Conservative religious leader says Jeff Sessions no longer has evangelical support
One of the top conservative evangelical leaders in the nation is urging President Donald Trump to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On Monday, POLITICO reported that Jerry Falwell Jr.,a lawyer and President of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., urged Trump to fire Sessions. “He really is not on the president’s team, never was,” Falwell toldPolitico. “He’s wanted to be attorney general for many, many years. I have a feeling he took a gamble and supported the president because he knew he would reward loyalty.” Sessions has long been a supporter of conservative evangelicals, going so far as to launch a religious liberty task force within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in July, citing a “dangerous movement” to erode religious freedom in America. “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated,” Sessions told attendees of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Summit. But Sessions “has angered Trump loyalists more recently because the Justice Department has not declassified all materials sought by Republicans in regard to the Russia investigation,” Politico reported. “The president believes Sessions, who recused himself from the Russia probe because of his involvement in the 2016 campaign, has failed to rein in a probe that Trump claims is driven by politics.” Last week, Trump fired several barbs at Sessions, telling Fox news channel’s “Fox & Friends” that Sessions “took the job and then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.” “[He] never took control of the Justice Department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing,” Trump continued. Sessions then fired back at the president, saying that the DOJ would not be “improperly influenced by political considerations.” “A lot of Republicans pretend to be friends to conservatives and the faith community for decades when they really were not,” Falwell continued to tell Politico. “I don’t know if he’s in that category. If he was really a fair person, he’d be going after both sides.”
Jeff Sessions seems to push back against Donald Trump barb
The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 1:35 p.m. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says his Justice Department won’t be “improperly influenced by political considerations.” His comments — in a statement Thursday — seem to push back against the latest round of criticism by his boss, President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the department and the FBI. Trump told “Fox & Friends” in an interview that aired earlier Thursday that Sessions “never took control of the Justice Department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing.” The president was angered when Sessions stepped aside from overseeing the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump has called the special counsel’s probe a “witch hunt.” Sessions says there’s no other nation with more talented and dedicated law enforcement investigators and prosecutors. Sessions says he’s “proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law.” ___ 1:30 p.m. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says his staffers have reached out to Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, about what information he might have — and they’re awaiting a response. GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says no decision has been made about Cohen appearing before the committee. Cohen pleaded guilty this week in federal court to campaign-finance violations and other charges. He says he and then-candidate Trump arranged the payment of hush money to influence the election. Committee spokesman Taylor Foy says the committee originally scheduled an interview with Cohen in May. But he withdrew, citing criminal proceedings. Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, has indicated he may be willing to testify to Congress. The Senate intelligence committee is also interested in talking to Cohen. ___ 11 a.m. President Donald Trump prizes loyalty, and he says that’s the only reason he made Jeff Sessions attorney general. Session, an Alabama Republican, was the first senator to endorse Trump’s bid for president, and he was rewarded with a spot in Trump’s Cabinet as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. But Trump was angered when Sessions stepped aside from overseeing the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and the president has taken issue with his own Justice Department. Trump tells “Fox & Friends” that Sessions “took the job and then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.’ I said what kind of a man is this?” Trump says in the interview, “You know, the only reason I gave him the job (was) because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter.” ___ 10:40 a.m. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says it’s time for Republicans to stand up to President Donald Trump after his former personal lawyer implicated him in a crime. The Democrat says Republicans have become complicit in bringing down the character of the nation. He says they’ve shirked their duty in exchange for a corporate tax cut and stacking the federal courts. The GOP, he says, is “becoming a co-conspirator in the culture of corruption that surrounds this president.” He called on GOP leaders to pass legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s actions in the 2016 elections, to hold hearings on the power of the president to pardon and pass legislation to bolster election security. Schumer says it is time for Republicans to “speak truth to power.” 7:40 a.m. President Donald Trump says he believes the economy would tank if he were to be impeached. Trump was asked in an interview with “Fox & Friends” if he believes Democrats will launch impeachment proceedings if they win the House this fall, as many suspect. He says, “If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor.” Trump says Americans would see economic “numbers that you wouldn’t believe in reverse.” But Trump is also expressing doubt that that would ever happen. He says, “I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who’s done a great job.” ___ 7 a.m. President Donald Trump is suggesting that it should be illegal for people facing prosecution to cooperate with the government in exchange for a reduced sentence. Trump is reacting to the guilty plea entered by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to a range of charges. Trump — in an interview with “Fox & Friends” — is accusing Cohen of implicating him to get a better deal with prosecutors. Trump says Cohen “makes a better deal when he uses me.” Trump claims people who decide to cooperate with the government “make up stories” and “just make up lies” Here’s what the president says: “It’s called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal.” He says “it’s not a fair thing.” ___ 6:50 a.m. President Donald Trump is distancing himself from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the wake of Cohen’s guilty plea to eight charges, including campaign finance violations that Cohen says he carried out in coordination with Trump. Trump — in an interview with “Fox & Friends” — describes Cohen as a “part-time attorney.” And Trump also suggests that Cohen’s legal trouble stemmed from his other businesses, including involvement with the New York City taxi cab industry. Trump claims that Cohen decided to offer “lies” about Trump to reduce Cohen’s own legal exposure. ___ 12:15 a.m. President Donald Trump is digging in to his denials of wrongdoing as his White House struggles to manage the fallout from allegations he orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who say they had affairs with him. In pre-dawn tweeting, Trump says “NO COLLUSION – RIGGED WITCH HUNT!” That’s a reference to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. And the president is accusing his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, of “making up stories” in order to get a “great deal” from prosecutors. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump says illegal crossings down; they’re up
Illegal border crossings, as President Donald Trump measures them, have gone up since he took office, even as he speaks to audiences about a drop of more than 40 percent. That disconnect was among several that stood out over the past week as he opened up on the Russia investigation via Twitter, forsaking accuracy in the process, and made the false claim that he’s delivering the first big military pay increase in a decade. A look at some of his statements: TRUMP: “We’ve done a lot of work on the wall. We’re doing a lot of work on security, generally speaking, security and border — border security. The border’s down over 40 percent, and don’t forget, we have a great economy, probably the best economy the country’s ever had. So people come across, but we’re going to get the rest.” — interview broadcast Thursday with “Fox & Friends.” TRUMP: “We’re down on immigration crossing the border — more than 40 percent.” — forum Wednesday in Bethpage, New York. THE FACTS: Illegal crossings actually are up 20 percent since he became president, according to the yardstick he uses to measure them — the number of Border Patrol arrests. There is no precise measure of illegal crossings because some people don’t get caught. The Trump administration uses arrests as the best gauge of whether crossings are going up or down. The Obama administration did likewise. Border Patrol arrests did fall last year to the lowest level since 1971. But since April of last year, arrests have climbed steadily. One factor in that increase may be that people are now taking their chances to cross into the U.S. illegally after an initial wait-and-see attitude about Trump’s tough-talking approach to people sneaking into the country. Last month, there were more than 50,000 overall border arrests, which are made up of people who are stopped at land crossings and other official points of entry, according to federal data. That was more than triple the number from April 2017, which was the lowest tally on record since the Homeland Security Department was created in 2003. Overall, border arrests have increased 20 percent since January 2017, from 42,463 in January 2017 to 50,924 in April. ___ TRUMP, to U.S. Naval Academy graduates: “Going to have new equipment and well-deserved pay raises. We just got you a big pay raise. First time in 10 years. We got you a big pay increase. First time in over 10 years. I fought for you. That was the hardest one to get, but you never had a chance of losing.” — speech Friday. THE FACTS: That’s not right. U.S. military members have gotten a pay raise every year for the past 10 years and several have been larger than this year’s 2.6 percent increase. Pay increases in 2008, 2009 and 2010, for example, were all 3.4 percent or more. ___ TRUMP: “We have now the lowest number of ships that we’ve had since World War I, and very soon you’re going to get to 355 beautiful ships. 355. That’s almost a couple of hundred more ships.” — speech to academy graduates Friday. THE FACTS: No it isn’t. The Navy now has 283 ships. ___ TRUMP on former CIA Director John Brennan: “Brennan started this entire debacle about President Trump. We now know that Brennan had detailed knowledge of the (phony) Dossier…he knows about the Dossier, he denies knowledge of the Dossier, he briefs the Gang of 8 on the Hill about the Dossier, which…….they then used to start an investigation about Trump…” — tweets Monday. THE FACTS: Trump quotes conservative commentator Dan Bongino to falsely claim the Russia probe is based on a “phony dossier.” In fact, the FBI’s investigation began months before it received a dossier of anti-Trump research financed by the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The FBI probe’s origins were based on other evidence — not the existence of the dossier. The Republican-controlled House intelligence committee found the Russia probe was initiated after the FBI received information related to Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, not the dossier. The committee’s final report released in March was praised by Trump, who pointed to it as evidence that the investigation was nothing but a “witch hunt.” ___ TRUMP, on President Barack Obama’s national intelligence director, James Clapper: “Clapper has now admitted that there was Spying in my campaign. Large dollars were paid to the Spy, far beyond normal. Starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. SPYGATE – a terrible thing!” — tweet Thursday THE FACTS: That’s a distortion of Clapper’s statements on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday when he was asked about recent reports that an FBI informant spoke with several members of the Trump campaign. “They were spying on — a term I don’t particularly like but — what the Russians were doing,” Clapper said. “Trying to understand, were the Russians infiltrating? Trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage and influence? Which is what they do.” He did not say a spy was implanted “in” the campaign and he denied the FBI was spying “on” the campaign. The effort was focused on Russians, he said, was meant to “protect the campaign” and the U.S. political system. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is looking into Russian interference in the election, any collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, possible obstruction of justice and whatever associated criminal activity might be uncovered. The probe has produced several criminal convictions of Trump campaign officials. Those charges do not implicate the president directly. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump calls for border legislation using ‘nuclear option’
President Donald Trump demanded Monday that Congress pass new border legislation using the “Nuclear Option if necessary” to muscle it through the Senate — a drastic change in rules the Republican leader has previously dismissed. Trump tweeted that the U.S. must build a border wall, but argued that “Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!” He also said that a deal to help “Dreamer” immigrants is “dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act.” Trump has previously called for the “nuclear option” — changing Senate rules to end the filibuster. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has dismissed that option in the past, saying Republicans will welcome the filibuster if they return to being the Senate minority. The White House did not immediately answer questions about Trump’s tweets. The $1.3 trillion funding package Congress passed last month included $1.6 billion in border wall spending. But much of that money can only be used to repair existing segments, not build new sections. Congress also put restrictions on the types of barriers that can be built. Trump began tweeting over the weekend on immigration from Florida, threatening to pull out of a free trade agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the U.S. The U.S., Canada and Mexico are participating in tense negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement at Trump’s insistence. He also claimed that people are flowing over the border “trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!” It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to when he said people are coming to take advantage of the program Former President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to provide temporary protection and work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally after being brought here as children. The Obama administration allowed signups during a set period of time, and the program is closed to new entrants. Trump ended the program last year, but gave Congress six months to pass legislation enshrining it. A deal has so far proved elusive and Trump has blamed Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security is not issuing new permits, though existing ones can be renewed. Proposed DACA deals crafted by lawmakers and rejected by Trump also were not open to new participants. Trump did not explain what he meant when questioned by reporters as he entered the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea for an Easter Sunday service on Sunday, but again blamed Democrats for failing to protect the “Dreamers.” “The Democrats have really let them down,” he added during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, adding: “It’s a shame.” Trump’s comments also ignore the fact that the DACA solution he proposed mustered only 39 votes in the Senate, not enough to pass even if the Senate did approve the nuclear option. Meanwhile, the bipartisan option the White House vigorously lobbied against did gain a majority of votes, but fell six votes shy of the 60 needed to advance under Senate rules. Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to build a Southern border wall to stop illegal immigration and drugs from Mexico, but Congress has frustrated him by not moving as quickly as he wants to provide money for construction. The president also complained on Twitter that border patrol agents can’t do their jobs properly because of “ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws” that allow people caught for being in the country illegally to be released while they await a hearing before a federal immigration judge. Trump tweeted that the situation is “Getting more dangerous” and “Caravans” are coming. The president’s tweets came after Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” reported early Sunday on what it said is a group of 1,200 immigrants, mostly from Honduras, headed to the U.S. About 1,100 migrants, many from Honduras, have been marching in a caravan along roadsides and train tracks in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca. These “Stations of the Cross” migrant caravans have been held in southern Mexico for at least the last five years. They began as short processions of migrants, some dressed in biblical garb and carrying crosses, as an Easter-season protest against the kidnappings, extortion, beatings and killings suffered by many Central American migrants as they cross Mexico. Individuals in the caravans often try to reach the U.S. border, but usually not as part of the caravan. The caravans usually don’t proceed much farther north than the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. The current march is scheduled to end this month with a conference on migration issues in the central Mexican state of Puebla, east of Mexico City. The Fox headline was “Caravan of illegal immigrants headed to U.S.” The president is known to watch the cable TV program in the morning. Brandon Judd, leader of the union representing border patrol agents, predicted on “Fox & Friends” that those in the caravan would create havoc and chaos in the U.S. as they wait for what he described as immigration reform. Judd also said Congress needs to pass tougher laws, an idea Trump appeared to echo, and create more bed space for immigration authorities to house people. Mexico routinely stops and deports undocumented Central Americans, sometimes in numbers that rival those of the United States. Deportations of foreigners dropped from 176,726 in 2015 to 76,433 in 2017, in part because fewer were believed to have come to Mexico, and more were requesting asylum in Mexico. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Oops? Donald Trump retweets critic saying ‘he’s a fascist’
President Donald Trump appears to have mistakenly retweeted a message from one of his critics saying “he’s a fascist.” Trump deleted his retweet Tuesday after about five minutes, but not before the message sent to his 35 million followers racked up a big response. Trump seems to have been trying to draw attention to a Fox & Friends article on a possible presidential pardon for former Phoenix-area Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of a crime for ignoring a U.S. court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. A Twitter handle identified as “@MikeHolden42” tweeted to Trump “He’s a fascist, so not unusual.” The user suggested in subsequent tweets that he was calling Trump a fascist, not Arpaio. Trump retweeted the message to his massive following, triggering an avalanche of replies. @MikeHolden42 responded: “I’m announcing my retirement from Twitter. I’ll never top this RT.” He later updated his description on Twitter as “Officially Endorsed by the President of the United States.” I’m announcing my retirement from Twitter. I’ll never top this RT. pic.twitter.com/HuGHkiPoyR — Mike Holden (@MikeHolden42) August 15, 2017 On Tuesday, Trump also retweeted and deleted a cartoon showing a train labeled “Trump” running over a man with “CNN” covering his face Monday morning. The retweets come after a national uproar over race-fueled clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. It took two days of public equivocation and internal White House debate before the president condemned white supremacist groups by name on Monday, declaring “racism is evil.” Late Monday, Trump had retweeted Jack Posobiec, a conservative Trump supporter who used social media to draw attention to “pizzagate,” an unfounded conspiracy theory that claims Democrats harbor child sex slaves at a pizza restaurant. Posobiec’s tweet read: “Meanwhile: 39 shootings in Chicago this weekend, 9 deaths. No national media outrage. Why is that?” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Jeb Bush says he won’t give Hillary Clinton a pass on emails
One of the biggest moments of Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate was when Bernie Sanders had the opportunity to attack Hillary Clinton regarding the growing controversy regarding her private email server account while serving as Secretary of State and chose not to exploit the moment. Jeb Bush said this morning that given the opportunity, he won’t hesitate to attack. “I would have taken her to task for that, and if she wins the nomination and I win the nomination, trust me, this is not going to end.” Bush said early Wednesday on Fox & Friends. Meanwhile, the Bush campaign is celebrating the announcement that he will be endorsed later on Wednesday in New Hampshire by Chuck Morse, the Senate President in the New Hampshire legislature. “Washington is broken and we need to send a proven leader with a strong, conservative track record there to turn entrenched government upside down and make it work for Americans again. Jeb Bush has that track record and he needs to be our next President,” Morse said in a statement issued out Wednesday morning by the Bush campaign. “In a field of good candidates, Jeb Bush clearly stands out. Jeb’s never been part of the DC culture and he will take on the special interests and and bring fiscal sanity to Washington. We’re never going to fix the problems down there by electing people who’ve helped create the problems or someone who has proven incapable of fixing it. I know Jeb’s done it before in Florida and know he’ll do it again as President.” “Senator Morse has spent years fighting for Granite State families, working to lower taxes and reduce regulations that make it harder for us to grow the economy and give people the opportunities they deserve. He is one of the hardest working elected officials in New Hampshire and I’m proud to add him to our growing team in the state,” Bush said. Morse will be joining the Bush campaign as New Hampshire co-chair.
Jeb Bush, at Mexican border, denounces Donald Trump’s immigration plan
On his own visit to the Mexican border Monday, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush denounced Donald Trump‘s immigration plan as unrealistic and expensive. And he did it mostly in Spanish. The former Florida governor told reporters Trump should read his book, “Immigration Wars,” if he wants to learn how to deal with illegal immigration. Earlier, he met privately with local, state and federal officials in this city along the Rio Grande across from Reynosa, Mexico. Trump has proposed building a massive border fence and kicking out the estimated 11 million people who are in the U.S. illegally before allowing the “good ones” and “talented” ones back in. That plan is “not based in reality,” Bush said, arguing it will require a “much better strategy than building a fence” to deal with the complexity of America’s broken immigration system. “If he’s interested in a comprehensive approach, he might to want to read my book,” Bush said. Trump took his 2016 Republican campaign to the Mexican border in July to highlight what he considers a broken border-security system. Appearing on “Fox & Friends” earlier Monday, he said of Bush, “I think it’s great that he’s going to the border because I think he’ll now find out that it is not an act of love.” That was a jab at Bush’s comment before he joined the race that people come to the U.S. out of love for their families and the wish to give them a better life. “I was down on the border,” Trump said. “It’s rough, tough stuff. This is not love.” Bush told reporters at the Palenque Grill restaurant that Trump’s immigration plan would cost billions of dollars, violate civil liberties and “create friction” with Mexico, America’s third-largest trading partner. Trump reacted to those claims in an interview later Monday on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” ”You tell me about civil liberties,” he said. “We have to get them out and some of these people are causing tremendous problems. All you have to do is look at the crime wave.” He added: “As far as Mexico being our third largest partner, they are making a fortune, we’re not making anything. Mexico is making a fortune because their leaders are smarter, they know what they’re doing, our people are grossly incompetent.” Bush said border security extends beyond the land border with Mexico, noting that at least 40 percent of the people in the U.S. illegally came with valid visas. The federal government should vastly improve how it tracks the entry and exit of millions of foreign visitors, he said. Bush also said most of those illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans, not Mexicans. Reporters peppered Bush with questions about his use of the term “anchor babies” to describe children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally. Some find the term offensive. Bush said he was referring to alleged fraud by families seeking to have their children born in the U.S. to guarantee citizenship. He said stricter enforcement of immigration laws would help resolve the problem and repeated his opposition to any move to deny U.S. citizenship to those born in America. He said it was “ludicrous” to think he was being derogatory toward immigrants given his own family’s Hispanic heritage. “I’m proud to be married to a Mexican-American woman and I have children who are Hispanic,” he said in Spanish as the restaurant crowd applauded. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
