dChan
Anonymous ID: 39fbe5 June 14, 2019, 5:30 p.m. No.6753153   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3297 >>3410 >>3573 >>3631

DOJ backs Mnuchin refusal to turn over Trump taxes, calls Democratic demand a pretext

 

The Justice Department published a legal opinion Friday backing up Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's decision not to turn over President Trump's tax returns to Congress, arguing that House Democrats' demand for the information was unconstitutional. Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel argued in a 33-page memo that the demand, made under a law that grants the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee the power to request tax returns from the Treasury secretary, is a pretext for making Trump's tax information public.

 

“Under the facts and circumstances, the Secretary of the Treasury reasonably and correctly concluded that the Committee’s asserted interest in reviewing the Internal Revenue Service’s audits of presidential returns was pretextual and that its true aim was to make the President’s tax returns public, which is not a legitimate legislative purpose,” Engel wrote. The administration, as well as Trump's lawyers, maintain that Congress does not have a right to review Trump's financial information. Engel echoed arguments made by Trump’s lawyers that the request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and that Congress does not have the right to compel members of the executive branch to hand over confidential information — despite the fact that the law congressional Democrats cited was passed in the 1920s in response to a corruption scandal, the Teapot Dome Scandal, involving a Cabinet official.

 

Unauthorized disclosure of tax information is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, though there may be procedural mechanisms for Congress to publish the information or conclusions of an investigation into Trump’s taxes using his returns. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has said that his purpose for the request is to have committee staff to privately review Trump's taxes to see if the IRS is auditing him and his businesses, as directed by an agency rule, as well as to investigate whether Trump and his businesses may have failed to pay all taxes over the last several years.

 

Controversy over Trump's taxes began during the 2016 campaign, when he became the first major party presidential candidate in decades to decline to release his tax returns. Past presidents have voluntarily disclosed their tax returns as a transparency measure, including former President Richard Nixon, who gave his tax returns to a congressional committee for their own independent audit. Neal has said he plans to sue the Treasury Department and IRS to enforce the request and a follow-up subpoena, setting up another court battle between Congress and Trump over the president's financial information.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/doj-says-democratic-request-for-trump-tax-returns-was-a-pretext

 

(Slip Opinion) Congressional Committee’s Request for the President’s Tax Returns Under 26 U.S.C. § 6103(f)

https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/1173756/download

Anonymous ID: 39fbe5 June 14, 2019, 6:01 p.m. No.6753373   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3406 >>3621 >>3631 >>3668

Trump's 'secret' agreement with Mexico revealed

 

President Trump teased the media this week when he dangled a one-page document he said contained a "secret" deal with Mexico in front of journalists. Now that document has been released in full. The document is written in the conditional tense and references “the Joint Declaration of the Governments of the United States and Mexico of June, 7, 2019.” It says the two countries agree to begin discussions to “establish definitive terms for a binding bilateral agreement to further address burden-sharing and the assignment of responsibility for processing refugee status claims of migrants.”

 

“If the United States determines, at its discretion and after consultation with Mexico, after 45 calendar days from the date of the issuance of the Joint Declaration, that the measures adopted by the Government of Mexico pursuant to the Joint Declaration have not sufficiently achieved results in addressing the flow of migrants to the southern border of the United States, the Government of Mexico will take all necessary steps under domestic law to bring the agreement into force with a view to ensuring that the agreement will enter into force within 45 days,” the document reads.

 

Mexico released the full text of the page on Friday, three days after Trump first showed off the paper. “You would freeze-action it, you would stop it, you would analyze it,” Trump taunted reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Iowa. “I'm going to let Mexico do the announcement at the right time.” Journalists snapped photos of the document illuminated by the sunlight and some of the words were able to be made out. Earlier this month, Trump threatened a 5% tariff against Mexico if it didn't reduce migrant crossings. The tariff was averted after negotiations between the two parties in Washington.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trumps-secret-agreement-with-mexico-revealed

https://twitter.com/carlos_rgz/status/1139622017609674752

Anonymous ID: 39fbe5 June 14, 2019, 6:16 p.m. No.6753467   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3573 >>3631

Sean Hannity: Sources say DOJ inspector general resolved 'hang up' on first Carter Page FISA application

 

Fox News host Sean Hannity said the Justice Department inspector general's investigation into alleged surveillance abuses may have hit a snag examining the first Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant against one-time Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. During his evening show on Thursday, Hannity explained how Inspector General Michael Horowitz worked around the issue, which was related to British ex-spy Christopher Steele and his dossier, and may have already submitted his report to the attorney general. "From my understanding, my sources, is inspector general Horowitz is probably likely done," Hannity said, adding, "I’ve had some people saying, suggesting strongly they believe that the attorney general already has the inspector general's report."

 

He was interviewing the Hill's John Solomon and credited memos obtained by conservative group Citizens United through open-records litigation and first reported by Solomon with aiding the watchdog investigation reach a breakthrough. The memos showed Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec on Oct. 11, 2016 and admitted he was encouraged by his client to get his research out before the 2016 election, signaling a possible political motivation. The timing of the meeting is notable, as it was 10 days before the FBI used Steele's unverified dossier to obtain the original warrant to wiretap Page.

 

"Now there was apparently, originally a hang up on only one of the FISA applications. Surprisingly that being the first," Hannity said. "But according to my sources, your reporting about Kathleen Kavalec's confirmation and warning and admonition to the FBI prior to the first FISA application put that to bed in light of also the closed-door testimony of Bruce Ohr that everybody was warned," he added, referring to Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who acted as an unofficial back channel between the Steele and the FBI.

 

"Now there was apparently, originally a hang up on only one of the FISA applications. Surprisingly that being the first," Hannity said. "But according to my sources, your reporting about Kathleen Kavalec's confirmation and warning and admonition to the FBI prior to the first FISA application put that to bed in light of also the closed-door testimony of Bruce Ohr that everybody was warned," he added, referring to Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who acted as an unofficial back channel between the Steele and the FBI. Hannity's reporting follows former U.S. attorney District of Columbia Joe diGenova saying last month that Horowitz's team determined the three FISA warrant extensions against Page were illegally obtained.

 

Although Attorney General William Barr said he anticipated Horowitz’s investigation to be complete by early June, Solomon said his own sources and Rep. Mark Meadows, have made it clear that the FISA investigation will take longer than expected to wrap up, particularly after Steele offered himself up for an interview with the inspector general. "Not a long time, a short while," Solomon said, adding that he thinks the American people will see the report sometime in the summer.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sean-hannity-sources-say-doj-inspector-general-resolved-hang-up-on-first-carter-page-fisa-application

 

https://www.scribd.com/document/409058964/KavelecSteeleMemoToFile10-11-16

Trump Intelligence Allegations

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984/Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.pdf

Anonymous ID: 39fbe5 June 14, 2019, 6:23 p.m. No.6753513   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3538 >>3548 >>3573 >>3631

Voting record backlash prompts GOP lawmaker to lose keynote at cybersecurity event

 

Rep. Will Hurd will no longer be delivering the keynote address at a cybersecurity conference due to complaints about his voting record on women’s rights. The move came after some in the cybersecurity community said they were not comfortable with some of Hurd’s political positions and voting record, Tech Crunch reports. The Texas Republican has voted in favor of limiting access to abortions and defunding Planned Parenthood. He also voted against a bill that would financially support women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

 

“We misjudged the separation of technology and politics,” the group said a statement. “We will continue to focus on technology and research, however we recognize that Black Hat USA is not the appropriate platform for the polarizing political debate resulting from our choice of speaker.” “We are still fully dedicated to providing an inclusive environment and apologize that this decision did not reflect that sentiment,” it added.

 

Hurd's communications director said the congressman was honored to have been invited and hopes that the event goes well. “Congressman Hurd has always sought to engage groups of people that don’t necessarily agree with all of his votes or opinions,” she said. “That’s why Rep. Hurd is one of the loudest voices for bipartisanship in Congress. This Congress alone, he voted for equal pay for equal work, for the Violence Against Women Act and the Equality Act.” A new keynote speaker for the event, planned for August, has not yet been announced.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/voting-record-backlash-prompts-gop-lawmaker-to-lose-keynote-at-cybersecurity-event

Anonymous ID: 39fbe5 June 14, 2019, 6:31 p.m. No.6753592   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3618 >>3631

Texas wins a slice of tech giant Google's $13B expansion in US

 

Google is adding a $600 million data center in a Dallas suburb, one of three projects announced this week as the search-engine giant undertakes a $13 billion expansion in the U.S. The initiative, which comes amid growing antitrust scrutiny of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company and its Silicon Valley peers, illustrates the economic benefits linked to such companies that supporters often cite in their defense.

 

Google's planned investments in 2019 encompasses investments in 14 states, CEO Sundar Pichai siad in February. That includes Midlothian, Texas — about 25 miles outside of Dallas — where the company will hire 50 full-time workers over the next few years in addition to employing hundreds of construction workers. "2019 marks the second year in a row we’ll be growing faster outside of the Bay Area than in it," Pichai said. "This growth will allow us to invest in the communities where we operate, while we improve the products and services that help billions of people and businesses globally."

 

Google announced $17 million in investments in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich., on Monday. The firm also announced a $600 million expansion in Pryor, Okla., on Thursday, bringing its total investment in the Midwestern state to $3.2 billion. "This site is an important part of our global network of data centers," said Pichai, who traveled to Pryor for the announcement. "This network is what powers your searches, your email, all of the photos you store and treasure, and the maps that help you find the fastest way home."

 

Despite such investments and its onetime motto of "Don't be evil," Google is grappling with backlash in both Europe and the U.S. The House Judiciary Committee is opening a broad investigation into complaints that Silicon Valley giants are muscling out competitors, even as Democratic presidential contenders suggest some firms should be broken up. In 2018, European regulators said Google had required phonemakers using its open-source Android operating system to install the Google Search and Google Chrome apps on devices in order to connect to the Google Play app store. Phonemakers were barred from preinstalling Google apps on any devices if they also offered products running Android software developed without the company's approval.