Today's News (2020/2/15)
Feb. 15th, 2020 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdThe tactical ICE agent deployment is no doubt the worst thing in this list, followed closely by 45 declaring he has the right to intervene in any Justice Department case he wants. But there is - as always - plenty of other badness.
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Trump allies take aim at Buttigieg’s sexuality, a possible sign of things to come
By Amy B Wang and Chelsea Janes
Feb. 13, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-allies-take-aim-at-buttigiegs-sexuality-a-possible-sign-of-things-to-come/2020/02/13/d68b7a3c-4ea7-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html
Allies of President Trump have sharply focused attention on the sexual identity of presidential contender Pete Buttigieg in recent days, questioning in stark terms whether Americans are ready for a gay candidate who kisses his husband onstage.
The attacks are prompting blunt responses from Buttigieg’s allies and even his Democratic rivals, who call the remarks inappropriate and offensive. The exchanges were ignited by radio host Rush Limbaugh, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump last week and who framed his comments as an ostensible analysis of how Democrats feel.
“They’re sitting there and they’re looking at Mayor Pete — a 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage. And they’re saying, okay, how’s this going to look, a 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband onstage next to Mr. Man Donald Trump? What’s going to happen there?” Limbaugh said. (Buttigieg is 38.)
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The key takeaway in this video for me is, "I don't want to hear any crap about an independent Justice Department."
Andrew Lawrence
twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence
13 February 2020
https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1228111943954784256
Lou Dobbs attacks Bill Barr, suggests he's part of the "deep state," calls the Justice Department "rancid, corrupt"
[SEE EMBEDDED VIDEO]
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Trump bucks Barr’s request to stop tweeting about Justice Dept., declaring a ‘legal right’ to seek intervention in criminal cases
By Matt Zapotosky and John Wagner
Feb. 14, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-appears-to-escalate-standoff-with-attorney-general-and-justice-dept-declaring-on-twitter-a-legal-right-to-influence-criminal-cases/2020/02/14/8c152c36-4f2f-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html
A day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly warned President Trump not to tweet about the Justice Department, Trump did just that, declaring that he has the “legal right” to ask his top law enforcement official to get involved in a criminal case.
In his tweet, Trump quoted Barr from a television interview Thursday in which he asserted that the president had never asked him to do anything related to a criminal case.
“This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!” Trump added in his own voice.
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Trump Admits to Sending Giuliani to Ukraine, Despite Past Denials
By Matt Stieb - New York Magazine
February 14, 2020
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/trump-finally-admits-to-sending-rudy-giuliani-to-ukraine.html
Either emboldened after his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial or comfortable on the show of a longtime friend, President Trump told Geraldo Rivera on his podcast on Thursday that he had, in fact, sent his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. When Rivera asked if Trump if it was “strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine” and if he regretted the decision, Trump said, “No, not at all.”
“Here’s my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy,” Trump said, referring to James Comey, who gave him a “very bad taste” of the capabilities of American intelligence after the former FBI director maintained the independence of the agency in the early days of the administration. Thus, Trump had to “use” Giuliani to solicit foreign interference in an American election.
...
Trump’s statement on Thursday contradicts past denials on the matter, including his claim in November that he “didn’t direct” Giuliani in Ukraine — despite the testimony of multiple administration officials stating otherwise. Indeed, in his July 25 call pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, Trump also stated otherwise. “Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man,” the president said. “He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you … Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.”
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Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary Cities
Agents from a special tactical team that normally confronts smugglers on the border are being sent to sanctuary cities across the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/Border-Patrol-ICE-Sanctuary-Cities.html
The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president’s battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement.
The specially trained officers are being sent to cities including Chicago and New York to boost the enforcement power of local ICE officers, according to two officials who are familiar with the secret operation. Additional agents are expected to be sent to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J.
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The deployment of the teams will run from February through May, according to an email sent to Customs and Border Protection personnel, which was read to The New York Times by one official familiar with the planning.
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'Grim Reaper' Mitch McConnell Admits There Are 395 House Bills Sitting in the Senate: 'We're Not Going to Pass Those'
By James Crowley On 2/14/20
https://www.newsweek.com/mitch-mcconnell-grim-reaper-395-house-bills-senate-wont-pass-1487401
During a television interview, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that 395 bills sitting in the Senate are not going to be passed.
On Fox News Friday, anchor Bret Baier asked McConnell if Democrats' statements about those bills were true and whether they could move forward. McConnell confirmed that it was the case, but also said that proposed legislation would be rejected.
"It is true," the senator said. "They've been on full left-wing parade over there, trotting out all of their left-wing solutions that are going to be issues in the fall campaign. They're right. We're not going to pass those."
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Iowa bill would ban teachers from saying that Pete Buttigieg is gay without notifying parents
The bill's supporters said that Buttigieg's identity is a "controversial topic" that parents should have a right to opt their children out of.
By Bil Browning Thursday, February 13, 2020
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/02/iowa-bill-ban-teachers-saying-pete-buttigieg-gay-without-notifying-parents/#.XkcO9R_KbrE.twitter
A proposed law that would ban discussions of LGBTQ people in Iowa school could also prevent teachers from telling students that out Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is gay.
The bill would make it illegal for educators to teach about any topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity without parental notification.
The bill applies to “any program, curriculum, material, test, survey, questionnaire, activity, announcement, promotion or instruction of any kind.” Current law allows parents to opt-out of sex education but is limited to health class discussions of human development.
Buttigieg, who won the Iowa caucuses in his race for the presidency, has kissed his husband on stage and regularly fields questions about being the first viable gay candidate for president. His sexuality has made him a target of the religious right and right-wing pundits like Rush Limbaugh.
During testimony before a House panel, Emily Piper from the Iowa Association of School Boards asked one of the bill’s co-sponsors, “What if we’re having a discussion on current events and there’s a presidential candidate who is gay? Can we not have that conversation in the government class?”
State Rep. Randy Salmon (R) replied that talking about Buttigieg’s candidacy “wouldn’t trigger notifying parents, but discussing his sexual orientation might.”
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White House Memo Justifying Suleimani Strike Cites No Imminent Threat
A new report sent to Congress about the drone strike that killed Iran’s top general contradicted the original justification the administration provided.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/politics/white-house-memo-suleimani-strike.html
WASHINGTON — The White House told Congress on Friday that President Trump authorized the strike last month that killed Iran’s most important general to respond to attacks that had already taken place and deter future ones, contradicting the president’s claim that he acted in response to an imminent threat.
In a legally mandated, two-page unclassified memo to lawmakers, the White House asserted that the strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was “in response to an escalating series of attacks in preceding months” by Iran and Iran-backed militias.
...
The document confirmed what lawmakers had privately suspected as the Trump administration has offered a shifting set of justifications for the strike against General Suleimani in Baghdad — taken with no congressional consultation — which brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war.
“This official report directly contradicts the president’s false assertion that he attacked Iran to prevent an imminent attack against United States personnel and embassies,” Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “The administration’s explanation in this report makes no mention of any imminent threat and shows that the justification the president offered to the American people was false, plain and simple.”
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Trump allies take aim at Buttigieg’s sexuality, a possible sign of things to come
By Amy B Wang and Chelsea Janes
Feb. 13, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-allies-take-aim-at-buttigiegs-sexuality-a-possible-sign-of-things-to-come/2020/02/13/d68b7a3c-4ea7-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html
Allies of President Trump have sharply focused attention on the sexual identity of presidential contender Pete Buttigieg in recent days, questioning in stark terms whether Americans are ready for a gay candidate who kisses his husband onstage.
The attacks are prompting blunt responses from Buttigieg’s allies and even his Democratic rivals, who call the remarks inappropriate and offensive. The exchanges were ignited by radio host Rush Limbaugh, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump last week and who framed his comments as an ostensible analysis of how Democrats feel.
“They’re sitting there and they’re looking at Mayor Pete — a 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage. And they’re saying, okay, how’s this going to look, a 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband onstage next to Mr. Man Donald Trump? What’s going to happen there?” Limbaugh said. (Buttigieg is 38.)
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The key takeaway in this video for me is, "I don't want to hear any crap about an independent Justice Department."
Andrew Lawrence
twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence
13 February 2020
https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1228111943954784256
Lou Dobbs attacks Bill Barr, suggests he's part of the "deep state," calls the Justice Department "rancid, corrupt"
[SEE EMBEDDED VIDEO]
-----
Trump bucks Barr’s request to stop tweeting about Justice Dept., declaring a ‘legal right’ to seek intervention in criminal cases
By Matt Zapotosky and John Wagner
Feb. 14, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-appears-to-escalate-standoff-with-attorney-general-and-justice-dept-declaring-on-twitter-a-legal-right-to-influence-criminal-cases/2020/02/14/8c152c36-4f2f-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html
A day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly warned President Trump not to tweet about the Justice Department, Trump did just that, declaring that he has the “legal right” to ask his top law enforcement official to get involved in a criminal case.
In his tweet, Trump quoted Barr from a television interview Thursday in which he asserted that the president had never asked him to do anything related to a criminal case.
“This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!” Trump added in his own voice.
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Trump Admits to Sending Giuliani to Ukraine, Despite Past Denials
By Matt Stieb - New York Magazine
February 14, 2020
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/trump-finally-admits-to-sending-rudy-giuliani-to-ukraine.html
Either emboldened after his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial or comfortable on the show of a longtime friend, President Trump told Geraldo Rivera on his podcast on Thursday that he had, in fact, sent his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. When Rivera asked if Trump if it was “strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine” and if he regretted the decision, Trump said, “No, not at all.”
“Here’s my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy,” Trump said, referring to James Comey, who gave him a “very bad taste” of the capabilities of American intelligence after the former FBI director maintained the independence of the agency in the early days of the administration. Thus, Trump had to “use” Giuliani to solicit foreign interference in an American election.
...
Trump’s statement on Thursday contradicts past denials on the matter, including his claim in November that he “didn’t direct” Giuliani in Ukraine — despite the testimony of multiple administration officials stating otherwise. Indeed, in his July 25 call pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, Trump also stated otherwise. “Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man,” the president said. “He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you … Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.”
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Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary Cities
Agents from a special tactical team that normally confronts smugglers on the border are being sent to sanctuary cities across the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/Border-Patrol-ICE-Sanctuary-Cities.html
The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president’s battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement.
The specially trained officers are being sent to cities including Chicago and New York to boost the enforcement power of local ICE officers, according to two officials who are familiar with the secret operation. Additional agents are expected to be sent to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J.
...
The deployment of the teams will run from February through May, according to an email sent to Customs and Border Protection personnel, which was read to The New York Times by one official familiar with the planning.
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'Grim Reaper' Mitch McConnell Admits There Are 395 House Bills Sitting in the Senate: 'We're Not Going to Pass Those'
By James Crowley On 2/14/20
https://www.newsweek.com/mitch-mcconnell-grim-reaper-395-house-bills-senate-wont-pass-1487401
During a television interview, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that 395 bills sitting in the Senate are not going to be passed.
On Fox News Friday, anchor Bret Baier asked McConnell if Democrats' statements about those bills were true and whether they could move forward. McConnell confirmed that it was the case, but also said that proposed legislation would be rejected.
"It is true," the senator said. "They've been on full left-wing parade over there, trotting out all of their left-wing solutions that are going to be issues in the fall campaign. They're right. We're not going to pass those."
-----
Iowa bill would ban teachers from saying that Pete Buttigieg is gay without notifying parents
The bill's supporters said that Buttigieg's identity is a "controversial topic" that parents should have a right to opt their children out of.
By Bil Browning Thursday, February 13, 2020
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/02/iowa-bill-ban-teachers-saying-pete-buttigieg-gay-without-notifying-parents/#.XkcO9R_KbrE.twitter
A proposed law that would ban discussions of LGBTQ people in Iowa school could also prevent teachers from telling students that out Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is gay.
The bill would make it illegal for educators to teach about any topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity without parental notification.
The bill applies to “any program, curriculum, material, test, survey, questionnaire, activity, announcement, promotion or instruction of any kind.” Current law allows parents to opt-out of sex education but is limited to health class discussions of human development.
Buttigieg, who won the Iowa caucuses in his race for the presidency, has kissed his husband on stage and regularly fields questions about being the first viable gay candidate for president. His sexuality has made him a target of the religious right and right-wing pundits like Rush Limbaugh.
During testimony before a House panel, Emily Piper from the Iowa Association of School Boards asked one of the bill’s co-sponsors, “What if we’re having a discussion on current events and there’s a presidential candidate who is gay? Can we not have that conversation in the government class?”
State Rep. Randy Salmon (R) replied that talking about Buttigieg’s candidacy “wouldn’t trigger notifying parents, but discussing his sexual orientation might.”
-----
White House Memo Justifying Suleimani Strike Cites No Imminent Threat
A new report sent to Congress about the drone strike that killed Iran’s top general contradicted the original justification the administration provided.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/politics/white-house-memo-suleimani-strike.html
WASHINGTON — The White House told Congress on Friday that President Trump authorized the strike last month that killed Iran’s most important general to respond to attacks that had already taken place and deter future ones, contradicting the president’s claim that he acted in response to an imminent threat.
In a legally mandated, two-page unclassified memo to lawmakers, the White House asserted that the strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was “in response to an escalating series of attacks in preceding months” by Iran and Iran-backed militias.
...
The document confirmed what lawmakers had privately suspected as the Trump administration has offered a shifting set of justifications for the strike against General Suleimani in Baghdad — taken with no congressional consultation — which brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war.
“This official report directly contradicts the president’s false assertion that he attacked Iran to prevent an imminent attack against United States personnel and embassies,” Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “The administration’s explanation in this report makes no mention of any imminent threat and shows that the justification the president offered to the American people was false, plain and simple.”
