FRIDAY 3/3/23
(Secretary of State Antony Blinken (above) reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine in his first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since Russia's invasion more than a year ago. Scroll down for the report.)
Trump Can be Sued – Former President Trump can be sued over his alleged incitement of the January 6th attack on ther U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said in an amicus brief to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.. According to the brief, Donald J. Trump does not have absolute immunity from civil suits and so could be held liable for physical and psychological harm, The Guardian reports. Two U.S. Capitol police officers and 11 House Democrats have filed to hold the ex-president liable.
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Two NY Reps Investigated – Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, according to The Washington Post, in two separate news reports.
Santos: A House ethics subcommittee said in a statement it will determine whether the freshman “may have engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”
Ocasio-Cortez: The Ethics Committee is “extending its investigation” into whether she violated House rules by accepting “impermissible gifts” at New York City’s Met Gala in September 2021. The Office of Congressional Ethics says she did not make required reimbursements for rental of a gown (with the words “Tax the Rich” in red on white) and goods and services AOC and her partner received in connection with the gala, until after the office contacted her.
“If Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts, then she may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law,” the committee said in a written statement, according to WaPo.
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Texas GOP May Censure Gonzalez – The executive committee of the state’s Republican Party will consider censuring U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) over rejection of a border security proposal, support of same-sex marriage protections and vote last year for a bipartisan gun law following the Uvalde school shooting in his district, according to The Texas Tribune. The border security proposal Gonzalez rejects is sponsored by his fellow Republican Congress member from Texas, Chip Roy.
Unfazed: “What censure?” Gonzalez said to reporters Thursday. “Has a censure taken place? I think they’re gonna vote on it Saturday and we’ll see how that goes.”
--TL
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THURSDAY 3/2/23
Brief Encounter for Blinken, Lavrov – Big news Thursday out of the G20 summit of the 20 largest industrialized nations, in New Delhi, India is that Secretary of State Antony Blinken (above) had his first face-to-face encounter with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, since the invasion of Ukraine a year ago. The Washington Post quotes a senior State Department official stressing Washington’s support for a peaceful resolution to the war that maintains Ukraine’s “territorial integrity.”
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Conway Meets with Manhattan D.A. – Kellyanne Conway, who managed the final months of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign met with prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office Wednesday over the former president’s role in a $130,000 “hush money” payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, The New York Times reports. Daniels has said Trump had an affair with her, and Trump’s longtime “fixer” Michael Cohen wrote in his 2020 book, Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump that he had alerted Conway about the payment.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa