Author: Stephanie Moffat

Puerto Rico Votes Overwhemingly For Statehood Puerto Rico has begun the steps toward statehood this Sunday. According to the Wall Street Journal, 97 percent voted for statehood, and less than two percent voted for independence from the United States. The remainder voted to keep the current status of a territory of the United States. This referendum begins the steps toward sending representatives to Washington, D.C. For the next steps, Puerto Rico will put its “Tennessee plan” into action, which means its governor will choose two senators and five representatives to go to Washington, D.C., to request statehood. Trump indicated...

Lobbyists Working in White House Haven’t Signed Waivers Remember when Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp? Well, there are about a half-dozen former lobbyists working in Trump’s White House, but they haven’t received waivers from the administration’s ethics rules, according to Politico. This raises questions about how much the rules do to actually prevent conflicts of interest. Trump has granted exemptions from the rules for a handful of staffers, which has been done by presidents previously. But, what makes this worse, at least six former lobbyists now working in the White House haven’t received such waivers, meaning they...

Trump Puts Trip to Britain on Hold, Scared of Protests Looks like the London mayor may have gotten his wish. The Guardian is reporting that Donald Trump has called British Prime Minister Theresa May, explaining that “he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming.” The call was made recently, according to a Downing Street adviser. And those present said May was surprised. Trump also said that he refused to visit if there were large-scale protests. May, who was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after the...

Jeff Sessions To Testify Before Senate Intel Committee This Week Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week. Seasions was originally scheduled to testify before the Judiciary committee but after former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony this week which revealed the FBI had evidence that Sessions had a third undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador he was forced to change venues. In a statement Sessions said that he will send a deputy to replace him at the original hearing instead after hearing that lawmakers would question him about the investigation into ties between Russia...

Justice Department Declares Foreign Payments to Trump Are Legal The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has responded to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), who brought suit against Trump in January, alleging that he violated the emoluments clause because his real estate and hotels accept payments from foreign governments. Trump’s own Justice Department announced it has cleared Trump saying his businesses are legally permitted to accept payments from foreign governments while he is in office, and Trump is not in violation of a constitutional clause barring the acceptance of emoluments....