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1:32 Trump says Collusion Witch Hoax
Trump says Cohen asked him 'directly' for pardon
By Jordan Fabian - 03/08/19 11:29 AM EST
President Trump on Friday claimed Michael Cohen asked him “directly” for a pardon, an allegation that would contradict the former Trump lawyer and fixer’s congressional testimony last week.
“He lied! Additionally, he directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again!” Trump tweeted.
Bad lawyer and fraudster Michael Cohen said under sworn testimony that he never asked for a Pardon. His lawyers totally contradicted him. He lied! Additionally, he directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again! He also badly wanted to work at the White House. He lied!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2019
Cohen told the House Oversight Committee last week that he had not and would not seek a pardon for his financial and campaign-finance crimes.
Lanny Davis, Cohen’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/433217-trump-says-cohen-asked-him-directly-for-pardon
Elon Musk's SpaceX capsule splashes down off Florida coast
March 8, 2019 / 8:52 AM / Updated an hour ago Joey Roulette
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - An unmanned capsule from Elon Musk’s SpaceX splashed down into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday morning after a short-term stay on the International Space Station, capping the first orbital test mission in NASA’s long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from U.S. soil later this year.
After a six-day mission on the orbital outpost, Crew Dragon autonomously detached about 2:30 a.m EST (0730 GMT) on Friday and sped back to earth reaching hypersonic speeds before an 8:45 a.m. EST (1345 GMT) splash-down in the Atlantic, about 200 miles off the Florida coast.
A SpaceX rocket launched the 16-foot-tall capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last Saturday.
Minutes before splash-down, Crew Dragon deployed its four parachutes, easing some concerns about functionality that both NASA and SpaceX had before the landing.
“Everything happened just perfectly, right on time the way that we expected it to,” Benjamin Reed, SpaceX’s director of crew mission management, said in a live stream from California.
The test mission was a crucial milestone in the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Commercial Crew Program ahead of SpaceX’s first crewed test flight slated to launch in July with U.S. astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken.
“This really is an American achievement that spans many generations of NASA administrators and over a decade of work by the NASA team,” current Administrator Jim Bridenstine said after the splash-down.
“The vehicle is doing well. The recovery crews are out. They’re on the scene,” said Steve Stich, the crew program’s deputy manager with NASA.
A boat in the zone where Dragon hit the Atlantic lifted the 16-foot spacecraft out of the water about one hour after splash-down using a crane. It will carry the capsule back to land by Sunday.
The first-of-a-kind mission brought 400 pounds of test equipment to the space station, including a dummy named Ripley outfitted with sensors around its head, neck, and spine to monitor how a flight would feel for a human.
The space station’s three-member crew greeted the capsule last Sunday, with U.S. astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques entering Crew Dragon’s cabin to carry out air quality tests and inspections.
NASA has awarded SpaceX and Boeing Co a total of $6.8 billion to build competing rocket and capsule systems to launch astronauts into orbit from American soil, something not possible since the U.S. Space Shuttle was retired from service in 2011.
The launch systems are aimed at ending U.S. reliance on Russian Soyuz rockets for $80 million-per-seat rides to the $100 billion orbital research laboratory, which flies about 250 miles (400 km) above earth.
Bridenstine told Reuters the cost per seat on the Boeing or SpaceX systems would be lower than for the shuttle or Soyuz.
Privately owned SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp, was founded in 2002 by Musk, who is also a co-founder of electric car maker Tesla Inc.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-spacex/elon-musks-spacex-capsule-splashes-down-off-florida-coast-idUSKCN1QP1JI
Bill Shine: White House communications director resigns to work on Trump re-election campaign
Clémence Michallon
New York @Clemence_Mcl
4 minutes ago
White House communications director Bill Shine has resigned.
The former Fox News executive will be a senior adviser to the re-election campaign, Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire said on social media, citing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
More follows…
March 8, 2019 / 10:51 AM / Updated 10 minutes ago
Exclusive: U.S. Air Force Secretary Wilson to resign, leaving new vacancy
Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who was considered a top candidate to become the next secretary of defense, has decided to resign after almost two years to return to academia, U.S. officials told Reuters, leaving another vacant post at the top level of the Pentagon.
Wilson was not asked to leave by anyone in President Donald Trump’s administration and was not resigning under pressure, the official told Reuters.
“It has been a privilege to serve alongside our Airmen over the past two years and I am proud of the progress that we have made in restoring our nation’s defenses,” Wilson, 58, said in her resignation letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.
She plans to step down on May 31 to become president of the University of Texas at El Paso, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The University of Texas Board of Regents still has to approve Wilson’s selection but she is the sole finalist.
The resignation leaves another senior Pentagon job open and follows the December departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit over policy differences with Trump and had picked Wilson for the job.
Mattis’ deputy, Patrick Shanahan, is performing the role in an acting capacity in what is widely seen as an audition for the job. Wilson’s resignation could add to speculation that Shanahan may remain in the position.
A Pentagon spokesman told a news conference that he could not confirm Wilson’s resignation but that he had no reason to doubt the Reuters story.
“Everyone she has talked to wants her to stay but she thinks the time is right to take on this new challenge,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Wilson informed Vice President Mike Pence of her decision earlier in the week and Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein on Thursday, the official said.
SPACE FORCE
It is unclear who might succeed Wilson and inherit steep challenges facing the Air Force, which include the creation of Trump’s “Space Force,” a new branch of military service that will carve out some responsibilities current done by the Air Force. The Air Force is also reeling from a fresh scandal involving sexual assault.
Wilson was the first Air Force Academy graduate to ever take the highest position in her service, and counted a robust resume that included a decade as a Republican lawmaker in Congress. She also served on the National Security Council staff during the George H. W. Bush administration, and as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
After joining the Pentagon, Wilson visited Iraq and Afghanistan and came away concerned about the wear-and-tear on an Air Force that she thought was too small, especially as the Pentagon shifted its focus to competition with Russia and China.
Last fall, she predicted the Air Force would need to grow sharply over the next decade or so, boosting the number of operational squadrons by nearly a quarter to stay ahead of Moscow and Beijing.
She told reporters at the time that the preliminary analysis drew partly from classified intelligence about possible future threats, showing that Air Force, at its current size, would be unable to preserve America’s edge.
Wilson estimated the Air Force would need about more 40,000 personnel as part of the plan to have a total of 386 operational squadrons, compared with 312 today. The U.S. Air Force had 401 squadrons in 1987, at the peak of the Cold War.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-air-force-secretary-wilson-to-resign-leaving-new-vacancy-idUSKCN1QP1T2After joining the Pentagon, Wilson visited Iraq and Afghanistan and came away concerned about the wear-and-tear on an Air Force that she thought was too small, especially as the Pentagon shifted its focus to competition with Russia and China.
Last fall, she predicted the Air Force would need to grow sharply over the next decade or so, boosting the number of operational squadrons by nearly a quarter to stay ahead of Moscow and Beijing.
She told reporters at the time that the preliminary analysis drew partly from classified intelligence about possible future threats, showing that Air Force, at its current size, would be unable to preserve America’s edge.
Wilson estimated the Air Force would need about more 40,000 personnel as part of the plan to have a total of 386 operational squadrons, compared with 312 today. The U.S. Air Force had 401 squadrons in 1987, at the peak of the Cold War.