Schumer slams Justice Dept over 'pre-damage control' on Mueller report

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ripped Attorney General William Barr over his plan to hold a press conference Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller's final report before Congress has a chance to read the document.

“The American people deserve the truth," Schumer tweeted Wednesday. "They don’t need any more pre-damage control or spin from [President Trump's] hand-picked attorney general, William Barr. Mr. Barr is acting more like a Trump campaign spokesman than an independent agent of the law."

The comment comes amid reports that lawmakers on Capitol Hill would not receive Mueller’s report until 11 a.m. on Thursday, more than an hour after Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's scheduled 9:30 a.m. press conference.

Democrats have seized on the timing of the press conference to accuse the administration of plotting to spin Mueller’s report before its release reveals potentially damaging information for Trump.

The release of Mueller’s findings has been highly anticipated since the special counsel submitted his confidential report to Barr last month. Lawmakers and the public are clamoring to read the report's conclusions regarding alleged coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and whether the president obstructed justice in the investigation.

Barr told lawmakers last month in a four-page summary of the report that Mueller did not find any evidence of criminal collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but said that the special counsel declined to make a determination on whether Trump obstructed any subsequent investigations. The attorney general said he and Rosenstein determined Mueller’s evidence was not sufficient to bring an obstruction charge.

While most lawmakers will receive a redacted version of the report, some members of Congress will be able to review the findings “without certain redactions,” according to federal prosecutors.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/439435-schumer-slams-doj-plan-to-deliver-mueller-report-to-congress-after-news

Kek! Schumer hasn't gotten the new talking points yet…. handpicked!!

Every AG is handpicked… KEK!

>While most lawmakers will receive a redacted version of the report, some members of Congress will be able to review the findings “without certain redactions,” according to federal prosecutors.

Those that aren't under investigation/sealed indictment….

Should this airman receive the Medal of Honor for Laos battle? A congressman thinks so

A California congressman is pushing to upgrade a retired Air Force colonel’s Air Force Cross to a Medal of Honor for “extraordinary heroism” during a fierce 1969 battle in Laos.

Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-California, on Monday introduced a bill, HR 2330, that would authorize the president to upgrade Col. Philip Conran’s Air Force Cross to the nation’s highest award for valor.

On Oct. 6, 1969, as the United States’ war in Vietnam spilled over into Laos, then-Maj. Philip Conran was part of a mission that went south when a helicopter was shot down, according to a narrative provided by Carbajal’s staff. Conran took charge during the rescue attempt, and repeatedly put himself at risk to save 44 of his fellow troops, according to the leguslation.

“Col. Conran served our nation with the utmost bravery during the Vietnam War when he risked his own life in combat to save his comrades,” Carbajal said in a statement. “It has taken far too long for our country to honor his courage, and I will continue working to help secure this well-deserved recognition.”

Conran is now 82 years old, and lives in Santa Barbara, California, in Carbajal’s district. He retired in 1988.

Then-Maj. Conran was the aircraft commander of an H-3 “Jolly Green Giant” transport helicopter of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 56th Special Operations Wing, deployed to Thailand during the time of the battle. The lead helicopter was shot down in Laos, the narrative said, and Conran assumed command of the other four H-3s and one H-1 rescue helicopter, while two A-1 fighters tried to take out the enemy firing upon them.

Their fuel was running low, so Conran asked the H-1 pilot to try to rescue the downed helicopter’s crew, but was rejected because the area was too dangerous.

“Major Conran then decided he had two choices: Depart the area, leaving his downed comrades, or attempt a rescue and reinforce the friendly troops already on the ground," the narrative said.

He knew their chances of surviving a rescue attempt in the withering enemy fire were slim. But he also knew his comrades had no chance at all on the ground, so he went in anyway. But as his helicopter approached, they were hit by enemy fire, destroying the chopper’s servos. Conran decided to continue forward, instead of breaking off the approach, and landed. The indigenous troops Conran’s helicopter carried got out, the four downed Americans got on, and they prepared to take off.

But then, enemy fire destroyed the helicopter’s transmission, stranding them on the ground. Conran assumed command — even though he was not the ranking officer on the scene — and set up a defensive perimeter while repeatedly exposing himself to heavy enemy fire, the narrative said. Conran directed troops to move to find the best field of fire to counterattack, and he realized they were too exposed on the flat terrain. Conran ran back to the helicopter and retrieved all parachutes aboard for the troops to use as shooting platforms as they lay prone.

When Conran found out the first downed helicopter had two M-60 machine guns, he and an indigenous soldier ran about 50 yards to get them, again through heavy fire that intensified as the enemy saw him board the helicopter. Despite the repeated barrages, Conran got the guns and ammunition back to the other troops.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/04/17/should-this-airman-receive-the-medal-of-honor-for-laos-battle-a-congressman-thinks-so/

This might probably isn't notable for the cause but… I live vicariously though other VETS experiences & stories since I was a selfish sob for not signing up after 9/11 (had my sights on my wife at 18 and still with her) ^.^ [found a unicorn]… Thought it was interesting a Dim would stick his neck in the [ ] for a vet.

At least worth acknowledging…

Post-Mueller report likely to target Russia dossier author Steele

The frenzied anticipation around special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report has overshadowed another Justice Department report on the Russia probe that could land as soon as next month, and which will likely take direct aim at the former British spy behind an infamous “dossier” on President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

For the past year, the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, has been examining the FBI’s efforts to surveil a one-time Trump campaign adviser based in part on information from Christopher Steele, a former British MI6 agent who had worked with the bureau as a confidential source since 2010.

Several people interviewed by the Inspector General’s office over the past year tell POLITICO that Horowitz’s team has been intensely focused on gauging Steele’s credibility as a source for the bureau. One former U.S. official left the interview with the impression that the Inspector General’s final report “is going to try and deeply undermine” Steele, who spent over two decades working Russia for MI6 before leaving to launch his own corporate intelligence firm.

Thursday’s planned release of the full Mueller report by the Justice Department could shed new light on Steele’s role, and the veracity of the controversial dossier he assembled in 2016, featuring explosive—and in some cases sexually lurid—charges of Kremlin influence over Trump and his associates.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/17/mueller-report-steele-justice-department-1280578

Read btwn the lines… Horowitz efforts….

I hope Steele finds his next 'mission' in…