Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalU.S. Supreme Court formally ends Trump's fight over Capitol attack records
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday brought a formal end to former President Donald Trump's request to block the release of White House records sought by the Democratic-led congressional panel investigating last year's deadly attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters.
The court's decision to formally reject Trump's appeal follows its Jan. 19 order that led to the documents being handed over to the House of Representatives investigative committee by the federal agency that stores government and historical records.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Dec. 9 upheld a lower court ruling that Trump had no basis to challenge President Joe Biden's decision to allow the records to be handed over to the House of Representatives select committee. Trump then appealed to the Supreme Court
Trump and his allies have waged an ongoing legal battle with the House select committee seeking to block access to documents and witnesses. Trump has sought to invoke a legal principle known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentially of some internal White House communications, a stance rejected by lower courts.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/u-supreme-court-formally-ends-145516807.html
Andrew Cuomo to file professional misconduct complaint against New York Attorney General Letitia Jam
Source: CBS News
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo plans to file a complaint against New York Attorney General Letitia James with a state judicial committee that reviews allegations of professional misconduct involving attorneys, a lawyer for Cuomo said Thursday.
The attorney, Rita Glavin, accused James's office of "selectively" redacting information in the bombshell sexual harassment report that last year led to Cuomo's resignation from office, as well as including "materially misleading information" in the report, and "slow-rolling" the release of the underlying interview depositions after announcing its findings.
Glavin said James' office has not taken Cuomo's criticisms of the report seriously.
"What she has done and all she has done is she has publicly dismissed our complaints," Glavin said.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andrew-cuomo-former-governor-to-file-professional-misconduct-complaint-against-new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james/
Delaware lifting indoor mask mandate Friday; school mask requirement expires end of March
Source: WPVI-TV
WILMINGTON, Delaware (WPVI) -- Delaware Governor John Carney will lift the state's indoor mask mandate at the end of the week while a mask requirement for schools will expire at the end of March.
"We're in a much better place than we were several weeks ago in the middle of the Omicron surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations," Governor Carney said in a statement.
Carney signed a revision to the State of Emergency order on Monday which will end Delaware's universal indoor mask mandate at 8 a.m. on Friday, February 11.
At the same time, the governor temporarily extended the mask requirement in public and private K-12 schools and child care facilities.
Read more: https://6abc.com/delaware-mask-mandate-governor-john-carney-universal-indoor-requirement/11543597/
It's time. A Protestant hasn't been nominated to the Supreme Court for almost 32 years
David Souter was the last Protestant nominated to the court, despite the fact that almost half of Americans are Protestant.
DOJ seeks to block subpoena for Trump deposition
Source: CNN
(CNN)The Justice Department is seeking to block, for now, a subpoena to depose former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by former FBI agent Peter Strzok.
The department argues in a court filling Friday that Strzok has not shown that Trump "possesses directly relevant information that cannot be obtained from other sources."
In summer 2017, former special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election after an internal investigation first revealed texts with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Strzok had an extramarital relationship, that could be read as exhibiting political bias. The FBI fired Strzok in 2018.
Trump had publicly called for Strzok's firing, and the Justice Department said in its court filing that its stance could change if Strzok can prove that the former President's communications had an effect on the decision to fire him.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/politics/department-of-justice-trump-subpoena-deposition/index.html
Representative Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend granted immunity in sex trafficking probe
Source: CBS News
Prosecutors granted immunity to an ex-girlfriend of Representative Matt Gaetz before she testified last week in front of a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the investigation of the congressman, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Gaetz has been under investigation to determine if he violated sex trafficking laws and obstructed justice in that probe. Gaetz has previously denied all wrongdoing, and has said he has never paid for sex nor had sex with an underage girl.
The woman, who CBS News is not naming to protect her privacy, testified in front of a federal grand jury in Orlando last Wednesday. She is viewed as a potential key witness, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. One of the sources said she has information related to the investigation of both the sex trafficking and obstruction allegations.
This may be a willing participant who has a smart lawyer who sought an immunity deal from the government," said former prosecutor and CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleiman. "The government does not give immunity blindly, they know what they're getting in exchange."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-gaetz-ex-girlfriend-testimony-sexy-trafficking-probe-immunity/#app
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon carjacked in Philadelphia's FDR Park
Source: WPVI
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon was the victim of a carjacking in South Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon.
Police say it happened around 2:45 p.m. on the 1900 block of Pattison Avenue in FDR Park after a tour including members of Congress.
Scanlon was walking to her parked vehicle and was approached by two men driving a dark-colored SUV.
Both men, who were armed, demanded the keys to her vehicle, police say.
Read more: https://6abc.com/mary-gay-scanlon-carjacked-congresswoman-carjacking-philadelphia-fdr-park/11372337/
If everything in BBB is so popular,
why not break it up so that each program is in an individual bill? Then bring up each bill for a vote.
Sinema pops Democrats' filibuster trial balloon on voting rights
Source: Politico
Kyrsten Sinema supports the elections reform bill that Democrats are considering a year-end push to pass. She doesn't support a shortcut around the filibuster to get it done.
The Arizona moderate is making clear that she intends to keep protecting the Senate’s 60-vote requirement on most legislation and she isn’t ready to entertain changing rules to pass sweeping elections or voting legislation with a simple majority. Her Democratic colleagues have been discussing those revisions as they weigh dropping their focus on President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion climate and social spending bill and pivoting to voting rights, though it’s not clear that avenue will be any more successful.
In a statement to POLITICO, a spokesperson said that Sinema “continues to support the Senate's 60-vote threshold, to protect the country from repeated radical reversals in federal policy which would cement uncertainty, deepen divisions, and further erode Americans’ confidence in our government.” Since joining the Senate in 2019, Sinema’s been a fierce defender of the filibuster and warned that reversing it could lead to terrible outcomes for Democrats down the line.
Sinema continues to support the Freedom to Vote Act, which was negotiated with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, even as she raises questions about how to pass those bills in an evenly divided Senate. Democratic senators have mostly focused on lobbying Manchin to try and sway him to pass elections legislation with a simple majority, but Sinema isn’t there yet either.
Read more: Sinema pops Democrats' filibuster trial balloon on voting rights
Cuomo Is Ordered to Forfeit Earnings From $5.1 Million Book Deal
Source: New York Times
ALBANY, N.Y. — Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was ordered to turn over roughly $5.1 million in proceeds from his 2020 pandemic memoir within 30 days, after a state ethics board found that he had run afoul of state ethics laws.
The board, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, directed Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday to relinquish the money to the state attorney general’s office, and authorized the office to enforce the collection.
Mr. Cuomo has vowed to fight the resolution, which owing to its unique circumstance would seem to have little precedent, in court. “JCOPE’s actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law,” said Jim McGuire, a lawyer for Mr. Cuomo. “Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court.”
The order, which is sure to set up a protracted legal fight, could be complicated by the fact that Mr. Cuomo already donated $500,000 of the book’s proceeds to charity, and placed another $1 million in a trust for his daughters.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/12/14/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-book.amp.html
Profile Information
Member since: Fri Dec 2, 2016, 01:17 PMNumber of posts: 2,595
