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sabra's JournalCotton calls for special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden
Source: The Hill
Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark), a Republican with his eye on a potential White House run in 2024, on Thursday said a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son.
Cotton alleged during a Fox News interview that Hunter Biden appears to be the subject of a far-ranging investigation and cited allegations of securities fraud, money laundering and “a crooked hospital deal with Jim Biden, Joe Biden’s brother” in Western Pennsylvania.
“These investigations span multiple jurisdictions and if Joe Biden becomes president then all of those prosecutors are in line to be fired next month. If there were ever circumstances that created a conflict of interest and called for a special counsel, I think those circumstances are present here,” Cotton said.
“The Biden family has been trading on Joe Biden’s public office for fifty years,” he added. “Do we really think that that will change if Joe Biden becomes president, the highest office in the land?”
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/529643-cotton-calls-for-special-counsel-to-investigate-hunter-biden
House Panel Accuses Trump Administration of Concealing Evidence in CDC Coronavirus Probe
Source: WSJ
The chairman of a Democratic-led House oversight subcommittee accused the Trump administration of concealing evidence based on the testimony of a career employee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who said political appointees interfered in the agency’s work to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Charlotte Kent, who oversees the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, told House oversight subcommittee staff that she was instructed to delete an Aug. 8 email that showed a political appointee tried to meddle in the report, according to a Dec. 10 letter from Rep. James Clyburn (D., S.C.), chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
Dr. Kent said her supervisor told her to delete the message, and that she understood the direction came from CDC Director Robert Redfield, according to the letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Dr. Redfield.
The email from Dr. Paul Alexander, a former scientific adviser within HHS, demanded that CDC insert new language in a previously published scientific report on coronavirus risks to children or “pull it down and stop all reports immediately,” according to the letter. Federal employees must generally preserve documents under the Federal Records Act.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-panel-accuses-trump-administration-of-concealing-evidence-in-cdc-coronavirus-probe-11607614200?mod=e2twp
Trump taps Conway, Chao to government posts in waning days of administration
Source: The Hill
President Trump on Tuesday tapped former aide Kellyanne Conway and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to government jobs in the final days of his administration.
The White House said in a press release that Conway will be appointed to the board of visitors of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Chao, who is also married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will be a member of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Lynn Friess, the spouse of major Republican donor Foster Friess, will also be a member of the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center, and Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is being appointed to the Library of Congress trust fund board.
The appointments were announced in a press release that included 26 appointments to government postings at places such as the National Cancer Advisory Board and Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board, among others.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/529377-trump-taps-conway-chao-to-government-posts-in-waning-days-of
House GOP removes Detroit Democrat from committees, citing 'threats' in her Facebook video
Source: Detroit Free Press
Republican leaders of the Michigan House of Representatives have removed Rep. Cynthia Johnson, D-Detroit, from her committee assignments in response to comments she made in a video she posted Tuesday on Facebook.
House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Speaker-elect Jason Wentworth, R-Clare, issued a joint news release Wednesday stating Johnson made threats in the video.
At the end of a roughly three-minute video posted Tuesday evening to Facebook, Johnson referenced law enforcement tracking down someone who made a threat against her before issuing what she called a warning.
"So, this is just a warning to you Trumpers. Be careful. Walk lightly. We ain’t playing with you. Enough of the shenanigans. Enough is enough," Johnson states in the video.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/09/house-gop-says-detroit-democrat-made-threats-facebook-video/3865617001/
Another Trump veto possible as Congress votes on blocking $23B arms sale to UAE
Source: ABC News
President Donald Trump is nearing one last battle with Congress over his push for massive arms sales to the Middle East -- threatening to veto lawmakers' effort to halt a $23 billion sale to the United Arab Emirates.
The Senate will vote Wednesday on two resolutions that would block the sale to UAE of armed drones and the F-35, the most advanced U.S. fighter jet, which were a key part of Trump's deal to secure Emirati recognition of Israel.
That deal, known as the Abraham Accords, could be imperiled if Congress blocks the sales and halts the unprecedented delivery of such high-tech weaponry to an Arab partner in the Middle East. That's why the White House has already promised Trump would veto the resolutions, even as lawmakers charge that the administration is rushing the sales through in Trump's lame duck session.
"Legislation like these resolutions could, without further examination, have unintended consequences for defense procurement and interoperability between the United States and our partners, and could create diplomatic and security opportunities for our adversaries to exploit," the White House said in a statement Wednesday.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-veto-congress-votes-blocking-23b-arms-sale/story?id=74615890&cid=social_twitter_abcn
The Trump Administration Has Backed Down From Its Subpoena Demanding BuzzFeed News Divulge Its Sourc
Source: BuzzFeed News
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Wednesday that they would not enforce a subpoena issued last week demanding BuzzFeed News identify its sources, a retreat from their earlier, stunning attempt to interfere with a news outlet operating under the protections of the First Amendment.
The subpoena was seen as an escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to track down the identity of people who provide information to the media. It was met with criticism from media rights organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and even former ICE leaders, who called it a blatant overreach.
Wednesday’s statement from an ICE spokesperson said the agency “will not enforce the summons” against BuzzFeed News — “at this time.” The agency did say, however, that it will “pursue the investigation through other channels.”
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/ice-trump-subpoena-buzzfeed-news?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
GOP rep introduces resolution to condemn lawmakers calling for Trump to concede 'prematurely'
Source: The Hill
GOP Rep. Alex Mooney (W.Va.) introduced a resolution Tuesday backing President Trump’s efforts to contest the results of the presidential race and condemning lawmakers who press Trump to concede.
The resolution marks the latest instance of an ally of the president throwing their support behind his longshot legal battles to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.
The legal campaign has been based on evidence-challenged claims of widespread election fraud and nearly every lawsuit seeking to subvert the results has been thrown out of court. Atates have already begun certifying their results, but the vast majority of GOP lawmakers have refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory.
Mooney is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline lawmakers who have tied themselves closely to the White House during the Trump administration. His resolution affirms support for Trump’s efforts to “investigate and punish election fraud” and “calls upon all Members to support all electoral investigations until a fair and accurate count is verified.”
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/529311-gop-rep-introduces-resolution-to-condemn-lawmakers-calling-for-trump-to
100M shots in the first 100 days: Biden unveils Covid priorities, introduces health team
Source: NBC News
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday promised that his administration would oversee the injection of 100 million shots into the arms of Americans within his first 100 days as president and vowed to reopen a “majority” of schools across the nation in the same timeframe.
Biden, who spoke from Wilmington, Del., at an event in which he also announced the top members of his health care team, promised that educators, along with health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, would be among the targets for the first round of Covid-19 vaccinations.
Biden again said he would call on Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of his administration.
"Masking, vaccinations, opening schools,” Biden said. “These are the three key goals of my first 100 days.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-introducing-health-team-trump-holds-covid-vaccine-summit-n1250338
Federal judge dismisses case against Michael Flynn after Trump pardoned him
Source: Business Insider
The federal judge overseeing the US's case against former national security advisor Michael Flynn issued an order officially dismissing the case on Tuesday.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to one count of lying to the FBI as part of the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Flynn initially cooperated with prosecutors but later shifted course, fired his entire defense team, and hired a combative and controversial lawyer, Sidney Powell, who accused the FBI and Justice Department of entrapment and political persecution, and asked that a court dismiss the case against him.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department also made the highly unusual decision to try to toss out its own case against Flynn, prompting the resignation of one of the prosecutors working on it. The move drew widespread backlash as DOJ veterans accused Attorney General William Barr of using the department as a shield for Trump and his allies and a sword against his enemies.
Sullivan halted the DOJ's efforts to drop the case and said that because of its political nature, he wanted third parties to weigh in as he considered the motion. In June, a three-judge appellate-court panel ordered Sullivan to toss out the Flynn case. But the full panel later reexamined the Flynn case and in August denied Flynn's motion to dismiss it.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-judge-dismisses-michael-flynn-case-trump-pardon-2020-12
GOP leadership rejects resolution acknowledging Biden as President-elect
Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)Congressional Republican leaders rejected a resolution that asserted that Joe Biden is president-elect, the latest effort by the Hill GOP to refuse to accept the election results even though it's been clear for weeks that President Donald Trump lost.
The rejection came Tuesday in a private meeting after House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer offered a motion to affirm that it is preparing for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt of Missouri voted with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy in blocking the motion, effectively preventing the inaugural committee from publicly accepting that the upcoming inauguration will be for Biden. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Hoyer voting in favor.
"The extent to which Republicans are refusing to accept the outcome of the election and recognize Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next President and Vice President is astounding," Hoyer said in a statement. "Their continued deference to President Trump's post-election temper tantrums threatens our democracy and undermines faith in our system of elections ... Republicans are refusing even to allow (Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies) to say that President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will be inaugurated on January 20, even when there is no serious dispute over that fact."
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/08/politics/gop-leadership-congress-biden-president-elect/index.html?utm_content=2020-12-08T18%3A10%3A01&utm_source=twCNNp&utm_term=image&utm_medium=social
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