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March 2017

Senate Hearing: Russian “Active Measures” Could Undermine Jury Duty

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A witness testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee’s first public hearing on alleged Russian election-meddling claimed that Kremlin cyber operations could split the US apart. Compared to its counterpart in the House, the Senate Intelligence Committee has been heralded as the sober panel–one putting aside politics to get to the bottom of what actually happened in last year’s election. During Thursday’s proceedings, however, both witnesses and lawmakers peddled hyperbole which did not seem aimed at advancing a serious inquiry. “Americans should be concerned because right…

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Pence Breaks Senate Deadlock in Attack on Planned Parenthood

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Senate Republicans needed to summon the Vice President to cast the tie-breaking vote on legislation crafted to starve Planned Parenthood of money. Mike Pence was the deciding factor Thursday, after two Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the bill—another Congressional Review Act repeal of a late Obama administration rule. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) did not vote with their Republican colleagues. The legislation passed 51-50. “It is unprecedented that we are here with the Vice President breaking a tie vote on an attack…

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After GOP Healthcare Embarrassment, Bannon-Style “Administrative Deconstruction” of Obamacare is Coming

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Democrats spent little time on Wednesday gloating about Republicans’ recent Obamacare repeal failure and instead blasted the Trump administration for planned cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services. One Democratic legislator after another teed off on Department Secretary Tom Price, in an appropriations subcommittee hearing. They accused him of planning to wreck Obamacare through executive inaction and austerity measures. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Price was carrying out a strategy articulated by Steve Bannon, the ex-Breitbart editor and White House aide. “I see…

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CENTCOM Chief Denies Loosening Civilian Targeting Rules, Deflects Blame For Mosul Deaths

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A top US military commander is denying reports that that the Pentagon has relaxed its targeting protocols, despite rapidly increasing civilian casualty rates in Syria and Iraq. The head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. Joseph Votel, testified before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, providing details on the military’s probe of a series of airstrikes in Mosul in recent weeks that have reportedly killed upwards of 300 civilians. Votel noted he agreed with an analysis made Tuesday, by Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend, that concluded there…

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Congress Seeks to Penalize Peaceful Pro-Palestine Movement, Amid Annual AIPAC Lobbying Blitz

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The influential pro-Israel group AIPAC is asking supporters to back recently-drafted legislation that seeks to punish a peaceful movement in solidarity with Palestinians. The organization, which is in Washington this week for an annual policy conference, is dispatching members to lobby lawmakers to pass the bill. One Washington-based group decrying Israel’s occupation of Palestine has said the proposal is unconstitutional. “This dangerous bill seeks to impose fines on corporations that boycott business dealings with illegal Israeli settlements,” said Josh Ruebner, the policy director of the US…

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White House Digs Claws Deeper in Congressional Probe of Russia Connections

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*UPDATED TO INCLUDE RESPONSE FROM WHITE HOUSE* A decision to abruptly cancel House Intelligence Committee hearings this week was reportedly forced by the Trump administration. The Washington Post obtained letters regarding a forthcoming appearance of former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates before the committee, as part of its investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Yates was slated to appear before the panel on Tuesday, but the correspondences retrieved by the Post suggest that the White House moved to block her…

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E.P.A. Chief Signals Death of Clean Power Plan, Paris Climate Agreement

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An Obama-era regulation seeking to reduce carbon pollution and slow global temperature increases is next on the chopping block for the Trump administration. Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt told ABC News over the weekend that the President will sign an executive order Tuesday to dismantle the Clean Power Plan. The order will “address the past administration’s effort to kill jobs across this country through the Clean Power Plan,” Pruitt said. He added that the move is “about making sure that we have a pro-growth and pro-environment approach…

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Obama Admin. Regulator Warns “Massive” Derivatives Market Fraud Is Flying Under the Radar

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A former top financial regulator who served under President Obama has warned that there is “a massive amount of misconduct” that goes unpunished in derivatives markets. Ex-Commodity Futures Trading Commission enforcement chief Aitan Goelman told Reuters on Friday that the body lacks the means to ferret out malfeasance, in the era of computerized trading. “We could do a lot more manipulation cases. We have all these new enforcement tools and this vastly expanded jurisdiction and data,” Goelman said. “But you have to be acutely conscious…

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Wall Street Can Hire Firm Tied to Trump SEC Chair to Lessen Chance of Getting Punished

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President Trump’s pick to be the United States’ top stock market regulator has been described as a “fox guarding the henhouse.” But the predator analogy might not be appropriate because he would be napping for much of the time, according to ethics rules and his job history. SEC Chair-nominee Jay Clayton would have to recuse himself from a wide range of cases involving heavy-hitters in the financial industry, he admitted on Thursday, before the Senate Banking Committee. As a partner at a well-heeled law firm, Clayton…

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Watchdog: D.E.A. Informant Program Undermines Foreign Policy and U.S. Security

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More damning information came out on Thursday about the Drug Enforcement Administration’s reliance on confidential informants, including new details about how it jeopardizes “national security, foreign relations, and civil liberties.” The Department of Justice Inspector General released a public summary of a classified addendum that was affixed to a scathing report, released last September, on the DEA’s use of confidential sources. The prior audit discovered that the agency did not properly oversee its network of informants, increasing the risk of fraud and constitutional abuses. The new…

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Distrust of Surveillance State Grows, As Expiration of Key Law Inches Closer

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Democrats and Republicans teamed up to blast the FBI on Wednesday, using a government audit on facial recognition capabilities to suggest that surveillance reform could be in the offing. The Bureau has been the target of anger from both parties over the past few months, with criminal investigations impacting presidential politics like they haven’t since the Nixon Era. House Oversight Committee chair Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) brought up some of the recent displeasure from conservatives, in a hearing before the panel. “Somebody decided to take off…

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