Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump issue stern warning to foreign nationals violating U.S. law
Jeff Sessions, as a surrogate for Donald Trump, has been a vocal supporter for the Republican presidential nominee’s stance on immigration. The Alabama senator also has taken a hard-line stance against foreign nationals who violate U.S. law, offering a firm warning to countries who refuse to take back undocumented immigrants. One such country, The Gambia — officially known as the Islamic Republic of the Gambia — has resisted taking back its nationals, which, according to Sessions, comes at the expense of American taxpayers, with few repercussions by the United States. The Gambia is a small country in West Africa surrounded by Senegal with a small strip accessing the Atlantic Ocean. Previously, Sessions announced Trump was seriously considering a plan to require immigrants to “self-deport” before they can reapply to lawfully return to the U.S. in a campaign email Thursday, Sessions further clarified Trump’s position on “repatriating” those immigration law violators, as well as consequences for countries from which they came. In the statement, Sessions blamed much of this on the “weakness” of the Obama administration, including Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The text of Sessions’ statement: “This past weekend, following intense pressure by several committees in Congress — and the promises of Donald Trump to correct this situation — the Departments of State and Homeland Security have finally taken modest steps against one small offending nation, The Gambia, to take back its nationals who have violated our laws. But other nations have created far larger problems, at great expense to the American taxpayers, and little or no action has been taken against them. “These minor actions against such a small nation will only result in dozens of other countries continuing to disregard their legal obligations to take back their nationals, because of the weakness they have seen in the State Department under the leadership of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and now under John Kerry. And it further highlights the longstanding failure of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to protect the United States from dangerous criminal aliens. “For years, Congress and the American people have rejected the premise that a foreign country can simply refuse to take its people back when we try to deport them from the United States. Yet there are currently dozens of foreign countries that refuse to do so, and/or delay for so long that federal law enforcement officers are forced — as a result of a Supreme Court decision — to release criminals back onto the streets of our communities. “Repatriating immigration law violators is an essential part of any lawful immigration system. Home countries must take back their deported nationals. That is why American law has long given the secretary of state the duty and power to deny future visas to any non-cooperating country — an effective tool to achieve compliance if properly used. A tool that the Obama administration failed to use during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, despite widespread knowledge about these practices. “The willful failure of the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to take the simple and effective steps necessary to protect the safety of the American people and the integrity of the immigration system has long been an outrage and a scandal. “Meaningful change can only come through strong leadership and a commitment to firmly and consistently act in the national interest. Hillary Clinton’s record demonstrates that she will not provide that change. “When Donald Trump becomes president, countries that refuse to take back their nationals will face swift, meaningful consequences. The integrity of our immigration system and the safety of our communities demand no less.”
14 senators call for criminal investigation of Wells Fargo
Fourteen senators are calling on the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation of Wells Fargo executives after revelations that bank employees opened millions of fake bank and credit card accounts. A bank teller who steals bills from a cash drawer is likely to face charges, the senators said in a statement, but “an executive who oversees a massive fraud that implicates thousands of bank employees and costs customers millions of dollars can walk away with a hefty retirement package and millions in the bank.” House and Senate hearings last month with Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf “raised serious questions” that point to possible wrongdoing by Stumpf and other high-ranking executive, said the senators, all but one of them Democrats. U.S. and California regulators have fined San Francisco-based Wells Fargo $185 million, saying bank employees trying to meet aggressive sales targets opened up to 2 million fake deposit and credit card accounts in customers’ names. Regulators said employees issued and activated debit cards and signed people up for online banking without permission. The abuses are said to have gone on for years, unchecked by senior management. In their letter, the senators urged Attorney General Loretta Lynch to hold Wells Fargo accountable as a corporation and also prosecute individual executives who may have broken the law. “Every time the Department of Justice settles a case of corporate fraud without holding individuals accountable, it reinforces the notion that the wealthy and powerful have purchased a higher class of justice for themselves,” the senators said. The letter was led by Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and signed by 12 other Democrats, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Warren and Merkley serve on the Senate Banking Committee, while Leahy is senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine also signed the letter. In a related development, 11 Democratic senators, including Hirono, Merkley and Warren, signed a separate letter calling on Wells Fargo to comply with laws intended to protect military service members from predatory financial practices. The Justice Department and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced a total of $24.1 million in civil penalties against the company for alleged violations, including failure to honor an interest cap on debts owed by service members. In a settlement with the Justice Department, the bank is paying $4.1 million to resolve allegations it repossessed 413 cars owned by service members without obtaining court orders. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
$1.3 million contract delayed after State Auditor Jim Zeigler’s objections
Designed to be the state’s solution to the perennial problem of rising costs of Medicaid, the cost-effectiveness of regional care organizations (RCOs) are being debated yet again. On Tuesday, State Auditor Jim Zeigler asked the Alabama Legislature’s Contract Review Committee to delay a controversial $1.3 million contract for implementation of RCOs to deliver Medicaid healthcare. Medicaid is seeking to pay $1.3 million to the Montgomery-based law firm of Capell & Howard for legal advice in implementing the new system of private providers in each area of Alabama instead of the present statewide administration by the state Medicaid agency. But Zeigler belives the RCO plan “is fatally flawed and needs to be scrapped.” “This huge legal cost needs substantial review by all in authority,” explained Zeigler. “A contract of this size does not need to be approved and should be scrutinized and scrapped. As a first step, he filed the written request asking to delay the contract for the maximum delay the panel can mandate of 45 days. The Committee met on Thursday and agreed to the delay. Zeigler is hoping the plan will altogether be scrapped in the future. “It appears that the plan for regional care organizations as now formatted will cost the state millions instead of saving the state millions,” said Zeigler. “This plan needs to be halted now, before millions are spent in the implementation stage. Approval of this contract would be throwing good money in front of bad.” Zeigler continued, “Sadly, it is typical of the Bentley administration that they have taken a strategy intended to save taxpayer money and have ‘Bentleyized’ it into a losing proposition of millions. The report from Mike Warren of Children’s of Alabama is persuasive.” Warren, CEO of Children’s of Alabama and the state’s top Medicaid provider, in the report said the plan is flawed and the program would cost the state more money than anticipated. “RCOs will actually cost the state’s general fund a substantial amount more than keeping the current program funded,” said Warren in the report. “The numbers are frightening.”
Business leaders call Donald Trump bad for economy in new letter
A dozen big-name business leaders, including lifelong Republicans and independents, say they won’t support real estate mogul Donald Trump for president. They say he would be bad for the economy, and they question how successful he’s been as a businessman. “For sustained investment, economic growth and job creation, American business needs as much predictability, reliability and stability in our government as possible,” they write. “Donald Trump is simply too reckless for American business.” A copy of the letter was given to The Associated Press ahead of the group’s push for others to sign on, as well as the release of the group’s new website on Friday. It comes on the heels of an open letter by more than 30 former GOP members of Congress condemning the Republican presidential nominee as “disgraceful.” Signatories of the latest letter include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, famed chef Jose Andres and Carlos Gutierrez, U.S. secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush and the former chief executive officer of the Kellogg Company. Andres is tussling with Trump over his decision to pull his planned restaurant out of Trump’s new hotel at the Old Post Office in Washington. Jack McGregor said he hopes the effort convinces undecided voters to choose Democrat Hillary Clinton. He’s a Republican former Pennsylvania state senator and founder of the National Hockey League team the Pittsburgh Penguins. “I believe we can reach thinking Republicans like the ones I served with in Pennsylvania,” he said. The group came together as John Stubbs, who has been organizing Republicans who back Clinton, realized that business leaders – of all political persuasions – have particular concerns about a Trump presidency, Stubbs said. A former Republican staffer in Washington, Stubbs said he has not been working with the Clinton campaign. Trump has many business leaders in his corner. Some of his highest profile supporters include investor Carl Icahn, financier T. Boone Pickens and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. The anti-Trump letter makes a two-front case against the Republican nominee. They say he has not been particularly successful in his decades in real estate. And they believe he is offensive and dangerously erratic. “Trump’s harmful rhetoric regarding immigrants, women, racial and religious minorities, the disabled and American veterans is not only unacceptable, it creates an atmosphere of vulgarity that poisons the climate, as does his general approach to business and many of his economic ideas,” they write. “And how do you lose nearly a billion dollars in a single year?” The New York Times said it obtained several pages of Trump’s 1995 state income tax filings that showed he took a net loss of $915,729,293 in federal taxable income for the year. The letter cites Trump’s businesses’ six business bankruptcies, several thousand lawsuits and repeated failure to pay subcontractors as evidence that he’s not a successful businessman. “This approach is anathema to Democrats and Republicans alike,” said Bill Cummings, who also signed the letter. Cummings is the founder of a Boston-based commercial real estate company. Sara Sutton Fell, another letter-signer and the Colorado-based founder of the employment search firm FlexJobs, said she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night running her company as Trump runs his. “The fact that he’s running on his business skills is terrifying,” she said. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Barack Obama flexes clemency powers, shortens sentences for 102 more federal inmates
President Barack Obama offered 102 federal inmates the chance to leave prison early, wielding his clemency powers Thursday as part of his end-of-term push to spur action on criminal justice reform. The latest round of commutations brings to 774 the number of sentences Obama has shortened, including 590 this year. The White House said it’s more than the previous 11 presidents put together. Thirty-four of the new recipients had been serving life sentences. Almost all the prisoners had been convicted of nonviolent crimes related to cocaine, methamphetamine or other drugs, although some were also serving time for firearms violations in connection to drug trafficking, possession or sales. Almost all are men, though they represent a diverse cross-section of the country geographically. “The vast majority of today’s grants were for individuals serving unduly harsh sentences for drug-related crimes under outdated sentencing laws,” said Neil Eggleston, Obama’s White House counsel. He said Obama would continue considering clemency applications throughout the remaining months of his presidency. Still, Obama’s order doesn’t set all the prisoners free right away. Many of those receiving commutations won’t see their sentences end until October 2018, long into the next president’s term. Arlana Doris Moore, of Grand Falls, Texas, had been serving a life sentence plus 10 years of supervised release after being convicted of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of chemicals used to make the drug. Moore’s sentence will now expire in late 2018, on the condition that she enrolls in a residential drug treatment program. Obama’s bid to lessen the burden on nonviolent offenders reflects his long-stated view that decades of onerous sentencing requirements put tens of thousands behind bars for far too long. Obama has used the aggressive pace of his commutations to increase pressure on Congress to pass a broader fix while using his executive powers to address individual cases where possible. Yet Obama’s calls for greater clemency have occasionally drawn criticism from opponents who say he’s too soft on crime. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has warned Americans that their safety could be at risk because of Obama’s move to set prisoners free ahead of schedule. Though both parties in Congress have called for a criminal justice overhaul, momentum has mostly petered out, creating dim prospects for a legislative breakthrough during Obama’s final months. The inability of Republicans and Democrats in Congress to find consensus even on an issue they agree needs fixing reflects the charged political climate of the election year. Obama has been calling for years for phasing out strict sentences for drug offenses, arguing they lead to excessive punishment and incarceration rates unseen in other developed countries. With Obama’s support, the Justice Department in recent years directed prosecutors to rein in the use of harsh mandatory minimums. The Obama administration has also expanded criteria for inmates applying for clemency, prioritizing nonviolent offenders who have behaved well in prison, aren’t closely tied to gangs and would have received shorter sentences if they had been convicted a few years later. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Can’t compete with Matthew: Candidates cut Florida campaigns
Like thousands of other Americans, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton scrambled their plans Thursday in Florida, where Hurricane Matthew threatened to wreak havoc on efforts to comb the state for votes in the campaign’s final stretch. The ferocious storm barreling toward the coast, the Clinton campaign moved staff and out-of-state volunteers working on the east coast of Florida to hotels and other housing inland and was closing all offices in the affected areas until safe to return, the campaign said. Sensitive to being seen as trying to capitalize on the storm, the campaign temporarily pulled its ads running on local Weather Channel stations in Florida. The Trump campaign scrapped plans to hold a rally farther up the coast in North Carolina, and canceled a Florida event featuring Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. Trump offered prayers for those in the path. “Hoping the hurricane dissipates, but in any event, please be careful,” the Republican tweeted. Far away, both candidates continued to prepare for their second debate, a town hall-style faceoff on Sunday. Trump was to holding his own town hall Thursday in Sandown, New Hampshire, an event that could serve as a dry run. Clinton was to hold fundraisers in New York. Along the Southeast coast, the Category 4 storm, carrying winds up to 125 mph, was likely to bring dangerous conditions to Georgia, South Carolina and, possibly, North Carolina. But its impact on delegate-rich Florida was what had the campaigns on high alert. The state is a must-win for Trump and an intense battleground for get-out-the-vote operations. Vote-by-mail ballots are being sent to voters across the state this week, leaving the potential for ballots to arrive just as voters temporarily abandon their homes. So far, a record 2.5 million people — nearly one-third of those who voted in 2012 — have made requests for the early ballots. The timing of the storm raised questions about how the campaigns will handle problems from mail-in ballots that haven’t been received, as well as whether local officials will seek an extension of the Oct. 11 voter registration deadline. Officials said they were hoping that any disruption to voting, this time, would be less severe than what occurred with Superstorm Sandy, which struck New Jersey and New York in the week before the 2012 presidential election and kept many voters away from polls. At least half of Florida voters typically cast ballots early, either by mail or in person, compared with just a fraction in New York and New Jersey. Early in-person voting in Florida doesn’t begin until Oct. 24, two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8. Neither New York nor New Jersey comes anywhere close to Florida’s stature when it comes to this year’s presidential campaign. Candidates and outside groups are on track to spend $11 million this week on television advertising in the state — the most in any week of the general election, according to Kantar Media’s political ad tracker. They’re set to continue big spending next week, with $8.4 million on deck. Neither New York nor New Jersey comes anywhere close to Florida’s stature when it comes to this year’s presidential campaign. Candidates and outside groups are on track to spend $11 million this week on television advertising in the state — the most in any week of the general election, according to Kantar Media’s political ad tracker. They’re set to continue big spending next week, with $8.4 million on deck. As of Thursday morning, neither campaign had announced plans to pull down ads because of the storm, although that could change quickly. Florida Power & Light estimates 1.2 million customers could lose power, leaving campaigns little reason to waste money in some markets. In one of the markets expected to take the brunt of the storm, Miami, planned spending is unchanged this week and next, Kantar Media shows. The storm posed unusual challenges and opportunities for the candidates, particularly Trump, who is trying to prove his leadership. The New York businessman has sometimes appeared clumsy in his response to crises — including sending out tweets in which he seemed to pat himself on the back for predicting terror attacks. In the aftermath of the flooding in Louisiana earlier this year, Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, rushed to the Baton Rouge area to tour the floor damage. During the trip, Trump criticized the president and later Hillary Clinton for failing to do the same, despite a request from local officials to steer clear. Both campaigns canceled events in Florida. President Barack Obama had planned to campaign for Clinton in Tampa on Wednesday. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Robert Bentley turns over ALEA report criticizing Spencer Collier for absenteeism, spending
Gov. Robert Bentley turned over a 1,600-page filing with a committee looking into his impeachment last week, which included a 63-page report criticizing former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) director Spencer Collier‘s job performance, offering new insights into his March 2016 firing. The report was the product of a months-long investigation by April Bickhaus, a special agent with ALEA’s Integrity Unit, which she began in February 2015. It includes quotes from ALEA employees and paints a picture of habitual absenteeism, a misuse of state funds and mismanagement in the office, and poor hiring decisions. It also included allegations of sexual harassment, prescription drug abuse, and falsifying time sheets. Among its findings, the report claims upon review of entry records, Collier’s key card was used to access the ALEA’s Montgomery headquarters only 20 days in the six-month period before his termination. It also indicated a problem with the amount of weapons Collier purchased, and the process in which he did so. “Weapons stand out to us because this particular individual bought a lot of weapons, more than the average employee,” the report quotes ALEA Accounting Director Jennifer Frost having said. “For him to just go to Gulf States (Distributors) and buy weapons and accessories without a (purchase order), and purchase these items through the ALEA account held at Gulf States is clearly wrong.” Collier, who said allegations Bentley used state funds to pursue an affair with former senior aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason led to his investigation, denies the charges made against him in the report. “This is probably the sleaziest politics that I have ever seen,” Collier said in a statement. “One witness in this report has recanted and others will. Stan Stabler and Michael Robinson threatened employees, lied to them and intimidated them to say whatever was needed to fit the narrative.” Read the entire ALEA report below:
Dept. of Justice opens investigation into conditions of Alabama’s male prisons
The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday it has opened a statewide investigation into violence, rape, overcrowding, among other problems and conditions in Alabama’s prisons for men. Specifically, the investigation will focus on whether prisoners are adequately protected from physical harm and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners; whether prisoners are adequately protected from use of excessive force and staff sexual abuse by correctional officers; and whether the prisons provide sanitary, secure and safe living conditions. “The Constitution requires that prisons provide humane conditions of confinement,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated in the announcement. “We hope to work cooperatively with the state of Alabama in conducting our inquiry and ensuring that the state’s facilities keep prisoners safe from harm.” The DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the three U.S. Attorney’s Offices — the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts in Alabama — will conduct the investigation. “Our obligation is to protect the civil rights of all citizens, including those who are incarcerated,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama. “This investigation provides us with an opportunity to work collaboratively with the state of Alabama to assess current conditions and ensure constitutionally sufficient conditions exist for all prisoners.” Prison overcrowding has exacerbated the problems within the prisons. State prisons in January housed 25,102 inmates in facilities designed to hold 13,318, putting the system at 188 percent capacity. The crowding level has contributed to risky conditions for those on both sides of the prison bars. Over the past year, the state’s two largest men’s prisons have been commonplace to riots and violence. “The vulnerability of a prisoner makes it even more important that basic hygiene and safe accommodations are afforded the inmates,” said U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama. The Justice Department has yet to reach any conclusions regarding the allegations in this matter. The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). Under CRIPA, the department has the authority to investigate violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights that result from a “pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of such rights.” “All citizens, even those who are incarcerated, should expect sanitary conditions of habitation that are free of physical harm and sexual abuse,” added U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at (205) 244-2001 or by email at usaaln.civilrights@usdoj.gov.
Taking softer tone, Mike Pence says Hillary Clinton is admirable
Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence on Thursday offered rare praise for Hillary Clinton, saying both the Democratic presidential nominee and Donald Trump have “many admirable qualities” for young people to look up to. The modest compliment, what passes for civility in this rough-and-tumble campaign, came as Pence fielded a question that tripped up another Republican earlier in the week: Is Donald Trump a role model for children? “I frankly think both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have many admirable qualities that young people can look up to,” Pence said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show. Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte made news this week by initially answering yes, but then issuing a statement hours later changing her answer to no. Pence, the Indiana governor and former congressman praised the Republican businessman’s resilience and called him a “strong leader.” He then quickly added a nod to the opposition: “And I want to recognize Hillary Clinton as the first woman to be major party nominee in American history,” he said. Pence’s softer tone comes as the candidates are increasingly turning their attention to Hurricane Matthew and its potential implications for the campaign. With thousands of people already checked into shelters and evacuations underway, the storm is poised to shift the candidate’s schedules, messages and possibly the early vote efforts in the swing state. Vote-by-mail ballots are being sent to Florida voters across the state this week, potentially arriving at the same time as the storm. So far, a record 2.5 million people – or nearly one third of those who voted in 2012 – have made requests for the early ballots. Still, officials were hoping that any disruption to voting would be less severe than what occurred with Superstorm Sandy, which struck New Jersey and New York in the week before the 2012 presidential election and kept many voters away from the polls. At least half of Florida voters typically cast ballots early either by mail or in person, compared with just a fraction in New York and New Jersey, giving them wider options to vote either before or on Nov. 8. Early in-person voting in Florida doesn’t begin until Oct. 24. On Thursday, both candidates continued to prepare for their second debate, a town hall-style face-off on Sunday. Trump was slated to hold a town hall in Sandown, New Hampshire, an event that will serve as a dry run. Clinton was due to hold fundraisers in New York. Their vice presidential picks meanwhile continued to rehash their debate Tuesday night. In an interview on CNN, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine accused Pence of dodging instead of defending when confronted with Trump’s comments, insults or policy proposals. He said Clinton had thanked him for “prosecuting the case against Donald Trump.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Bradley Byrne applauds USDA’s new relending program to reduce rural poverty
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday unveiled an innovative partnership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development with community development organizations from across the country, providing $401 million of Community Facilities program funds to recipients with a track record of successful programs to help reduce poverty in some of the nation’s poorest and most isolated rural communities. Twenty-six community development organizations were approved to draw upon the funding to provide long-term, low-interest financing to be “re-lent” to local entities to build, acquire, maintain, or renovate essential community facilities. The funds also may be used for capacity building and to finance essential community services, such as education, health care, and infrastructure. “This effort builds on our commitment to lifting up the economic prospects of communities that have not benefited from the revitalization of rural America,” Vilsack said. “By engaging with local and national partners, private-sector financial institutions and philanthropic organizations, USDA will inject a game-changing level of investment capital to reduce poverty in targeted rural areas where the capacity for growth has not been realized.” United Bank, based in Atmore, Alabama, has been selected to serve as a lender in the program. United Bank’s loan totals $40 million, which will now be re-loaned to local communities. This is the largest Community Facilities Relending Program loan in the United States. Alabama 1st District U.S. Congressman Bradley Byrne, who represents Atmore, applauded the new initiative. “I applaud the efforts of the United States Department of Agriculture to help our rural communities in Southwest Alabama,” said Byrne in a news release. “These rural communities face many distinct challenges, and this loan program will allow them to make critical investments in infrastructure to improve the quality of life for local residents.” “I’m especially pleased a local bank, United Bank in Atmore, has been selected to serve as the community lending institution, and I look forward to following the impact the program has on Alabama’s rural communities.” Public bodies, community-based nonprofit corporations, and federally recognized tribes are eligible to apply for the loan program. Funds from the loan program can be used on a range of essential community facilities or equipment including healthcare facilities, town halls, courthouses, child care centers, fire departments, police vehicles, libraries, food pantries, and more. Atmore’s specific funds will be available to counties in Southwest Alabama and Northwest Florida.
Investigation report faults top Pentagon aide’s behavior
A Pentagon investigation has concluded that Defense Secretary Ash Carter‘s former senior military aide used his government credit card at strip clubs or gentlemen’s clubs in Rome and Seoul, drank in excess and had “improper interactions” with women, The Associated Press has learned. The aide, Maj. Gen. Ron Lewis, who was fired nearly a year ago by Carter, submitted a written rebuttal slamming the investigation. Lewis asserted that the Defense Department’s inspector general had amassed an inaccurate and inflammatory case based on innuendo and had failed to “find the truth.” The inspector general’s report says Lewis improperly used his credit card, lied to a bank to get charges removed and said he was guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer, a violation of the code of military justice, according to people familiar with the report. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the report before its release. In the rebuttal, obtained by the AP, Lewis denied that the bar he went to in Rome was a strip club and denied that he went to a strip or gentleman’s club in Seoul, South Korea, in an area of the city that the report calls “Hooker Hill.” Kathie Scarrah, the inspector general’s spokeswoman, confirmed that Lewis was investigated for allegations that he “misused his government travel charge card for personal expenses; made false official statements regarding his government travel card misuse; and engaged in other inappropriate behavior.” She provided no other details, but said the inspector general substantiated the allegations and recommended the Army “take appropriate action.” The full report has not yet been made public. It was expected to be released Thursday. Carter issued a statement saying he was briefed on the investigation but would defer comment pending an Army review. More broadly, he said, “I expect the highest possible standards of conduct from the men and women in this department particularly from those serving in the most senior positions. There is no exception.” The report will go to Army leaders who will determine what, if any, punishment is required and at what rank Lewis would be able to retire “The Army takes allegations of misconduct seriously and demands all senior leaders, regardless of rank, uphold the highest standards of moral character and competence,” said Army spokesman Col. Pat Seiber. Lewis took responsibility for several inappropriate actions, including charging nearly $1,800 on his government credit card at what he called a “dance club” in Rome. In an embarrassing set of circumstances, Lewis said he tried to use his personal debit card at the club, but it didn’t work, so he had to walk back to his hotel with a female employee of the club, and wake up a Defense Department staff member to get his government card to pay the bill. He said he paid back the charges when he returned to the U.S. The report identified the club as Cica Cica Boom, but Lewis said that’s not the club he went to. He said he went to a “high-end establishment with a respectable clientele that had a DJ, a bar area and a dance floor where couples were dancing.” A photo of Cica Cica Boom shows a sign above the doorway that also advertises lap dances there. Lewis had shot up the promotional ladder, and his job with Carter stemmed from their close professional relationship. He had served as an aide for Carter when Carter was deputy defense secretary. In Korea, the report said, Lewis went to a gentleman’s club called the Candy Bar. Lewis denied going there as well, but acknowledged being in a commercial area of Seoul. He said that when he returned to Washington and saw two charges on his credit card totally about $1,100, he called the bank to have them removed and the bank agreed. Investigators presented him with two receipts from the club bearing the name “Candy.” Both receipts show only a short pen mark in the signature area, and do not show his written name. The report says investigators, after getting Lewis’ rebuttal, went back and checked their information, and said they stand by their findings. The report portrays a senior officer who often went out alone on overseas trips, and who sometimes drank in excess. The report also describes a night in Hawaii last November – just days before Lewis was fired – when he went to dinner and later went back to his room with an enlisted service member. The report says she told investigators that Lewis approached her and appeared to want to kiss her, but she stopped him and left. Lewis said another staff member was in the hotel room for much of the time, and that even when he was alone with the enlisted service member “our discussions remained the type of conversation a command team would engage in.” He said he has known the unidentified service member for several years. The report also describes Lewis sharing a cigar with a female Defense Department staff member during drinks in Malaysia with a large number of other staff and journalists. It says others there said they were uncomfortable with Lewis’ actions and said he was sitting too close to the staff member. The report does not suggest that Lewis had an extramarital affair or that he had sex with any of the women. And Lewis, in his rebuttal, criticizes the report for relying on insinuations and statements from people who may have distorted the facts or didn’t actually see what happened. Officials with knowledge of the matter said the allegations of misconduct, which first surfaced after the November overseas trip with Carter, stunned the secretary and sent shockwaves through the Pentagon. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
For Hillary Clinton, election likely to be won or lost in October
Each night, Hillary Clinton‘s data experts head to a conference room on the 11th floor of her Brooklyn headquarters, to start counting votes. The sessions in the “early voter boiler room,” as it’s been dubbed by campaign aides, stretch into the early hours of the morning. The team pores over turnout patterns in states where advance voting is already underway, projects how many votes Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have already received, and updates crucial targeting lists of the voters she still needs. For Clinton, October is when she’s likely to win or lose the election, not Nov. 8. By the third week of this month, Clinton’s campaign hopes to have a solid enough sample of the early vote to know whether the Democrat is on track to win the White House. “Many battleground states are already voting so every day is Election Day,” said Matt Dover, Clinton’s voter analytics director. In several competitive states, including North Carolina, Iowa, Colorado, Florida and Nevada, at least 45 percent of the total vote is expected to come in early. Initial metrics show good news for Clinton in North Carolina, a must-win state for Trump. There are modestly positive signs for the Republican in Iowa, but that’s a state the Democrat can likely afford to lose. The Republican National Committee, which oversees early voting and turnout operations for Trump, is also encouraging supporters to take advantage of opportunities to cast ballots before Nov. 8. The party has significantly stepped up its analytics and voter-targeting operations since being outmatched by Democrats in the past two presidential elections, but the 2016 race is the first test of its strength in a national election. Despite improvements, the RNC system was always intended to be a complement to whatever operations the eventual GOP nominee brought to the table. Trump arrived in the general election with intense enthusiasm among his core supporters but few ways to harness it into trackable voter data. Unlike Clinton, whose travel schedule is being built around voter registration deadlines and the start of early voting in key states, Trump’s battleground stops haven’t been pegged to those benchmarks. However, there is a noticeably more robust registration effort at Trump rallies and the candidate himself is making explicit early voting appeals to supporters. “Get those ballots in because the only way this is going to be taken away (is) if we’re foolish or if we let people take it away from us,” Trump said Monday during a rally in Colorado. “I hate to interrupt my speech with these minor details but they’re very important, right?” Republicans traditionally do well initially with mail-in absentee balloting before Democrats surpass them during in-person early voting. That makes the start of in-person voting a key indicator as to whether core Democratic constituencies, such as young people and non-whites, show up. “For me, voting early is a matter of convenience, and if I don’t do it I’m unlikely to vote at all,” said Joseph Wozniak, 23, of Macon, Georgia. A recent college graduate who declined to say who he is supporting in the election, Wozniak is working on early vote efforts for the non-partisan organization Democracy Works. Thirty-seven states allow voting with little restriction before Election Day, either in person or via mail. By the third week in October, 34 of those states will be voting. Iowa was the first of the battlegrounds to start in-person voting last Thursday. Of the 39,435 people who have cast ballots, 58 percent were Democrats and 25 percent were Republicans — but that was much closer than in 2012. In North Carolina, buoyed by strong voter interest, Clinton appears to hold an edge with Democratic ballots submitted so far currently leading Republican ones, 40 to 35 percent. At this point in 2012, Republicans had opened a wide lead over Democrats in ballots, due in part to strong support among older whites. For 2016, Clinton officials pointed in particular to a 13 percent increase in African-American and a 40 percent jump in Latino mail-in ballot requests. To them, it’s a hopeful sign that non-whites and young people will be engaged this election, part of a shift in campaign strategy to more strongly mobilize less reliable, sporadic voters first. Still, the campaign said it will have a much clearer picture once in-person voting begins in the state on Oct. 20. Similarly in Florida, absentee balloting began only Tuesday, but already more than 2.5 million people — nearly one-third of the total number of votes cast in 2012 — have requested ballots. In-person voting doesn’t begin until Oct. 24, so state Democrats are now strongly urging voters to vote by mail — including in a letter from President Barack Obama paid for by the party. “In Florida, voting is easier than ever because now you can vote by mail,” he writes. “It’s the fastest and most convenient way to make your voice heard.” In Obama’s historic 2008 race, he ran up such big early voting advantages in four battlegrounds — Colorado, Florida, Iowa and North Carolina — that his rival, John McCain, couldn’t catch up, despite winning the Election Day vote in those states, according to AP data. If all goes according to the Clinton campaign’s plan, early ballots soon enough will start to unequivocally point in the same direction. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
