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East Oregonian
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Justice Dept: Sessions spoke with FBI tells White House staff to
preserve Russia-related materials
Russian ambassador in 2016
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
had two conversations with
the Russian ambassador to
the United States during the
presidential campaign season
last year, contact likely to fuel
calls for him to recuse himself
from a Justice Department
investigation into Russian
interference in the election.
Sessions,
an
early
supporter of President Donald
Trump and a policy adviser to
the Republican candidate, did
not disclose those commu-
nications at his confirmation
hearing in January when
asked whether “anyone affil-
iated” with the campaign had
contact with the Russians.
Justice
Department
spokeswoman Sarah Isgur
Flores said Wednesday night
that “there was absolutely
nothing misleading about his
answer.”
That answer did not satisfy
Democrats demanding his
recusal from an ongoing
federal investigation. House
Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi, a California Democrat,
accused Sessions of “lying
under oath” and demanded
that he resign.
Sessions had more than
25 conversations with foreign
ambassadors in his role as a
senior member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee,
and had two separate inter-
actions with the Russian
ambassador, Sergey Kislyak,
the department said.
One was a visit in the fall,
Flores said, and the other
occurred in a group setting
following a Heritage Foun-
Sessions
dation speech that Sessions
gave during the summer,
when several ambassadors
— including the Russian
ambassador — approached
Sessions after the talk.
Revelations of the contact,
first reported by The Wash-
ington Post, triggered calls
from members of Congress
for Sessions to back out of
any involvement in the FBI’s
probe.
“If reports are accurate that
Attorney General Sessions
— a prominent surrogate for
Donald Trump — met with
Ambassador Kislyak during
the campaign, and failed to
disclose this fact during his
confirmation, it is essential
that he recuse himself from
any role in the investigation
of Trump campaign ties to the
Russians,” said Rep. Adam
Schiff of California, the top
Democrat on the House Intel-
ligence Committee.
“This is not even a close
call; it is a must,” he said.
At the confirmation hearing
in January, Sen. Al Franken of
Minnesota alerted Sessions to
allegations of contact between
Russia and Trump aides
during the 2016 election. He
asked Sessions what he would
do if there was evidence
that anyone from the Trump
campaign had been in touch
with the Russian government
during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was
“unaware of those activities.”
Then he added: “I have
been called a surrogate at a
time or two in that campaign
and I didn’t have, did not have
communications with the
Russians, and I’m unable to
comment on it.”
Flores, the Justice Depart-
ment spokeswoman, said that
response was not misleading.
“He was asked during the
hearing about communica-
tions between Russia and the
Trump campaign — not about
meetings he took as a senator
and a member of the Armed
Services Committee,” she said
in a statement.
The White House did not
immediately comment.
Franken, in a statement
Wednesday night, said he was
troubled that the new attorney
general’s response to his ques-
tion was “at best, misleading.”
He said he planned to press
Sessions on his contact with
Russia.
“It’s clearer than ever
now that the attorney general
cannot, in good faith, oversee
an investigation at the Depart-
ment of Justice and the FBI of
the Trump-Russia connection,
and he must recuse himself
immediately,” Franken said.
By JULIE PACE
and VIVIAN SALAMA
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
White House lawyers have
instructed the president’s
aides to preserve materials
that could be connected to
Russian interference in the
2016 election and other
related investigations, three
administration
officials
said Wednesday.
The instructions, which
were sent to White House
staff on Tuesday, come
after Senate Democrats
last week asked the White
House and law enforcement
agencies to keep all mate-
rials involving contacts that
Trump’s
administration,
campaign and transition
team — or anyone acting
on their behalf — have had
with Russian government
officials or their associates.
The Senate intelligence
committee, which is inves-
tigating Russia’s role in
the 2016 election, has also
asked more than a dozen
organizations,
agencies
and individuals to preserve
relevant records.
The three administration
officials who confirmed
that White House staffers
were instructed to comply
did so on the condition of
anonymity because they
were not authorized to
publicly disclose the memo
from White House counsel
Don McGahn.
President
Donald
Trump has been dogged
by questions about his
TOURNAMENT: Attracts around 10,000-16,000 people
Continued from 1A
ensures all the LED lights in the
scoreboard are working and checks the
console that controls the game clock
and buzzer. He does a microphone
check. He also examines the backup
console, available if the main one goes
awry.
On Wednesday morning, Mitzim-
berg looked around the gleaming empty
gym with satisfaction. The next day, the
bleachers would fill with spirited fans
ready to cheer their teams to victory.
The place was ready.
Elsewhere in the building, senior
secretary Kathy Marshall checked her
own list. The items are eclectic. Labor
is needed to clean bleachers between
games, empty garbages and clean bath-
rooms. Big construction lights, loaned
by the Wildhorse Resort & Casino,
needed to be picked up and placed in a
bus parking area. And so on.
“Ninety-nine percent of what I do
happens pre-tournament,” Marshall
said.
Across town at the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce, the organiza-
tional machine was going full blast. The
chamber, as the lead organization that
contracts with the OSAA for support
services, must make sure no “i” is left
undotted. The responsibility includes
volunteers, tickets, security, food for
the hospitality room and a myriad of
other details. It’s an endless to-do list.
Underneath that umbrella are other
organizations. Altrusa International of
Pendleton handles ticket sales. Main
Street Cowboys and local Veterans of
Foreign Wars members check tickets,
stamp hands and shoo fans away from
crowded doorways and the playing
floor. Business owners are encouraged
to put welcoming messages on their
reader boards or agree to support one
of the teams by dressing up one of the
business’ front windows with team
colors, photo and an encouraging
message.
One pair of volunteers, Jim Kinkead
and Joyce Follis, make sure every team
has its own personal host to take care of
players’ needs.
“It runs the gamut as to what the
hosts do,” said Pendleton Chamber
Director Gail Nelson. “Some gather
up the uniforms and take them home
to wash. They bring snacks. They wear
team colors.”
All told, volunteers number almost
300, Nelson estimated.
Keeping the fans’ stomachs full is
the challenge for Patty Fairbank, owner
of Outwest Catering. The concession-
aire runs the convention center’s snack
bar. She anticipates selling maybe
1,200 hot dogs and 600 hamburgers
and a whole mess of popcorn, soda and
nachos. She’s secured most of what she
needs and is steeling herself for three
busy days of waiting on hungry fans.
“We go in about 8:30 in the morning
and close the concession stand about 10
at night,” West said.
At Pendleton High School, where
some of the games will be played,
Athletic Director Troy Jerome had
to figure out the logistics for running
a tournament and a school simulta-
neously. On any normal school day,
parking is tight, so how does he plan to
fit in all those fans?
“It’s a challenge. But the
kids and the staff are
flexible and adaptable
— everyone knows the
tournament is important
for Pendleton.”
— Troy Jerome, Pendleton High
School athletic Director
“It’s a challenge,” he admitted. “But
the kids and the staff are flexible and
adaptable — everyone knows the tour-
nament is important for Pendleton.”
To clear out extra parking places
nearest the PHS gym, staff members
will park on the grass near the student
parking lot on the east side of the
campus. Also, physical education
classes will meet in regular classrooms
or at the track, since the gym won’t be
available.
The tournament generally attracts
between 10,000 and 16,000 people,
depending on the number of local
teams, and fills Pendleton hotels.
Most of the thousands of fans who
visit Pendleton this week won’t recog-
nize the depth of planning necessary
to pull off the event — and that’s
fine. Preferable, maybe. If they enjoy
themselves enough, they’ll be back for
more, Nelson said.
The to-do list is done. Time to play
some ball.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@
eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-
0810.
TESTING: ‘Only samples which were analyzed to contain lead
were from the area of the bullet trap of the former firing range’
Continued from 1A
students, coaches, fans and volunteers
that patronize the state basketball 2A
tournament.
The lead testing was spurred by a
December report in The Oregonian
that investigated elevated lead levels
in Oregon National Guard armories
across the state.
As a facility that was converted
from a National Guard armory in 1990,
The Oregonian conducted a test that
showed that six out of the 13 samples
a reporter collected tested positive
for lead, most of them in a basement
storage area where a firing range used
to be located.
After The Oregonian published
its story, city manager Robb Corbett
ordered an additional round of testing
conducted by a professional service.
The city signed a contract with
Paulsen Environmental Consulting of
Vale, which conducted tests on Dec.
7 and Dec. 19 and sent the samples to
QuanTEM Laboratories of Oklahoma
City.
Paulsen conducted air sampling
Dec. 19, collecting samples in the
basement, the entrance lobby, the drill
floor, Room 6, a corridor near the
kitchen and the Happy Canyon bar.
Those results ranged from 7.45
More online
For a full copy of the lead testing
results visit eastoregonian.com
micrograms per cubic meter of air and
7.79, all below the Oregon Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administra-
tion 30-microgram action level.
The results Pendleton received
from the Dec. 7 wipe test was more
mixed.
There is no governmental standard
for a wipe test conducted at a public
facility’s basement or storage area, so
Paulsen compared it to standards set
by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development for housing
where children seven and younger
may reside. Lead is a neurotoxin that
can cause brain damage, especially
with young children.
A total of eight samples were
collected, more than half from the
basement.
“The only samples which were
analyzed to contain lead were from
the area of the bullet trap of the former
firing range in the north area of the
basement of the building,” the Paulsen
reports states. “The floor wipe in the
center path is slightly above the floor
limit for children in a housing situation.
The floor wipe at the bullet trap line is
approximately 1.5 times higher than
the floor limit for children in a housing
situation. The sample collected from
the I-beam is fairly high.”
Paulsen suggested that the city
move any items out of the north end
of the basement before “lead trained
personnel” vacuum and clean the areas
mentioned in the report. An additional
test will need to be conducted to
determine whether the cleaning was
effective.
Graham said he was surprised that
there were still some positive samples
given that the National Guard cleaned
the facility before it moved out.
Despite some of the results, Graham
said the basement shouldn’t affect the
convention center’s operations.
“The fact is that no one lives in the
basement or has an office down there,”
he said.
Graham said there isn’t yet a time-
table for when the high-lead areas will
be cleaned.
Although he has a quote from
a company qualified to clean lead,
Graham said the city is also looking
into collaborating with the National
Guard to remove the neurotoxin.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.
advisers’ ties to Russia
since
the
campaign.
Federal investigators have
been looking into possible
contacts between Trump
advisers and Russia, while
congressional committees
are investigating Russia’s
role in political hacking
during the campaign.
The
intelligence
community has assessed
that Russia’s hacking of
Democratic groups and
operatives was carried
out to help Trump defeat
Democrat Hillary Clinton.
One
official
said
McGahn’s memo instructs
White House staff to
preserve material from
Trump’s time in office,
and for those who worked
on the campaign, relevant
material from the election.
A Trump spokesman
said the White House was
“simply taking proactive
steps” and called the accu-
sations of nefarious ties
between the president and
Russia “false and politi-
cally motivated attacks.”
Congressional staffers
have said they are not
aware of any evidence that
materials related to Russia
are not being preserved.
But Senate Democratic
leader Chuck Schumer of
New York said last week:
“There is real concern that
some in the administration
may try to cover up its
ties to Russia by deleting
emails, texts and other
records that could shine a
light on those connections.
These records are likely to
be the subject of executive
branch as well as congres-
sional investigations and
must be preserved.”
Trump has denied
having any knowledge that
aides were in touch with
Russian intelligence agents
during the election, as
reported by The New York
Times. The White House
has launched an aggressive
effort to discredit the
report, including enlisting
GOP chairmen of the
congressional intelligence
committees to push back
against it.
The involvement of
North
Carolina
Sen.
Richard Burr and Cali-
fornia Rep. Devin Nunes
has sparked calls — mostly
from Democrats — for a
special prosecutor to inves-
tigate Russia’s role in the
election and possible ties to
Trump.
The White House has
acknowledged that Michael
Flynn, Trump’s former
national security adviser,
misled top officials about
the nature of his contacts
with Russia’s ambassador
to the U.S. Flynn initially
told Vice President Mike
Pence and other Trump
advisers that he did not
discuss sanctions with the
envoy during the transition,
though it was later revealed
that he did.
The FBI interviewed
Flynn about the contacts
days after the inauguration.
Trump fired Flynn after the
discrepancies in his account
were publicly revealed.
READ: One of the highlights
is a school-wide parade
Continued from 1A
School, and is now holding
family read-ins. The first
Friday of each month,
families are encouraged to
come in the mornings and
read with their students.
Tamie Watkinds, a Title
I teacher at West Park, said
one of the most important
things teachers can do to
encourage literacy is to
give children books of their
own, as many don’t have
them in their homes.
“If the kids meet their
AR (reading) goals, they
get to choose a book to
keep,” Watkinds said.
“Books seem to be a very
good incentive.”
Rick Cotterell, the prin-
cipal of McNary Heights
Elementary School in
Umatilla, said the students
have special dress-up days
for the entire week, and
one of the highlights is
a school-wide parade in
which each class makes a
float based on a book they
like. The school also has
guest readers in classes
throughout the week.
“Each day there’s an
emphasis on reading, and
at lunch, the kids answer
comprehension questions
and can win prizes,” he
said. “It’s so much fun for
the kids.”
Cotterell said McNary
Heights is below the state
average in literacy rates,
with more than 60 percent
of the student population as
English Language Learners.
One of their goals, he said,
is to align the intervention
process across grade levels,
so kids don’t have to adjust
to a new program each year.
Headings said compared
to other schools with chal-
lenging populations — high
poverty, high ELL popula-
tions — West Park is above
average. But compared to
the entire state, Headings
estimated the school is at or
below the average literacy
rate.
Watkinds said one of
the new programs she is
using this year seems to
be having some success.
The program, called Fast
ForWord, uses repetition to
help kids understand new
concepts and words.
“Kids need, on average,
14 to 30-something repeti-
tions to understand a new
concept,” he said. “For kids
who struggle with reading,
that’s not enough. With
the new program, they get
hundreds or thousands of
repetitions of the same
sound,” she said. “We’re
seeing really nice gains
with kids who’ve struggled
in the past.”
BENT: Only drug team north
of Bend and east of Portland
Continued from 1A
Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area program. Roberts
said BENT receives about
$110,000-$130,000 a year
to pay for personnel costs,
drug buys and leases for
vehicles.
The funding amount
is based on the team’s
quantifiable goals, Roberts
said, such as the number
of drug-trafficking organi-
zations it plans to identify,
disrupt or dismantle, or
projections for the number
of arrests and amounts of
drugs it can take off the
streets. Last year, Roberts
said that came to about 100
pounds of hard drugs —
meth, cocaine and heroin
— alone.
The fewer members the
team has, the harder it is
to hit those marks. Lower
marks means less funding.
And the less effective the
team is, the more traffickers
are going to notice and take
advantage. BENT is the
only drug team north of
Bend and east of Portland
to the Idaho border.
BENT also is a signif-
icant complement to the
local major crimes team,
Roberts added, and was the
first group of police on the
scene at the recent deadly
standoff at the Motel 6
in Pendleton. Cut state
police from BENT, and the
response ability suffers as
well.
Roberts said that’s the
picture everyone needs to
understand: State police are
the sole source for much of
Oregon’s law enforcement,
especially so in rural areas.
The agency provides the
medical examiner’s office,
the Law Enforcement
Data Systems, background
checks for gun buys, and
the Forensic Services Divi-
sion crime lab. That final
service, he said, proved
critical in cracking the 2013
Lukah Chang murder case.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.