Here’s your dose of “What the Fuck Is Going On” News (2/9/2017 edition)
A federal appeals court has refused to reinstate Trump’s ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is now possible where much of the ban could expire and run it’s course before a decision is made. However, the administration also could change the executive order, including changing its scope or duration. (source)
After Nordstrom (and other clothing stores) pulled Ivanka Trump’s fashion line, Donald Trump went to Twitter to complain about the company. Today, Kellyanne Conway went on Fox News to speak about the incident and went on to officially endorse Ivanka’s line. “This is just wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully — I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.” Being a federal employee, this is an outright violation of federal ethics laws. However enforcement measures are largely left to the head of the federal agency and in Conway’s case this means the White House so chances are she will receive little to no punishment. (source)
A Phoenix woman, Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, was taken into custody late last night by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reflecting the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Guadalupe came to the U.S as a young teen with her parents and hasn’t lived in Mexico since she was 14. Now, 36 she has two children and has attended her scheduled meetings with the ICE every 6 months. This is an indication of the reach that Trump’s executive order has received and that it will no longer prioritizing violent offenders. Protesters tried to help Guadalupe by blocking the ICE vans from taking her away, several were arrested and Guadalupe has officially been deported to Nogales, Mexico. (source)
A New York judge has ordered the NYPD to divulge files showing how it’s been surveilling Black Lives Matter demonstrations over the last two years. (source)
Trump has signed another series of executive orders, this time dealing with crime, police, and cartels. One order tasks the attorney general with setting up a “Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety,” that will work to reduce crime, particularly “illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime.” The second tasks the attorney general with developing a strategy, in coordination with local, state, and federal agencies, to prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes against police, as well as reviewing whether existing laws go far enough in protecting police from violent crimes.The third tasks the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of homeland security, and director of national intelligence to co-chair and direct the existing interagency Threat Mitigation Working Group with a broad review of policies to make sure the US is adequately detecting and prosecuting international drug cartels. (source)
In a call with Vladimir Putin, Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States. Trump said that the 2010 treaty, known as New START was a bad deal – but only after he paused the conversation to ask his aids what the treaty even was. (source)
After Sen. Richard Blumenthal relayed some of his conversation with Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, Trump attacked Blumenthal. According to Blumenthal, Gorsuch called Trump’s regular criticisms of the federal judiciary “disheartening” and “demoralizing,“ comments that were later confirmed. Trump claims that Gorsuch never made these comments and then went after Blumenthal’s military record and how he misrepresented himself. Later Trump attacked CNN for never asking Blumenthal about this misrepresentation in the past, which they quickly debunked. (source) (source)
Construction crews have resumed work on the final segment of the Dakota Access pipeline, and the full system could be operational within three months. However, the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes are still working hard to oppose the efforts and have filed a legal challenge to block the work and protect their water supply. (source)
The Global Gag Rule – which cuts U.S. aid funding to charities that provide, support or discuss abortion is already causing major problems worldwide. This is an article that really should just be read in it’s entirety, warning for graphic content.
Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general. His withdrawal means that Kellyanne Conway’s husband, George Conway, might be appointed to the role. (source)
Rep. Tom Price is Trump’s pick for health and human services secretary and he’s receiving a lot of push back due to his actions in Congress. Price spent the last 12 years in Congress writing legislation on health care issues, he also bought and sold health care stocks whose value was affected by the legislation he was working on. This isn’t an illegal move, but it does raise a lot of concerns regarding ethics. Despite this concern, Price is headed towards his final confirmation vote. (source)
Today Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb pardoned a man named Keith Cooper. Back when Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana, he denied a pardon requested by Cooper after he spent nearly a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit. DNA evidence eventually found Cooper innocent but his record still showed he committed the crime, making life outside prison very difficult. (source)
The Trump administration is still reviewing Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulation, and there are plans to introduce new legislation to quash many bank regulations and regulators’ enforcement authority in Dodd-Frank. However, the acting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair, Michael Piwowar, is quickly trying to target one rule. The regulation under attack is one that require corporations to disclose the discrepancy between what their CEOs earn and what their ordinary workers take home. (source) (source)
A senior national security official, Michael Anton, in the Trump administration has be outed as a writer using the pseudonym Publius Decius Mus. He gained popularity for penning works that are anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, anti-immigration, and promoting white nationalism. Anton’s works have noted that diversity is “a source of weakness, tension and disunion,” and asked “What good has immigration done for the United States and the American people?” Anton also defended the America First Committee, a group that urged the U.S. to stay out of World War II by invoking anti-Semitic stereotypes, by claiming it was “unfairly maligned.” (source) (source)
Update: To the surprise of nobody, Trump tweeted in response to a federal appeals court has refusing to reinstate Trump’s ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. He used all caps, so we know it’s serious:
Oddly enough he recently admitted that he did not want to enact the travel ban so quickly and instead give notice first. Stating that he wanted to wait a bit, but was told no. “The law enforcement people said to me, ‘Oh, you can’t give a notice. I suggested a month. And I said, ‘What about a week?’ They said you can’t do that because then people are gonna pour in before the toughness.“
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