Trumps Personal Lawyer Boasted That He Got Preet Bharara Fired

Marc Kasowitz, President Trump’s lawyer in the Russia investigation, has bragged he was behind the firing of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Marc Kasowitz, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer in the Russia investigation, has boasted to friends and colleagues that he played a central role in the firing of Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, according to four people familiar with the conversations.

Kasowitz told Trump, “This guy is going to get you,” according to a person familiar with Kasowitz’s account.

Those who know Kasowitz say he is sometimes prone to exaggerating when regaling them with his exploits. But if true, his assertion adds to the mystery surrounding the motive and timing of Bharara’s firing.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-personal-lawyer-boasted-that-he-got-preet-bharara-fired

Were visa waivers discussed?

Supreme Court strikes down gender-based citizenship law

A unanimous Supreme Court on Monday stuck down a law that makes birthright citizenship harder for children of unwed fathers to obtain than children of unwed mothers.

The court held in an 8-0 ruling the gender line Congress drew in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 is “incompatible” with the Fifth Amendment’s requirement that all people must be treated equally under the law.

The law requires unwed fathers to have 10 total years of U.S. residency, including five years after the age of 14, to confer citizenship on a child of theirs who is born overseas. Unwed American mothers, meanwhile, are only subject to a 1-year U.S. residency requirement to give their children U.S. citizenship.

In delivering the opinion of the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the equal protection infirmity in requiring a longer requirement for unwed fathers than for unwed mothers is clear. Nonetheless, the court couldn’t grant Luis Ramon Morales-Santana — the plaintiff in the case — relief.
A felon, Morales-Santana challenged the law after the Board of Immigration Appeals denied his claim that he was a U.S. citizen and couldn’t be deported because his mother was Dominican and his father was American.

http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/337413-supreme-court-strikes-down-gender-based-citizenship-law

9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds injunction against Trump 90-day travel ban and cap on refugees

Jeff Sessions to testify before Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow in an open session

Veterans Affairs Official Downplays Agent Orange Risks, Questions Critics

At a meeting in March, a lead analyst in the VA’s compensation service was critical of the media, scientists and the VA’s own administrative tribunal for taking positions that differ from his. The VA said his comments “did not fully or accurately reflect VA’s position” but also said his quotes were being taken out of context.

A key federal official who helps adjudicate claims by veterans who say they were exposed to Agent Orange has downplayed the risks of the chemical herbicide and questioned the findings of scientists, journalists and even a federal administrative tribunal that conflict with his views.

Jim Sampsel, a lead analyst within the Department of Veterans Affairs’ compensation service, told a VA advisory committee in March that he believes much of the renewed attention to Agent Orange — used during the Vietnam war to kill brush and deny cover to enemy troops — is the result of media “hype” and “hysteria,” according to a transcript of the meeting released to ProPublica.

“When it comes to Agent Orange, the facts don’t always matter,” said Sampsel, himself a Vietnam veteran who also handles Gulf War-related illness questions. “So we have to deal with the law as written.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/veterans-affairs-official-downplays-agent-orange-risks-questions-critics?utm_campaign=sprout&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1497242368

Effective immediately under Florida SB 128

Effective immediately under Florida SB 128

state attorneys will now bear the burden to prove in “Stand Your Ground” cases why a criminal defendant can’t claim immunity from prosecution.

The highly controversial legislation — two years in the making — was supported by the National Rifle Association, which argued it clarifies the intent of the “Stand Your Ground” law enacted 12 years ago.

But prosecutors and gun-rights groups vehemently fought the bill. They argued the new law will force state attorneys to essentially prosecute cases twice and will lead to a flood of self-defense claims because defendants will have virtually no risk in asserting a “Stand Your Ground” defense.


http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/scott-signs-stand-your-ground-change-religious-expression-in-school-14/2326812


007's license to kill has nothin' on Florida residents. Fair warning.

I hope no one here follows Dump on twitter, but if you do

you can unfollow and still get the tweets using https://twitter.com/UnfollowTrump

Financial Disclosures of 349 Officials Trump Has Installed

We have been collecting disclosure forms that lay out Trump administration officials’ financial holdings and employment backgrounds.

We now have disclosures from 349 officials and we’re sharing them with you.

They are from White House staffers, President Trump’s Cabinet and from the hundreds of members of so-called beachhead teams that the administration has installed with little notice at federal agencies.

The disclosures are crucial to understanding potential conflicts. Many lobbyists and political consultants now work at the agencies they sought to influence.

https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/trump-disclosures?utm_campaign=sprout&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1496848075