Your Daily Dose of Trump and His Administration News
- A national association of federal judges has called an emergency meeting Tuesday to address growing concerns about the intervention of Justice Department officials and President Donald Trump in politically sensitive cases, the group’s president said Monday.
Philadelphia U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, who heads the independent Federal Judges Association, said the group “could not wait” until its spring conference to weigh in on a deepening crisis that has enveloped the Justice Department and Attorney General William Barr.
- President Trump on Tuesday suggested he may file lawsuits over the outcome of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, saying its findings are “badly tainted.” The president in a series of tweets also made multiple misleading claims about Mueller and his investigation as he again lashed out over the trial of longtime associate Roger Stone, who is scheduled to be sentenced this week in a case stemming from the former special counsel’s probe.
- In a series of Tweets which included grammatical errors, The President took to Twitter to again interfere in the Roger Stone trial. Trump Tweeted: “Judge Jackson now has a request for a new trial based on the unambiguous & self outed bias of the foreperson of the jury, whose also a lawyer, by the way. ‘Madam foreperson, your a lawyer, you have a duty, an affirmative obligation, to reveal to us when we selected you the…..existence of these tweets in which you were so harshly negative about the President & the people who support him. Don’t you think we wanted to know that before we put you on this jury.’ Pretty obvious he should (get a new trial). I think almost any judge in the Country…..would order a new trial, I’m not so sure about Judge Jackson, I don’t know.” @Judgenap (Andrew Napolitano) @foxandfriends
- A federal judge on Tuesday refused to delay Roger Stone’s sentencing amid the fallout over the Trump administration’s decision to intervene in the case against the president’s longtime ally. The sentencing will move forward on Thursday at its originally scheduled time, the judge said, despite a new effort from Stone’s defense team to get a new trial.
- President Trump on Monday accused former President Obama of “trying to take credit” for the strong economy. In response to Obama’s commemorating the 11th anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, “paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history.”
Trump Tweeted: “Did you hear the latest con job? President Obama is now trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration. He had the WEAKEST recovery since the Great Depression, despite Zero Fed Rate & MASSIVE quantitative easing. NOW, best jobs numbers ever. Had to rebuild our military, which was totally depleted. Fed Rate UP, taxes and regulations WAY DOWN. If Dems won in 2016, the USA would be in big economic (Depression?) & military trouble right now. THE BEST IS YET TO COME. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”
- The U.S. and Taliban will sign a peace deal by the end of the month, the Taliban reportedly said Monday. Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi, a senior Taliban leader, said in a video shared with journalists that “both sides have initiated the final draft of the peace agreement. Now talks are concluded.”
- A coalition of environmental groups informed the Trump administration Tuesday that it would sue over a major rollback of water protections designed to replace the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. rule. President Trump’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule, finalized last month, dramatically limits the scope of protections for the nation’s waterways, excluding many smaller bodies of water, including seasonal ones, from federal oversight.
- President Trump on Tuesday said he had granted clemency to Rod Blagojevich (D), the disgraced Illinois governor who had served roughly half of a 14-year sentence on federal corruption charges. “I did commute his sentence. So he’ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail,” Trump told reporters before departing for a multi-day trip out west. “That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others.”
Blagojevich was removed from office in 2009 and was later convicted of a wide array of corruption charges, including attempted extortion of a children’s hospital for campaign contributions and trying to sell former President Obama’s Senate seat after he was elected to the White House in 2008. The former governor began serving a 14-year prison sentence in 2012.
- President Trump will grant a pardon to former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., the White House announced on Tuesday. DeBartolo pleaded guilty in 1998 to a felony charge of failing to report that a former Louisiana governor, Edwin Edwards, allegedly extorted $400,000 from him to win a casino license. DeBartolo paid $1 million in penalties and served two years of probation, but avoided prison time.
- President Trump has pardoned former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik, he announced at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday. Kerik, served three years in federal prison for charges including tax fraud and lying to officials.
- President Trump pardoned Michael Milken who was known for pioneering high-yield “junk” bonds. Milkin pleaded guilty in 1990 to six counts of securities and tax violations and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, later reduced to two years for his cooperation with federal officials. The financier, became a symbol of the scandals within the financial industry.
- Rush Limbaugh claimed Monday that President Trump advised him to “never apologize” for his comments on Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality, including saying that, “America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage.”
- President Trump publicly objected to efforts within his own administration to restrict the sales of American technology to China over national security concerns, insisting on Tuesday that such fears were an “excuse” and that the United States was open for business.
Trump’s comments appeared to represent a striking reversal of his administration’s aspirations to curb China’s ascent as a global leader in technology and came as cabinet officials were expected to discuss tougher restrictions on China later this month.
- The Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday it would waive 10 federal laws to allow for speedier construction of portions of the border wall in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
The Past 24 Hours Or So 