Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalSanders-backed candidate alleges improper voting in Democratic Party election
Source: The Hill
A Bernie Sanders-backed candidate running to head the California Democratic Party says she was cheated out of the job, alleging hundreds of improperly cast ballots helped her establishment-backed rival beat her last month.
Kimberly Ellis, a Bay-area Democratic activist who enjoyed support from Sanders and many of his allies, said her campaign has evidence that some delegates to the state convention voted twice, and that other ballots are missing.
The discrepancies she publicized late Monday call into question the results of the election for state Democratic Party chairman, a race won by Los Angeles-area activist Eric Bauman. Bauman beat Ellis by just 62 votes, out of about 3,300 delegates who attended the convention last month in Sacramento.
“Based on the information contained here, the actual vote count is in question,” Ellis’s team wrote in a six-page memo. “It is believed the wrong individual is serving as Chair.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/336534-sanders-backed-candidate-alleges-improper-voting-in-democratic-party
Rubio, Nelson to Trump: Force Cuba to pay for billions 'stolen' from Americans
Source: Politico
MIAMI — U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson are teaming up to lobby the Trump administration in a half-century dispute with Cuba: They want the Communist government to fork over $8 billion to compensate Americans whose property was “stolen” when the Castro regime nationalized utilities and industries.
In a Monday letter to the Trump administration, the two Florida senators also took issue with an Obama administration policy concerning a trademark dispute involving Havana Club rum and the Bacardi family.
The senators said the administration should make the billions of dollars in compensation payments from more than 5,900 property claims a priority in crafting its policy toward Cuba.
The Cuban government, meanwhile, has countered that it is owed about $300 billion from the United States stemming from the longstanding economic embargo and the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion — claims the two senators dismissed.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/06/06/rubio-nelson-call-on-trump-to-seek-8-billion-in-claims-against-cuba-112530
Senator Al Franken Cancels Bill Maher Appearance Amid Controversy
Source: Huffington Post
A spokesperson for Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) confirmed to HuffPost that the senator is canceling his appearance on the upcoming episode of “Real Time” in the wake of host Bill Maher’s use of a racial slur on-air.
“Senator Franken believes that what Bill Maher said was inappropriate and offensive, which is why he made the decision not to appear on the next episode of ‘Real Time,’” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “He was glad to see Bill, who the Senator considers to be a good friend, apologize and express sincere regret for his comment.”
Last Friday, Maher joked that he was a “house n****r” while in conversation with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who invited Maher to “work in the fields” of his represented state. Maher later called his use of the term “offensive.”
The backlash was strong enough for Maher to apologize ― something he’s known for rarely doing ― and for HBO to confirm that the network currently has no plans to fire him.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bill-maher-controversy-al-franken_us_59359b04e4b013c48169f65c?b
Federal officials: DHS to extend temporary protected status to Haitians
Source: The Washington Post
The Trump administration plans to announce a six-month extension of temporary protected status for 50,000 Haitians who were spared from deportation after a devastating 2010 earthquake, according to federal officials with direct knowledge of the information.
Details were still being finalized Monday, and the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.
Tuesday is the deadline for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to publish a 60-day notice in the Federal Register announcing its plans for the program. Haitians’ current protected status will expire July 23.
Immigrant advocates have intensely lobbied Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to extend the status, saying Haiti is beset by food shortages, unemployment and widespread poverty, and is unable to repatriate thousands of citizens.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/federal-officials-dhs-to-extend-temporary-protected-status-to-haitians/2017/05/22/d2796824-3ef5-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html?utm_term=.0616e9f5259a
Dems propose scrapping law GOP used to overturn regulations
Source: The Hill
The Sunset the CRA and Restore American Protections (SCRAP) Act introduced Tuesday by Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Tom Udall (N.M.) would eliminate the law that Trump and Republican lawmakers have used to repeal more than a dozen Obama-era regulations. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is backing identical legislation in the House.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) makes it easier for lawmakers to repeal regulations they disapprove of from the executive branch. Under the 1996 law, Congress only needs a simple majority to rollback recently issued regulations. Federal agencies are also blocked from publishing similar rules in the future.
The SCRAP Act would not only prevent Republicans from using this law to repeal future regulations, but it would also allow federal agencies to reinstate rules that have already been struck down under the CRA.
Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/333610-dems-plot-to-overturn-regulatory-repeal-law
DNC Chair Tom Perez to Meet With Pro-Life Democrats
Source: The Atlantic
Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez plans to meet with pro-life group Democrats for Life of America, amid an ongoing controversy within the party over whether and to what extent Democrats should pursue voters who oppose abortion. Democrats for Life advocates for pro-life Democrats and describes itself as “the pro-life voice of the Democratic Party.”
The meeting, which the DNC is setting up at the group’s request, is one of several conversations that Perez is having with pro-choice and pro-life Democrats, an aide to Perez confirmed to The Atlantic. As part of that outreach, Perez has spoken with Democratic elected officials and party leaders, and held a meeting earlier this month with women’s groups. The effort comes at a time when prominent Democrats are attempting to walk a fine line between affirming their party’s pro-choice platform and suggesting that there is room in the party for pro-life voters and candidates.
The party’s 2016 platform supports access to “safe and legal abortion,” and vows that Democrats will “oppose, and seek to overturn, federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion.” The DNC recently named Jess O’Connell as it’s new CEO, the former executive director of EMILY’s List, which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.
Earlier this month, Nebraska Democratic candidate Heath Mello lost a mayoral election in Omaha following national backlash over his “personally pro-life” views, and legislative record on access to abortion. At least some of Mello’s supporters in Nebraska believe fallout from the controversy stalled the campaign’s momentum at a crucial point in the race.
Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/democrats-abortion-pro-life-pro-choice-tom-perez-dnc/526551/?utm_source=atltw
Yates rules out run for Georgia governor
Source: The Hill
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is dismissing calls from Democrats for her to enter the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race.
“I am totally ruling out the governor’s race," Yates said in an interview published Tuesday by The New Yorker. "I am not running for governor.”
Yates drew plenty of praise from the left after her testimony to senators earlier this month defending her brief time in the Trump White House, which included warning others about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's possibly compromising interactions with Russian officials.
President Trump fired Yates for refusing to back his travel ban against several Muslim-majority nations.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/333606-fired-ag-yates-rules-out-run-for-georgia-governor
As trial nears, Bill Cosby says racism could be a factor
Source: CNN
In a rare interview airing Tuesday, Bill Cosby says he does not expect to testify at his upcoming felony sexual assault trial and that he believes racism played a big role in the scandal that has engulfed his life.
During a 30-minute conversation with Sirius-XM host Michael Smerconish, the 79-year-old entertainer portrays himself as a victim of the media and of accusers who were “piling on.” Cosby, who has been accused of sexual misdeeds by at least 60 women, cited a feminist author, saying “Gloria Steinem had a very interesting quote. She said, ‘The truth shall set you free, but first it might piss you off.’”
Cosby’s interview is part of a rollout of orchestrated media appearances in advance of the start of jury selection Monday in his trial on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University women’s basketball official, in 2004 at his estate in suburban Philadelphia. One of Cosby’s attorneys, Angela Agrusa, who is based in Los Angeles, recently told the Hollywood Reporter that she hopes to change “the optics” of Cosby’s presumed guilt and hinted she may use a theory of “false memory creation” to undercut his accuser’s credibility. Earlier this week, two of Cosby’s daughters — Ensa and Erinn — provided taped statements to “The Breakfast Club,” a nationally syndicated radio program about hip hop music, culture and politics.
“What my father and family have had to endure these last few years makes me ashamed of our country today,” Erinn said in her taped remarks. Her sister said: “I believe that racism has played a big role in all aspects of this scandal. .?.?. My father is being punished by a society that still believes black men rape white women, but passes off as ‘boys will be boys’ when white men are accused.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-a-pr-blitz-before-his-trial-bill-cosby-blames-racism-for-sexual-assault-claims/2017/05/16/409ea7d2-3993-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.a7383ebd2c1e
Israeli officials warned not to share intelligence with White House
Source: The Jewish Chronicle
Israeli intelligence officials have been warned by their American counterparts not to share information with the Trump administration, according to media reports.
Suggestions that the US president revealed to Russia highly classified information about an operation to deal with Islamic State have caused ripples of unease in the Israeli intelligence community.
American officials implied during a closed meeting with Israel that shared information could be leaked to Russia and then onward to Iran, Yediot Ahronot reported.
Concerns that the Kremlin has influence over Donald Trump are based on longstanding suspicions of reported ties between Putin and his American counterpart.
Read more: https://www.thejc.com/news/world/israeli-officials-warned-not-to-share-intelligence-with-white-house-1.438611
Venezuela health minister fired over mortality stats
Source: BBC News
Venezuela has sacked Health Minister Antonieta Caporale after her department released statistics revealing a large jump in infant and maternal mortality.
Vice-Minister of Hospitals Luis López has been appointed to take over, according to state media.
The ministry's report showed the number of women dying in childbirth had risen by 65%, while child deaths were up 30%.
The national figures were released after almost two years without official data.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39896048
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