Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalPresident Trump on witness list in Palm Beach lawsuit involving billionaire pedophile
Source: Florida Bulldog
President Donald Trump is on a list of witnesses for trial in a Palm Beach lawsuit that pits billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein against a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represents Epstein’s victims.
The case appears bound for trial this summer following a Feb. 9 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court in another case that has allowed Fort Lauderdale lawyer Bradley Edwards’ claim of malicious prosecution against Epstein to proceed.
President Trump “has been identified as an individual who may have information relating to these allegations,” said Edwards’ West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola, who placed Trump’s name on a witness list on Aug. 31. “But it’s unlikely that he would ever be called” to appear at trial, especially now that he’s assumed the presidency.
Scarola said Trump is one of a number of high-profile individuals whose testimony might be relevant because they “had a relationship with Epstein that would have at least exposed them potentially to what was going on inside Epstein’s Palm Beach home … during the relevant period of time” between 2001-2007.
Read more: http://www.floridabulldog.org/2017/03/trump-on-witness-list-lawsuit-pedophile/
FiveThirtyEight: Liberals Would Be Foolish To Primary Joe Manchin
Eight years ago, Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware was headed to the U.S. Senate. Joe Biden had left his seat open upon ascending to the vice presidency, and Castle, a Republican, appeared to be in the perfect position to take it. Delaware is a solidly blue state, but Castle had built a moderate record, was well-liked and held an early lead over his three potential Democratic opponents. His only problem: That moderate record cut both ways. By September 2010, the tea party wave was cresting and Castle got swallowed up. He lost the Republican primary to tea partier Christine O’Donnell. Two months later, O’Donnell lost the general election by 17 points, and Republicans failed to win a majority in the Senate.
The Castle-O’Donnell primary should be a cautionary tale for Democrats now. Some liberal activists want to challenge Sen. Joe Manchin in West Virginia’s 2018 Democratic primary. They complain that he’s too conservative and that he voted to confirm most of President Trump’s Cabinet officials. Manchin is probably safe — Democratic voters in West Virginia are pretty conservative.1 But the impulse to challenge Manchin from the left could be dangerous for Democrats. Manchin, even though he often votes with the GOP, is incredibly valuable to the Democratic Party compared to any plausible alternative.
West Virginia leans heavily Republican on the federal level. Trump won it by 42 percentage points in 2016. Republican Shelley Moore Capito easily dispatched — by 28 percentage points — Democrat Natalie Tennant in the 2014 U.S. Senate race — the last Senate race in West Virginia with a Democrat not named Manchin on the ballot. Tennant, who was the secretary of state, was deemed a “top recruit.” But she performed about as you’d expect for a non-incumbent Democrat running for the Senate from West Virginia.
All told, the chance of a non-incumbent Democrat winning a Senate seat in West Virginia in 2018 is probably somewhere between 1 percent and 2 percent. That’s based on a logit regression of all Senate races with no incumbent running since Manchin was first elected in 2010. The model looks at whether the Democrat2 won or lost as predicted by how Democratic- or Republican-leaning the state was in the previous two presidential elections3 compared to the nation as a whole. You can tweak this analysis (e.g., looking at all open seats since 1992 or all seats, not just those without an incumbent running) or even run a different type of model, but they all would show that a generic Democrat would be a heavy underdog in West Virginia.
more: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/liberals-would-be-foolish-to-target-joe-manchin/
Washington Post: Khizr Khans claim that the U.S. is restricting his travel may be unraveling
Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father whose impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention in July called on Americans to reject a ban on Muslims entering the United States, claimed that his “travel privileges are being reviewed” by U.S. authorities, forcing him to cancel a scheduled speech in Toronto.
The announcement on Monday coincided with President Trump's rewritten order to temporarily ban entry of citizens from six Muslim-majority nations to the United States. Khan has been a U.S. citizen for more than 30 years and was born in Pakistan, which is not one of the six nations.
Ramsay Talks, the organizer of the event Khan was to speak at, seemed to take Khan at his word on Monday and included a statement from him in a cancellation post on Facebook. “This turn of events is not just of deep concern to me but to all my fellow Americans who cherish our freedom to travel abroad,” said Khan, according to the post. “I have not been given any reason as to why. I am grateful for your support and look forward to visiting Toronto in the near future.”
The claim, which does not state which U.S. agency contacted him, immediately raised doubts about how it was possible that a U.S. citizen was being prevented from traveling abroad.
more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/07/khizr-khans-claim-that-the-u-s-is-restricting-his-travel-may-be-unraveling/?utm_term=.952d164a8600
Russian jets in 'unsafe' encounters with destroyer: U.S. official
Source: Reuters
Multiple Russian military aircraft came close to a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea on Feb. 10, incidents considered "unsafe and unprofessional," a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
There were three separate incidents involving Russian aircraft and the USS Porter, Captain Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for U.S. European Command, said. One involved two Russian Su-24 jets, another a separate Su-24, and the third involved a larger IL-38.
"USS Porter queried all aircraft and received no response," Hernandez said.
"Such incidents are concerning because they can result in accident or miscalculation," he added.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-military-idUSKBN15T2MU?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
GOP senator: Flynn will likely be asked to testify
Source: The Hill
It’s "likely" that former national security adviser Michael Flynn will be pulled before lawmakers to answer questions about his talks with Moscow, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Tuesday.
"I think it's likely General Flynn will be at some point asked to come and talk to the committee about both post-election activities and any other activities he may be aware of," Blunt told reporters.
Flynn stepped down Monday night amid reports that he misled White House officials over his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition period.
The Washington Post reported Monday night that the White House counsel had been warned that Flynn misled top figures when he said he didn’t speak with the Russian envoy about President Obama’s sanctions against Moscow in late December.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/319505-gop-senator-flynn-will-likely-be-asked-to-testify
Top Dems fall for fake Flynn Twitter account
Source: The Hill
Two top House Democrats on Tuesday repeated information from a fake Twitter account purporting to belong to President Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
“Something is wrong here,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said during a press conference in Washington, D.C.
“Madam Leader, just this morning Flynn tweeted — and this is a quote here — ‘scapegoat,’ end of quote,” added Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. "Scapegoat. He basically describes himself as a scapegoat.
“I believe we need to hold a public hearing with Flynn to get to the bottom of this. If there was any emergency at this moment in the history of this country, this is the moment.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/319502-top-dems-fall-for-fake-flynn-twitter-account
ICE head cancels meeting with Hispanic Dems
Source: The Hill
A meeting between congressional Hispanic Democrats and the Trump administration's top immigration enforcement officer was cancelled abruptly Tuesday in the wake of national immigration raids that have roiled Latino leaders.
Thomas Homan, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Tuesday that he would not be attending the meeting, according to CHC aides.
Homan's office said it had received too many requests to meet with members of Congress and proposed rescheduling the meeting with a larger, bipartisan group later this week.
CHC staff said a larger meeting was not a reasonable replacement for the cancelled sit-down, because it would shield Homan from directly facing members who represent the constituency most affected by ICE raids.
Read more: http://thehill.com/latino/319496-ice-head-cancels-meeting-with-hispanic-dems
Aetna And Humana Call Off Merger After Court Decision
Source: NPR
Health insurance companies Aetna and Humana have called off their planned merger, citing a federal court ruling last month that blocked the deal.
"While we continue to believe that a combined company would create greater value for health care consumers through improved affordability and quality, the current environment makes it too challenging to continue pursuing the transaction," Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said in a statement.
Aetna announced it would pay Humana a $1 billion fee for backing out of the agreement. Humana announced about $370 million of that would be paid as taxes.
In January, a federal judge ruled against Aetna's proposed acquisition of Humana in a victory for former President Obama's Justice Department, which sued Aetna last year.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/14/515167491/aetna-and-humana-call-off-merger-after-court-decision
Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon confirmed to lead SBA
Source: Associated Press
The Senate has confirmed former wrestling entertainment executive Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration.
The vote was 81-19 on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says McMahon will "prioritize growing jobs over growing government bureaucracy" and calls that a welcome change from Washington.
McMahon served as the chief executive officer at World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. before stepping down to run twice for the Senate in Connecticut. She lost both races despite spending some $100 million.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-linda-mcmahon-small-business-administration-20170214-story.html
Brady: Patriots must make 'their own choice' on White House visit
Source: The Hill
Tom Brady calls visiting the White House a “great experience,” but he is encouraging his fellow New England Patriots to make “their own choice” about a meet-and-greet with President Trump.
“Everybody has their own choice,” Brady told “PFT Live” on Tuesday, when asked about advice he would give to teammates who were undecided about joining the trip to the White House.
“Putting politics aside, it never was a political thing,” the quarterback and five-time Super Bowl champion said of his multiple trips to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. “At least, it never was to me. It was something that was a privilege to do. It meant you won a championship and you got to experience something cool with your team, with your teammates.”
Last week, defensive lineman Alan Branch became the sixth Patriot to announce he’ll be skipping the traditional visit to Trump’s White House. While Branch didn’t specifically cite Trump in his decision not to attend, other teammates have said their choice to back out of the trip was a form of protest against the commander in chief.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/319430-brady-patriots-must-make-their-own-choice-on-white-house-visit
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