June 30, 2018

Inspector general: ICE failed in conditions at child detention centers

Source: The Hill



BY BRETT SAMUELS - 06/30/18 08:27 AM EDT

An inspector general report released this week found Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does an inadequate job of inspecting its facilities and correcting poor practices. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general said in a report that ICE’s detention centers do not regularly comply with agency standards, and cited a lack of follow up on problems identified during sweeps at its roughly 200 facilities.

The inspector general was particularly critical of the Nakamoto Group, a company that is contracted to perform inspections at about 100 facilities each year. It called the company’s inspection process “too broad,” and “not always thorough.”

When compiling their reports, some Nakamoto inspectors relied on answers from ICE employees who were not responsible for the areas the inspectors were asking about, according to the inspector general.

In other cases, Nakamoto inspectors spoke only English when interviewing detainees who did not speak English.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/394956-inspector-general-ice-failed-in-conditions-at-child-detention

June 30, 2018

Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck Applaud Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'Seems to Care More About People...

Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck Applaud Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Seems to Care More About People Than Power’

by Joseph A. Wulfsohn | 1:51 am, June 30th, 2018

It appears that strange bedfellows emerge on Twitter on Friday nights.

After the shocking victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the New York District 14 primary against longtime top Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley, Bill O’Reilly took to Twitter earlier in the day and defended the candidate from the being “derided” by Republicans.

https://twitter.com/BillOReilly/status/1012700968650067968

Glenn Beck “totally” agreed with O’Reilly.

https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/1012925465886101504

Beck’s tweet caught the attention of the candidate herself.

https://twitter.com/Ocasio2018/status/1012929165333495810

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https://www.mediaite.com/online/bill-oreilly-glenn-beck-applaud-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-seems-to-care-more-about-people-than-power/

June 30, 2018

Ted Cruz Tells People to Vote Democrat in IL-3 Race

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Friday made known his distaste for a Republican congressional candidate who is a Holocaust denier—so much so that the ardent conservative encouraged people in that district to vote Democrat. “This is horrific. An avowed Nazi running for Congress,” Cruz tweeted, linking to a Politico article on Arthur Jones, the avowed Nazi who “snookered” (his words) his way to the Republican nomination for Illinois’ 3rd congressional district against heavily favored incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski. “To the good people of Illinois, you have two reasonable choices: write in another candidate, or vote for the Democrat. This bigoted fool should receive ZERO votes.”

https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1012784418304471041

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-cruz-tells-people-to-vote-democrat-in-il-3-race?ref=home

June 30, 2018

Top Supreme Court prospect has argued presidents should not be distracted by investigations and laws

By Michael Kranish and Ann E. Marimow
June 29 at 6:37 PM

U.S. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy who is viewed as one of the leading contenders to replace him, has argued that presidents should not be distracted by civil lawsuits, criminal investigations or even questions from a prosecutor or defense attorney while in office.

Kavanaugh had direct personal experience that informed his 2009 article for the Minnesota Law Review: He helped investigate President Bill Clinton as part of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s team and then served for five years as a close aide to President George W. Bush.

Having observed the weighty issues that can consume a president, Kavanaugh wrote, the nation’s chief executive should be exempt from “time-consuming and distracting” lawsuits and investigations, which “would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis.”

If a president were truly malevolent, Kavanaugh wrote, he could always be impeached.

Kavanaugh’s position that presidents should be free of such legal inquiries until after they leave office puts him on the record regarding a topic of intense interest to Trump — and could be a central focus of his confirmation hearing if Kavanaugh were nominated to succeed Kennedy, legal experts said.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-supreme-court-prospect-has-argued-presidents-should-not-be-distracted-by-investigations-and-lawsuits/2018/06/29/2dd9c1cc-7baa-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html

June 30, 2018

Trump administration may seek to detain migrant families longer than previously allowed

Source: The Washington Post



By Devlin Barrett
June 29 at 9:51 PM

The Trump administration plans to detain migrant families together in custody rather than release them, according to a new court filing that suggests such detentions could last longer than the 20 days envisioned by a court settlement.

“The government will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings when they are apprehended at or between ports of entry,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in a legal notice to a federal judge in California who has been overseeing long-running litigation about the detention of undocumented immigrants.

The filing comes as the Justice Departments seeks to navigate two different court edicts — an injunction issued this week by a federal judge in San Diego that required the government to begin reuniting the roughly 2,000 migrant children still separated from their families, and an older court settlement in federal court in Los Angeles that requires the immigration agencies to release minors in their custody if they are held for more than 20 days.

In the weeks since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero-tolerance policy toward immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border, roughly 2,500 migrant children were separated from their parents. About 500 of those children have since been reunited with their parents.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-plans-to-detain-migrant-families-for-months/2018/06/29/f9ffecb6-7bf7-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html

June 29, 2018

'Shaken' Rosenstein Felt Used by White House in Comey Firing

Source: The New York Times



By Michael S. Schmidt and Adam Goldman
June 29, 2018

WASHINGTON — In the days after the F.B.I. director James B. Comey was fired last year, the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, repeatedly expressed anger about how the White House used him to rationalize the firing, saying the experience damaged his reputation, according to four people familiar with his outbursts.

In public, Mr. Rosenstein has shown no hint that he had second thoughts about his role — writing a memo about Mr. Comey’s performance that the White House used to justify firing him. “I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it,” Mr. Rosenstein said to Congress last year.

But in meetings with law enforcement officials in the chaotic days immediately after Mr. Comey’s dismissal, and in subsequent conversations with colleagues and friends, Mr. Rosenstein appeared conflicted, according to the four people.

He alternately defended his involvement, expressed remorse at the tumult it unleashed, said the White House had manipulated him, fumed how the news media had portrayed the events and said the full story would vindicate him, said the people, who in recent weeks described the previously undisclosed episodes.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-comey-firing.html

June 29, 2018

Trump says he is considering 2 women for Supreme Court, will announce pick July 9

Source: The Washington Post



By Philip Rucker
June 29 at 6:52 PM

President Trump said Friday he has narrowed his list of Supreme Court finalists to five candidates, including two women, and plans to announce his nominee on July 9, one day before he is scheduled to depart for a week-long European trip.

Trump is moving quickly to fill the vacancy that will be created when Justice Anthony M. Kennedy retires from the court July 31. Kennedy announced his retirement Wednesday, in part to give the Senate time to consider a nominee and hold votes before the midterm elections in November.

“I like them all,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “It is a group of highly talented, very brilliant, mostly conservative judges.”

Trump has said he will select a nominee from a list of 25 names, many of them judges on federal and state courts across the country.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-is-considering-two-women-for-supreme-court-will-announce-pick-july-9/2018/06/29/754288be-7be1-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html

June 29, 2018

Trump calls for another round of tax cuts, further reductions to corporate tax rate

Source: The Washington Post



By Damian Paletta
June 29 at 5:14 PM

President Trump on Friday said he wanted to further lower the corporate tax rate, from 21 percent to 20 percent, as part of a second round of tax cuts later this year.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News to mark the six-month anniversary of the $1.5 trillion tax-cut law Republicans passed last year, said other parts of the new tax plan would be tailored to the middle class.

“One of the things we’re thinking about is bringing the 21 percent down to 20 and for the most part, the rest of it will go right to the middle class,” Trump said. “It’s a great stimulus.”

Trump said the tax plan would be ready by October, “maybe a little sooner than that.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/06/29/trump-calls-for-another-round-of-tax-cuts-further-reductions-to-corporate-tax-rate/

June 29, 2018

G.M. Says New Wave of Tariffs Could Force U.S. Job Cuts

Source: The New York Times




By Tiffany Hsu
June 29, 2018

General Motors warned Friday that another wave of tariffs being considered by the Trump administration could force the company to scale back its business and cost American jobs.

In comments submitted to the Commerce Department, the automaker said that the tariffs, if approved, could drive individual vehicle prices up thousands of dollars, stifling demand. Such costs would need to be borne either by consumers or the company.

Last month, President Trump ordered an investigation into whether imported cars and automotive components could pose enough of a national security risk to warrant tariffs of as much as 25 percent. If he goes ahead, it would intensify a global trade war that has engulfed allies and adversaries. In recent months, the administration has imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, along with measures targeted at China.

Carmakers, in particular, have been caught in the middle of the trade fight. They rely heavily on metals to build their cars, including parts from overseas. The president’s threat to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement could also hurt the industry supply chain.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/business/automakers-tariffs-job-cuts.html

June 29, 2018

Exclusive: Trump administration plan would bar people who enter illegally from getting asylum

A sweeping regulation being considered by the Department of Justice would likely stop most Central Americans from winning asylum in the US.

By Dara Linddara@vox.com Jun 29, 2018, 9:10am EDT

The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is drafting a plan that would totally overhaul asylum policy in the United States.

Under the plan, people would be barred from getting asylum if they came into the US between ports of entry and were prosecuted for illegal entry. It would also add presumptions that would make it extremely difficult for Central Americans to qualify for asylum, and codify — in an even more restrictive form — an opinion written by Sessions in June that attempted to restrict asylum for victims of domestic and gang violence.

Vox has confirmed that the regulation is in the process of being evaluated, and has seen a copy of a draft of the regulation.

When the regulation is ready, it will be published in the Federal Register as a notice of proposed rulemaking, with 90 days for the public to comment before it’s enacted as a final regulation.

more
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/29/17514590/asylum-illegal-central-american-immigration-trump