8 Republicans vote to reopen the Treasury Department in test of House GOP unity

Just 8 Republicans voted with Democrats on Wednesday to reopen some federal agencies, a sign that the GOP is sticking with President Trump in his battle to pressure Congress into paying for a border wall. Democrats called up a bill to provide funding to the Treasury Department and other agencies like the IRS and Securities and Exchange Commission. The bill is the first of several being called up this week in a bid to pressure Republicans to end what is becoming a painful partial government shutdown for some federal workers. But the vote showed the GOP is still with Trump, at least for now. The 8 "yes" votes from Republicans is in line with votes seen last week, when just seven Republicans voted for a bill to appropriate funds for most of the federal agencies that still need funding this year.

The vote came shortly after President Trump walked out of a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, after the Democrats said they would not agree to Trump's border wall under any condition. That meeting showed there was no sign of any progress in negotiations to open the government and fund the wall, and could be a sign that Trump will look to invoke his emergency powers to fund new construction at the border.

Still, Democrats plan to keep pushing Republicans to open the government without any wall funding. They are planning votes on three additional spending bills this week, beginning with agriculture appropriations on Thursday, and three more next week. The seven bills make up the 25 percent of federal funding that lapsed beginning Dec. 22 at midnight. Democrats are predicting that support from Republicans will grow because the shutdown is increasingly hurting federal government functions, and 800,000 federal employees will go without paychecks starting Friday.

Trump met with Senate Republicans in the Capitol Wednesday afternoon, and urged lawmakers to remain united against the Democratic attempt to fund the government without a border wall. A few Senate Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, support voting on legislation to reopen the government even without wall funding. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has refused to take up the House-passed bills and Trump said he’d veto them.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/8-republicans-vote-to-reopen-the-treasury-department-in-test-of-house-gop-unity

Former Guantanamo commander charged with obstructing justice in investigation of civilian death

A U.S. Navy captain is facing charges after he allegedly misled investigators about a physical fight with a civilian after the man accused the captain of sleeping with his wife. The civilian, Christopher Tur, was found dead, floating in the water near Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where Capt. John Nettleton was the commanding officer.

According to the Justice Department, Nettleton, 53, was indicted on charges of obstruction, concealment, falsifying records, and false statements related to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s investigation on the death of Tur. Tur was a civilian who worked at the base’s Navy Exchange. The indictment claims that on or about Jan. 9, 2015, Nettleton and Tur both attended a “Hail and Farewell” event at the base’s officer’s club to welcome the new executive officer of the base and to bid goodbye to the outgoing executive officer. Nettleton, Tur, and Tur’s wife consumed alcoholic beverages at the event, and Tur eventually accused Nettleton of the affair. Although Nettleton returned to his home shortly thereafter, the indictment says that Tur told a civilian resident of the base via a phone call that he was “at the Skipper’s house” and had “knocked the Skipper out.” The civilian also heard Nettleton express similar sentiments on the phone. During the night of the alleged incident, Nettleton’s daughter was home upstairs and texted a friend saying she left her room and “what I see is this dude standing there on his phone and my dad is lying on the ground I think and like I’m so confused and terrified.” In a separate text recovered by investigators, she said “my dad’s really drunk and some other dude is here and they’re like getting into a fight downstairs and I’m hiding.” Before heading to bed that night, Nettleton checked in with his daughter.

Tur never returned home, and as officials searched for Tur’s body, they recovered a paper towel in Nettleton’s backyard with a “reddish-brown” stain on it. Nettleton dismissed the discovery and told Navy personnel it was “probably nothing.” Later, DNA testing proved that bloodstains from the towel matched Tur’s DNA, along with several other stains in Nettleton’s home. Tur’s body was eventually recovered on or about Jan. 11, 2015, in the waters of Guantanamo Bay and an autopsy showed Tur fractured some ribs before drowning. He also had a laceration on his head. Nettleton failed to report the incident and misled officials searching for Tur after the confrontation by saying he had last seen Tur at the event. He also failed to disclose that Tur alleged he was involved in an affair with Tur’s wife and denied being involved with her when asked directly if they were romantically involved. Furthermore, he instructed Tur’s wife to mislead Navy investigators and deny that they were engaged in an affair.

Nettleton, who was arrested Wednesday, was fired from heading the naval station in Guantanamo days after Tur’s body was found for unspecified “misconduct.” Navy Region Southeast said he was ousted by Rear Adm. Mary Jackson "due to loss of confidence in Nettleton's ability to command.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/former-guantanamo-commander-charged-with-obstructing-justice-in-investigation-of-civilian-death

'Bye-bye': Trump walks out of 'waste of time' meeting with Schumer, Pelosi

President Trump on Wednesday walked out of a White House meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after the Democrats said they wouldn't agree to fund a border wall, suggesting talks to end the government shutdown may have blown up catastrophically. "Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time," Trump tweeted. "I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!"

The meeting, which lasted only 15 minutes, was the latest attempt by Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer to reach an agreement to fund the government. The government has been partially shut down for nearly three weeks because they can't agree on funding the border wall that Trump wants to build on the southern U.S. border.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Schumer called Trump's departure "somewhat unbecoming of a presidency." Trump had become furious, according to Schumer. "He sort of slammed the table, and when Leader Pelosi said she didn't agree with the wall, he just walked out and said, 'We have nothing to discuss,'" Schumer said.

Republicans disputed Schumer's characterization of Trump's conduct. "I don't recall him ever raising his voice or slamming his hand," Vice President Mike Pence told reporters later, saying Trump had walked into the session handing out candy. Pence said that Trump asked Democrats whether he would get anything if the White House gave them all they wanted, and Democrats indicated they had no reason to do anything for the president.

About 800,000 federal workers will miss a paycheck on Friday if Trump and Democratic leaders do not resolve the funding bill fight centered on Trump's desire for $5.7 billion for a Mexico border wall. Without any deal in Congress, Trump has threatened to invoke his emergency powers to fund the wall.

Pence led a three-person White House team seeking to negotiate with Democratic leaders over the weekend, but he told reporters that Schumer and Pelosi have been unwilling to budge. "We incorporated Democrat ideas and language in our proposal and made an offer to resolve this impasse and address the crisis at our southern border. And today, in this brief meeting, we heard once again that Democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate," Pence said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bye-bye-trump-walks-out-of-waste-of-time-meeting-with-schumer-pelosi