riversedge
riversedge's JournalFederal prosecutors request interviews with Trump Organization execs: CNN
Source: The Hill
By Chris Mills Rodrigo - 02/05/19 04:13 PM EST
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The network reported that the interview requests were made in recent weeks and it was unclear what topics prosecutors may have been interested in covering.
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Prosecutors with the office have been conducting at least two investigations into entities linked to President Trump.
Manhattan-based prosecutors have been probing potential campaign finance violations related to the Trump Organization attempting to reimburse the president's former lawyer Michael Cohen for payments he made during the 2016 election to buy the silence of two women who have claimed to have had affairs with Trump...............................................
Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has reportedly been granted immunity by federal prosecutors to discuss the Cohen case.
Federal prosecutors in New York are also reportedly probing Trump's presidential inauguration committee................................
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/428567-federal-prosecutors-request-interviews-with-trump-organization
Very little information for now.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/428567-federal-prosecutors-request-interviews-with-trump-organization
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1092877016481828866
Agitated White House official rants about 'socialism' after being grilled over Trump's anti-bullying
Source: raw story
Agitated White House official rants about ‘socialism’ after being grilled over Trump’s anti-bullying hypocrisy
05 Feb 2019 at 10:47 ET
President Donald Trump’s reputation for insults and cyberbullying loom large over the State of the Union, which may explain why White House communications official Mercedes Schlapp was reduced to ranting about “socialism” in a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC, after she was unable to explain the president’s decision to bring Joshua Trump, a 6th grader who’s been bullied because of his name, as his personal guest.
Host Hallie Jackson got right to the point, asking “is it hypocrisy to highlight bullying when the person giving the speech has deployed a litany of derogatory nicknames against his opponents?”
“This is a sixth grader, no sixth grader should be bullied,” Schlapp replied, but Jackson continued to press her question about presidential hypocrisy. Schlapp responded by claiming that it was conservatives who were the real victims.
“Conservatives and Republicans are being shut down at universities for trying to speak up and have their point of view,” she said, adding that she would much prefer “conversations of debates and ideas” about public policy. Demonstrating her own version of civility, she added “do we want to move to a socialist radical agenda to the left or have opportunity for all Americans.”
Watch the video below.
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/agitated-white-house-official-rants-about-socialism-after-being-grilled-over-trumps-anti-bullying-hypocrisy/
The idiot WH person ignoring Trumps #cyberbullying
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1092890686087675905
These are the ladies Rep Steve King Repug, IOWA invited to the #SOTU to prove he isn't racist 😂
good grief. Can he get any lower!!
Tony Posnanski
?Verified account @tonyposnanski
1h1 hour ago
These are the ladies Steve King invited to the #SOTU to prove he isn’t racist 😂
Lis Power
https://twitter.com/tonyposnanski/status/1092867183045169152
Morgan
? @AutumnFallnSky
1h1 hour ago
Replying to @tonyposnanski
What the... is this for real?
0 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
Tiffani
? @Tiffanifis12
1h1 hour ago
Replying to @tonyposnanski
What a freaking joke
Great news in our Muslim Ban waivers case - the judge has allowed a central part of the case to move
AS I understand it, the ban is in place per the SC but there is a waiver clause that the Trump admin is slow in allowing the process of the waivers to forward. Now they can. Small steps.
Sirine Shebaya
? @SirineShebaya
Sirine Shebaya Retweeted مريم
Great news in our Muslim Ban waivers case - the judge has allowed a central part of the case to move forward, and has given us leave to amend the complaint with respect to the claims he did dismiss. In brief: /1
https://twitter.com/SirineShebaya/status/1092861212126314497
https://twitter.com/MaryamSaleh/status/1092846772689530883
https://twitter.com/MaryamSaleh/status/1092846773511639040
https://twitter.com/MaryamSaleh/status/1092846771972333569
Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Faces a New Day in Court
Maryam Saleh
December 12 2018, 8:43 a.m.
Opponents of Donald Trump’s travel ban have a chance to chip away at it this week by challenging the way it’s been implemented. If they’re successful, Trump will have only his own administration to blame.
The argument that a group of plaintiffs is making is straightforward: Because the travel ban was upheld, individuals impacted by it can only enter the United States through a waiver system that was said to be a safeguard against arbitrarily keeping people out of the country. Yet the administration has done next to nothing to set the waiver system up, which suggests that a total ban of Muslim travelers from the targeted countries was indeed the original intent.
The War on ImmigrantsRead Our Complete CoverageThe War on Immigrants
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban, known as Presidential Proclamation 9645, in June. The proclamation allows for waivers for foreign nationals who establish that the government’s denial of a visa would cause them undue hardship, and that their entry would not threaten the national security or public safety of the United States, and would be in the national interest. The proclamation called on the secretaries of State and Homeland Security to “adopt guidance addressing circumstances in which waivers may be appropriate.” The proclamation also lists a number of such circumstances. For example, a waiver would be appropriate for an individual who is a student in the United States, has significant business obligations in the country, or is coming to visit or reside with a close family member.
The government has not only failed to provide any meaningful guidance on the waiver, according to an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration, but it is also not providing any meaningful consideration of an applicant’s eligibility for a waiver. Within days of the proclamation going into effect, scores of visa applications were denied. Many applicants whose applications were denied at their interviews were told that their eligibility for a waiver would not be considered. At least one consulate explicitly told applicants not to submit any documents in support of a waiver application. “Applicants are thus at a loss for what to do,” the lawsuit reads.
For these reasons, the plaintiffs argue, the government has violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits federal action that is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”
The process, or lack of it, makes it impossible for individuals who should seemingly be exempt from the ban to get permission to travel to the United States. The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the Trump administration to retract all the visa denials it issued under the ban and give those individuals the chance to apply for a waiver. The court should also order the State and Homeland Security departments to issue clear guidelines on the waiver process, including by letting applicants know what type of documents they should submit to apply for a waiver. Those applications should be weighed on a case-by-case basis, as the language of the proclamation requires, the plaintiffs charge. .....................................
California Could Be First to Ban Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Babies
SOME good news
California Could Be First to Ban Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Babies
https://rewire.news/article/2019/02/04/california-could-be-first-to-ban-medically-unnecessary-surgeries-on-intersex-babies/
Feb 4, 2019, 4:26pm Amy Littlefield
The California measure would be the first mandate of its kind after state legislators last year passed the first-ever legislation to address the rights of intersex people.
[Photo: A group of people gather around a podium during a press conference.]
Intersex patients have spoken out about how surgeries performed when they were too young to understand—much less give consent—have deprived them of sexual pleasure, sterilized them, traumatized them, or altered their bodies to reinforce a gender assignment that is not theirs.
A California lawmaker has introduced a landmark bill to ban doctors from performing medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children until the child can give informed consent.
As many as 1.7 percent of people are born with chromosomal or anatomical differences that put them outside the typical definition of “male” or “female.” About one in 2,000 babies is different enough that doctors may recommend surgery, but there’s no comprehensive U.S. database tracking the procedures. While some surgeries are medically necessary—to allow babies to pass urine, for example—others are performed to “normalize” genitalia.
The California bill, introduced last week by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), outlines a process for intersex minors to give written consent to surgery after being informed of the risks, benefits, and alternatives. It allows surgeons to operate on intersex children without their consent if the operation cannot be safely deferred.
“We believe that people should be able to make their own decisions about their own body,” Wiener said at a news conference Monday. “They certainly can’t make that decision as a baby.”
As Rewire.News reported, intersex patients have spoken out about how surgeries performed when they were too young to understand—much less give consent—have deprived them of sexual pleasure, sterilized them, traumatized them, or altered their bodies to reinforce a gender assignment that is not theirs. While human rights groups and three former U.S. surgeons general have condemned medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children, it’s unclear whether the procedures have declined in recent years.................................
The Trump Administration Is Trying to Make It Easier for Doctors to Deny Care to LGBTQ People
Meanwhile in the background of the horrible Trump club--this is happening. I called my Senators and let them know this is a NO!
The Trump Administration Is Trying to Make It Easier for Doctors to Deny Care to LGBTQ People
https://rewire.news/article/2019/01/28/the-trump-administration-is-trying-to-make-it-easier-for-doctors-to-deny-care-to-lgbtq-people/
Jan 28, 2019, 4:09pm s.e. smith
Health-care providers would be able to refuse to provide treatment, referrals, or assistance with procedures if these activities would violate their stated religious or moral convictions.
[Photo: A queer person with a grim expression listens as their doctor explains treatment options.]
Discrimination already discourages LGBTQ people from seeking health care, which exacerbates their health disparities; LGBTQ people are more likely to experience HIV infection, mental health conditions, and complications related to deferred preventive care.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that it is close to finalizing a conscience protection rule that would allow people to discriminate in health-care settings under cover of law.
The final rule is at the Office of Management and Budget for review and not available to the public. But under the draft rule, which has been made public, health-care providers would be able to refuse to provide treatment, referrals, or assistance with procedures if these activities would violate their stated religious or moral convictions. The deliberately vague language could apply to everyone from receptionists refusing to book appointments to scrub nurses refusing to assist with emergency surgery.
This could be devastating for many marginalized people in the country seeking health care. But it could be especially dangerous for LGBTQ people, who have fought hard to establish legal protections that would guard them against exactly these kinds of denials. When your very body and existence are considered objectionable, seeking health care at the best of times can be dangerous.
“Trans and gender nonconforming people already face really severe discrimination in health-care settings,” said Bridget Schaaff, If/When/How’s reproductive justice federal policy fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force. Rules like these “are going to make this even harder.”
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HHS already finalized two rules that would allow businesses and other entities, like churches, to refuse to pay for insurance coverage that includes birth control or abortion services if it violates their religious or moral convictions. Enforcement of these rules is currently on hold due to legal decisions, with judges in Pennsylvania and California ruling in favor of challengers. The agency also recently proposed another rule that would create a significant administrative burden for insurance companies that include abortion in their policies, effectively incentivizing them to drop this coverage.
Now, this latest regulation would “ensure that persons or entities are not subjected to certain practices or policies that violate conscience, coerce, or discriminate.” These updates to existing precedent spread across 25 laws and regulations would substantially extend the reach of “conscience protections.” A doctor might, for example, refuse to give a pregnant patient information about an obstetrician if they suspect the patient might request an “objectionable” treatment like abortion from that obstetrician. The HHS Office of Civil Rights would be responsible for enforcing what critics call a “right to discriminate.”
The draft rule draws on laws like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to argue that health-care providers and other entities should not be compelled to participate in activities like performing abortions or sterilizations, providing birth control, participating in physician-assisted suicide, or being “morally complicit” in other health care that violates religious beliefs. This includes activities like requiring crisis pregnancy centers to post signage with comprehensive information about full-spectrum reproductive health services. The extension of conscience protections to moral attitudes as well as religious ones offers even more ammunition for those who want to refuse health care.
The Family Research Council, Americans United for Life, and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have all identified regulations like the draft rule as a priority. Lobbying from groups like these led HHS to develop an entire division on “conscience and religious freedom” that focuses explicitly on the concerns of a vocal minority of conservative Christians. A 2017 National Women’s Law Center survey found that 61 percent of voters oppose religious exemptions like these..............................
AOC responds to Rep Dan Crnshaw R, TX
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1092414531064786944
Walter Shaub Verified account @waltshaub
Replying to @AOC
Sounds like his knowledge is “inadequate.”
5:37 AM - 5 Feb 2019
Neomi Rao has no experience litigating in federal court, but she's been nominated to the DC Circuit
Senator Mazie Hirono
?Verified account @maziehirono
15m15 minutes ago
Neomi Rao has no experience litigating in federal court, but she’s been nominated to the DC Circuit – the second most important court in the country. Watch live as I question Rao on her long record of controversial and extreme views.
https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/1092821574737108999
Guest on msnbc saying Repugs will go low and applaud LOUDLY an ALOT to please Trumps EGO!
This is what has come to folks with a fraud in the Oval Office. We know Trump loves nothing more than
people applauding him!
Trump's tax returns: Leaked strategy reveals GOP plotting all-out battle to keep them secret
Source: raw story
05 Feb 2019 at 06:41 ET
Treasury Department officials are planning ways to keep President Donald Trump’s personal tax returns away from Democratic lawmakers.
A handful of top political appointees and lawyers are developing a strategy to counter Democratic subpoenas and prevent the IRS from turning over those documents, four sources told Politico.
Officials will accuse Democrats of seeking the documents to then leak to the public, which would be a felony, and then argue that Trump’s opponents cannot be trusted enough to see the documents in the first place.
“We are worried about leaks,” one source told the website. “Once we share it with any member of Congress, we assume it becomes a public document.”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will review any request for the returns, which administration officials have been expecting since Democrats took over the House last month, and could potentially reject them and plunge the executive and legislative branches into an extended and unprecedented legal fight.
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Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trumps-tax-returns-leaked-strategy-reveals-gop-plotting-battle-keep-secret/
oh my---Recall all the times that the Republicans leaked Intel and communications from Comey the minute they got them!!!
Repugs will charge the Dems with a felony if leaked!!!!!!! Idiots.
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1092754619716067328
Cool Blue Persuasion 
? @SonOfAlgos
2h2 hours ago
Replying to @RawStory
Now why in the world would Republicans want to keep Trump's tax returns secret.
What are they so afraid of.. 😎
0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
Claire
? @jazzforia
1h1 hour ago
Replying to @RawStory
Why? Only one reason. There's something to hide. Release his tax returns! Let the truth be told. See which team Trump is really playing on.
0 replies 0 retweets 4 likes
U.S. President Donald Trump pauses as he announces a deal to end the partial government shutdown as while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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