Trump Administration Withholding Wildfire Assistance To California After Audit Suggests Financial Mismanagement

The Trump administration is withholding over $9 million in wildfire assistance to California after a financial audit suggested the state was overbilling the U.S. Forest Service for costs incurred fighting fires on federal lands, officials said. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) said the withheld funds from the original $72 million reimbursement request are owed to local fire departments for costs incurred during the 2018 wildfire season, which took the lives of at least 85 people. The Forest Service said it needs to see the receipts before disbursing any more funds under the California Fire Assistance Agreement (CFAA).

“The audit found that the current CFAA does not result in reimbursement of actual expenses to local fire departments,” the Forest Service said in a statement Wednesday to the Los Angeles Times. “Our intentions are to fully reimburse the State of California for all of their actual expenses. The only payments that we have not made are those that do not have documentation that substantiate actual expenses.” The Cal OES said the federal government is unfairly changing the terms of the CFAA at the tail-end of the five-year agreement set to expire in 2020. Under the original terms of the agreement, the state would submit the average personnel costs incurred by the thousands of firefighters fighting wildfires on federal lands each year, but now the Forest Service is requesting a line-item tabulation of salary, travel and other expenses incurred by each firefighter.

President Donald Trump said in November 2018 that California’s “gross mismanagement of the forests” was the cause of 2018’s deadly wildfire season, and threatened to withhold federal assistance if changes weren’t made. The president’s comments drew the ire of Senate Republicans such as Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Cory Gardner of Colorado. Cal OES Fire Chief Brian Marshall said in a letter to the Forest Service that its requirements “would be cumbersome and would severely impact California’s ability to respond to fires,” especially for smaller fire departments heavily reliant on volunteers. The typical California wildfire season runs from summer to early autumn.

Marshall said he was only briefed on portions of the audit’s findings, and accused the federal government of withholding its full results. “It wasn’t a typical audit that you see from the government. It was a PowerPoint; it wasn’t an audit. They said ‘overcharging.’ But they also said ‘undercharging,'” Marshall told the Times. “They won’t tell us if they’re going to be able to pay our volunteers or not.” Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California urged the Department of Agriculture and Forest Service in a May 14 letter to delay the implementation of the audit findings until renegotiations of the CFAA at the end of 2019. “As you know, around 60 percent of forested land in California is owned by the federal government,” Feinstein said. “Wildfires don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries, so a unified federal-state approach is the only way to properly protect lives and property … Given increased wildfire risks in recent years, I do not believe that any action should be taken to jeopardize that partnership.” But the Forest Service insists it will not relent on its new reporting requirements. “The Forest Service is ultimately accountable to American taxpayers and has the responsibility to practice due diligence in review of all fire-related claims made by local governments,” the service told McClatchy on Monday. “The audit found several areas where the CFAA is not being managed to ensure mutual benefit between the Forest Service and the State of California.” The Forest Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/trump-forest-service-california-fires

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1061168803218948096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Letter

https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/0/4/0453b025-0d5b-43c1-9843-c3e7c397ead5/5F15722D44366080888C25313EC7A0DB.2019.05.14-cfaa-letter.pdf

Bill Barr Used This One Figure To Prove Nationwide Injunctions Are A Problem

Attorney General William Barr condemned the rise of nationwide injunctions Tuesday, saying such sweeping orders undermine the rule of law. Nationwide injunctions prohibit the federal government from enforcing a particular law or policy across the entire country. Progressive cause lawyering groups have used such injunctions to stymie a wide array of Trump policy priorities.

“Since President Trump took office, federal district courts have issued 37 nationwide injunctions against the executive branch — that’s more than one a month,” Barr said during a Tuesday evening speech to the American Law Institute. “According to the [Justice] Department’s best estimates, courts issued only 27 nationwide injunctions­ in all of the 20th century,” he added, before bristling at the notion that the disparity is a function of the president’s “lawlessness.”

Barr cited the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as the starkest example of a nationwide injunction’s harmful effects. After the government took steps to end terminate DACA in 2017, three federal trial judges entered injunctions requiring that Trump maintain the program. Appeals of those injunctions have since reached the Supreme Court, though the justices have declined to broach the issue for months. As a result, Barr says the nationwide injunctions have paralyzed political debates around immigration, culminating in the 35-day government shutdown that extended from December 2018 to January 2019.

“What have these nationwide injunctions wrought? Dreamers remain in limbo, the political process has been pre-empted, and we have had over a year of bitter political division that included a government shutdown of unprecedented length,” Barr said. “Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis at our southern border persists, while legislative efforts remain frozen as both sides await the courts’ word on DACA and other immigration issues.” Aside from the DACA cases, nationwide injunctions are also in effect against the administration’s bid to strip so-called sanctuary cities of federal funds, among other items.

Barr leveled other arguments against nationwide injunctions. He said such orders inflate the power of a single federal trial judge, turn ordinary cases into emergency situations requiring prompt resolution, and undermine public confidence in the judiciary, to the extent that lawyers bring cases in ideologically-friendly jurisdictions. Such “forum shopping,” he said, creates the impression of partisanship in judging. “Nationwide injunctions undermine the democratic process, depart from history and tradition, violate constitutional principles, and impede sound judicial administration, all at the cost of public confidence in our institutions and particularly in our courts as apolitical decision-makers dispassionately applying objective law,” the attorney general said.

Conservative litigators used nationwide injunctions to good effect against former President Barack Obama. For example, a federal trial judge in Texas enjoined enforcement of an administration policy requiring that public schools allow students to use bathrooms corresponding with their stated gender identity, rather than their biological sex. Vice President Mike Pence revealed that the administration is looking for an appropriate case in which to ask the Supreme Court to end nationwide injunctions during a May 8 address to the Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers group.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/trump-nationwide-injunctions-barr/

United States Fighter Jets Intercept Russian Bombers – TWICE

United States fighter jets intercepted Russian bombers for the second time in two days off the Alaskan coast, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Four Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on Monday and were intercepted by two pairs of F-22 fighters and an E-3 Airborne Early Warning and Control System, according to NORAD’s press release. Two U.S. F-22’s intercepted two of the Russian bombers and two more F-22’s intercepted the second group of Russian bombers. The Russian bombers did not leave international aerospace and at no time entered U.S. territory, the press release reveals.

“NORAD’s top priority is defending Canada and the United States,” said NORAD Commander General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, according to NORAD’s press release. “Our ability to deter and defeat threats to our citizens, vital infrastructure, and national institutions starts with successfully detecting, tracking, and positively identifying aircraft of interest approaching U.S. and Canadian airspace. NORAD is on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday that these demonstrations are merely “scheduled sorties.” “Four Tu-95ms strategic missile carriers of the Russian Aerospace Forces made scheduled sorties over the neutral waters… At certain stages of the route, Russian aircraft were escorted by F-22 fighter jets of the USAF. The total flight time exceeded 12 hours. Long-range pilots make regular flights over neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Caspian seas, and Pacific Ocean,” the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation said Monday.

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United States Fighter Jets Intercept Russian Bombers – TWICE

12:55 PM 05/22/2019 | US

Mary Margaret Olohan | Reporter

United States fighter jets intercepted Russian bombers for the second time in two days off the Alaskan coast, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Four Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on Monday and were intercepted by two pairs of F-22 fighters and an E-3 Airborne Early Warning and Control System, according to NORAD’s press release. Two U.S. F-22’s intercepted two of the Russian bombers and two more F-22’s intercepted the second group of Russian bombers.

The Russian bombers did not leave international aerospace and at no time entered U.S. territory, the press release reveals. (RELATED: 40 Passengers, One Crew Member Killed Aboard Russian Flight)

“NORAD’s top priority is defending Canada and the United States,” said NORAD Commander General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, according to NORAD’s press release.

“Our ability to deter and defeat threats to our citizens, vital infrastructure, and national institutions starts with successfully detecting, tracking, and positively identifying aircraft of interest approaching U.S. and Canadian airspace. NORAD is on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday that these demonstrations are merely “scheduled sorties.”

“Four Tu-95ms strategic missile carriers of the Russian Aerospace Forces made scheduled sorties over the neutral waters… At certain stages of the route, Russian aircraft were escorted by F-22 fighter jets of the USAF. The total flight time exceeded 12 hours. Long-range pilots make regular flights over neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Caspian seas, and Pacific Ocean,” the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation said Monday.

“All flights of the Russian Air and Space Force are carried out in strict accordance with the International Airspace Management System without violating the borders of other states,” the Russian Ministry of Defense added. These scheduled sorties began in 2007 and are viewed as attempts to show off Russian military power and prepare for potential clashes, according to The Hill. NORAD also reveaed in a tweet that these are the fourth and fifth intercepts of the year and that this is the second day in a row that Russia flew into the Alaskan ADIZ.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/us-jets-intercept-russian-bombers/

House Intel, DOJ Strike Deal Over Counterintelligence Documents

The House Intelligence Committee struck a deal late Tuesday with the Justice Department to avoid a subpoena fight over classified documents related to the Mueller probe. Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the panel, said that the Justice Department has agreed to turn over 12 categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials starting this week.

Stephen Boyd, the Justice Department’s congressional liaison, said in a letter that the agency would begin producing the documents contingent on Schiff tabling efforts to vote on any enforcement actions. “To be clear should the Committee take the precipitous and unnecessary action of recommending a contempt finding or other enforcement action against the attorney general, then the Department will not likely be able to continue to work with the Committee to accommodate its interest in these materials,” Boyd wrote.

On May 8, Schiff subpoenaed the Justice Department for redacted materials in the special counsel’s report, including grand jury information. The subpoena also sought counterintelligence information that was not included in the lightly redacted report. Schiff’s Republican counterpart, California Rep. Devin Nunes, also signed on to a letter on April 25 requesting counterintelligence materials from the special counsel’s probe, but did not join Schiff on the subpoena.

The Democrat and Republican likely have two separate agendas for wanting to see the information. Schiff hopes to find evidence that the Russian government has compromised President Trump or attempted to infiltrate the campaign. Nunes hopes the documents will shed light on the FBI’s handling of its investigation of Trump and his associates. The special counsel’s report said that prosecutors were unable to establish that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. The report also said that there was not enough evidence to establish that any Trump associates acted as agents of the Russian government.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/house-intel-doj-subpoena-fight/