Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalRussia Today tweets about Flynn 'retirement'
Source: The Hill
Russia Today, Russia’s state broadcaster, drew attention online Monday night, after it tweeted that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had “retired.”
Flynn resigned late Monday, after reports that he misled senior Trump White House officials about his conversations with Russia.
The embattled Flynn blamed his resignation on the “fast pace of events” that led him to “inadvertently” give Vice President Mike Pence and others “incomplete information” about his phone conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.
Pence had defended Flynn's contacts with Russia, and when it became clear the national security adviser had not been forthcoming, serious questions were raised about his ability to keep his job.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/319369-russia-today-tweets-about-flynn-retirement
Committee Dems call for classified briefing on Flynn
Source: The Hill
Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) – the ranking members of the Judiciary and Oversight committees, respectively – called for a classified briefing for Congress regarding former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn after his abrupt resignation Monday night.
“We were shocked and dismayed to learn this evening of reports that three weeks ago, U.S. law enforcement officials warned the White House Counsel that General Flynn had provided false information to the public about his communications with the Russian government, but that the Trump Administration apparently did nothing about it,” the two said in a statement.
“The reality is General Flynn was unfit to be the National Security Advisor, and should have been dismissed three weeks ago.
“Now, we in Congress need to know who authorized his actions, permitted them, and continued to let him have access to our most sensitive national security information despite knowing these risks. We need to know who else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our national security,” the statement continued.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/319371-committee-dems-call-for-classified-briefing-on-flynn
Trade groups push Congress to reverse NLRB joint employer ruling
Source: The Hill
More than 50 business and trade groups are asking Congress to pass legislation to repeal the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) new joint employer standard.
In August 2015, the NLRB ruled that “indirect” and “potential” control over workers’ terms and conditions makes a company a joint employer.
In a letter to members of the House Education and Workforce Committee Tuesday, the groups – including the International Franchise Association, the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation – said the rule change has exposed a broad range of businesses, from contractors and subcontractors, to franchisors and franchisees, to workplace liability for another employer’s actions and for workers they do not employ.
And they say the NLRB won’t be reversing the new standard anytime soon.
Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/319373-trade-groups-push-congress-to-reverse-nlrb-joint-employer-ruling
Group forms to 'Resist Trump' in Tallahassee
A new #ResistTrump group is drawing a sizable crowd in Tallahassee.
Organizers of Resist Trump Tallahassee were expecting only a few dozen people when they met for the first time last month at the LeRoy Collins Public Library. But 138 people showed up. And that was before Donald Trump was even sworn in as the 45th president.
The group held its first meeting Jan. 15 as part of a national day of action sponsored by groups including Moveon.org. It has since become its own grassroots organization, said Cheryl Gratt, a real estate agent who's organizing the effort with retired librarian Marianne Ryan.
"What we are trying to do is basically stop any initiative that Trump is doing — which is just about everything — that is detrimental to our country,” Gratt said.
more: http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/02/13/group-forms-resist-trump-tallahassee/97869448/
Netanyahu adviser wants 'no gaps' with US on key issues
Source: The Hill
Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trip to Washington, a top adviser says the prime minister’s staff will work to ensure there are “no gaps” between the United States and Israel on key issues.
"There isn't going to be any daylight, no gaps," an adviser told Reuters.
President Trump and Netanyahu will meet on Wednesday.
"Donald Trump and I see eye-to-eye on the dangers emanating from the region but also on the opportunities,” Netanyahu said on Monday, according to Reuters. “We'll talk about both as well as upgrading the relations between Israel and the United States in many, many fields.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/international/319376-netanyahu-adviser-no-gaps-between-us-and-israel
British government rejects petition to stop Trump's visit
Source: The Hill
The British government has rejected a petition demanding a visit from U.S. President Trump to be canceled.
In a response posted onto an online petition, the government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office says it should extend its “full courtesy” to the U.S. and Trump.
"HM Government recognises the strong views expressed by the many signatories of this petition, but does not support this petition," the statement reads. “HM Government believes the President of the United States should be extended the full courtesy of a State Visit. We look forward to welcoming President Trump once dates and arrangements are finalised."
The final dates for Trump’s visit have not yet been determined.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/319375-uk-rejects-petition-to-stop-trumps-official-visit
As trial date draws near, FBI releases more about secretive 9/11 Review Commission
Source: Florida Bulldog
In moves aimed at heading off an unusual Freedom of Information Act trial in Miami next month, the FBI has released new information about the secretive work of its 9/11 Review Commission.
In one disclosure, the FBI made public how much it paid Reagan-era Attorney General Edwin Meese and two other men who served on the Review Commission, and staff. In another, the FBI put a human face on its effort to discredit a dramatic April 16, 2002 FBI report that said agents had found “many connections” between Saudis living in Sarasota and the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI withheld the 2002 report from both Congress and the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, more simply known as the 9/11 Commission.
Late last year, in response to FOIA litigation brought by Florida Bulldog, the FBI made public copies of its personal services contracts with Meese, former ambassador and congressman Timothy Roemer and Georgetown professor Bruce Hoffman, but blacked out their pay.
Read more: http://www.floridabulldog.org/2017/02/trial-date-draws-nears-fbi-releases-new-details-about-secretive-911-review-commission/
Journalist Claims Omarosa Manigault Threatened Her, Said White House Has Dossier on Her
Source: New York Magazine
Somehow Gateway Pundit bloggers showing off their new White House press credentials in a tweet featuring a Pepe the Frog emoji was not the most troubling report about the White House press corps on Monday. A reporter claims that during an argument just outside the Oval Office last week, Omarosa Manigault, Apprentice star turned White House communications official, “physically intimidated” her. She said Manigault also told her that the Trump administration has collected “dossiers” of negative information on her and several other journalists.
According to the Washington Post, the exchange between Manigualt and April Ryan, American Urban Radio Networks’ White House correspondent, took place outside White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s office. “She stood right in my face like she was going to hit me,” Ryan told the paper. “I said, ‘You better back up.’ … She thought I would be bullied. I won’t be.”
Post reporter Abby Phillip was one of several people who witnessed the incident. Phillip said she didn’t hear every word, but Ryan told her afterward that she felt Manigault’s behavior was “Secret Serviceable,” meaning it warranted intervention by law enforcement.
Ryan also said that during the encounter Manigault told her she was one of several African-American journalists whom the White House is keeping dossiers on. “I said, ‘Good for you, good for you, good for you,’” Ryan said.
Read more: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/journalist-says-omarosa-threatened-her-has-dossier-on-her.html
New immigration measures prompts surge in number of residents seeking U.S. citizenship
Source: The Miami Herald
Demand for help to apply for U.S. citizenship has increased in recent weeks across South Florida, according to activists and organizations that serve immigrants.
Hundreds of people have attended citizenship workshops and some said they are taking the step because they are worried about their future in a country now under new immigration measures touted by President Donald Trump.
In Lauderhill, some 200 people were expected to attend a naturalization workshop on Saturday hosted by several organizations. But twice as many showed up.
“I’ve been here for over 30 years, and I’ve never thought about going through this process,” said Yves Darbouze, who applied for citizenship. “Now they’re sending people home. I have family here. I have my kids, who were born here. Even though I’m a permanent resident, I’m afraid that they might send me back. That’s why I’m here. I don’t want to be separated from my family.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article132516229.html
Scott playing budget hardball over repeal of EFI, Visit Florida, members say
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s staff is sending an indirect but unmistakable message to Florida lawmakers, according to several House members: If you support legislation abolishing two economic development entities strongly backed by the governor, you can kiss your budget items goodbye.
The governor’s office says the notion that it is tying the fate of House members' pet projects to how they vote on legislation that would shutter Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida is “absolutely false.” None of the lawmakers interviewed by POLITICO Florida have indicated that their discussions were held directly with the governor.
"The word ‘threat’ was not used, but the message was clear,” said a House member lobbied on the economic development reform bill. “It’s a pretty hardline approach so early in the process. If they want the House to work with them [governor’s office] in the future, they might want to rethink it.”
For veteran political observers, a governor using his line-item veto pen as leverage to muscle policy priorities out of the Legislature is nothing new.
more: http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/02/some-house-members-say-they-are-feeling-scott-squeeze-over-repeal-of-efi-visit-florida-109540
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