The Justice Department (DOJ) seized the personal emails of Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen and used other surveillance methods to investigate whether he was complicit in a leak of classified information, TheWashington Post reported Monday.
According to the report, the DOJ also examined Rosen’s phone records and tracked his visits to the State Department using security-badge data during the 2009 probe.
Looks like it’s going to be another great week in White House PR…
White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler will likely come under quite a bit of fire this week, thanks to a new Wall Street Journal report which claims she knew about the IRS audit scandal weeks before the media. Some have questioned President Obama’s competency as POTUS, after he claimed to find out about the scandal along with the public on May 10, though it seems Ruemmler indeed may not have informed the President about the issues after she was briefed on them by Treasury Department attorneys. (Photo via National Journal) source
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley on Thursday signed into law one of the United States’ toughest gun control measures, even as opponents vowed to overturn it.
The legislation prompted by the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre requires handgun buyers to undergo safety training and submit fingerprints to obtain a license.
It also bans the sale of 45 types of assault weapons, which have been linked to at least 461 U.S. deaths since 2004, according to the governor’s office.
Opponents of the changes say they aren’t planning to seek any sort of public vote/referendum on the bill, but will instead offer support to an NRA lawsuit which challenges the legality of the new regulations. Similar legislation has been passed in Colorado, New York, and Connecticut following a recent uptick in mass shooting incidents.
Without authorizing the use of force or additional spending, this legislation will begin to implement a more coherent U.S. strategy, both now and for the day after Assad, that is focused on trying to shift the momentum on the ground toward moderate opposition groups while also helping them build support within and outside Syria for a new government.Sen. Bob Menendez • Commenting on a bill he introduced in the Senate last week that would create a $250 million transitional fund for the Syrian rebels and post-Assad government that would inevitably follow a toppling of the existing Syrian regime. While the bill may have found new life in the Senate, thanks to changes which earned the support of Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, we suspect the Obama Administration will have a harder time selling support of the Syrian opposition to the American people if rebel forces fail to prevent future war crimes like the cannibalism story making the rounds today. source
The Obama administration asked Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Wednesday morning to reintroduce legislation that would help reporters protect the identity of their sources from federal officials, a White House official told The Huffington Post.
The scope of the bill and how effective it would be remains unclear, however, given prior administration opposition to a “reporter shield” law.
The request is opportunistically timed, coming just days after it was revealed that the Department of Justice had subpoenaed telephone records of 20 AP phone lines and more than 100 reporters and editors. The White House has faced heavy criticism for the subpoena, though the president has said that he was unaware of it and Attorney General Eric Holder said that he had recused himself from the investigation.
While the timing absolutely can’t be ignored, it’s hard for us not to get behind any effort to further protect reporters and their sources from federal prosecution. Still, if the Obama Administration was hoping to save face with a new reporter shield law, we suspect we aren’t the only ones who think this is too little too late.
CNN’s Jake Tapper has managed to get his hands on the critical White House email suggested as the proof that the White House was more interested in removing references to possible terrorist attacks in the now infamous Benghazi talking points then they were in telling the truth to the American public.
The actual email, written in the days following the Benghazi attack, reveals something else entirely. We now know that whoever leaked the contents of the email to various media outlets last week seriously misquoted the document, choosing to paraphrase the content in a way that made it appear that the White House was focused on protecting the State Department’s back and covering up information.
And the plot thickens…
It put the American people at risk and that is not hyperbole. Trying to determine who was responsible required very aggressive action.U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder • Defending the Department of Justice’s decision to collect roughly two months worth of various Associated Press employees’ work and personal phone records as part of a criminal investigation. The DoJ is apparently investigating a leak which occured last year, revealing the existence of a failed plot to bomb a U.S. plane, during a time when the Obama Administration insisted the U.S. government was unaware of any terror attacks which might be planned to coincide with the annviersary of Osama bin Laden’s death. source
The Minnesota Senate is expected to give final approval on Monday to a bill that would make the state the 12th in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry and only the second in the Midwest.
Leaders in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 39-28 majority, have said they believe they have the support to approve a bill legalizing gay marriage. They set a vote for Monday on the measure that members of the state House approved last week.
Democratic Governor Mark Dayton has said he would sign the bill, which would make Minnesota the third state this month to legalize gay marriage after Rhode Island and Delaware. The law would take effect August 1.
If you’ve got the IRS operating in anything less than a neutral and nonpartisan way, then that is outrageous. It is contradictory to our traditions, and people have to be held accountable.President Obama • Commenting on an admission that the IRS targeted conservative groups, many associated with the tea party, during the 2012 election cycle, following an apology from an IRS official on Friday and this morning’s leak of the Inspector General’s report to ABC News. President Obama’s comments came during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who’s currently visiting Washington D.C. to discuss the war in Syria. source
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
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Jason Richwine’s comments and general world view are a mark against the conservative community and against all fruitful discussions that would lead to comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform.Rep. Ruben Hinojosa • Responding to a new Heritage Foundation study on the supposed costs of granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, which was co-authored by Robert Rector and Jason Richwine. The study is catching quite a bit of flack this week, thanks to WonkBlog’s unearthing of Richwine’s doctoral dissertation, which included the claim that “no one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites.” The Heritage Foundation has defended the accuracy of their latest study, telling The Hill that the dissertation was not commissioned by the Heritage Fondation, and that Richwine’s dissertation “in no way [reflects] the positions of The Heritage Foundation.” source
Leaders in the technology community have every right to talk about how immigration reform will benefit their businesses. But instead, FWD.us has chosen a strategy that’s condescending to voters and counterproductive to the cause of reform.Former Sen. Russ Feingold • In a statement given to Politico, offering an explanation for why Progressives United, MoveOn.org, and other left-leaning organizations have decided to stop advertising on Facebook for at least two weeks. The advertising boycott is in response to several televised ads from FWD.us, the Mark Zuckerberg-founded advocacy organization which is supposedly focused on immigration reform, that support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and attack “Obamacare.” source
I think you will see — again I can’t release any names to you yet, but next Wednesday I think those of us who are concerned about this issue … we’re finally going to get some answers.Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz • Discussing an upcoming House oversight committee hearing which many GOP members believe will expose new information that the Obama Administration has previously tried to keep quiet. Sources say that previously unidentified witnesses, with firsthand knowledge of the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, will reveal new information about the events which claimed the lives of four Americans. source
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