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If Dodd-Frank Survives Trump, Wells Fargo Might Not: Scandal-Plagued Bank Fails Second “Living Will” Test

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Wells Fargo has been temporarily banned by federal regulators from establishing foreign branches and acquiring non-bank entities. The troubled Wall Street behemoth was slapped with the penalties under the Dodd-Frank Act, for failing to submit adequate bankruptcy resolution plans–for the second time this year. If Wells does not produce sufficient plans by the end of March 2017, the ban will be extended and the bank will be subject to caps on its non-bank and broker-deal assets—limiting the firm to the amount it owned at the…

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Trump’s Billionaire Education Secretary Backed P.A.C. That Never Paid $5 Million in Fines

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Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education owes state regulators $5.3 million in fines for violating election laws, five left-leaning senators said Wednesday. Federal political action committees (PACs) run and financed, in part, by Betsy DeVos were hit with the penalties in 2006 by Ohio enforcement officials. The groups were found to have been in violation of exceeding legal limits on donations. “Rather than pay the fines for violating the law, the All Children Matter PACs simply ceased operation and never paid the significant sum…

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Intel Committee Chair Questions Existence of CIA Report on Russian Hacking

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The intelligence community rejected a request from House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) to provide a briefing to members on Russia’s alleged meddling in last month’s presidential election. The denial prompted Nunes on Wednesday to cast doubt on recent claims coming out of the CIA, including whether or not there really is an agency assessment that Moscow was aiming to help Donald Trump win the presidency. “The Committee is deeply concerned that intransigence in sharing intelligence with Congress can enable the manipulation of intelligence…

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Obama Drone Victims Suing for Apology Appear Before Appeals Court in D.C.

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Lawyers for Yemeni men suing the US government, for killing two relatives in drone strikes, made their case on Tuesday before federal appellate judges. Arguing at the DC Circuit in Washington, the attorneys said that a lower court erred in March, when it concluded courts shouldn’t “second-guess the Executive’s policy determination.” District Judge Ellen Huvelle threw out the lawsuit in February. “Plaintiffs are not challenging the prudence of drone strikes or attacking Al-Qaeda,” a brief filed by lawyers in support of the case stated. “Plaintiffs…

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Ahead of Confirmation Hearing, Feinstein Accuses Sessions of Withholding Key Records from Committee

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The man chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the nation’s top prosecutor is playing fast and loose with disclosure requirements ahead of his confirmation hearing, a top Democrat alleged on Tuesday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) made the claims in a letter to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), calling for a delay in next month’s confirmation hearing of Sen. Jeff Session (R-Ala.), to be the next US Attorney General, according to Politico. Feinstein, who is set to be the highest ranking Democrat…

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Energy Dept. Resisting Trump Purge Efforts

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An “unsettled” workforce at the Department of Energy (DOE) has the backing of their leadership, which rejected a request from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team to identify staffers who worked on climate change issues. It is believed that the incoming Trump administration is preparing a purge of department scientists who helped forge the Paris Climate Agreement and studied the impacts of carbon pollution. Last week, transition officials sent a questionnaire to the department asking for the names of employees and contractors that worked on certain…

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Labor Secretary Perez, Handpicked by Obama Officials, Set to Challenge Ellison for DNC Chair

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Labor Secretary Tom Perez plans on entering the race for Democratic National Committee chair, buoyed by support from senior Obama administration officials. Perez plans on announcing his candidacy for the DNC chair this week, according to both The New York Times and The Huffington Post. “A source close to Perez, who said he will have an announcement later this week, said he’s talking to elected officials and party leaders to gauge their support,” The Huffington Post noted on Tuesday morning. The move would pit a…

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Trump Deepens Hostile Stance with Beijing, Questions “One China”

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President-elect Donald Trump looks determined to put the United States on a collision course with China, after deepening criticism of a long-standing principle underpinning Sino-US relations. Trump said Sunday, in a Fox News interview, that he understood the “One China” policy, after breaking decades of protocol by accepting a post-election congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen. He then went on to question the utility of the policy, telling Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that it could be used as leverage. “I don’t know why we…

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McConnell Won’t Say if Tillerson can be Confirmed as Sec. of State

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Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson will reportedly be President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of State, but tea leaves in the Senate suggest it could be an uphill battle to get the oil baron confirmed. During a briefing with reporters on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was upbeat about the prospect of Trump’s nominees thus far being approved, but dodged a question on the likelihood of a Tillerson confirmation. “I don’t want to comment on a phantom nominee today,” he stated. Tillerson’s ties…

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Obama “Actively” Pondering End of Dormant Muslim Surveillance Scheme, Ahead of Trump

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The White House is reportedly thinking about scrapping a controversial immigration surveillance program that has been dormant since 2011, in the final weeks before Donald Trump’s inauguration. President Obama is considering fully ending the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), according to The Guardian. The program targeted foreigners in the US, from a set of almost exclusively Muslim and Arab-majority countries. The lone exception was North Korea. Democratic legislators, immigrants rights groups and civil libertarians have all expressed concerns that President-elect Trump could eventually use the…

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State Dept. IG Joins Fray of Overseers Asking for More Authority as Trump Admin. Readies for Power

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The Inspector General at the US State Department again notified Congress of a blind spot in oversight, and urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would address it. Testifying before a Senate foreign relations subcommittee on Thursday, department IG Steve Linick said his watchdog role is more limited than others in the federal enterprise because of unique procedures at State. Linick specifically mentioned rules that allow department investigators at the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and other agencies to keep the IG’s office in the dark about probes.…

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