Monday, Feb. 19
á President Trump
indicated he supports gun-background-check legislation in response to last
weekÕs mass shooting at a Florida high school. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sanders said Trump spoke Friday with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) about a bill he
co-authored with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to bolster the federal background
check system. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/374506-white-house-trump-supports-efforts-to-improve-federal-background?userid=280231
á More than 6 in 10 Americans fault
Congress and President Trump for not doing enough to prevent mass shootings, according
to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
á CNN reported that special counsel Robert
MuellerÕs interest in Jared Kushner has expanded beyond his contacts with
Russia and now includes his efforts to secure financing for his company from
foreign investors during the presidential transition. http://cnn.it/2sF8Iey
Tuesday, Feb. 20
á President Trump
said Tuesday he has directed the Department of Justice to propose regulations
that would ban bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic guns to be
modified to shoot hundreds of rounds per minute. A bump stocks was used in the
mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival in October. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/374722-trump-to-take-steps-to-ban-bump-stocks?userid=280231
á
Robert
Mueller has charged London-based attorney Alex van der Zwaan with making a
false statement when he was interviewed about work he did with Trump campaign
adviser Rick Gates six years ago. Van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to
investigators. http://nyti.ms/2ETgbeY
á
BuzzFeed
reported that less than 24 hours after Trump tweeted that Òafter consultation
with my Generals and military expertsÓ he would end transgender military
service, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph, Dunford, sent
emails to generals of the Air Force, Army, Marines, National Guard, and Navy
saying TrumpÕs announcement Òwas unexpectedÓ and that he intended to say he was
Ònot consulted.Ó http://bzfd.it/2sF6YSF
Wednesday, Feb. 21
á New charges were filed in Special Counsel
Robert MuellerÕs criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul
Manafort and aide Rick Gates, but the charges were put under seal by the court.
http://politi.co/2Cd03nJ
á Marco Rubio shifted his stance on
firearms legislation at a CNN town hall meeting that included a parent and some
of the students who survived the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High
School. Rubio broke with Trump on the issue of arming teachers, saying it was a
bad idea. http://politi.co/2Fm6cfU
á Bernie Sanders blamed Hillary Clinton for
not doing more to stop the Russian attack on the last presidential election,
and his 2016 campaign manager, in an interview with Politico, said heÕs seen no
evidence to support MuellerÕs assertion in an indictment last week that the
Russian operation had backed SandersÕ campaign. http://politi.co/2EU7wsW
Thursday, Feb. 22
á In tweets and later at a Òlistening
session,Ó Trump doubled down on his idea of arming some teachers as a deterrent
for school shootings and praised the top leadership of the National Rifle
Association as ÒGreat American Patriots.Ó https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/02/22/attacks-would-end-trump-expresses-support-for-raising-assault-rifle-age-to-21-presses-cases-for-arming-some-teachers/?undefined=&utm_term=.11105dd7d544&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
á The Associated Press reported that
Republican donor Sheldon Adelson has
offered to pay for a new U. S. embassy in Jerusalem, and the Trump
administration is considering the offer. Lawyers at the State Department are
looking into the legality of accepting private donations to cover some or all
of the embassy costs. http://bit.ly/2or4vWt
Friday, Feb. 23
á Former Trump
campaign advisor Rick Gates pled guilty to financial fraud and lying to
investigators and has agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert MuellerÕs
investigation. The deal came after dozens of new charges of bank fraud and
money laundering were unsealed on Thursday. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/us/politics/rick-gates-guilty-plea-mueller-investigation.html
á At the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, Trump reiterated his call for
more teachers and education officials to be armed in the wake of the deadly
Florida shooting, arguing that Òa teacher would have shot the hell out ofÓ the
gunman if the school permitted concealed carry. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/23/trump-cpac-2018-speech-quotes-422739?df
á Politico reported that Trump has directed the Department of Defense to
organize a military parade to take place on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
Saturday, Feb. 24
á The House
Intelligence Committee released a redacted memo prepared by Democrats and
intended to rebut the Devin Nunes memo that alleged federal law enforcement
agencies had political motivations for wire-tapping former Trump aide Carter
Page. https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-panel-releases-democrats-memo-defending-fbi-surveillance-of-ex-trump-campaign-aide/2018/02/24/4cff92f4-164f-11e8-92c9-376b4fe57ff7_story.html?utm_term=.abc31a26a292&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-nati
Sunday, Feb. 25
á A North Korean envoy, Kim Yong Chol,
making a rare visit to South Korea said his country is willing to open talks
with the United States, a rare step toward diplomacy between the two countries.
Seoul believes Kim Yong Chol masterminded two attacks in 2010 that killed 50
South Koreans. http://bit.ly/2EShEio