Trump personally interviewed US attorney candidates in New York: report

President Trump has reportedly conducted interviews for at least two of the potential candidates for U.S. attorney positions in New York, according to a new report by Politico.

Sources told Politico that Trump has interviewed two corporate lawyers to be potential nominees: Geoffrey Berman for the U.S. attorney post in the Southern District of New York, and Ed McNally for the Eastern District of New York.

The interviews by Trump, an unusual move for a president, have raised eyebrows, leaving critics worried of potential conflicts of interest. U.S. attorneys are supposed to operate independently from the president

According to Politico, the dates the interviews took place are unknown.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee overseeing the candidate's confirmations, said he is considering opposing the nominations.

"To be very blunt, these three jurisdictions will have authority to bring indictments over the ongoing special counsel investigation into Trump campaign collusion with the Russians and potential obstruction of justice by the president of the United States,” Blumenthal told Politico. “For him to be interviewing candidates for that prosecutor who may, in turn, consider whether to bring indictments involving him and his administration seems to smack of political interference."


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/356316-trump-personally-interviewed-us-attorney-candidates-in-new-york

Pro-Trump War Hero Featured on Fox News Never Actually Served

A military veteran glowingly featured by Fox News earlier this month for his pro-Trump artwork and his record as a “war hero” admitted Thursday to lying about his military service. John Garofalo, 72, was featured in a Bryan Llenas report as having served seven years as a Navy SEAL, receiving 22 commendations, including two Purple Hearts, and having been listed twice as missing in action during Vietnam. Garofalo, who personally carved a presidential seal to gift President Trump, is a “tough, tough man,” Llenas said, after calling him a “hero” during an interview. Fox News anchor Eric Shawn later remarked: “God bless John Garofalo. We certainly hope maybe the president is listening.” However, when the Navy Times reached out to Garofalo on Thursday, he confessed to having lied about his military service. “What I did I’m ashamed of, and I didn’t mean to cause so much disgrace to the SEALs,” he told the Times. Fox News has since removed the video, which went viral on Facebook, and issued a statement apologizing for the error.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-trump-war-hero-featured-on-fox-news-never-actually-served

Trump sent private contractors to do the military's job when 4 US troops died in Niger

Donald Trump sent in a private aviation contractor — instead of the U.S. military — to evacuate four soldiers killed in action in Niger, according to a troubling new report.

Even more disturbing, the body of Sgt. La David Johnson was reportedly left behind when the bodies of the three other soldiers were retrieved from the scene. His remains were recovered two days after the extraction by Nigerien troops.

Four Americans were killed in the surprise attack by forces believed to be connected to ISIS. Long after their deaths were revealed, Trump refused to speak about them in public. He has continued to boast that ISIS is giving up in the months since he became president, yet the terrorist group was freely able to launch its bloody mission.

Meanwhile, the story about what really happened has continued to change. Originally, it was not disclosed that as commander in chief, Trump had given the green light to outsource the job of retrieving the bodies to private contractors instead of the military.
U.S. Africa Command spokesperson Robyn Mack said Texas-based Berry Aviation was “on alert during the incident and conducted casualty evacuation and transport for US and partner forces.”

A growing number of congressional members are demanding to know the details of the botched military mission conducted on Trump’s orders. Republican Sen. John McCain say the Pentagon has kept them in the dark on the mission and the apparent cover-up of the fallout.


https://shareblue.com/trump-sent-private-contractors-to-do-the-militarys-job-when-4-us-troops-died-in-niger/#.WemAz_c5f3Y.twitter

Frederica Wilson was in the car because she was a friend of the Johnson family.

Two questions for military veterans re. "training missions".

1. Does it involve going out on patrol like the four Green Berets killed in Niger?

2. Do training missions require special forces' participation?

Sgt. Johnson may have been alive when he was left behind.

PENTAGON -- The American soldiers killed in Niger were helping that country's military combat Islamic militants. The exact details of the Niger ambush have been slow to emerge, including the military's immediate response.

After the bodies of three American soldiers were brought out, Pentagon officials believed that Sgt. La David Johnson was still alive somewhere on the battlefield. For several hours, they tracked a locator beacon, which then became intermittent and finally faded out. By the time they found him two days later he was dead, raising the awful possibility that an American soldier was left behind -- a possibility which the Pentagon's Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie flatly rejected.

"I'll tell you, categorically, that from the moment of contact, no one was left behind, neither U.S. -- our partner Nigerian forces or French forces were on the ground actively searching for this soldier," McKenzie said.

The first reinforcements to arrive were French aircraft, starting about 30 minutes after the ambush was reported, according to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/niger-ambush-soldiers-killed-new-details/

Accused rapist goes free but BYU student still violated the honor code by being raped

Last year, a student at Brigham Young University made news when she was accused of violating the school’s honor code by being raped.

The accused rapist Nasiru Seidu was acquitted of the 2015 first-degree rape charge, according to Jezebel.

The survivor was allegedly raped off campus, but she was investigated for her “sexual behavior” that was detailed in the police report. Students at BYU are not allowed to have premarital sex, regardless of whether that sex is nonconsensual. She was then prevented from enrolling in classes because she refused to cooperate with the Honor Code investigation.

“BYU likes to look at your rape and chop it up into little pieces and choose the parts that they can punish you for,” she said in 2016. “They’re emboldening my rapist.”

She didn’t initially involve the campus since the alleged rape took place off campus. The police report was given to the university, however, by a Utah County Sheriff, who is a friend of the accused rapist. The U.S. Department of Education did begin a Title IX investigation, but that investigation is still pending. New Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has called into question President Barack Obama’s work to try and eradicate sexual assault on college campuses and is “reviewing” the rules.


https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/accused-rapist-goes-free-but-byu-student-still-violated-the-honor-code-by-being-raped/#.WekeOPBPGRc.twitter

Man covered in swastikas gets punched in the face outside Richard Spencer rally

Bystanders outside Richard Spencer’s speaking engagement at University of Florida in Gainesville, a man wearing skinhead gear and a T-shirt emblazoned with swastikas got set upon by a group of anti-racist demonstrators.

https://twitter.com/kathrynvarn/status/921094140884111360



https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/watch-man-covered-in-swastikas-gets-punched-in-the-face-outside-richard-spencer-rally/

In attack on Frederica Wilson over Trumps call to widow, John Kelly gets facts wrong

WASHINGTON - When White House Chief of Staff John Kelly condemned a Miami congresswoman on Thursday for sneering at President Donald Trump’s condolence call to a soldier’s widow, the retired general recalled when the two attended a somber ceremony in Miramar to dedicate a new FBI building named after two slain FBI agents.

Kelly criticized Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson for claiming “she got the money” for the new building during the 2015 ceremony while he and others in the audience were focused on the heroism of agents Benjamin Grogan and Jerry Dove, killed during a 1986 shootout with bank robbers south of Miami.

Thursday night, Wilson said Kelly got the story flat-out wrong. In fact, she said Washington approved the money before she was even in Congress. The legislation she sponsored named the building after Grogan and Dove, a law enacted just days before the ceremony.

“He shouldn't be able to just say that, that is terrible,” Wilson said of Kelly’s remarks in the White House briefing room, the latest volley in the controversy over Trump’s condolence call to a military widow from Miami Gardens, an area Wilson represents. “This has become totally personal.”



Rhttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article179869321.html#storylink=cpy

Jacinda Ardern, 37, Will Be New Zealand's Youngest Prime Minister

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A minor party holding the balance of power in New Zealand threw its support behind 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern’s bid to become prime minister on Thursday, ending the center-right National Party’s nine-year grip on power.

Ms. Ardern, the leader of the Labour Party, will take over from Prime Minister Bill English, reversing Labour’s long-flagging fortunes and giving the country its youngest leader in more than 150 years.

Ms. Ardern’s ascension represents a remarkable rise for a woman who just months ago became Labour’s youngest leader ever, setting off “Jacindamania” among the party’s followers. Unconventional and described by colleagues as intensely focused, she has defied the norms of New Zealand politics and refused to be pinned down on whether she has considered having children, saying no male politician would be forced to answer that question.

Ms. Ardern said Thursday that she believed in building an economy that worked “for all New Zealanders” while working to protect New Zealand’s environment and clean up its waterways.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/world/asia/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern.html