Rachel Brand - No 3 at DOJ and likely new boss of Bob Mueller. Fun & Boring facts.

In light of Rob Rosenstein's bizarre statement last night, his recusal is looking highly likely much sooner than later. IF/When that happens, Bob Mueller would then report to the No 3 at the DOJ, Rachel Brand. So, what do know about Brand ? Here are some facts to help us/make us concerned

Rachel Lee Brand (born May 1, 1973) is an American lawyer, academic, and government official. She was sworn in as the United States Associate Attorney General on May 22, 2017, after being nominated to the position by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate. Brand is the first woman to serve as Associate Attorney General.[1] She served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy in the George W. Bush administration and was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Prior to becoming Associate Attorney General, Brand was an associate professor at Antonin Scalia Law School.

Brand, the daughter and granddaughter of Dutch dairy farmers, grew up in a small town in Iowa. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Morris and Harvard Law School, Brand clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Charles Fried. Following her clerkships, Brand worked at the firm Cooper, Carvin, & Rosenthal, now known as Cooper & Kirk.

Brand served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy in the George W. Bush administration and was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Brand served as Chief Counsel for Regulatory Litigation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Brand is the chairman of the Federalist Society's Litigation Practice Group and co-chair of the American Bar Association Administrative Law Section's Government Information and Right to Privacy Committee

On February 1, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Brand to be United States Associate Attorney General. Her appointment was confirmed 52–46 by the U.S. Senate on May 18, 2017

Wife of Jonathan Cohn, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at DOJ

Before Brand arrived, Attorney General Jeff Sessions had already sparked controversy with his actions on civil rights issues. He has begun to undo the Justice Department’s policy toward transgender students in public schools; unsuccessfully tried to pull back from a sweeping reform agreement the department has with the Baltimore Police Department; ordered officials to review other reform agreements with troubled police forces nationwide; and reversed the Justice Department’s position on a voting rights law in Texas that a federal court has found intentionally discriminatory.

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“The challenge of her job is that she is responsible for oversight of some of the most politically difficult issues,” said Jamie Gorelick (Hillary Clinton 2016 Supporter who is currently Jared Kushner's Personal Lawyer !!!), who served as deputy attorney general under Attorney General Janet Reno and worked with Brand at the Wilmer Hale law firm. “All of the main places where there are differences between Republicans and Democrats reside in the civil litigation divisions. I think Rachel is well prepared — she’s very smart and very thoughtful — but that’s going to be a very hard job.”

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Brand then worked for the firm Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal (now Cooper & Kirk), which is led by former Reagan administration Justice Department official Charles Cooper. Brand tinkered in politics on Elizabeth Dole’s presidential campaign, and when Bush became president, White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales hired Brand to work for him. She moved over to the Justice Department as Bush’s assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy, which develops and implements the department’s significant policy initiatives. In that position, she led the “murder boards,” sessions to prepare John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. for their Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Brand left the Justice Department in 2007, spent three years at Wilmer Hale and then became the vice president and chief counsel for regulatory litigation for the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center — a job that drew criticism from Democrats during her confirmation hearing.

“She carries a heavily skewed, pro-corporate agenda that would do further harm to the Justice Department and its independence,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.).

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Brand “has extensive experience, years of experience, fighting on behalf of the biggest and richest companies in the world.”

In response to a question about her work at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), Brand said she had spent most of her career in public service.

“When I was at the Chamber of Commerce, I had a client, the Chamber of Commerce, and, as a litigator there, my job was to file lawsuits and file amicus briefs on behalf of that client,” Brand said. “If I’m confirmed to this position, of course, I’ll have a very different role. .?.?. My client will be the United States, and my role will be to serve the public interest and the interest of justice, representing that client as best I can.”

On the Positive Side......

President Barack Obama appointed Brand in 2012 to be a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent, bipartisan agency within the White House that advised the president on the privacy and civil liberties implications of the government’s surveillance programs.

“She’s a top-notch analytic lawyer and really good at figuring out what is the art of the possible,” said Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general in the Obama administration who worked with Brand when she was at the Chamber. “But the big issue for everyone at the Justice Department right now is how rigorously they’re going to police the rule of law.”

MJ rips into Mark Halperin for being the Trump toadie that he is.

Scarborough ridiculed Halperin for his support of Trump "Trump didn't have a bad day at all", and laid into Comey for leaking the memo. Scarborough countered by saying everyone does that, even Halperin himself ! Halperin countered by saying he was the FBI Director and shouldn't have done it that way.....the pity is that no one jumped on that to say that, in fact, Comey was NO LONGER FBI Director at that stage.

Representing DNA data on websites

Has anyone come across websites that have a good representation of DNA data ? I'm currently looking to redesign a family tree website and representing DNA is the no 1 request, but I haven't seen much out there.

Katie Hopkins sacked by LBC following Manchester attack 'final solution' comments

Good to see this piece of filth get the boot...watch out, if Fox can take Farage, you might see her heading to the US as well.

Katie Hopkins is to leave LBC with immediate effect, the radio station has confirmed.

The announcement comes shortly after Hopkins said that a "final solution" is needed following the Manchester terror attack that killed 22. A controversial tweet even by her standards, the since-deleted post appeared to call for genocide, her use of "final solution" presumably referring to the Nazis' plan to murder all Jews within reach.

"22 dead - number rising," she wrote on 23 May. "Schofield. Don't you even dare. Do not be a part of the problem. We need a final solution #Manchester."

LBC told The Independent it would not be "commenting further [than the tweet below]".

Complaints were made to the Metropolitan Police about Hopkins' tweet, which she later said she stood by, but claimed the use of "final" was a typo, changing it to "true" in a new tweet.

Hopkins has consistently been referring to "Islamic terror" and "Islamic extremists" on Twitter, phrasing with implications to an entire religion that even President Trump has been conscious to try and avoid. Though he used "Islamic" while campaigning, during his recent trip to the Middle East his speeches were on the threat of "Islamist terror" (though he misspoke in Saudi Arabia on Sunday and accidentally said "Islamic&quot .

SNIP

Donald Trump previously thanked Hopkins in December 2015 for her "powerful writing on the U.K.'s Muslim problems", describing her as a "respected columnist".

Next Irish Prime Minister is likely to be gay and a son of an Indian born doctor

The current Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland, Enda Kenny, has announced he will be stepping down, so there is currently a run off between two, for the Leadership of Kenny's Fine Gael party. The winner will most likely also assume the role of Prime Minister due to a voting pact with other parties.

The two in contention are Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar, and the party vote will happen within 2 weeks. However, it is clear that Varadkar has done his homework and currently has a huge lead.

Here he is with his family



Varadkar is a medical doctor (son of a Mumbai born doctor), very clever and a smooth political operator. He came out in 2015 and lives with his partner.

Should make the traditional visit to the White House next St Patrick's day, very interesting !!!

Jeff Sessions back under the Recusal spotlight : Comey and Manafort - RMS

Rachel Maddow Show has done a vey important piece tonight, on whether Jeff Sessions, having recused himself in all things Russia and all things Clinton emails, quietly unrecused himself or just ignored the recusal.

RMS (including Rachel herself) has contacted the Justice Department 5 times and they have refused to answer.

We know about Sessions involvement in the Comey firing, but it appears Manafort has not yet registered as a Foreign Agent, on advice from the Justice Department. Why would that be the case ? Does Sessions have something to do with that ?


**** Updated Link ****

Mensch suggesting Ryan on tape taking money from Kislyak !!!

Louise Mensch?Verified account @LouiseMensch · 2m2 minutes ago

Democrats CANNOT rely on Speaker of the House. He is on tape taking Kislyak money for his campaign. @RepAdamSchiff seek relief at #SCOTUS

https://twitter.com/LouiseMensch/status/862088264525676544

What are the political consequences of a Yes vote on ACA Repeal today ?

1. We know Trump is desperate to have a Win on ACA repeal, to have a chance to release that Tax money which he use for his Tax cuts for the Wealthy scheme.

2. We know Republicans have lied to their stupid voters about the consequences of ACA/Obamacare for the last 7 years, and have put all their money on "Repealing Obamacare".

3. We know this State Opt out, will predominantly hurt people in Republican controlled states, as they are the ones stupid enough to opt out.

4. We know Republicans have NOT sent this to the CBO in advance (knowing that it wouldn't be to their benefit).

Do the Republicans in the House only want to pass a Repeal in the House, knowing that it would be defeated in the Senate ? Thus they can go back to their voters saying, I vote Repeal but it was those dastardly Senators who killed it.

If it was to go to the Senate, can it do so without going through CBO, and if not, when it is shown to be also appalling, how is it going to look for moderate Republican congressmen to have voted for cutting people's healthcare when the Senate tossed it out ? Or will the Senate ram it through as well ? 50 + Pence will do.

On the other side, IF it were to get through the Senate and the ACA is killed, doesn't the shoe get on the other foot in that now Democrats would be under savage pressure to agree to Trumpcare 3.0 ? Suddenly, it can be spun that Democrats are letting people die for their own selfish reasons, IF they don't sign up to Trumpcare.

The ideal scenario would be that the House passes this today, but the Senate completely rejects it, thus potentially resulting in the Republicans getting wiped out in 2018. As stupid as they are, I don't think they are that stupid.

What are the other paths this could go ?

MSM need (but won't) to be ready for the distraction tactics when Sally Yates testifies

Yesterday showed the Republican strategy of bringing in as much as they could about the Clinton emails, and the attempt to lay the distraction groundwork by the letter from the good ole boy Lindsey Graham, to Susan Rice, requesting her appearance at the same hearing as Sally Yates and James Clapper.

You and I know he wants her there so Republicans can go ballistic at her, allowing Yates's testimony to be buried in RW media. It's sick and cynical, but what's new ?

So be prepared for something to happen in the hours leading up to her appearance on May 8th, to distract the public's attention away from the hearing. MSM should be prepared for this too, but I'm not going to risk holding my breath.

What can be done to counter this ? Maybe one of the Democrats on the committee could ask a blockbuster question that by even asking it, will grab the spotlight back ?

An Evening with Bernie Sanders (in Ireland, on Sunday 4 June 2017)

Bernie Sanders in conversation on his first ever trip to Ireland. The longest serving Independent in US congressional history, Sanders will join Dalkey Book Festival director David McWilliams for this unique event, at the 2,100 capacity Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

https://www.joe.ie/life-style/bernie-sanders-visit-ireland-first-time-ever-part-dalkey-book-festival-586130