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Sam Knight - page 39

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

NLRB: Trump Hotel Unlawfully “Restraining and Coercing” Las Vegas Culinary Workers

The National Labor Relations Board alleged that the hotel company of Republican presidential primary front-runner Donald Trump “has been interfering with, restraining and coercing” the rights of its workers in Las Vegas. The complaint, issued last week by the NLRB, said Trump International Hotel offered sweetheart deals to employees who rejected a unionization drive and retaliated against two workers who supported the initiative. The successful union drive was led by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. “Specifically, the complaint alleges that a hotel labor consultant… Keep Reading

FOIA Modernization Bill Sets Stage for Clash Between Congress, “Most Transparent Administration in History”

The Senate is expected to soon join the House in passing legislation that would modernize the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Lawmakers in the upper chamber who stopped the FOIA Improvement Act from advancing by unanimous consent appear to have walked back their objections, according to The Hill. The proposal is now expected this week to quickly pass the Senate. A version of the legislation was approved in January by the House. “The bill is one of the few pieces of legislation that could make… Keep Reading

Congresswoman Presses Kerry on Legality of US Aid to Honduras After Killing of Indigenous Environmental Activist

A Congresswoman is pushing the State Department to answer questions about US support for high-ranking Honduran officials “linked to human rights abuses,” after the March 3 assassination of Berta Cáceres. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) this week asked Secretary of State John Kerry to respond to the pointed allegations, and to determine whether US aid to Honduras complies with the Leahy Law—a statute that, on paper, disqualifies repressive security forces from receiving assistance from Washington. “The level of intimidation and violence, including murder, perpetrated on peaceful Honduran activists and the… Keep Reading

U.S.-Europe Trade Deal Negotiator: “We Are Determined to Try to Push This,” Despite Presidential Election

A prominent European Union envoy called for a sweeping trade liberalization deal between the US and the EU to be finalized before the next presidential election—one that is looking likely to give rise to a President skeptical of its benefits. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom made the remarks about the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on Wednesday in Washington. Talks on TTIP were launched in 2013. “We are determined to try to push this, if possible, to finalize it, being aware that there will… Keep Reading

Report: Obama, Biden Repeatedly Rebuff Kerry Calls to Bomb Assad

Secretary of State John Kerry has been lobbying President Obama throughout the past year to bomb the Syrian government. Kerry has asked the President to attack “specific regime targets, under cover of night, ‘to send a message’ to the regime” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to The Altantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. The purpose of the sorties would be “not to overthrow Assad but to encourage him, and Iran and Russia, to negotiate peace.” Kerry also said that Washington “wouldn’t have to claim credit for the… Keep Reading

U.S. and Allies Responsible for at Least 1,000 Civilian Deaths in Counter-ISIL Campaign

The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIL) passed a gruesome milestone recently, according to a well-respected observer of the military campaign. United States forces and their allies have killed at minimum 1,000 civilians after a year-and-a-half of war against ISIL, according to Airwars.org. The non-profit said Wednesday that it made the assessment “based on credible public reports and confirmed Coalition strikes in the vicinity.” “[S]ome 166 of these incidents are currently assessed as having likely led to civilian deaths—with a reported range of 1,004… Keep Reading

Obama Administration Looks Likely to Devote More Resources to Islamic State War

The head of the military’s Special Operations Command conceded Wednesday that it might not currently be possible for the United States’ allies in Syria to take back Raqqa from the Islamic State (ISIL). Gen. Joseph Votel told Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that he believes the Pentagon’s Syrian partners “are capable” of seizing the de facto capital of ISIL, but isn’t sure. He said there is not presently a plan to either take or hold the city. Votel also noted, again, in response to a question from… Keep Reading

Treasury Secretary: Wall Street Giants, Not Government Regulation Stifling Creation of New Banks

Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew pushed back on Republicans’ claim that financial reform has kept new banks from forming in recent years. Lew said Tuesday he believed that big banks’ market power, as much as anything else, has dampened prospects for the establishment of new banks, since the global collapse of 2008. “I think that coming out of the financial crisis, we have seen what was happening before the financial crisis continue, which is a trend toward consolidation,” he said at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing.… Keep Reading

GOP, Dem Lawmakers Call for Online Release of Reports Published for Congress

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House have proposed making freely available thousands of reports produced annually for lawmakers. Sens. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Reps. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) introduced legislation on Thursday that would direct the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to publish its reports online. The Federation of American Scientists, a non-partisan public policy institute that routinely publishes CRS reports notes that “most…are available to anyone who has access to a congressional intranet.” “Yet at the… Keep Reading

Petraeus Plea Deal Marring F.B.I. Clinton Email Investigation, Washington Post Reports

The recent slap on the wrist received by former Gen. David Petraeus is “casting a shadow” over the FBI investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to The Washington Post. “Current and former officials” told the paper that because Petraeus received such a lenient conviction for mishandling classified information and lying about it, they don’t expect Clinton to be harshly punished—even if the probe of her personal email practices reveals serious misconduct. “The officials said they think that Petraeus’s actions were more egregious… Keep Reading

In First Abortion Case After Scalia’s Death, SCOTUS Highly Unlikely to Threaten Nationwide Access

A short-handed Supreme Court heard opening arguments on Wednesday in a case that could make it much easier for states to impose stringent rules on abortion clinics. The court will almost certainly fail to set a nationwide restrictive precedent in the wake of Antonin Scalia’s death, according to observers. But it might either keep alive Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt or uphold a precedent that would impact clinics in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. With all four liberal justices strongly opposing the law, and only three… Keep Reading

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