Although President Donald Trump has commonly remarked that “tariffs are the greatest,” it seems that rural America bailouts are not helping stave off farming bankruptcies in the heartland.
Massive Cost Overruns Hit Virginia After Medicaid Expansion
Members of the Northam Administration claim that these fiscal overruns have nothing to do with the expansion of the healthcare program under the Obama-era federal Affordable Care Act, which has led the state to extend coverage to over 300,000 low-income Virginians. They explained that it will help save the state money, but that will continue until the federal government rescinds the plan, leaving Virginia to pick up the bill somewhere down the road.
Trump Rebukes Special Counsel For ‘Conflict Of Interest’ In Potentially ‘Devastating’ Report
As the federal investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election continues, White House Special Counsel Robert Mueller has interviewed Trump campaign officials who allegedly met with Russian officials offering information on Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Other affiliates like Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and former foreign policy campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have been charged and convicted in federal court on an array of charges from providing false information to the FBI to engaging in conspiracy against the United States.
On Monday morning, President Donald Trump took to Twitter criticizing the special counsel’s handling of the investigation. The commander-in-chief is demanding that Mueller interview the “hundreds” of other campaign employees and associates involved in the 2016 election who had no contact with Russia.
President Trump said:
“When Mueller does his final report, will he be covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble, will he be recommending action on all of the crimes of many kinds from those “on the other side”(whatever happened to Podesta?), and will he be putting in statements from…..
….hundreds of people closely involved with my campaign who never met, saw or spoke to a Russian during this period? So many campaign workers, people inside from the beginning, ask me why they have not been called (they want to be). There was NO Collusion & Mueller knows it!”
Throughout the nearly two-year investigation, President Trump has maintained that a “legitimate legal issue” and conflict of interest that has led Mueller to conduct the “witch hunt” of the investigation. Regardless, the highly criticized investigation has said by Democrats to be threatened by acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker following the ousting of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions three weeks ago after a post-midterm election press conference.
According to a report from Yahoo News, during his 20-month tenure running the now-infamous Russia investigation, Mueller’s Russia probe has resulted in nearly three dozen people that have been indicted on federal crimes, bank fraud, and campaign finances violations. Among the high profile cases were former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Manafort’s second in command Rick Gates, and Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Recently, high-profile lawyer and common defender of the President, Alan Dershowitz added publicly that the results of the Mueller investigation will be “devastating” to Trump, at least politically.
Days ago, after answering questions sent to him by the special counsel, the President stated that he will refuse to cooperate with the investigation if he is subpoenaed. Trump’s top lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said the questions sent to the White House to be answered were “all very circumspect.”
Delegate Tony Wilt Appointed To House Commerce And Labor Committee
“Throughout my time in the House of Delegates I have found the committee process to be one of the most rewarding aspects of my job as it allows for a greater understanding of a wide array of issues. As a small business owner I know the importance of cultivating an environment where businesses and entrepreneurs can thrive with as little government interference as possible. The Commerce and Labor committee does important work and I look forward to getting right to work,” Delegate Tony Wilt (R-Harrisonburg) said.
Denver Riggleman Keeping Campaign Pace As Congressman-Elect
After winning in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, congressman-elect Denver Riggleman has continued his quick pace at freshman orientation for the 116th Congress. Although it is a lot to take in before the next session begins, he says “there’s the dinners, and all the good stuff that goes along with this honeymoon period.”
Virginia Gambling Laws And Industry Revenue To Be Considered In 2019 General Assembly Session
One area in the Commonwealth that needs extra attention insofar as state funding is concerned is public education infrastructure. Virginia has funded K-12 public education through the state lottery system, which has brought in around $9 billion, with record profits topping $600 million in 2018. If the General Assembly repeals Virginia’s existing ban on casino gambling, a potentially large coffer could be opened to fund not only higher education or K-12 education, but other areas that need vital funding – transportation infrastructure, combating the opioid epidemic, school safety measures, countering human trafficking, creating a larger law enforcement presence towards gang violence, more affordable healthcare, among many others.
Enough with the Cantor vs. Brat Grudge
The Cantor vs. Brat “grudge” is just one example of the many grudges that are holding down this party in the past instead of looking towards the future, writes Keiser.
After Submitting Written Responses To Mueller, Trump Warns He Will Resist Future Subpoenas From Mueller,
This week, President Donald Trump answered questions given to him by White House Special Counsel Robert Mueller about the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, but reportedly stopped short of answering inquiries into his behavior as commander-in-chief. His lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, stated that the President, in the future, will refuse to cooperate with the Russia probe, even if he is subpoenaed.
“I think that he would not win a legal battle if he did that,” Giuliani said about Mueller, adding that “ I think it would consumer months,” he told Axios.
The questionnaire sent to President Trump “looked like a law school exam,” Giuliani said, explaining that White House lawyers sat with the President in the Oval Office, at the dinner table, and wherever else they could work on crafting official answers to Mueller’s questions.
Reportedly, Mueller pressed President Trump in asking if he knew about the meeting between his son and what was thought to be a Russian with knowledge about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Trump Tower in 2017, and broadly inquiring about the situation of then-candidate Trump saying at a campaign press conference in July 2016, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 [Hillary Clinton] emails that are missing.”
Giuliani told reporters this week that the questions sent to the White House to be answered are “all very circumspect.”
The former prosecuting attorney went on to explain that he does not believe that the special counsel “has any way to compel testimony on obstruction because the argument of executive privilege would be very, very strong.” He added, “[A]ny question he has on obstruction…[t]he president has given [the answers] in interviews, tweets. Other witnesses have given it to him.”
Giuliani, who has advocated to end the investigation in the past, said “the law definitely requires that if you’re going to subpoena a president, you have to show that you can’t get the information any place else,” adding there is no evidence of collusion between the Russia government and the Trump campaign team. The heavyweight on Trump’s legal defense team also expressed doubt that the President’s son, Donald Trump Jr., would be indicted over his connection with the case in the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting.
“The meeting turned out to be a big bust,” Giuliani said.
President Trump Intended On Prosecuting James Comey And Hillary Clinton
It has come forth that when then-candidate Donald Trump was alluding to the possible prosecution of then-FBI Director James Comey and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when he was running in the 2016 presidential election, he actually was not kidding about that. Reportedly, President Trump inquired with White House Counsel Don McGhan, who departed from the Trump Administration in October, about moving forward with legal proceedings for the two top political bureaucrats.
In the Spring, attorneys within the White House apparently warned the President about the political consequences associated with prosecuting Comey and Clinton, claiming that impeachment proceedings could be used to remove him from office, which has been the goal for congressional Democrats for the past two years. AP reports that McGahn told Trump that he had no authority to order such a prosecution, arguing that the commander-in-chief could, instead, request an official probe into wrongdoings on part of the two former government officials.
Regardless, any action into the situations could have led to accusations of abuse of the Office of the Presidency.
Nevertheless, President Trump is said to still be mulling the future of the two, including discussing with some close to him about appointing a new special counsel to investigate Comey for his handling of the investigation of private email servers from Clinton during her time at the State Department. Notably, just over a week after Trump took office in 2017, he sat down with the former FBI director, asking for “loyalty,” for what has been alleged to mean the future prosecution of Clinton.
Comey, however, was fired by Trump. FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe also resigned from the bureau following rising tension between the agency and the White House.
Last year, recently-ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed senior federal prosecutors to investigate issues raised by House Republicans related to the Clinton Foundation and a Russian-based uranium mine transaction benefiting the foundation that was approved when Clinton was head of the State Department.
Have A Virginian, Not A Massachusettsian, Thanksgiving
In December 1619, 38 English settlers traveled up the James River through its many tributaries and landed at “Berkeley Hundred,” an 8,000-acre swath of farmland, ending the treacherous trip in remembrance and prayer, establishing the first Thanksgiving in Virginia.