Hope Hicks is joining several other former Trump administration officials in cooperating with Democratic-led investigations into whether the president or those working for him committed obstruction of justice.
A Senate subcommittee has scheduled a hearing to look into the FAA’s certification of the Boeing planes involved in the two fatal crashes.
The Devin Nunes’ cow parody account, that uses Twitter to make fun and criticize the Californian conservative congressman now has more followers than he does.
A former DEA official, who testified to Congress in 2017 about the need to regulate prescription drugs in order to control the opioid epidemic, was recently hired by Purdue Pharma, the maker of the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin.
Purdue Pharma, one of the largest opioid manufacturers in the US, has hired a former Drug Enforcement Administration official who testified before Congress in 2017 the urgent need to regulate prescription drugs, NBC news reports.
Demetra Ashley, who was once the acting assistant administrator at the DEA, is now advising the company, which made more than $35 billion from the sale of Oxycontin, the highly addictive pain-killer, in its attempt to navigate a federal lawsuit through her private consulting firm.
Per NBC:
Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, is one of the opioid companies being sued by more than 1,600 cities and counties for “grossly” misrepresenting “the risks of long-term use of those drugs for persons with chronic pain,” according to court documents. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case in federal court in Cleveland. Purdue vigorously denies allegations that it deceptively marketed OxyContin.
Ashley spent three decades at the DEA, specializing in preventing the diversion of prescription drugs like OxyContin”.
As millions around the world get ready to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Trump issued a Presidential message using the occasion to criticize Iran.
“I send my warmest wishes to those in the United States and around the world observing the ancient holiday of Nowruz,” he wrote, before adding, “Sadly, the Iranian people are once again unable to share fully in the joy of this occasion. This year, as they have each year for the past four decades, they mark the arrival of spring under the heavy burden of the oppression of their country’s ruthless and corrupt regime”.
Trump also released a separate statement on Nowruz, using the holiday to condemn Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and announce new guidelines from the Department of Treasury “reaffirming America’s support for the free flow of information to the citizens of Iran”.
The holiday, celebrated on March 21, is supposed to be a time of togetherness to welcome the start of spring. According to the United Nations, which recognized Nowruz as an international holiday in 2010, “it promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities”.
A parody Twitter account called Devin Nunes’ cow, which serves to mock the conservative Californian congressman, now has more Twitter followers than he does — all because of media attention brought by Nunes’ enormous defamation lawsuit against Twitter and users who make fun of him on the platform.
Another account cited in the suit, “Devin Nunes’ mom” has since been suspended. But the cow continues on, now with 471,000 followers. Both accounts were created to use puns and humor to criticize Nunes, after an article in Esquire exposed that his family had secretly moved their farm to Iowa, long before he used it as a central part of his California campaign narrative.
Nunes, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a Trump ally, filed a lawsuit against the tech company, two comedy accounts, and a Republican communications consultant for more than $250 million, accusing Twitter of allowing and profiting from “abusive, hateful, and defamatory” content, CBS reports.
The move has inspired even more jokes at Nunes expense, especially on late night TV, highlighting how the congressman cosponsored legislation last year called the “Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act”.
I DIED NINE TIMES AND CAME BACK TO LIFE TEN TIMES TRYING TO WATCH THIS SPITTING TOOTHPASTE ALL OVER THE BATHROOM THIS MORNING.......https://t.co/7AsfaJR9NG
Devin Nunes’ cow meanwhile, has inspired everything from cow-themed t-shirts for sale, fan art, to it’s very own hashtag: #themooovement. And, new Nunes parody accounts are popping up in solidarity.
A Senate subcommittee has scheduled an aviation safety hearing for next week, as part of an ongoing inquiry into what caused two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes to crash during the last year, Reuters reports.
Federal Aviation Administration administrator Dan Elwell will be joined by National Transportation Sagety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt and Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel at the March 27 hearing before the Senate Commerce subcommittee on aviation and space.
According to Reuters:
Federal prosecutors are investigating the FAA’s certification of the Boeing 737 MAX that was grounded last week by regulators around the world.
The panel chaired by Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, said that ‘in light of the recent tragedy in Ethiopia and the subsequent grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, this hearing will examine challenges to the state of commercial aviation safety, including any specific concerns highlighted by recent accidents’”.
Manufacturers are expected to be called before the committee in the coming weeks.
Hope Hicks, Trump’s former communications director, is cooperating with the House Judiciary Committee and has agreed to provide requested documents that could shine more light on whether obstruction of justice occurred in the White House, CNN reports.
Hope Hicks reportedly plans to turn over docs to the House Judiciary Cmte.
Nadler asked Hicks for docs relating to Flynn's false statements to the FBI, Comey's firing, Trump's involvement in hush money payments, and the misleading Trump Tower statement.https://t.co/nhoFFjVJ6J
The committee, headed by Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, has requested documents from other former administration officials, including former chief strategies Steve Bannon who has also turned over “several thousands of pages”.
Per CNN:
One of the Trump campaign’s earliest hires, Hicks in 2018 was willing to answer questions about the 2016 campaign and some questions about the Trump transition, but she would not address questions about her time in the White House. Democrats on the committee had urged their Republican colleagues to subpoena Hicks to answer their questions. Now in the majority, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, has indicated he also is interested in getting additional information from Hicks, too.
Nadler had set a Monday deadline for 81 individuals and entities to provide information to the panel as part of his investigation into possible abuses of power, corruption and obstruction of justice. Republicans contended that few — only eight -- complied by Monday’s deadline. But Democratic aides said far more witnesses had agreed to provide information in the coming days — and Hicks is just one such example”.
President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on John McCain today at event at an Ohio tank plan. Trump said of McCain “I never liked him much” and complained he was never thanked for approving McCain’s funeral.
Trump also continued his war of words with George Conway, a conservative lawyer who is married to top White House aide Kellyanne Conway. Trump called him “a whack job.”
Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia rebuked Trump for his past comments on McCain, calling them “deplorable”
Trump also told reporters that he doesn’t mind if the Mueller Report is released publicly.
A lawyer for Rick Gates, the former top aide to Paul Manafort, told the House Judiciary Committee that Gates will not cooperate for now.
Politico reports that Gates is not doing so on the advice of prosecutors. Gates has pleaded guilty in federal court and has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.
In a letter that was also sent to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Gates’s lawyer wrote:
“Having received input from the various prosecution offices, I have concluded that for the time being it is not in the interest of my client to provide testimony of documents to Congressional investigators. Our position in this regard may well be different in the coming months.”
With a number of Democrats now advocating for increasing the size of the Supreme Court, a nearly four decade old video has been dredged up of Joe Biden criticizing the idea.
In the clip from 1983 unearthed by the Free Beacon, Biden attacked Franklin Delano Roosevelt for trying to pack the court.
“But it was a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make, and it put in question, for an entire decade, the independence of the most significant body—including the Congress in my view—the most significant body in this country, the Supreme Court of the United States of America.”
Trump is now returning to his criticism of John McCain, in Ohio.
“I have to be honest, I never liked him much and I probably never will,” said Trump. He also mentions a complaint that McCain turned over the Steele dossier to the FBI and didn’t call Trump personally.
President Donald Trump is criticizing Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, in Ohio right now.
Trump seems to be referencing a much mocked picture of Dukakis riding a tank during his campaign.
"I remember when a man named Dukakis got into a tank," Trump says at the tank plant in Ohio. "He tanked when he got into the tank. ... How would I look in a tank? OK? Yeah? ... The helmet was bigger than he was, that was not good."
“The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has decided to investigate complaints we recently received that Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan allegedly took actions to promote his former employer, Boeing, and disparage its competitors, allegedly in violation of ethics rules,” DoD IG spokesperson Dwrena Allen said.
“In his recent Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, Acting Secretary Shanahan stated that he supported an investigation into these allegations,” she said. “We have informed him that we have initiated this investigation.”
On March 13, the independent watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washingtonrequested the investigationbased on a January report from POLITICO that said Shanahan, while he was deputy Defense secretary, disparaged Lockheed Martin in Pentagon meetings and held up Boeing as an example.
Beto O’Rourke will hold three major rallies in his home state of Texas next week as he officially launches his campaign. The former congressman will span the state with rallies in his hometown of El Paso, Houston, the state’s biggest city, and Austin, the state capital.
On March 30th, we're officially kicking off this grassroots campaign with three events in three Texas cities, starting in my hometown of El Paso. We want you to be a part of this historic day. Join us in: ➡️El Paso at 10am ➡️Houston at 5pm ➡️Austin at 9pm
Bernie Sanders’s popularity has significantly declined in recent months.
An analysis of polling done by CNN shows that just as many people have an unfavorable view of Sanders as have a favorable view. Sanders had 20 point advantage in favorability after 2016 primary and had a double digit margin just six months ago.
The argument though is that Sanders takes a blow in polling by being considered one of the current frontrunners.
I’d argue that Sanders was benefiting from not being in a competitive campaign. (Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has garnered the most support in general election polls among the Democrats, may be benefiting from a similar effect.) When you’re not being thought of a viable threat to win a party’s nomination, opponents tend to lay off. The last time Sanders was thought of as at least a minor threat to win the Democratic nomination was in March 2016. His net favorability rating back then among all voters was +3 points in a CNN poll.
