Top Oversight Democrat wants docs on White House contractor arrested on attempted murder charge

The top Democrat of the House Oversight Committee requested on Thursday that White House chief of staff John Kelly provide send documents related to a White House contractor’s outstanding arrest warrant for attempted first-degree murder.

In a letter to Kelly, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland asked why National Security Council contractor Martese Edwards was permitted to work for the council up until being arrested at a Secret Service checkpoint on Tuesday.

“These reports raise grave questions about how an individual facing charges of attempted murder could have continued working at the White House for nearly three weeks,” Cummings wrote in his letter.

Besides the outstanding warrant for attempted murder, Edwards also faced assault and domestic violence allegations, but was still able to maintain a security clearance, and was cleared for entry at the White House.

Edwards began working as an “admin guy” for the National Security Council in December 2017 after he had two prior encounters with law enforcement.

“This is not the first time the White House has faced questions about flaws in vetting officials with a record of serious domestic abuse allegations,” Cummings wrote, citing issues surrounding domestic violence charges against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/top-oversight-democrat-wants-docs-on-white-house-contractor-arrested-on-attempted-murder-charge

Senators propose bill letting states regulate marijuana after talks with Trump

Lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday aimed at resolving the long-running tension between states that legalized medical and recreational marijuana sales and the federal government, which still deems all use a federal crime.

The bill, offered by Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., comes after President Trump's April assurance to Gardner that he would support reform.

Gardner told reporters at a morning press conference that "I have spoken to the president today and certainly that was part of the conversation."

The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, or the STATES Act, would change federal law to say that the federal Controlled Substances Act doesn't apply to state regulated markets. It sets a 21-year age requirement for recreational sales, and removes industrial hemp, or low-THC cannabis, from the CSA, making it legal to grow nationwide. It would also ease banking hurdles to state legal pot businesses.

"I have spoken to the president about this approach. I have talked to him about this bill," Gardner said

"In the previous conversations we had he talked about the need to resolve the conflict between state and federal law," he said. "We talked about his support for a states rights approach during the campaign, and he's talked about that in the days since with me. Not putting word in the mouth of the White House, but I think this will be an opportunity to fulfill that federalism approach."

"Sen. Gardner has done great work to plow the ground," Warren said at the press conference. "This is not a bill that forces legalization on any state that doesn't want it. We are trying to respect the voters of our states. … This is an example of Congress doing its job."

Although pot possession for any reason outside limited research remains a federal crime, more than two dozen states have authorized medical marijuana markets since 1996. Eight have laws regulating recreational sales.

Gardner won Trump's initial backing by blocking Justice Department nominations after Attorney General Jeff Sessions withdrew the 2013 Cole Memo in January. That memo acted as a green light for states' autonomy by identifying specific trip wires for a federal crackdown, and Sessions' move was seen as a threat by states like Colorado.

Sessions, a longtime marijuana legalization opponent, empowered individual U.S. attorneys to decide whether to prosecute marijuana crimes, putting the fate of a multibillion-dollar state-legal industry in question.

In at least two phone conversations in April, Trump assured Gardner that there would be no crackdown on Colorado's regulated recreational pot market, and that he would support legislation making marijuana federalism permanent. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Gardner's account.

Although the threat of a federal crackdown loomed with Sessions leading the Justice Department, polls show overwhelming public support for marijuana legalization. A Pew Research Center poll in January found 61 percent support legalization, although a Gallup poll found 64 percent support late last year.

Trump’s April pledge to back legislation came the same week as former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced he had “evolved” his position and joined a marijuana business’ board of advisers.

Warren is a prominent progressive Democrat from Massachusetts, where voters opted to legalize recreational use in 2016. In addition, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington state and the District of Columbia have recreational legalization laws, though sales are unregulated in D.C. and Vermont.

Although there's solid polling support for reform, legislation may have a hard time passing, particularly in the House of Representatives, where Republicans opposed to marijuana control key posts, including House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas. He was recently described by a prominent marijuana advocate as a legislative "sphincter" preventing measure from reaching the floor for a vote.

If the bill can reach the floor, the Gardner-Warren legislation likely would have a good shot at passing, particularly in the House, where medical marijuana-protecting legislation previously passed overwhelmingly and where in 2015 an amendment from Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif. That amendment protected state recreational marijuana markets, and it failed in a narrow 206-222 vote in which 45 Republicans voted in favor and 24 Democrats opposed it.

Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Reps. David Joyce, R-Ohio, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

Trump could 'absolutely' sign peace agreement with Kim at summit next week

President Trump said Thursday he could agree to formally end the Korean War during his summit with Kim Jong Un next week, describing a peace agreement as "the easy part" of nuclear negotiations with the North Korean leader.

"We could sign an an agreement, as you know it could be a first step," Trump said during a Rose Garden press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "It's what happens after the agreement that will be the big point."

He continued, "We could absolutely sign an agreement. It sounds a little bit strange, but that's the easy part. The hard part starts after that."

A peace agreement could mark an important step toward normalized relations between the U.S. and North Korea, though the president reiterated that he is "totally prepared to walk" away from his summit with Kim if the authoritarian leader declines to commit to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. Trump also said he has "300 new sanctions" ready to be imposed against Pyongyang if the June 12 summit in Singapore does not go smoothly.

"All I can say is I am totally prepared to walk away. I did it once before," Trump said.

But the president simultaneously declared that he would be willing to invite Kim back to the U.S. for a second meeting if their initial meeting produces desirable results.

"Maybe we'll start with the White House, what do you think?" he told reporters Thursday.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/trump-could-absolutely-sign-peace-agreement-kim-north-korea-summit

Matt Gaetz: There's talk of mutiny against Paul Ryan after he broke with Trump on 'spygate'

Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested late Wednesday that House Speaker Paul Ryan breaking with President Trump on "spygate" prompted something he's never before heard among fellow conservatives: talk of mutiny.

"You know I run in if more conservative circles of the House and I have never into this point heard a single person talk about removing Speaker Ryan from the speakership," the Florida Republican told Fox Business' Lou Dobbs. "Today for the first time I was hearing colleagues say if speaker Ryan won't stand with us in this fight over the essentials of our democracy, not weaponizing intelligence community against the presidential campaign, do we need to look at other choices?"

He said the notion of a conservative revolt "remains a lingering question and you're starting to see more frustrations bubble to the top because we need that leadership."

.@mattgaetz: "There is no defense today for Paul Ryan siding with the FBI and Department of Justice against those of us in the Congress who are working for transparency and accountability." #Dobbs pic.twitter.com/evJDARMjeq

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) June 6, 2018

Ryan on Wednesday announced his support of a recent assessment by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., that the FBI acted properly when it used an informant to speak to members of President Trump’s campaign team, but conceded that there is "more digging to do."

Both congressmen were part of a small, bipartisan group of lawmakers who were briefed by Justice Department and intelligence officials about the informant last month. The briefings were prompted by Trump and his allies raising concerns about there possibly being a politically motivated spy operation burrowed into his 2016 campaign.

Ryan announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election and would retire, prompting talk about who might succeed him as speaker. While House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has emerged as a top contender, conservative heavyweight Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., head of the Freedom Caucus, has also generated buzz.

Both Gaetz and Dobbs condemned Ryan, with Gaetz saying "there is no defense today for Paul Ryan siding with the FBI and Department of Justice against those of us in the Congress who are working for transparency and accountability" and Dobbs dubbing the Wisconsin Republican a "disaster."

A group of conservatives, including Gaetz, a freshman lawmaker, has pushed Ryan, to no success, to bring a resolution to the House floor calling for a special counsel to investigate allegations of misconduct in the DOJ and FBI.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/matt-gaetz-theres-talk-of-mutiny-against-paul-ryan-after-he-broke-with-trump-on-spygate

>>1663127

But of course, and don't you know it's all conspiracy too:)

>>1663149

I know, these deep staters are scared now, I believe they are beginning to realize the jig is up.

>>1663153

I agree nothing more than a thug. I was noticing that the list of resignations didn't include him or others from the Black Caucus that should be on their way out. Wonder why that is? Only on I could see was Conyers, and yet we know Cumming's was directly involved with the IRS 501c3 mess, curious isn't it ?

>>1663209

That finger of his could almost be one, kek

Abe credits Trump with 'greatest' understanding of Japan-North Korea tensions on abduction

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he believes President Trump is the world leader with the most knowledge and understanding of how important it is for Japan to resolve the issue of the dozen citizens that North Korea abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

"On the issue of abduction, I was able to have detailed discussion and I think President Trump fully understands the situation. He supports the position of Japan," Abe said through an interpreter in a White House press briefing with Trump on Thursday.

A dozen of Japan's citizens were abducted by North Korea decades earlier, and Abe is hoping Trump can press that issue when he meets with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un next week in Singapore.

"Last year, President Trump visited Japan," Abe said. "On that occasion, he met with the families of abductees. I told you about the 13-year-old girl abducted. The mother of this girl met with President Trump and very seriously he intently listened to the voices and views of the family members."

"So President Trump, amongst the world leaders, I think he is one of the leaders who understand the issue the most, the greatest," Abe said.

"So at the upcoming summit, the importance of abduction will be explained to Mr. Kim Jong Un," Abe said.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/shinzo-abe-credits-trump-with-greatest-understanding-of-japan-north-korea-tensions-on-abduction

Mike Pompeo bars Nicaraguan human rights abusers from entering US

Nicaraguan government officials involved in the suppression of protesters are now barred from coming to the United States, the State Department announced Thursday.

“We are sending a clear message that human rights abusers and those who undermine democracy are not welcome in the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday. “We emphasize the action we are announcing today is specific to certain officials and not directed at the Nicaraguan people.”

Nicaragua has been consumed by protests against President Daniel Ortega, which began in opposition to unilateral pension cuts and were met with violence. More than 100 people have been killed and 1,000 injured, according to reports, although the government denies responsibility.

“The political violence by police and pro-government thugs against the people of Nicaragua, particularly university students, shows a blatant disregard for human rights and is unacceptable,” Nauert said.

“Affected individuals include National Police officials, municipal government officials, and a Ministry of Health official – specifically those directing or overseeing violence against others exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, thereby undermining Nicaragua’s democracy,” she added. “In certain circumstances, family members of those individuals will also be subject to visa restrictions.”

The crackdown puts the Nicaraguan government in the front rank of Latin American regimes facing a democratic crisis, along with Venezuela, which is enduring a food shortage. Like the Maduro regime in Venezuela, Ortega's government has worked to consolidate power and undermine his political opposition. His wife, Rosario Murillo, is currently the elected vice president.

There’s a more direct connection as well. “[A] previous supply of aid and cheap oil from Venezuela was cut off after that country's economic collapse, jeopardizing some of the social programs with which the Ortega government had placated Nicaragua's poor,” a pair of experts with the Inter-American Dialogue wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

Pompeo’s imposition of visa restrictions should win support on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers in both parties have urged a tougher line.

“We must not allow human rights abusers and corrupt officials to continue violating their rights without consequence,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., wrote in a June 5 letter to President Trump. “Instead, we must make it clear to the Ortega regime that the era of impunity for abuses is over, and that the United States stands with the Nicaraguan people in their fight for the rule of law and for basic freedoms.”

American support for human rights is buttressed by tangible interests in stability in the region, not least of which is that the unrest leads to refugee crises; Venezuelan requests for asylum in the United States, for instance, have skyrocketed.

“We are going through very dark days,” said Humberto Belli, a former Nicaraguan education minister, told the Wall Street Journal. “The people are out in the street demanding that Ortega leave, but he has shown an unexpected ability to kill. We see more blood every day — three, four, five people killed on a daily basis. This has no end.”

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/mike-pompeo-bars-nicaraguan-human-rights-abusers-from-entering-us

Mexico complains to WTO about steel tariffs, following Canada, Europe

Mexico is hitting back hard against the Trump White House on trade, filing a complaint Thursday with the World Trade Organization against the United States' steel and aluminum tariffs.

The move came two days after Mexico proposing tariffs of its own that will heavily target the states of Texas and Alabama, an apparent effort to increase pressure on the White House by putting the economic pain on strongly Republican states.

“Clearly, the establishment of an additional import tax is intended to protect the United States industry from the economic effects of import,” Mexico's WTO claim said. The complaint follows similar ones by the European Union and Canada. The complaints compel countries to meet to resolve the dispute. If no resolution is reached in 60 days, the complaining country may request that a panel sanction the offender.

The WTO move follows Mexico's announcement of tariffs on about $3 billion worth of U.S. exports Tuesday in response to the Trump administration's move last week to lift exemptions for Mexico from its newly implemented 25 percent steel and 10 percent aluminum tariffs. The White House's move was partly an effort to wring concessions from Mexico in the ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations.

The list of items Mexico will hit, according to a source with knowledge of the country's strategy, includes several items for which the country is practically Texas' sole market. They include: pork, where Mexico buys between 80-99 percent of Texas products; Whiskey, for which Mexico is two-thirds of Texas' market; and flat-rolled iron, of which Mexico purchases 94 percent of what Texas makes. Alabama will also be hit hard with tariffs on flat-rolled steel, because Mexico accounts for 56 percent of its market for that product.

Wisconsin also will be hard as the list targets cheese as well. Mexico buys slightly over half of the products from the Badger State.

"These are products that have political implications in districts, where important House members and senators have been raising concerns to President Trump about how he is managing these decisions. At the end of the day, the effect of this will fall over voters that live in districts that have a voice and a vote in the U.S. Congress," Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told Mexican radio station Grupo Radio Central last week.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/mexico-complains-to-wto-about-steel-tariffs-following-canada-europe

Prominent U.S. Lobbyists Have Not Commented on Qatar Ties

Key figures in Gulf crisis end relationships with Doha after emir’s embrace of radical Islamic preacher

After multiple people central to Qatar's efforts to win influence in the United States severed ties with the Persian Gulf country this week, influential U.S. lobbyists with connections to Doha have not said whether they plan to follow suit.

Key figures who helped Qatar improve its standing in the U.S., make politically useful investments, and gain favor with the American Jewish community ended their relationships with the Qatari government after the country's leader embraced a prominent Islamic scholar who has called for the killing of Jews and Americans at an event last week.

However, at least two big-name lobbyists receiving money from Qatar are not saying whether they'll do the same.

Neither Jim Courtovich, Washington-based lobbyist and founder and managing partner of Sphere Consulting, nor Florida-based lobbyist Brian Ballard, president of Ballard Partners, responded to requests for comment on details of their business relations with Qatar and whether they are considering amending or terminating those relations.

Courtovich previously signed a deal to represent Qatar as a lobbying client, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing from February. Under the deal, Sphere Consulting's sister firm, Sphere Government Relations, receives $40,000 a month and "provide[s] government and public relations services for Qatar with regard to bilateral issues pertaining to the relationship between Qatar and the United States. Such services may include outreach to the United States Congress, the federal government, and the media."

Ballard Partners earlier this year signed a contract with Qatar's embassy in the United States under which the firm "provide[s] strategic consulting and advocacy services" to the embassy "in connection with its business with the executive agencies of Florida governmental [and] private entities located within the state of Florida and the United States government." Such services can cover areas including "enhancing U.S.-Qatar bilateral ties, developing trade, investment, and business opportunities."

The agreement became effective on March 29 and runs through March 31 of next year. Under the contract's terms, the Qatari embassy pays Ballard's firm $175,000 a month for its duration, not including "reasonable costs associated with the representation" such as travel expenses. The second $175,000 monthly payment was due on May 1. It is unclear whether the firm intends to remain in the agreement for the full year or whether it has received payment beyond the initial $175,000 upon signing the contract.

Multiple top Qatari agents recently cut ties with Qatar, Politico reported Thursday. New York businessman Joey Allaham, a restaurateur born in Syria, had helped Qatar gain favor with the American Jewish community and make "politically useful investments" until he ended his relationship with the country.

http:// freebeacon.com/issues/central-figures-gulf-crisis-cut-ties-qatar-will-powerful-u-s-lobbyists-follow/

Cotton Sponsors Bipartisan Defense Bill Amendment Against Chinese Telecoms Huawei, ZTE

A bipartisan trio of lawmakers introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act pushing back on national security threats posed by Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) sponsored an amendment that would prohibit U.S. government agencies from purchasing or leasing telecommunications equipment or services from Huawei, ZTE or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, according to a release.

ZTE and Huawei have been linked by U.S. intelligence agencies to electronic spying by Beijing, the Free Beacon reports. The Pentagon banned the use of both companies' cell phones over the spying concerns.

The bipartisan proposal would also ban the U.S. government from subsidizing the companies and its affiliates through grants and loans, and it would restore penalties.

"Huawei and ZTE have extensive ties with the Chinese Community Party, as well as a track record of doing business with rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran," Cotton said in a statement. "So it’s only prudent that no one in the federal government use their equipment or services and that they receive no taxpayer dollars. Given their repeated violations of U.S. law, we cannot trust them to respect U.S. national security, and so it’s vital we hold them accountable and pass this amendment."

"In a country full of bad actors when it comes to hurting American jobs and threatening our national security, Huawei and ZTE are two of the absolute worst offenders," Schumer said. "Both parties in Congress must come together to bring the hammer down on these companies rather than offer them a second chance, and this new bipartisan amendment will do just that."

"ZTE has flagrantly and repeatedly violated U.S. laws, and any deal to let them off the hook should not move forward. This amendment will ensure that, regardless of action the Administration takes right now, Congress will protect American interests and national security," Van Hollen said.

Cosponsoring the legislation are Sens. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine.).

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced Thursday the U.S. had struck a deal with ZTE to end sanctions against the company, which included a $1 billion penalty and the creation of a compliance department. The department will be embedded in the company and its members will be picked by the U.S.

http:// freebeacon.com/national-security/cotton-sponsors-bipartisan-defense-bill-amendment-chinese-telecoms-huawei-zte/