A NEWS CO-OP IN DC SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE

Tag archive

newswire - page 13

Kelly Defends Trump Phone Call, But Offers Few Details About Deadly Niger Ambush

by

Botched condolences from President Trump to a Gold Star widow prompted White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Thursday to give reporters a play-by-play of the administration’s outreach to grieving military families. Left out of Kelly’s account, however, was the cause of that grieving: an explanation for why a dozen US Army Green Berets were in Niger, when an ambush left four of them dead. “The fact of the matter is,” Kelly told the press, “young men and women that were our uniforms are deployed around…

Keep Reading

More than 1,800 Civilians Killed in Operations to Kick ISIS out of its Capital

by

US-backed forces’ caused more than a thousand fatal casualties while expelling the Islamic State (ISIS) from Raqqa, according to monitoring groups. Since operations started in June–on the Syrian capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate–at least 1,352 civilians were killed by coalition air-strikes, according to the London-based non-profit Airwars.org. Citing research from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the group also said that ISIS militants were responsible for 311 civilian deaths, while US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were deemed responsible for 191 civilian fatalities. “ISIS put civilians in…

Keep Reading

A.G. Sessions Non-Compliant in First Oversight Hearing

by

The Attorney General rebuffed several Senators’ questions on Wednesday, relying on a contrived theory of executive privilege to remain silent on issues ranging from the firing of James Comey to the pardoning of disgraced Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The hearing also revealed that the Senate Judiciary Committee is growing increasingly impatient with the DOJ’s lack of responsiveness to inquiries. Even before he fielded questions, Attorney General Jeff Sessions informed the committee that he would not be revealing the details of any conversations he may have had…

Keep Reading

Former Jack Abramoff Partner who Lobbied to Maintain Abusive Work System One Step closer to top Labor Department Job

by

An ex-associate of Jack Abramoff picked to serve as number two at the Labor Department was approved by a Senate Committee on Wednesday. Patrick Pizzella, nominee for Deputy Labor Secretary, was advanced on a strict party line vote, along with a handful of other Trump administration political appointees. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.)–who had grilled Pizzella about Abramoff ties during the confirmation hearing–denounced the nominee before Wednesday’s vote. The lawmaker said that Pizzella was unrepentant about his past and offered “misleading answers” to senate staffers, after…

Keep Reading

Actually, Waterboarding Can Be Okay: Trump’s First DC Circuit Nominee

by

President Trump’s first nominee to serve on the second most powerful federal court refused to unequivocally describe waterboarding as “torture.” Gregory Katsas–picked to fill a vacancy on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals–told Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday that the coercive technique was “likely torture, in many circumstances.” “I hesitate to answer the question in the abstract not knowing the circumstances or the nature of the program,” Katsas told Durbin at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He noted that waterboarding “has…

Keep Reading

Warren: Credit Reporting Agencies a Threat to National Security

by

A Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday showcased how Senators are considering major reforms to a credit reporting industry dealing with data breaches. The proceedings were the latest in a series following the stunning hack of Equifax earlier this year, which exposed the social security numbers and sensitive information of 143 million Americans. “The credit reporting industry is a threat to each of us personally, but it is also a threat to our national security,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said during the hearing. The lawmaker’s remarks were…

Keep Reading

Trump EPA Questioning Science on Radiation Safety, Non-Profit Watchdog Warns

by

Environmental regulators are telling local officials that it’s okay for the public to be exposed to radiation equivalent to “5,000 chest x-rays,” according to critics. The EPA issued a public guidance in September, advising local officials to respond to a possible nuclear emergency by claiming that 5,000-10,000 millirems exposure “usually result[s] in no harmful health effects.” The watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) said past studies funded by the US government declared that level to be highly carcinogenic. “National Research Council of the National Academy…

Keep Reading

White House Attempting to Railroad Obamacare Repeal Through Executive Order, After Congressional Embarrassment

by

President Trump is attempting to relax healthcare rules by fiat after failing repeatedly to pass an Obamacare-rollback law through Congress. The President signed an executive order on Thursday in an effort to allow the propagation of health insurance plans without key requirements mandated by the Affordable Care Act. “Every congressional Democrat has blocked the efforts to save Americans from Obamacare along with a very small, frankly, handful of Republicans,” Trump said. The White House rolled out its decree at a ceremony featuring an introduction from…

Keep Reading

Report Finds More Whistleblower Woes at the Pentagon

by

The Department of Defense Inspector General (DODIG) takes too long to investigate allegations of whistleblower retaliation, and can’t entirely ensure the integrity of its probes into reprisals. Those are the findings of a Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday, reviewing the quality of the DODIG’s casework on behalf civilian and contractor employees who reported abuse following their act of whistleblowing. The GAO audit spanned from 2013 to 2015, and found that the inspector general’s office “did not meet statutory or internal timeliness goals for more…

Keep Reading

House Republicans Put Wall Street Before Puerto Rico, On Financial Services Committee Agenda

by

An already dire economic situation in Puerto Rico is deteriorating after Hurricane Maria, but the territory isn’t getting any consideration from the House Financial Services Committee. Twenty-three bills were before the panel on Wednesday, amid a deregulatory frenzy overseen by Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Legislation included proposals that would weaken consumer protections and federal oversight of unscrupulous lenders. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, criticized the decision to not hold hearings to examine recovery efforts in both Puerto Rico and the…

Keep Reading

SCOTUS Denies Appeal of Death-Trap Coal Mine Owner Don Blankenship

by

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to take up the case of an ex-coal baron convicted of fraud and conspiracy after the worst mining accident in decades. Justices denied the opportunity to hear the appeal of Don Blankenship, the former Massey Energy CEO found criminally liable for the 2010 disaster at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in West Virginia. Twenty-nine workers were killed after explosions rocked the mine. Blankenship was convicted in late 2015 for deceiving federal mining and securities regulators and for willfully violating…

Keep Reading

1 … 11 12 13 14 15 … 73
Go to Top