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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
ans themselves, was that Saudi Arabia’s government was largely
paying for the effort, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Despite a World War II-era U.S. law requiring lobbyists to imme-
diately reveal payments from foreign governments or political par-
ties, some of the campaign’s organizers failed to notify the Justice
Department about the Saudi kingdom’s role until months afterward,
with no legal consequences.
Even now, some opponents of the law, the Justice Against Spon-
sors of Terrorism Act, still won’t say to whom or how many exactly
they paid thousands of dollars each to influence state and federal
elected officials on behalf of Saudi Arabia, stymieing public knowl-
edge about the scale of foreign influence on the push to overturn
the legislation.
The chief lobbyist for the Saudi Embassy in Washington said it
encouraged its subcontractors to be as transparent as possible. But
the campaign and the allegations surrounding it show what can hap-
pen when the often-murky world of lobbying intersects with emo-
tive American issues like patriotism, protecting U.S. troops and the
memory of Sept. 11. It also highlights how federal laws govern-
ing disclosures of foreign influence in American politics are only as
strong as they’re enforced.
“If the purpose of the statute is to make a public record about how
foreign sovereigns are spending money to influence U.S. policy, it’s
not clear how the Justice Department’s relatively lax enforcement
of the statute furthers that goal,” said Stephen Vladeck, a law pro-
fessor and national security law expert at the University of Texas.
Associated Press
GOP concerns on Trump, Comey
pose threat to their agenda
WASHINGTON — Several Republican senators are question-
ing the timing of President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director
James Comey. But even as the issue emerges as a potential distrac-
tion from the GOP’s legislative agenda, most are dismissing Dem-
ocratic calls for a special counsel, and their hand-wringing looks
unlikely to lead to any concrete action.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., moved
swiftly to reject Democrats’ demands for a special prosecutor to
investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election and ties with
the Trump campaign. Such an appointment “could only serve to
impede the current work being done” by the Senate intelligence
committee and the FBI itself, McConnell said.
Democrats argued that an independent, outside inquiry led by a
special prosecutor was a necessary next step, given Trump’s deci-
sion to oust Comey in the midst of the FBI’s Russia investiga-
tion. The firing came not long after Comey had requested addi-
tional resources for the investigation, according to U.S. officials,
although the Justice Department disputed that.
“All we are seeking is some assurance that the subject of this
investigation is not able to influence it or, God forbid, quash it,”
said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
But Senate intelligence committee Chairman Richard Burr,
R-N.C., insisted that his panel has “got the jurisdictional responsi-
bility to investigate this. We are going to do that.”
Environmentalists triumph as
Senate upholds drilling rule
WASHINGTON — Environmentalists notched a rare win
in the Republican-led Senate on Wednesday as a GOP effort to
reverse an Obama-era rule restricting harmful methane emissions
unexpectedly failed.
The 51-49 vote against the repeal measure was a blow to the
fossil-fuel industry and groups linked to the conservative Koch
Brothers, which had waged a public campaign to overturn the Inte-
rior Department rule.
The rule, finalized in November, would force energy compa-
nies to capture methane that’s burned off or “flared” at drilling sites
because it earns less money than oil. An estimated $330 million
a year in methane — the component of natural gas — is wasted
through leaks or intentional releases, enough to power about 5 mil-
lion homes a year.
The Interior Department said in a statement Wednesday that the
rule imposes significant burdens on energy production and they
would review it.
The vote marked the first time that the Republican-led Congress
has rejected a bid to overturn a rule imposed by President Barack
Obama using the previously obscure Congressional Review Act.
Senate intelligence panel
subpoenas Flynn documents
WASHINGTON — The Senate intelligence committee sub-
poenaed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for
documents related to the panel’s investigation into Russia’s elec-
tion meddling.
Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman, and Sen. Mark
Warner, the committee’s Democratic vice chairman, issued a joint
statement saying the panel decided to issue the subpoena after
Flynn, through his lawyer, declined to cooperate with an April 28
request to turn over the documents.
Flynn and other associates of President Donald Trump have
received similar requests from the committee for information and
documents over the past few weeks.
Copies of request letters sent to longtime Trump associate Roger
Stone and former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page were
shared with The Associated Press. Those letters, which were nearly
identical, sought emails, text messages, letters, phone records or any
other relevant information they have about meetings or contacts that
they or any other individual affiliated with the Trump campaign had
with Russian officials or representatives of Russian business inter-
ests. They also ask for information about any financial or real estate
holdings related to Russia, including any since divested or sold.
Stone, Page, Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul
Manafort all received similar requests for information, a person
familiar with the Senate investigation said. That person spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the investigation.
W A NTED
VA aims to end veteran
homelessness, says it’ll take years
AP Photo/Mark Thiessen
A few hundred people chanted slogans and made speech-
es to protest the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday. High-level
officials from the world’s eight Arctic nations, including
Tillerson, will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the fu-
ture of the sensitive region after President Trump called
for more oil drilling and development.
Officials from Arctic nations
meet amid drilling concerns
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — High-level officials from the world’s
eight Arctic nations will meet in Alaska amid concerns about the
future of the sensitive region after President Donald Trump called
for more oil drilling and development.
Among those expected to attend the meeting of the Arctic
Council beginning today in Fairbanks are U.S. Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who
met Wednesday with Trump and Tillerson in Washington.
No formal discussions were set in Alaska but key issues such as
climate change, development and drilling will provide a backdrop
as the chairmanship of the council passes from the U.S. to Finland.
“We are unsure what the Trump administration thinks about the
Arctic region in general, about the Arctic Council in particular and
about its role,” said Victoria Herrmann, president of The Arctic
Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based group that provides research
to shape Arctic policy.
The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes coop-
eration among member nations and indigenous groups. Its focus
is sustainable development and environmental protection of the
Arctic.
Saudis paid for US veteran trips
against 9/11 lawsuit law
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — After Congress passed a
new law allowing Sept. 11 victims’ families to sue Saudi Arabia in
U.S. courts, opponents mounted an expensive political campaign,
including paying American military veterans to visit Capitol Hill
and warn lawmakers about what they said could be unintended
consequences.
What few people knew, including some of the recruited veter-
Check out Podcasts on the
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ASTORIAN
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6 PM
QARAQOSH, Iraq — The young Iraqi woman remembers the
night she lost her leg.
Wihad Ahmed and her family had hunkered down in their house
in western Mosul, hoping to wait out the nearly constant shelling as
fighting raged between Islamic State militants and advancing Iraqi
government forces.
But after mortar shells destroyed the homes of their next-door
neighbors, the 27-year-old and her relatives decided to flee. With
four other families, they left in the middle of the night on April
1. Before they reached Iraqi lines, a bomb went off, wounding
Ahmed’s right leg so badly that it had to be amputated above the
knee.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, she
is one of at least 625 people from Mosul who have lost an arm or
a leg as the nearly seven-month-old battle for the city. Like others,
she is struggling to come to terms with her injuries and the future
she faces as an amputee.
Find it all at
CoastRadio.org
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
L
In Iraq’s Mosul, many survivors
face future as amputees
Need more info about the elections?
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
A
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The new Veterans Affairs chief shares
the goal set by former President Barack Obama’s administration
of ending homelessness among veterans, but says it’ll take longer
than his predecessor predicted.
Reducing the number of homeless veterans nationwide from
roughly 40,000 to 10,000 or 15,000 is an “achievable goal” for
President Donald Trump’s administration, VA Secretary David
Shulkin told The Associated Press during a visit to Rhode Island
on Friday.
“This is a continuous problem of people finding themselves in
economically difficult situations and then being out on the street or
going from shelter to shelter,” Shulkin said.
Homelessness among veterans has been effectively ended in
Virginia, Connecticut and Delaware and in more than 40 commu-
nities. The outgoing head of the VA, Robert McDonald, said in Jan-
uary that “we should be there” nationwide within a couple of years.
Shulkin, who formerly was VA undersecretary of health
under Obama, said on Friday, “We’re still looking at a multi-year
process.”
Evening listings
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(:35) Jimmy Kimmel
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(:35) Colbert
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Live at 7
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