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Biden Not ‘Ready’ to Make Student-Loan Forgiveness Decision: KJP

Biden Not 'Ready' to Make Student-Loan Forgiveness Decision: KJP

  • President Joe Biden has said he will announce a decision on student-loan relief before August 31.
  • The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Tuesday that he wasn’t ready to announce.
  • Borrowers are awaiting an announcement on debt cancellation and a payment-pause extension.

With the potential for broad student-loan relief and an extension of the payment pause, August is a high-stakes month for millions of federal borrowers.

But it appears President Joe Biden isn’t quite prepared to announce relief.

Biden said last month that he would give himself until August 31 to decide on broad student-loan forgiveness. That’s also when payments are set to resume. He’s said to be considering $10,000 in relief for borrowers making under $150,000 a year. And while Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in June promised borrowers “ample notice” about any change to their balances, there hasn’t been an update.

The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on Tuesday that Biden would stick with his end-of-August timeline.

“So we’re still kind of at the beginning, getting into the middle of August,” Jean-Pierre said. “So when he’s ready to make that decision, we will let you know.”

She said Biden “understands how student loans could affect a family and how the pressure of that can really be a lot and put a lot of weight on a family’s purse or economic situation,” adding: “So we understand that. He is making — he is going to make his decision on this, and when he has something to say, we will share that.”

Lawmakers, advocates, and student-loan companies have criticized the uncertainty surrounding student-loan payments. Some have speculated that Biden will extend the pandemic-era payment pause for the fifth time, as the Education Department recently instructed loan companies to halt messaging about payments resuming.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have requested information on how the department plans to execute student-loan relief efficiently, and while the department has not provided information, Politico recently obtained a memo outlining detailed plans to implement debt relief within months of Biden’s sign- off.

But borrowers have little time to prepare. Scott Buchanan, the executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group that represents federal student-loan servicers, told Insider earlier in August that companies should have been communicating with borrowers “a month ago.”

“And that needs to happen,” he said. “At this point, until the White House gives any different guidance, payments resume on September 1.”

While Republican lawmakers have criticized broad relief — three recently introduced legislation that would block Biden from implementing expansive loan forgiveness — some advocates want the president to go big to reach as many borrowers as possible.

Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, wrote a letter in July urging Biden to extend the payment pause and cancel at least $50,000 in student debt per borrower.

“The American people are anxious. Voters are anxious. Your base is anxious. Extending the freeze will only extend the anxiety that millions of Americans feel,” Johnson wrote. “Thus, any extension must be accompanied by meaningful cancellation,” he added. “We urge you to cancel a minimum of $50,000 as Black borrowers — drowning in an average of $53,000 in student debt — have virtually no realistic way to pay it back in today’s unjust economy.”

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Tribar employee overrode alarm 460 times before Huron River spill

Tribar employee overrode alarm 460 times before Huron River spill

LANSING, MI — An employee at Tribar Technologies in Wixom overrode the company’s waste treatment alarms 460 times in the span of nearly three hours on the night which state regulators believe a toxic chemical release to the Huron River initially began last weekend.

That extraordinary detail is among new information about the circumstances surrounding a hexavalent chromium release to the Wixom wastewater system contained in violation notices issued by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).

In an Aug. 9 “egregious” violation letter sent to Tribar, an auto supplier which manufacturers chrome-finished parts using toxic chemicals, state regulators demanded more information about what transpired at the company’s Wixom Plant No. 5 on Alpha Drive on Friday, July 29.

According to the EGLE notice, that’s when a 14,923-gallon rinse waste tank holding about 10,000 gallons of “acid etch material” with about five percent total chromium was emptied into the Wixom wastewater system as a contamination slug, which overwhelmed the sewage plant.

Wixon’s plant discharges to the Huron River via the Norton Creek drain upstream of Milford.

Between 4:59 and 7:46 pm on July 29, the tank operator overrode the waste treatment alarms 460 times, or about once every 20 seconds, according to the notice. Another “high level” alarm was recorded at 11 pm

How and why that occurred is unclear. EGLE says the company has not been fully forthcoming with its investigation, which involves the state’s criminal environmental investigative arm.

Tribar did not report the release until Monday, Aug. 1, when employee Ryan O’Keefe made an 8 am state Pollution Emergency Alert System (PEAS) report attributing the release to “operator error.”

“We have asked them repeatedly for critical information about their systems and the timeline for what happened. They have provided some information but have not provided the level of information we need for the investigation,” said EGLE spokesperson Hugh McDiarmid.

“That whole weekend timeline is not clear to us and they have not been helpful in putting it together,” McDiarmid said.

Last week, Tribar said it “took immediate action, including making certain the release was stopped and contacting the wastewater treatment plant” last Monday.

In a statement to MLive on Wednesday, Tribar said it was reviewing the violation notices with environmental consultants at Barr and August Mack and would share internal investigation findings this week.

The tank operator is no longer employed by Tribar, the company said.

“Tribar has invested millions of dollars in sophisticated environmental controls to prevent an accidental release of wastewater prior to treatment at our facility. Based on an initial investigation, those automated controls were all functioning properly at the time the plating solution was released to the wastewater treatment plant,” the company stated. “However, the controls were repeatedly overridden by the operator on duty while the facility was shut down for the weekend. That individual is no longer employed by our company, and we are in the process of further improving our internal controls to prevent a future occurrence.”

EGLE announced the violation notices on Wednesday, Aug. 10, more than a week after the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued an Aug. 2 ‘no contact’ advisory for the Huron River downstream of Wixom.

The violations are part of an “accelerated enforcement” process against Tribar which EGLE says will involve administrative consent negotiations and attempts at recovering costs incurred by the state in response to the spill, which has sparked a week of widespread testing on the river.

The company failed to immediately notify EGLE about the, interfered with a city’s wastewater treatment and failed discharge to maintain a pollution prevention plan, EGLE says.

The citations follow unrelated violation notices from the agency’s air quality division following a July inspection, which found the company was not keeping adequate records and was not properly operating equipment which controls nickel and chromium emissions.

Tribar has until Aug. 20 to respond to the water violations and Aug. 30 to respond to the air quality violations, EGLE said.

Tribar operates four plants in Wixom and two in Howell. The company was previously named Adept Plastic Finishing before it was acquired by HCI Equity Partners in 2016.

The state has maintained the contact advisory so far this week although river testing has turned up minimal detections of the contaminants, leading state and local officials to express optimism that the contaminants were largely bound up in filters at Tribar and the Wixom plant.

There has been widespread concern over the potential for contaminants to reach the city of Ann Arbor’s water intake downstream at Barton Pond, although computer modeling has shown that the slow-flowing river wouldn’t likely bring any chromium to the city for several weeks.

Hexavalent chromium, or hexchrome, is a carcinogenic chemical used in plastic finishing. It can cause a number of health problems through ingestion, skin contact or inhalation.

EGLE says its testing data has been turned over to DHHS, which is expected to make a determination on the continuance of the contact advisory in the coming days.

On Wednesday, activists outraged at the spill rallied at Heavner Canoe Rental in Milford to call for stronger polluter accountability laws and punitive action against Tribar.

The company has polluted the river before. Tribar is chiefly responsible for the existing “Do Not Eat” fish advisory in the river due to PFAS chemicals, which were also discharged to the river through the Wixom wastewater plant.

State Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, led the crowd in chants of “shut them down!” and urged people to call lawmakers in Lansing to support “polluter pay” legislation.

“They need to be shut down. They need to be held accountable — GM, Ford, every single manufacturer needs to stop doing business with them,” said Rabhi.

“I want them sued into oblivion.”

Related stories:

Dingell seeks greater EPA hand in Huron River spill

EGLE finds low hexchrome in river testing

Tests encouraging, but worry and anger remain

Hexchrome could take weeks to reach Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor council OK’s legal action toward Tribar

Wixom police investigate Tribar hexchrome spill

Non-contact with Huron River urged after spill

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US

Is Taiwan worried about the threat of invasion from China?

Is Taiwan worried about the threat of invasion from China?

It has been a major point of discussion around the world, however, as the live-fire military exercises China launched in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit raise fears it is looking to change the long-established status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese officials say it is the United States that is trying to change the status quo by strengthening its unofficial relations with Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing claims as its territory.

“Faced with this, China has no choice but to fight back and defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday.

But either way this latest crisis has sharpened global concerns about the future of the island, a longtime flashpoint in US-China relations and a flourishing democracy in a region where autocracy has been making steady gains.

‘We only want to protect our way of life‘

Lee Ming-che was among the human rights activists who met with Pelosi last week, during the brief visit in which she reiterated Washington’s support for Taiwan.

Lee spent five years in a Chinese prison as a political prisoner. Now, only four months after his release from him and return to Taiwan, Chinese threats to the freedoms he can again enjoy at home are escalating.

From left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Lee Ming-che and Lee's wife, Lee Ching-yu, in Taiwan last week.
From left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Lee Ming-che and Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu, in Taiwan last week. Courtesy Lee Ming Che

“I saw and personally experienced in prison how the Chinese government disregards human rights and the law. And now this kind of country wants to encroach on Taiwan’s democracy and human rights,” Lee told NBC News by phone on Tuesday.

“Because Taiwan’s previous generations have dedicated a lot of effort for Taiwan’s freedom, democracy and human rights, we only want to protect our way of life, to live in our own country, but China uses its military might to threaten Taiwan.”

Beijing’s military exercises around the island have gone further than in the past and than many experts had expected. On Wednesday, a spokesman for China’s Eastern Theater Command said the military had “successfully completed” various tasks around the island but would “carry out military training and preparedness continuously.”

“It is possible we will see the staging of additional military exercises, at intervals, over the coming months,” said Amanda Hsiao, senior analyst for China at the International Crisis Group, who is based in Taipei.

But for generations of people in Taiwan, where Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled in 1949 after losing to Mao Zedong’s Communist forces in China’s civil war, these security concerns are nothing new. Co-existing with Beijing’s threats is simply part of life, which has carried on across Taiwan this summer as usual.

On Dongyin, a Taiwanese island just 31 miles off the coast of China, an electronic dance music rave with clouds of foam, fog and jets from water cannons kicked off on Saturday evening even as China’s military drills were unfolding in the surrounding skies and waters.

This measured approach flies in the face of some rhetoric abroad comparing Taiwan to Ukraine, where many residents reacted with disbelief to Russia’s long-signaled invasion in February. US military experts and former defense officials have warned China’s army is now much more advanced than the last time cross-Strait tensions soared in 1996, leading some to ask whether Taiwan is being too complacent.

“There’s a lot of what feels like judgment from experts in the US looking at Taiwan’s calm reaction and saying people in Taiwan need to take this more seriously, they don’t fully appreciate the circumstance they’re in,” said Lev Nachman, a political scientist and associate professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei. “To which I think a lot of the Taiwanese response is, ‘We fully appreciate the circumstance we’re in, we’re just choosing to react to it in a more calm way than you are.’”

Air raid drills are held regularly in Taiwan, and officials are revising a civil defense handbook that was issued earlier this year. But the island also says it needs continued support from the international community.

“This has repercussions for the entire region, which we are all witnessing real-time,” said Enoch Wu, the founder of the Forward Alliance, a nonprofit group that holds public workshops to prepare Taiwanese for conflict and crises. “This is why it is in the common interest of democratic partners to enhance defense alliances now, as the only means of preserving peace and ensuring stability.”

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Ron DeSantis, unconstrained by constitutional checks, is flexing his power in Florida ahead of 2024 decision

Ron DeSantis, unconstrained by constitutional checks, is flexing his power in Florida ahead of 2024 decision

It was a striking scene, not just for its extraordinary outcome, but for how it had been choreographed. The event was premeditated to trigger — as his spokeswoman wrote on Twitter the night before — “the liberal media meltdown of the year.” Pat Kemp, a Democrat who sits on the local Hillsborough County commission, described it as “our own Jan. 6th moment.”

The ruthless display of raw political power in removing Hillsborough County state attorney Andrew Warren, however brazen and unprecedented, was merely the latest example of a new reality in Florida: DeSantis is governing unconstrained by the traditional checks on executive authority. In the last eight months, DeSantis orchestrated a new law to exact revenge on Disney amid a political feud with the entertainment giant, bulldozed an aggressively partisan redrawing of congressional boundaries through the state legislature and pushed nearly every facet of state government to the front lines of the culture wars. And he has done it all with limited dissent from the Republicans who control the other branches of government in Florida.

“DeSantis has a blank check,” said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, a private school in Fort Lauderdale. “There is no part of the constitution now that is protecting democracy because the checks and balances on him have been completely eviscerated. If he wins, he’ll spin it as a mandate and say, ‘If Floridians didn’t like any of what I did, they would’ve voted me out.’ “

DeSantis justified the removal of Warren as necessary to protect Floridians from an elected official who won’t follow the law. Warren had pledged in a pair of letters to use prosecutorial discretion to not go after people who seek abortions or gender affirming care as well as those who provide those services.

“That is not how a rule of law can operate and ultimately, you cannot have safe and strong communities,” DeSantis said.

To defeat Ron DeSantis, Florida Democrats are coalescing around Charlie Crist and the Joe Biden playbook

His critics have bristled at these decisive and contentious actions as an overreach of his office. The two leading Democratic candidates for governor in Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Rep. Charlie Crist, liked DeSantis to a dictator after he suspended Warren.

But they have also solidified DeSantis as the only Republican who consistently challenges former President Donald Trump in polls looking ahead to the 2024 presidential primary, and they earn DeSantis plenty of free airtime on conservative media. DeSantis went straight from Thursday’s suspension announcement to an interview with Fox News digital. He then appeared on the network during prime time, where Fox host Tucker Carlson lauded DeSantis for “finally doing something more than whine.”
DeSantis is also building up his influence nationwide. This week, I have blasted the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, calling it a “weaponization of federal agencies.” And next week, he’ll headline rallies for GOP candidates in New Mexico, Arizona, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Charlie Kirk, the president of Turning Point America, the conservative organization that is hosting the rallies, called DeSantis “the model for a new conservative movement” when he announced the planned events.
DeSantis has already laid out some of his future targets for a second term, when his actions will be closely watched amid the expected 2024 buzz. He recently said he wants to punish financial institutions that consider factors like environmental destruction or societal good when making investment decisions, which he has derived as “woke banking.” DeSantis has also vowed to change gun ownership laws to allow people to carry firearms in public without a license or prior training. Democrats are bracing for further restrictions on abortion after DeSantis promised to “expand pro-life protections,” though he hasn’t yet said how far he will go.

“Previously, under past Republican governors, you could expect policies to have a conservative bent,” said state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell. “But this is not a conservative bent, this is a DeSantis bent. It’s not about what the party wants, it’s about what he wants.”

Wealthy space entrepreneur who has pushed for exploration of aliens and the afterlife donates $10 million to DeSantis
The Republican-controlled legislature has so far done little to suggest it will stand in DeSantis’ way. Instead, they have balked at the face of DeSantis’ growing popularity. After Republican lawmakers spent months carefully crafting a new congressional map, DeSantis blew up the redistricting process by introducing one of his own that eliminated two districts represented by Black Democrats. Republicans at first resisted, but ultimately caved, and are now defending the new boundaries in a legal challenge.
Then, later in year, they quickly got on board when DeSantis’ office authored legislation that punished Disney, the state’s largest employer, for wading into Florida’s fight over a contentious new law to restrict the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools. And two months after that, top legislative leaders cheered DeSantis on as he announced he was using his line-item veto power to slash their agreed-upon budget by $3 billion and eliminate many of their pet priorities from him.

“The dynamics have been this way for the last two years,” said Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg. “I think it maintains its trajectory.”

Brandes is the rare Republican who has publicly criticized DeSantis, but he’s also reaching his term limit this year. He’s leaving behind a legislature that is far more conservative than when he entered office in 2012 and one that will be shaped considerably by DeSantis, who has waded into GOP primaries, at times boosting candidates over others preferred by legislative leadership in his party.

Whether DeSantis continues to amass authority “really depends on whether the House and Senate and courts see themselves as independent bodies that are there to provide a check and balance to the system,” Brandes said. “If they forget that or if they believe that’s not necessary, then we go down one path. But if just one of those groups stand up and say, ‘We have a different perspective,’ I think you’ll see a different outcome. “

The Florida constitution gives the state Senate authority to reinstate Warren. Few expect it will. Senate leaders declined to publicly comment on the suspension, but in a telling series of post, the presumptive Speaker of the House for 2023, Rep. Paul Renner, applauded DeSantis on Twitter minutes after he suspended Warren, calling it a “decisive action.”

“The Florida way puts public safety first,” Renner wrote.

Warren has vowed to mount a legal challenge, arguing DeSantis has overstepped his constitutional authority. That case would likely end up before the state Supreme Court, a panel appointed entirely by Republican governors. On Friday, DeSantis nominated his fourth judge to the high court, meaning a majority of the seven-member panel owe their jobs to DeSantis.

Ron DeSantis has raised more than $100 million for his reelection bid. Could he use that money in a presidential race?

Jarvis, who teaches the Florida constitution and has written textbooks on the topic, said lawmakers did not envision a DeSantis-type executive when they wrote the latest version of the state constitution in 1968. They drew up a system of government that vested within the Legislature the authority to overrule the governor on several fronts, including appointments and suspensions, and oversight of executive administration. They initially placed considerable power in the hands of a Cabinet, six independently and constitutionally elected state executives who served alongside the governor.

With those checks, the constitution also awarded the governor incredible discretion to suspend elected officials for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony.” Past governors have used the power sparingly to remove elected officials accused of egregious actions or violations of local trust, said Susan MacManus, a retired political science professor and the foremost expert of Florida’s political history.

However, Warren was not suspended for anything he had done, but for something he suggested he someday would not do. If that is the standard for removing someone from office, then, Jarvis said, there is little to stop DeSantis from removing any official he disagrees with — an alarming reality given that his administration has labeled political dissenters “groomers” and characterized Democrats as lawless socialists.

“This is sending a message to every other officer that is subject to his suspension power, ‘If you don’t toe the line or if I see you as a political threat, I won’t hesitate to suspend you,'” Jarvis said . “And I know the senate will remove you.”

MacManus said it’s presumptive to speculate that DeSantis in a second term won’t face new headwinds or changing sentiment from voters and fellow lawmakers. There are polls that show large swaths of voters fear for the future of democracy, though they often clash with other surveys that suggest crime remains a top issue for much of the country, she noted.

“It looks insurmountable right now, but politics shift, issues shift,” she said. “A snap of a finger, things can change.”

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Texas Gov. Abbott dares NYC Mayor Adams to ‘make my day’ in migrant war

Texas Gov. Abbott dares NYC Mayor Adams to 'make my day' in migrant war

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tapped into his inner “Dirty Harry” on Wednesday and publicly dared Mayor Eric Adams to “make my day” by carrying through on his threat to send New Yorkers to campaign against his re-election bid.

Abbott also vowed to keep sending busloads of asylum-seekers to New York City, saying Adams was merely “getting a taste” of what beleaguered border communities have been dealing with in the Lone Star State since President Biden took office.

Abbott’s comments on Fox News came amid his ongoing feud with Adams over migrant relocations and just hours after three charter buses hired by Abbott dropped off nearly 100 migrants outside the Port Authority terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

The transports added to almost 70 who arrived on Friday and Sunday.

In response to Adams’ threat Tuesday that he was “deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good, old-fashioned door-knocking” against Abbott, the Republican governor said, “You know, I kind of feels like Clint Eastwood.”

“Go ahead, Major. Make my day,” he said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Major Eric Adams to "make my dad" in response to Adams' threats to send New Yorkers to Texas to campaign against him.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Mayor Eric Adams to “make my day” in response to Adams’ threats to send New Yorkers to Texas to campaign against him.
foxnews

The taunt echoed Eastwood’s iconic line from the 1983 movie “Sudden Impact,” in which his San Francisco detective character “Dirty Harry” faced off against a robber who was holding a coffee shop waitress at gunpoint.

Then-President Ronald Reagan also famously invoked Eastwood’s words in 1985 when he threatened to veto “any tax increase that Congress might even think of sending up.”

“And I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead. Make my day,” he added.

Abbott said the buses of migrants is giving Adams "to taste" of what border towns go through in Texas.
Abbott said the buses of migrants is giving Adams “a taste” of what border towns go through in Texas.
Matthew McDermott

Abbott said there “could hardly be anything better” for him than for Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke to be “aided by a bunch of New Yorkers.”

“That will not be viewed very positively by the state of Texas,” he said.

Abbott also accused Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, of “rank hypocrisy” for attacking his motives for him in responding to what he calls President Biden’s “open border policies.”

“Listen, New York is a sanctuary city,” Abbott said.

A bus carrying migrants from Texas arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on August 10, 2022.
A bus carrying migrants from Texas arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on August 10, 2022.
AFP Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images Getty Images

“Mayor Adams said that they welcome illegal immigrants. And now once they have to deal with the reality of it, they’re suddenly flummoxed and they cannot handle it.”

Abbott added: “They are now getting a taste of what we’re having to deal with… the challenges that Texas is dealing with every day.”

“Only when they see that will the Biden ministration begin to have to realize the Biden administration is gonna have to finally start enforcing the laws passed by Congress that secure the border,” he said.

Migrants getting off the bus in Manhattan after being driven from Texas.
Migrants getting off the bus in Manhattan after being driven from Texas.
Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images

Adams responded during an unrelated afternoon news conference in Queens, saying of Abbott, “I know he thinks he’s Clint Eastwood, but he’s not.”

“He is an anti-American governor that is really going against everything we stand for,” Adams blasted in response to a question from The Post.

“And I am going to do everything feasible to make sure Texans, the people of Texas, realize how harmful he is to us globally.”

Adams then called Abbott a “global embarrassment.”

“Because this is not what we do as Americans,” the mayor said.

“All of us — and I’m sure if he goes into his lineage, he came from somewhere. And if his ancestors of him were treated the way he’s treating these asylum seekers and migrants, then he would not be where he is right now.

The mayor said that “without the proper coordination,” the city was “unable to receive people at one location and give them the support they deserve…but often they end up at our intake centers.”

Adams also called on New Yorkers to assist the migrants, saying that “if anyone in the city sees someone that they believe needs the assistance, we’re asking them to point them and direct them to the intake centers.

Abbott's comments came after three buses dropped off nearly 100 migrants in Manhattan.
Abbott’s comments came after three buses dropped off nearly 100 migrants in Manhattan.
NY Post/Georgett Roberts

The Biden administration quietly ended the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy Monday — clearing the way for potentially tens of thousands more migrants to enter the US and stay here while their applications for asylum are processed.

The Department of Homeland Security announced it would no longer enroll asylum-seekers in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program – which forced about 70,000 people back south of the border over the past three years to await their immigration hearings.

Abbott, who began sending migrants to Washington in April, said that “our goal is to, for one, help our local communities and in doing so send even more buses to New York, to DC and maybe even to other communities to alleviate the challenge we dealing with.”

In addition, Abbott said he wanted “to continue to expose this national catastrophe caused by President Biden.”

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Washington Post deletes tweet accusing Merrick Garland of ‘politicizing DOJ’

Washington Post deletes tweet accusing Merrick Garland of 'politicizing DOJ'

The Washington Post deleted a tweet promoting one of its stories on Wednesday that suggested Attorney General Merrick Garland “politicized” the Department of Justice by authorizing an FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Garland vowed to depoliticize Justice. Then the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago,” read the headline of a story written by Justice Department reporter Perry Stein.

The headline in the tweet sparked outrage on Twitter, which apparently prompted the Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet to remove the tweet and re-post it using a different headline.

“No, he’s in the middle of unraveling a crime spree committed by the former president of the United States. There…fixed it for you,” one Twitter user wrote.

The Washington Post deleted a tweet that suggested Attorney General Merrick Garland "politicized" the Justice Department by authorizing an FBI raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.
The Washington Post deleted a tweet that suggested Attorney General Merrick Garland “politicized” the Justice Department by authorizing an FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“This is so embarrassing I worry for the future of journalism,” another Twitter commenter said of the original headline.

Jay Rosen, who teaches journalism at New York University, said the original headline was “painfully under-thought” because it “seemed to say that Garland was shifting course and unduly politicizing DOJ.”

The original tweet by The Washington Post generated backlash.
The original tweet by The Washington Post generated backlash.
@washingtonpost

The newspaper on Wednesday posted a tweet which read: “Clarification: A previous tweet of this story had a headline that has changed after publishing. We’ve deleted the tweet.”

The new headline reads: “FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago lands Merrick Garland in a political firestorm.”

FBI agents on Monday searched Trump’s Palm Beach estate — marking the first time that federal investigators descended on the private residence of a former president.

The raid was conducted as part of an ongoing federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents that were apparently removed from the White House in the waning days of his presidency.

Trump is also the subject of a federal inquiry into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters mobbed the US Capitol as Congress was in session to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.

FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago on Monday as part of an investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.
FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago on Monday as part of an investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents.
TNS

Republicans accused the Biden administration of using the Justice Department as a tool to persecute political opponents.

Even some Democrats expressed unease with the search.

Form New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted: “DOJ must immediately explain the reason for its raid & it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation & legitimacy of January 6 investigations.”

Trump is expected to announce whether he’ll seek another run for White House. Polls show him leading the field of GOP hopefuls.

Garland has refused to comment if he authorized the FBI’s search.

The former president condemned the raid on his home.
The former president condemned the raid on his home.
GC Images

In her story, Stein writes that “some lawyers questioned why the Justice Department and FBI would execute such a high-profile search on a former president’s residence over missing documents, even if some of them are classified.”

The paper’s Twitter gaffe comes on the heels of an internal drama that played out on the social media site.

One of his political reporters, Dave Weigel, was suspended for a month without pay in June for retweeting a post that was deemed sexist.

Weigel’s colleague, Felicia Sonmez, who first flagged the retweet, was fired weeks later after she criticized management and other co-workers on the social media site.

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10 House Republicans impeached Trump. Here’s where they stand now

Pro-impeachment Republican Herrera Beutler concedes in House race

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) became the latest Republican who impeached former President Trump to lose her primary bid after she granted on Tuesday night, one week after her primary in Washington state.

Herrera Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans to join all Democrats in voting to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection” related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump was ultimately acquitted in the Senate, becoming the first president to survive two impeachment trials.

Trump has since used his popularity to influence races across the country as he mulls a third bid for the White House in 2024, and he has taken a particular interest in removing Republicans who impeached him by endorsing and holding rallies for their challengers.

Here’s where the 10 House Republicans who impeached Trump stand.

Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.)

Cheney will face primary voters next week in her at-large district, but recent polling indicates she’s facing an uphill battle against the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman.

The Wyoming Republican, in particular, has drawn the ire of Trump and his allies not just for her impeachment vote but also for her role as vice chairwoman on the House select committee investigating Jan. 6. Cheney’s caucus ousted her as conference chairwoman last year.

She has been a vociferous critic of the former president and those in her party who support him, recently calling the GOP “very sick” and saying Republicans can either give their loyalties to Trump or the Constitution.

In late May, Trump traveled to Wyoming to stump for Hageman. Hageman also has the support of Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.), who became chairwoman of the House Republican Conference after Cheney was ousted from the role, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), both of whom delivered video addresses at the rally.

Cheney and some Democratic lawmakers have encouraged Wyoming Democrats to switch parties for the primary election to boost Cheney’s chances. Two House Democrats, Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.) and Rep. Tom Malinowski (NJ), recently cut ads in support of the strategy.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio)

Gonzalez, a former NFL player who was first elected in 2018, announced in September 2021 that he would not seek a third term to the House, months after impeaching Trump.

Less than two months after the former president’s second impeachment, Trump endorsed his former aide, Max Miller, in his challenge to Gonzalez.

Gonzalez’s impeachment vote also set off a firestorm among Ohio Republicans, and the Ohio Republican Party’s central committee censured Gonzalez and called for his resignation in May 2021.

Days later, Gonzalez did not hold back and voted alongside 34 other Republicans to establish an independent commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6.

He also voted with a small number of House Republicans to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with the House Jan. 6 panel.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.)

Herrera Beutler is the latest pro-impeachment Republican to lose her primary.

She conceded on Tuesday evening after facing eight primary opponents, the first major primary challenge to her seat since she took office in 2011. Herrera Beutler’s state party previously rebuked her.

Trump endorsed her top opponent, Joe Kent, a former Green Beret, although The Associated Press has not yet called the race.

“Joe Kent just won an incredible race against all odds in Washington State,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday. “Importantly, I have knocked out yet another impeacher, Jaime Herrera Beutler, who so stupidly played right into the hands of the Democrats.”

Washington operates under a jungle primary system, meaning the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election regardless of their party affiliation.

Kent is on track to face Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in November in the district, which is rated “solid Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Rep. John Katko (NY)

Katko, who represents Syracuse, NY, and other upper parts of the state, announced almost exactly one year after impeaching Trump that he would withdraw at the end of his term.

He has denied that Trump’s focus on ousting pro-impeachment Republicans factored into his decision to leave the House.

“I was quite certain, even with the redistricting that was done in New York state, that I had a path to victory,” Katko told The Washington Post in March. “And I had a very good path to victory.”

The New York Republican will also step down as chairman of the Republican Governance Group, a caucus of moderate House Republicans he has led since 2017.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.)

Like Cheney, Kinzinger did not just impeach the former president but also now serves on the House panel investigating Jan. 6, further infuriating Trump and his allies.

He announced in Oct. 2021 that he would withdraw at the end of the term, which also came after redistricting maps approved by Illinois lawmakers drew him into the same district as Rep. Darin LaHood (R), who was endorsed by Trump just before the primary.

LaHood won his primary in June in what is seen as a reliably Republican district.

Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.)

Meijer became the second pro-impeachment Republican defeated in their primary, losing last week by less than 4 percentage points to Trump-backed candidate John Gibbs.

Meijer and Kinzinger have condemned the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for running an ad they say boosted Gibbs, who has supported Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

“I would rather lose office with my character intact than stay reelected having made sacrifices of the soul,” Meijer told SiriusXM following his loss.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (Wash.)

Newhouse is so far one of only two pro-impeachment Republicans to survive a primary challenge.

I have faced six challengers last week, including Loren Culp, a former police chief backed by Trump, and former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, who was in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6.

Newhouse’s victory comes after the Washington State Republican Party chastised him for his impeachment vote, calling on him to resign.

In November, he will face Democrat Doug White, although the district is rated as “solid Republican” by the Cook Political Report.

Rep. Tom Rice (SC)

In June, Rice became the first Republican who backed Trump’s second impeachment to lose reelection.

Former state Rep. Russell Fry defeated Rice by more than 25 percentage points, or roughly 22,500 raw votes.

His defeat came the same night as South Carolina Republicans narrowly voted to keep Rep. Nancy Mace as their nominee. Mace voted against Trump’s impeachment but criticized her actions surrounding Jan. 6, leading Trump to endorse Mace’s challenger.

Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.)

Upton, the only lawmaker to vote to impeach two presidents, announced in April he was retiring at the end of his term.

A moderate Republican, Upton has bucked his party on impeachment and other issues, like a national red flag law opposed by most members of his caucus.

“He’s had a number of decisive wins where he’s endorsed candidates that they have won,” Upton said of Trump on CNN’s “State of the Union” in June.

“He’s had a few losses as well, but he certainly entertains a majority of the Republican base and will be hard to stop,” he added.

Rep. David Valadao (Calif.)

Valadao served in the House from 2013 to 2019 before being ousted by former Rep. TJ Cox (D-Calif.). In a 2021 rematch, Valadao won back his seat and voted to impeach Trump one day after being sworn in.

Unlike other pro-impeachment Republicans, Trump did not endorse a challenger to Valadao in his primary. McCarthy, the top House Republican and a Trump ally, endorsed Valadao.

Valadao advanced from California’s jungle primary system in June, and he will face California state Assembly member Rudy Salas (D) in November.

Despite Trump not weighing in on the race, Valadao faces a tough reelection under the newly redrawn maps. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as a toss-up.

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10 House Republicans impeached Trump. Here’s where they stand now

Pro-impeachment Republican Herrera Beutler concedes in House race

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) became the latest Republican who impeached former President Trump to lose her primary bid after she granted on Tuesday night, one week after her primary in Washington state.

Herrera Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans to join all Democrats in voting to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection” related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump was ultimately acquitted in the Senate, becoming the first president to survive two impeachment trials.

Trump has since used his popularity to influence races across the country as he mulls a third bid for the White House in 2024, and he has taken a particular interest in removing Republicans who impeached him by endorsing and holding rallies for their challengers.

Here’s where the 10 House Republicans who impeached Trump stand.

Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.)

Cheney will face primary voters next week in her at-large district, but recent polling indicates she’s facing an uphill battle against the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman.

The Wyoming Republican, in particular, has drawn the ire of Trump and his allies not just for her impeachment vote but also for her role as vice chairwoman on the House select committee investigating Jan. 6. Cheney’s caucus ousted her as conference chairwoman last year.

She has been a vociferous critic of the former president and those in her party who support him, recently calling the GOP “very sick” and saying Republicans can either give their loyalties to Trump or the Constitution.

In late May, Trump traveled to Wyoming to stump for Hageman. Hageman also has the support of Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.), who became chairwoman of the House Republican Conference after Cheney was ousted from the role, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), both of whom delivered video addresses at the rally.

Cheney and some Democratic lawmakers have encouraged Wyoming Democrats to switch parties for the primary election to boost Cheney’s chances. Two House Democrats, Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.) and Rep. Tom Malinowski (NJ), recently cut ads in support of the strategy.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio)

Gonzalez, a former NFL player who was first elected in 2018, announced in September 2021 that he would not seek a third term to the House, months after impeaching Trump.

Less than two months after the former president’s second impeachment, Trump endorsed his former aide, Max Miller, in his challenge to Gonzalez.

Gonzalez’s impeachment vote also set off a firestorm among Ohio Republicans, and the Ohio Republican Party’s central committee censured Gonzalez and called for his resignation in May 2021.

Days later, Gonzalez did not hold back and voted alongside 34 other Republicans to establish an independent commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6.

He also voted with a small number of House Republicans to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with the House Jan. 6 panel.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.)

Herrera Beutler is the latest pro-impeachment Republican to lose her primary.

She conceded on Tuesday evening after facing eight primary opponents, the first major primary challenge to her seat since she took office in 2011. Herrera Beutler’s state party previously rebuked her.

Trump endorsed her top opponent, Joe Kent, a former Green Beret, although The Associated Press has not yet called the race.

“Joe Kent just won an incredible race against all odds in Washington State,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday. “Importantly, I have knocked out yet another impeacher, Jaime Herrera Beutler, who so stupidly played right into the hands of the Democrats.”

Washington operates under a jungle primary system, meaning the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election regardless of their party affiliation.

Kent is on track to face Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in November in the district, which is rated “solid Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Rep. John Katko (NY)

Katko, who represents Syracuse, NY, and other upper parts of the state, announced almost exactly one year after impeaching Trump that he would withdraw at the end of his term.

He has denied that Trump’s focus on ousting pro-impeachment Republicans factored into his decision to leave the House.

“I was quite certain, even with the redistricting that was done in New York state, that I had a path to victory,” Katko told The Washington Post in March. “And I had a very good path to victory.”

The New York Republican will also step down as chairman of the Republican Governance Group, a caucus of moderate House Republicans he has led since 2017.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.)

Like Cheney, Kinzinger did not just impeach the former president but also now serves on the House panel investigating Jan. 6, further infuriating Trump and his allies.

He announced in Oct. 2021 that he would withdraw at the end of the term, which also came after redistricting maps approved by Illinois lawmakers drew him into the same district as Rep. Darin LaHood (R), who was endorsed by Trump just before the primary.

LaHood won his primary in June in what is seen as a reliably Republican district.

Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.)

Meijer became the second pro-impeachment Republican defeated in their primary, losing last week by less than 4 percentage points to Trump-backed candidate John Gibbs.

Meijer and Kinzinger have condemned the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for running an ad they say boosted Gibbs, who has supported Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

“I would rather lose office with my character intact than stay reelected having made sacrifices of the soul,” Meijer told SiriusXM following his loss.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (Wash.)

Newhouse is so far one of only two pro-impeachment Republicans to survive a primary challenge.

I have faced six challengers last week, including Loren Culp, a former police chief backed by Trump, and former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, who was in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6.

Newhouse’s victory comes after the Washington State Republican Party chastised him for his impeachment vote, calling on him to resign.

In November, he will face Democrat Doug White, although the district is rated as “solid Republican” by the Cook Political Report.

Rep. Tom Rice (SC)

In June, Rice became the first Republican who backed Trump’s second impeachment to lose reelection.

Former state Rep. Russell Fry defeated Rice by more than 25 percentage points, or roughly 22,500 raw votes.

His defeat came the same night as South Carolina Republicans narrowly voted to keep Rep. Nancy Mace as their nominee. Mace voted against Trump’s impeachment but criticized her actions surrounding Jan. 6, leading Trump to endorse Mace’s challenger.

Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.)

Upton, the only lawmaker to vote to impeach two presidents, announced in April he was retiring at the end of his term.

A moderate Republican, Upton has bucked his party on impeachment and other issues, like a national red flag law opposed by most members of his caucus.

“He’s had a number of decisive wins where he’s endorsed candidates that they have won,” Upton said of Trump on CNN’s “State of the Union” in June.

“He’s had a few losses as well, but he certainly entertains a majority of the Republican base and will be hard to stop,” he added.

Rep. David Valadao (Calif.)

Valadao served in the House from 2013 to 2019 before being ousted by former Rep. TJ Cox (D-Calif.). In a 2021 rematch, Valadao won back his seat and voted to impeach Trump one day after being sworn in.

Unlike other pro-impeachment Republicans, Trump did not endorse a challenger to Valadao in his primary. McCarthy, the top House Republican and a Trump ally, endorsed Valadao.

Valadao advanced from California’s jungle primary system in June, and he will face California state Assembly member Rudy Salas (D) in November.

Despite Trump not weighing in on the race, Valadao faces a tough reelection under the newly redrawn maps. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as a toss-up.

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Megabus crash on New Jersey Turnpike to Philadelphia leaves two dead

File photo of police tape.

Two people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured when a Megabus on its way to Philadelphia overturned on the New Jersey Turnpike Tuesday night.

Shortly before 7 pm Tuesday, the New Jersey State Police responded to a bus crash at the Thomas Edison Service Area entrance ramp, in Woodbridge, the state police said. Police on Wednesday afternoon confirmed two people died and 17 were injured, three seriously. Authorities previously said there was one fatality.

New Jersey State Police said the double-decker bus was driving south in the left lane when it crashed into a Ford pick-up truck that was driving in the left-center lane. The bus driver lost control and hit the Ford, at which point the bus went off the road, hitting a guardrail and overturning.

There were 22 passengers and one driver on the bus that was on its way to Philadelphia from New York City, state police said.

The people who died were identified as Cheryl Johnson, 59, of Bronx, NY, and Cecilia Kiyanitza, 66, of Woodbury, NY Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, while Kiyanitza was airlifted to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead.

The driver of the bus, a 56-year-old man from Westville, NJ, was one of those who suffered serious injuries. The driver of the Ford pickup truck was unharmed.

New Jersey State Police continue to investigate the crash.

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Flood watch: Heavy storms likely in DC area this afternoon and evening

Flood watch: Heavy storms likely in DC area this afternoon and evening

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Since August began, the Washington region has felt like a steam bath, culminating in Tuesday’s oppressive high of 97 degrees. But our 10-day run of sweaty weather is about to end.

Seldom does the air mass change from hot and muggy to dry and comfortable without thunderstorms. And numerous storms are expected this afternoon and early evening; some could be quite heavy.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch from 2 pm to 11 pm in anticipation of the downpours.

“Showers and numerous thunderstorms are expected this afternoon into this evening,” the Weather Service says. “Rainfall amounts will average around 1 to 1.5 inches across the area, but locally amounts higher than 2 to 4 inches are likely and much of that may fall in a one to two hour time frame.”

Areas most vulnerable to flooding include those near creeks, streams and zones where there is poor drainage. July and the start of August have been wetter than normal in most parts of the region, which increases the potential for flooding since soils are already wet.

In addition to the heavy rain, storms will also bring dangerous lightning and very strong localized wind likes. The Weather Service has placed our area in a marginally elevated risk zone for severe storms because of likes that could cause tree damage.

Why there aren’t National Weather Service warnings for lightning

Short-term models project numerous storms in our western areas between 3 pm and 5 pm, close to the Beltway between 4 pm and 6 pm and into our eastern suburbs between 5 pm and 7 pm However, more isolated storms could develop early this afternoon ( especially west of Washington) and linger past sunset (especially south and east of Washington).

The forecast weather map for early evening (shown below) depicts the very slow-moving front (and in fact, additional fronts to approach from the Northwest later tomorrow). The slow-moving front is expected to focus heavy shower and thunderstorm development across the greater DC region starting as early as midafternoon today, and continuing into the evening.

The mountain terrain to our west and bay breeze circulations to our east will add to a focused uplift of a moist, unstable air mass. A weak high-altitude disturbance is also approaching and will increase the uplift more broadly.

The first widespread threat is for torrential rain that may lead to flash flooding. The atmosphere is exceptionally moist through a deep level, and storm cells will move slowly — given very weak flow aloft. Additionally, those weak winds are aligned parallel to the frontal boundary — creating an ideal setup for repeated passage or “training” of cells over the same regions.

A second, more marginal threat will be for a few storms to attain severe levels, in terms of isolated wind likes reaching or exceeding 55-60 mph. These so-called “microbursts” can occur when the heavy, wet cores of storm cells collapse — creating a chilled outburst of violent wind at the ground.

Multi-fatality lightning strikes are rare, but most have this in common

As always, it’s worth reminding folks to be lightning aware. The sobering loss of life from severe storms last week near the White House is a reminder that all it takes is one strike. We’ve had an especially stormy summer and in our densely-populated region, everyone should be mindful not to neglect lightning as a distinct storm hazard.