Possible weekend protest near Charlottesville, Virginia, sparks worry

Source: USA Today

VERONA, Va. — The CEO of Nexus Services Inc. said he was recently warned by authorities that hundreds of anti-immigration protesters might descend on his company's Verona campus on Saturday.

CEO Michael Donovan said up to 500 protesters from a group known as "The Three Percenters" could show up, according to a press release.

Nexus provides GPS tracking to detained immigrants so they can be released while awaiting immigration court hearings and deals with criminal defendants as well. The company has several private and nonprofit subsidiary services with offices across the nation.

"While we respect the First Amendment rights of all people and have no issue with peaceful demonstrations of any kind, we simply cannot remain silent against the forces of hate, ignorance, and white supremacy," Donovan said in a press release. "It is our experience that when good people stand up to bullies, the bullies typically turn away from the bright light of truth. Sunlight is the best disinfectant in the marketplace of ideas."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/28/possible-anti-immigration-protest-near-charlottesville-virginia-sparks-worry/383918002/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Marine Le Pen charged for posting violent Isis images on Twitter

Source: The Guardian

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right Front National, has been charged over photographs she tweeted showing gruesome images of purported atrocities by Islamic State.

The move by a judge in Nanterre on Thursday came after the national assembly voted in November to strip Le Pen of her parliamentary immunity over the three photos posted in 2015.

Le Pen, who lost to Emmanuel Macron in last year’s presidential vote, is facing charges of circulating “violent messages that incite terrorism or pornography or seriously harm human dignity”, and that can be viewed by a minor. The crime is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£66,000).

The pictures were posted a few weeks after the Paris terror attacks in November 2015, in which 130 people were killed.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/01/marine-le-pen-charged-for-posting-violent-isis-images-on-twitter?CMP=twt_gu&__twitter_impression=true

The Twit tweets: I have decided that sections of the Wall that California wants built NOW will not..

Four Commerce Department appointees lose their posts after problems in background checks

Source: The Washington Post

Four Commerce Department political appointees working on interim security clearances lost their jobs Tuesday because of problems in their background checks, the latest fallout from the intensifying public scrutiny on administration officials working without permanent clearances.

The department determined that the four appointees — including one who worked for the agency for nearly a year and served for several months as a senior adviser to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross — should not be given access to classified information, according to multiple officials who requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

A Commerce Department spokesman declined to comment on any terminations or resignations related to security clearance problems.

“The Department is prohibited by the Privacy Act from discussing personal information about employees,” spokesman James Rockas said in a statement. “The standard background and hiring practices are followed by the Department and, whenever concerns are raised during that process, the Department acts immediately.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/four-commerce-department-appointees-lose-their-posts-after-problems-in-background-checks/2018/02/27/f96b2666-1bdb-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html?utm_term=.12ae9f6b29b6

Trump campaign chief lends name to penny stock tied to felon

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The political strategist and online guru who was named President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Tuesday has a close financial relationship with a penny-stock firm with a questionable history that includes longstanding ties to a convicted fraudster, according to an Associated Press investigation.

Brad Parscale, who played a key role in Trump’s 2016 election victory, signed a $10 million deal in August to sell his digital marketing company to CloudCommerce Inc. As part of the deal, Parscale currently serves as a member of California-based company’s management team.

The company touts itself as “a global provider of cloud-driven e-commerce and mobile commerce solutions.” But records reviewed by the AP raise questions about its current financial picture and its rocky past.

Cloud Commerce’s operations have not turned a profit in nearly a decade, the records indicate. The company’s most recent quarterly earnings showed it has spent more than $19 million in investor money since its creation nearly two decades ago and has only $107,000 in cash on hand.

Read more: https://apnews.com/5bdc810e38c94b119e2e0c2d206c4486/Trump-campaign-chief-lends-name-to-penny-stock-tied-to-felon

Josh Raffel, senior communications aide, is leaving the White House

Source: The Washington Post

Josh Raffel, a senior communications official in the White House who has been a go-to crisis manager and worked closely with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, is leaving the administration, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Raffel's departure within the next two months comes as Kushner is under increasing scrutiny for his inability to secure a complete FBI background check for his security clearance, and with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's Russia investigation intensifying.

Raffel, who joined the White House last April to help run communications for Kushner's Office of American Innovation, had become a point person internally for some of the most sensitive matters, as well as the Middle East peace process. He functions as a spokesman for Ivanka Trump and Kushner, the president's daughter and son-in-law, but his portfolio is far more expansive, including foreign and domestic policies and day-to-day crisis management. Last fall, he was quietly promoted to deputy communications director, and worked closely with communications director Hope Hicks, one of the president's most trusted advisers.

Raffel earned a reputation among reporters for his voluble and fervent defenses of his administration charges, and came to be respected within the West Wing for his strategic instincts.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/02/27/josh-raffel-senior-communications-aide-is-leaving-the-white-house/?utm_term=.0ce00fb05fa2

Bill spurred by Nassar case concerns Catholic Church

Source: AP

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Catholic Church’s lobbying arm in Michigan says it has concerns with a bill that would retroactively lengthen the time limit for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits.

The legislation is included in a package supported by victims of disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar. It would let accusers who now generally must sue by their 19th birthday file suit up until they turn 48.

A Michigan Catholic Conference spokesman confirmed Tuesday that extending the statute of limitations is “of concern,” but he withheld further comment until the group can fully review the measure’s impact. The Catholic Church has paid out more than $3 billion to settle clergy abuse cases in the U.S.

A state Senate committee leader says it will vote to pass the bill later Tuesday.


Read more: https://apnews.com/0ac65e5bd91e41a99c306345544112eb/Bill-spurred-by-Nassar-case-concerns-Catholic-Church

Former SWAT Operator Says the Cop Who Stood Outside Is Another Victim of the Parkland Massacre

Kushner Cos. in talks to buy out partner in Fifth Ave tower

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — The family real estate company once run by White House adviser Jared Kushner is in talks to buy out its partner in a Manhattan skyscraper that has been losing money for years.

Kushner Cos. spokeswoman Christine Taylor said on Tuesday that the real estate developer is negotiating with Vornado Realty Trust for its 49.5 percent stake in 666 Fifth Avenue. Kushner Cos. had sought billions from abroad to raze the 1950?s-era office tower and replace it with a more modern building, but critics said the financing raised conflicts of interest issues with its former CEO in the White House helping to shape foreign policy.

Taylor said she could not comment about whether the Kushners would bring in other partners to buy the Vornado stake, or any other details. Vornado did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The building has been losing money since Jared Kushner bought it for a record $1.8 billion in 2007. About a third of its offices are vacant, and a $1.2 billion mortgage is coming due early next year.


Read more: https://apnews.com/d039e47c6be34a7ba1da804ee3b87cc0/Kushner-Cos.-in-talks-to-buy-out-partner-in-Fifth-Ave-tower

DC officially renames street in front of Russian embassy after slain Putin critic

Source: The Hill

The Washington, D.C. city council officially renamed a street in front of the Russian embassy in honor of a slain critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Dozens of attendees gathered for an official ceremony Tuesday morning for the renaming of a portion of Wisconsin Avenue as "Boris Nemtsov Plaza," in honor of the top Putin critic who was murdered outside the Kremlin in 2015 after calling for rallies against Putin's government.

Big crowd gathered for unveiling of Boris Nemtsov plaza in honor of the slain Russian dissident. It’s right in front of the Russian embassy pic.twitter.com/uzSUfk6zc1
— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) February 27, 2018

The Kremlin has denied involvement in his murder, which occurred three years ago today in downtown Moscow just steps from the seat of Russia's government. The top Putin critic was shot by an unknown assailant just days before he planned to take part in a peace rally against Russia's involvement in Ukraine.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/375814-dc-officially-renames-street-in-front-of-russian-embassy-after