware of the stock opportunity. Price was one of just six “friends and family” of investors previously involved in a private placement that were offered the special discounted rates, according to the report. The Journal noted that “about 10” investors who previously purchased Innate Immuno stock were also offered discount rates, in addition to all investors in Australia and New Zealand.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-price-purchased-exclusive-discounted-stock

January 30, 2017

The question every Democrat must answer: 'What are you doing to fight Trump?'

By Paul Waldman January 30 at 1:09 PM

It’s sometimes said that Republican politicians fear their base while Democratic politicians hate their base. One week into Donald Trump’s presidency, we’re seeing an explosion of grassroots energy on the left. Democratic politicians are rushing to become part of this nascent resistance movement, and at the back of their minds may be an uncomfortable question: Should I be afraid of this? Could all of these energized liberals turn on me if I’m not careful?

We should acknowledge that there’s no way to know where this Resistance, as it’s now being called (for better or worse) is going to go. It might quiet down over time as people get used to Trump being president and each new horror emerging from the White House seems less urgent, or it might build and grow into an organized and effective movement, winning substantive victories and sustaining its energy all the way through 2018 and even 2020.

But so far, it’s been pretty extraordinary. After the rapid organization of what may have been the single largest protest in American history (the women’s marches the day after Trump’s inauguration that drew millions in cities large and small all over the country), this weekend a spontaneous uprising against Trump’s executive order on refugees led people to flock to their local airports and city centers to express their outrage and solidarity with those the administration has targeted. According to one tally, there were 83 separate protests in 45 states over the weekend, and rather than taking weeks or months to organize, it all happened in a matter of hours. If there’s ever been a mass liberal mobilization as large and fast as this one, I can’t recall it.

So Democratic politicians rushed to run to the front of the parade, which is a clear sign that something significant and powerful is happening. Elizabeth Warren spoke to protesters in Boston, first at Logan Airport on Saturday night and then in Copley Square on Sunday. Cory Booker went to Dulles Airport outside Washington to address protesters there, where he might have run into Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, or Tom Perriello, the former congressman who’s running for governor, or a few congressmen from the region, because they were all there too. John Lewis was at the Atlanta airport.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/01/30/the-question-every-democrat-must-answer-what-are-you-doing-to-fight-trump/?utm_term=.b8df152c6eb7&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1

January 30, 2017

The right splits, and the nature of our democracy is up for grabs - By Jennifer Rubin

January 30 at 11:30 AM

The schism in the GOP could not be more obvious: On one side stands “blood and soil” nationalists bent on stirring the passions of working-class whites who have been convinced that all Muslims are dangerous. They decline to look at the outcomes of the policies; rather, they seek to bond with and channel the irrational anger of their base. The justification for an outlandish policy becomes: That’s what President Trump ran on. (Put differently, the more closely you look at Trump’s executive order on immigration, “the more clearly un-serious it is in addressing any real problem. It’s Breitbart-like boob bait for the bubbas,” as Bill Kristol tweeted.) The order is both under- and overinclusive in scope, substituting immigration exclusionism for national security policy. (Or is it using national security to justify immigration exclusionism?)

When it comes to Trump’s executive order on immigration — which he facetiously declares is not a Muslim ban (didn’t he chide President Obama for ignoring the identity of our enemy?) — the nativists do not care that refugees are the most well-vetted immigrants or that the seven countries from which immigration is halted do not include any from which the 9/11 hijackers (or any other jihadist attack on the homeland) emanated. They remain indifferent to the real possibility that the order could do real and material harm to our military efforts. (The Post quoted former CIA director Michael V. Hayden as saying: “We’ve got good people who will work hard at it, but there is no question that this has already created an irretrievable cost. … (The order) inarguably has made us less safe. It has taken draconian measures against a threat that was hyped. The byproduct is it feeds the Islamic militant narrative and makes it harder for our allies to side with us.”) Together with those that malevolently fan the flames of hysteria and xenophobia are Republicans who have lost their nerve and moral bearings, who imagine their careers or agendas will be bolstered by avoiding confrontation with Trump. That sadly includes such former conservative darlings as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

On the other side of divide were lawmakers — including Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) — foreign policy experts, former officials and the former independent conservative candidate (and former CIA officer) Evan McMullin, all of whom understood how unnecessary, counterproductive and morally offensive was the directive which anti-immigration zealots Stephen K. Bannon and Stephen Miller cooked up. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Portman matter-of-factly said that while security measures are essential, “we have to do it in a way that’s consistent with our values and consistent with our national security. We are this beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world. That’s our self-image and it’s also an important part of our foreign policy. So we have to do it in a way that makes sense.”

The two halves of the party differ on priorities, sensibilities, tone and values. The Trumpkins have put aside rationality and democratic norms; the other side of the GOP resists. The divide also separates those who already serve in the administration and those who refuse to. Among the latter are Trump critic, former State Department official and scholar Eliot A. Cohen, who wrote:

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/01/30/the-right-splits-and-the-nature-of-our-democracy-is-up-for-grabs/?utm_term=.def141e21b0a&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1

January 30, 2017

Mike Flynn Is Annoying Trump Because He Acts Just Like Trump

In a lot of ways, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Flynn, seems more like the president than most of his appointees. But the qualities that Flynn shares with Trump — a flair for provocation, an inability to shut up, a weird kid who shares his name — are reportedly causing a rift in their relationship.

Less than two weeks into the Trump presidency, Flynn has “gotten on the nerves” of the president and others in his administration, according to the New York Times. Why? Flynn’s “overbearing,” he talks “too much,” and he presided “over a chaotic and opaque N.S.C. transition process,” the Times says. Flynn also likes to push the boundaries of what’s typically thought acceptable in D.C. Trump liked that when Flynn was chanting “lock her up” and calling Islam a “cancer,” but those antics have apparently become less amusing over time. Recently, for example, Flynn had to be talked out of going to DeploraBall, a Trump inauguration event where the “Sieg heil!” had to be explicitly banned, because at those kind of things you never know.

But more than Flynn’s grating personality, it was his conspiracy-peddling son, who had to be fired from the Trump transition in December, that annoyed Trump most, the Times says. Speaking of the Michael Flynn Jr., on Sunday he tweeted a message in support of what he called Trump’s “#MuslimBan.” Also Sunday, Trump said his executive order barring entry to the U.S. for some immigrants is not a Muslim ban. Later, the younger Flynn deleted his Twitter account.

###

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/mike-flynn-is-annoying-trump-because-he-acts-just-like-trump.html

January 30, 2017

Spicer: Diplomats Should Either Back Immigration Order Or Leave

Source: Talking Points Memo

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published JANUARY 30, 2017, 3:00 PM EDT

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday afternoon responded to reports that a group of U.S. diplomats were [link:http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-us-diplomats-filing-dissent-immigration-ban/story?id45135038drafting a memo] to condemn President Donald Trump's executive order denying entry to people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Spicer said that the career State Department employees should either fall in line behind Trump and his executive order or leave the agency.

"I think that they should get with the program or they can go," Spicer said at the daily press briefing, referring to State Department staff who "have a problem" banning people from the seven countries.

Spicer defended the executive order, insisting that it was about safety and arguing that the order "has been blown way out of proportion and exaggerated."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/spicer-state-department-memo-opposition

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Spicer Melts Down: Criticizing Holocaust Remembrance Statement Is 'Pathetic'

By ESME CRIBB Published JANUARY 30, 2017, 2:46 PM EDT

White House press secretary Sean Spicer went on a tear Monday about criticism of the Trump administration's statement commemorating International Holocaust Memorial Day, saying that those "picking on" the statement's failure to explicitly mention Jews are "pathetic" and "nitpicking."

"The statement was written with the help of an individual who's both Jewish and the descendent of Holocaust survivors," Spicer told reporters at a White House daily briefing. "To suggest that remembering the Holocaust and acknowledging all of the people, Jewish, Gypsies, priests, disabled, gays and lesbians, it is pathetic that people are picking on a statement."

He cited an Republican National Committee statement issued at Christmas that reporters similarly seized upon.

"I remember we issued a statement at Christmastime calling Christ the king and many reporters that are in this room and otherwise started wondering if we were referring to the king as the President-elect," Spicer said, his voice rising in volume. "Do you know how offensive that was to Christians?"



more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/spicer-melts-down-holocaust-statement-criticism-pathetic-nitpicking

January 30, 2017

Fact Checker: Trump's facile claim that his refugee policy is similar to Obama's in 2011

By Glenn Kessler January 29 at 6:15 PM

-snip-

The Pinocchio Test
So what’s the difference with Trump’s action?

First, Obama responded to an actual threat — the discovery that two Iraqi refugees had been implicated in bombmaking in Iraq that had targeted U.S. troops. (Iraq, after all, was a war zone.) Under congressional pressure, officials decided to reexamine all previous refugees and impose new screening procedures, which led to a slowdown in processing new applications. Trump, by contrast, issued his executive order without any known triggering threat. (His staff has pointed to attacks unrelated to the countries named in his order.)

Second, Obama did not announce a ban on visa applications. In fact, as seen in Napolitano’s answer to Collins, administration officials danced around that question. There was certainly a lot of news reporting that visa applications had slowed to a trickle. But the Obama administration never said it had a policy to halt all applications. Indeed, it is now clear that no ban was put in place. Even so, the delays did not go unnoticed, so there was a lot of critical news reporting at the time about the angst of Iraqis waiting for approval.

Third, Obama’s policy did not prevent all citizens of that country, including green-card holders, from traveling to the United States. Trump’s policy is much more sweeping, though officials have appeared to pull back from barring permanent U.S. residents.

We have sought comment from the White House and from Obama administration officials and so may update this if more information becomes available. But so far this is worthy of at least Two Pinocchios.

Update: In light of the response from Obama administration officials that there never was a point when Iraqi resettlement was stopped or banned, we are updating this ruling to Three Pinocchios. Iraqi refugee processing was slowed, in response to a specific threat, but it was not halted. The Trump White House, meanwhile, has failed to provide any evidence for its statement.

Three Pinocchios



Full article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/29/trumps-facile-claim-that-his-refugee-policy-is-similar-to-obama-in-2011/?tid=pm_politics_pop&utm_term=.eeaf998650bf

January 30, 2017

Obama rejects comparison between Trump's immigration policy and his own, encourages protests

Source: The Washington Post


By Juliet Eilperin January 30 at 2:22 PM

Former president Barack Obama rejected the idea Monday that President Trump had based his immigration executive order on a policy adopted by his own administration, and endorsed the protests that have been taking place across the country in response to the new restrictions.

Trump has said that his move to ban the entry of migrants from seven Muslim-majority countries into the U.S., and to suspend temporarily the admission of refugees, was based in part by a decision in 2011 by then-President Obama to ban the admission of Iraqis to the U.S. after evidence surfaced that two Iraqis seeking resettlement had been linked to terrorist activity in their home country. The Obama and Trump administrations also identified the same seven countries as harboring terrorism threats.

Former Obama administration officials have denied that there was ever a halt to the awarding of visas to Iraqis, though the processing of these applications slowed after they were subject to more intense scrutiny.

Obama, who has remained publicly silent about his successor since leaving office a week-and-a-half ago, pledged before leaving office to only speak about Trump's policy moves “where I think our core values may be at stake.” On Monday his spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement, “With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/30/obama-rejects-comparison-between-trumps-immigration-policy-and-his-own-encourages-protests/?pushid=breaking-news_1485804873&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&utm_term=.562fcf92ad38

January 30, 2017

Spicer Says Trump's Immigration Order Wasn't Meant To Lead To Deportations

Source: Talking Points Memo


By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published JANUARY 30, 2017, 2:34 PM EDT

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday afternoon said that the Trump administration never meant to deport anyone with the executive order on immigration the President signed on Friday, which temporarily banned the entry of people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Asked about legal challenges to the order at the daily press briefing, Spicer said that a ruling by a federal judge in New York "didn't make any sense."

"It deals with people who are being deported. The action never spoke to it, never intended to deport people," Spicer said. A federal judge in New York on Saturday issued an order keeping U.S. officials from deporting people who fell under the travel ban and who were detained in American airports despite having valid visas.

Spicer claimed on Monday that the federal government never meant to deport any those who were detained. He said that officials detained them and determined whether or not "they sought to do us any harm."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/spicer-new-york-order-deportations

January 30, 2017

Carl Bernstein to Join CNNs New Cross-Platform Investigative Reporting Team

by J.D. Durkin | 1:31 pm, January 30th, 2017

It would appear as if one of the reporters behind the legendary Washington Post‘s uncovering of Watergate is set to take on a more robust role with CNN, the cable net where he has been serving as an occasional contributor.

CNN’s Senior Reporter for Media & Politics Dylan Byers Tweeted shortly ago that Carl Bernstein, as well as Andrew Kaczynski, Scott Glover, and Drew Griffin, would be joining the expanded investigative effort under Lex Harris, CNN Money’s executive editor.

Byers emails:

Bernstein recently co-bylined CNN’s reporting that high level intelligence officials brief both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump on the contents of “compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump” in Kremlin possession (Buzzfeed later let the full cat out of the bag, of course).

-snip-

http://www.mediaite.com/online/carl-bernstein-to-join-cnns-new-cross-platform-investigative-reporting-team/