NATION/WORLD
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Lawmakers intend
to question Trump
campaign chairman
WASHINGTON (AP) — Manafort don’t conflict with
The scope of congressional any criminal investigation,
investigations into Russian and that if conflicts do exist,
meddling in the 2016 pres- the senator will “work to find
idential contest came into a way for the committee to
sharper focus on Wednesday proceed with its oversight
as lawmakers said they responsibility.”
intended to question the
Separately, Rep. Adam
former chairman of the Trump Schiff, the top Democrat
campaign and to determine on the House intelligence
whether Russian social media committee, said his panel
“trolls” were connected to wants to look at the use of
Trump’s election
Russian
social
efforts.
media “trolls” and
The Senate Judi-
whether they were
ciary
Committee
connected to the
plans to question
Trump
election
former campaign
campaign.
chairman
Paul
That concern
Manafort
and
is
“certainly
will
subpoena
something
we
him if necessary,
want to explore,”
according to the
along with the
panel’s Republican Manafort
Trump campaign’s
chairman,
Sen.
data analytics, as
Chuck Grassley of Iowa. He part of a broader committee
said he and the committee’s investigation into Russian
top
Democrat,
Dianne meddling,
Schiff
said.
Feinstein of California, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared
have agreed to try to bring Kushner, oversaw digital
Manafort before the panel strategy for the campaign.
for questioning about the
The lawmakers spoke one
government’s enforcement of day after Donald Trump Jr.
a law requiring registration of disclosed on Twitter a series
foreign lobbyists. Feinstein’s of emails that revealed his
office confirmed that they eagerness to hear negative
plan to question him.
material on Clinton from a
Manafort would certainly Russian lawyer.
also be asked about his partic-
The exchange showed
ipation in a Trump Tower Trump Jr. conversing with a
meeting last summer with music publicist who wanted
President Donald Trump’s him to meet with a “Russian
eldest son and son-in-law, government attorney” who
where the purpose was to hear supposedly had dirt on
potentially damaging infor- Clinton as “part of Russia
mation about Hillary Clinton and its government’s support
for Mr. Trump.” He was
from a Russian lawyer.
Manafort disclosed the told the Russian government
meeting in a package of had information that could
information he provided to “incriminate” Clinton and her
the Senate and House intelli- dealings with Russia.
“I love it,” Trump Jr. said
gence committees, who have
been investigating potential in one email response.
In an interview before
coordination between Russia
Wednesday
and the Trump campaign, as departing
is Robert Mueller, the former evening for France, Trump
FBI director appointed by told Reuters that he didn’t
the Justice Department as the know about the meeting
“until a couple of days ago
special counsel.
“Obviously it would be when I heard about this.” He
appropriate for anybody to also said that he didn’t fault
get into anything that went on his son for attending. “I think
at that meeting, and he was at many people would have held
that meeting,” Grassley told that meeting,” he said.
Trump also said in a
Iowa reporters.
A person close to tweet that his son was “open,
Manafort said that he hasn’t transparent and innocent”
yet received a letter from the and again dismissed the
Senate Judiciary Committee ongoing Russia investigation
about a possible interview. as the “greatest Witch Hunt in
The person spoke on condi- political history.”
But Trump also refused to
tion of anonymity to discuss
Manafort’s private interac- dispute an assertion made by
Russian President Vladimir
tions with the committee.
A spokesman for Grassley Putin that Trump believed
said Wednesday afternoon him when he said that Russia
that Grassley was working hadn’t meddle in the election
with Mueller to ensure during their lengthy meeting
that any plans to question in Germany last week.
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Trump says he’ll
be ‘angry’ if health
care bill flops
WASHINGTON (AP)
— President Donald Trump
said Wednesday he will be
“very angry” if the Senate
fails to pass a revamped
Republican health care bill
and said Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell must “pull
it off,” intensifying pressure
on party leaders laboring
to win over unhappy GOP
senators and preserve the
teetering measure.
Trump’s remarks came
a day before McConnell,
R-Ky., planned to release
his revised legislation to
a closed-door meeting of
GOP senators. The new
legislation would keep most
of the initial Medicaid cuts
and makes other changes
aimed at nailing down
support, but internal GOP
disputes lingered that were
threatening to sink it.
With all Democrats set
to vote no, McConnell was
moving toward a do-or-die
roll call next week on
beginning debate, a motion
that will require backing
from 50 of the 52 GOP
senators.
Conservative Sen. Rand
Paul, R-Ky., said Wednesday
he would oppose the motion
and moderate Republican
Susan Collins of Maine
seemed all but sure to do the
same — leaving McConnell
with zero margin for error
to sustain his party’s goal of
toppling President Barack
Obama’s health care law.
Several other GOP senators
were holdouts as well,
leaving McConnell and his
lieutenants just days to win
them over or face a major
defeat.
FBI nominee
rejects Trump
claim: Probe no
witch hunt
WASHINGTON (AP)
— Donald Trump’s pick
to lead the FBI broke with
the president in key areas
Wednesday, rejecting the
idea that an investigation
into possible coordination
between Russia and the
Trump election campaign
is a “witch hunt” and
promising not to cave
to any pressure from a
White House that has
challenged boundaries
with the nation’s top law
enforcement agency.
Christopher Wray,
the former high-ranking
Justice Department
official whom Trump
nominated last month,
told senators at his
confirmation hearing
that he would never let
politics get in the way of the
bureau’s mission. And he
said he “sure as heck” would
not offer a pledge of loyalty
to the president.
Asserting his
independence, he said, “My
loyalty is to the Constitution
and the rule of law. Those
have been my guideposts
throughout my career, and
I will continue to adhere to
them no matter the test.”
Wray’s responses seemed
to satisfy both Democrats
and Republicans on the
Senate Judiciary Committee,
many of whom signaled
their support for him.
Wray, 50, would inherit
the FBI at a particularly
challenging time given
Trump’s abrupt dismissal
of James Comey, who
was admired within the
bureau. Yet the hearing,
the first public window
into Wray’s views since his
selection, was largely devoid
of fireworks in keeping
with what friends and
supporters have described
as the nominee’s low-key,
disciplined style.
His reserved approach
could bode well for the
agency at a time when its
work has been thrust into
the center of a political
maelstrom.
After Trump dismissed
Comey on May 9, the
ex-FBI director said that the
president had asked him to
pledge his loyalty during a
dinner at the White House
months earlier. He also said
Trump had encouraged him
to end an investigation into
the former national security
adviser, Michael Flynn.
Wray said he got no demand
for personal loyalty, nor
would he pledge it.
Scientists say
massive iceberg
has broken off in
Antarctica
One of the biggest
icebergs ever recorded, a
trillion-ton behemoth more
than seven times the size of
New York City, has broken
off of Antarctica, triggering
disagreement among
scientists over whether
global warming is to blame.
The event, captured by
satellite, happened sometime
in the past few days when
the giant chunk snapped off
an ice shelf.
While such “calving”
of icebergs is not unusual,
this is an especially big
one. It covers an area
of roughly 2,300 square
miles, more than twice the
size of Luxembourg. Its
volume is twice that of Lake
Erie, according to Project
MIDAS, a research group
based in Britain.
It broke loose from
the Larsen C ice shelf,
which scientists had been
monitoring for months as
they watched a crack grow
more than 120 miles long.
Scientists say global
warming has caused a
thinning of such shelves, but
they differ on whether the
latest event can be blamed
on climate change.
The iceberg is considered
unlikely to pose any threat
to shipping. And since the
ice was already floating,
the breakup won’t raise sea
levels in the short term, the
project said in a statement.
But it removed more than
10 percent of the ice shelf,
and if that eventually hastens
the flow of glaciers behind it
into the water, there could be
a “very modest” rise in sea
level, the project said.
Afghan girls will be
allowed into U.S.
for robotics contest
WASHINGTON (AP)
— U.S. officials will allow
a group of Afghan girls into
the country to participate
in an international robotics
competition after President
Donald Trump intervened,
White House spokeswoman
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
confirmed Wednesday,
ending a saga that had
sparked international
backlash.
Homeland Security
Department spokesman
David Lapan said the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration
Services approved a State
Department request for
Page 7A
six girls from the war-torn
country to be allowed in,
along with their chaperone,
so they can participate in
the competition. The girls’
applications for U.S. visas
had been denied twice.
The nonprofit organizing
the competition celebrated
the reversal in a jubilant
statement Wednesday.
The U.S. State
Department had declined
to comment on why
the Afghan team’s visa
applications were denied,
saying that “all visa
applications are adjudicated
on a case-by-case basis in
accordance with U.S. law.”
Hospital: Jailed
Nobel laureate’s
condition life
threatening
SHENYANG, China
(AP) — Imprisoned Chinese
Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Liu Xiaobo’s condition
is life threatening with
multiple organ failure and
his family has opted against
inserting a breathing tube
needed to keep him alive,
the hospital treating him
said.
Liu, who has advanced
liver cancer, is suffering
from respiratory and renal
failure as well as septic
shock, the First Hospital of
China Medical University
said on its website
Wednesday.
The hospital said doctors
informed Liu’s family of
the need for a tracheostomy
to keep him alive, but they
declined. Liu and his family,
who are being closely
guarded in the hospital,
could not immediately be
reached for comment.
Liu, China’s most
prominent political
prisoner, was diagnosed in
May after his cancer had
entered the final stages
and was transferred to the
hospital in the northeastern
city of Shenyang. He is
accompanied by a small
group of family members,
including his wife, the
poet and artist Liu Xia, but
is kept out of the sight of
supporters and the media.
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