May 15 and 16, 2017


News and Views


COMEY’S MEMO IS HIS WORD ALONE UNLESS OVAL OFFICE TAPES CAN CORROBORATE IT. THAT’S SOMETHING TO HOPE FOR.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html
Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT MAY 16, 2017

Photograph -- James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing this month. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.

“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.

The existence of Mr. Trump’s request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia.

Mr. Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with the president immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr. Flynn resigned, according to two people who read the memo. The memo was part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation. An F.B.I. agent’s contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.

JAMES COMEY AND THE F.B.I. By A.J. CHAVAR 1:36
A Times Exclusive: Trump, Comey and the Russia Investigation
Video

Michael S. Schmidt, a New York Times reporter, explains new revelations from a memo written by James B. Comey, the fired F.B.I. director. The memo showed that President Trump may have tried to halt the agency's investigation into Michael T. Flynn. By A.J. CHAVAR on Publish Date May 16, 2017. . Watch in Times Video »

Mr. Comey shared the existence of the memo with senior F.B.I. officials and close associates. The New York Times has not viewed a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of the memo to a Times reporter.

“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey that Mr. Flynn had done nothing wrong, according to the memo.

Mr. Comey did not say anything to Mr. Trump about curtailing the investigation, only replying: “I agree he is a good guy.”

What Is Obstruction of Justice? An Often-Murky Crime, Explained

A look at what qualifies as obstructing justice, and whether the accusations against President Trump could fit in that definition.

In a statement, the White House denied the version of events in the memo.

“While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” the statement said. “The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”

In testimony to the Senate last week, the acting F.B.I. director, Andrew G. McCabe, said, “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date.”

Mr. McCabe was referring to the broad investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. The investigation into Mr. Flynn is separate.

GRAPHIC
The Events That Led Up to Comey’s Firing, and How the White House’s Story Changed
New disclosures on Tuesday allege that in February, President Trump asked James B. Comey, then the F.B.I. director, to shut down an investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.
OPEN GRAPHIC
A spokesman for the F.B.I. declined to comment.

Mr. Comey created similar memos — including some that are classified — about every phone call and meeting he had with the president, the two people said. It is unclear whether Mr. Comey told the Justice Department about the conversation or his memos.

Mr. Trump fired Mr. Comey last week. Trump administration officials have provided multiple, conflicting accounts of the reasoning behind Mr. Comey’s dismissal. Mr. Trump said in a television interview that one of the reasons was because he believed “this Russia thing” was a “made-up story.”

The Feb. 14 meeting took place just a day after Mr. Flynn was forced out of his job after it was revealed he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of phone conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Mr. Trump strongly defended what he called his “absolute right” to share classified information about an ISIS plot with top Russian officials.

RELATED:
Two American officials told our reporters that the intelligence was provided by Israel.
The turmoil has set the White House staff squabbling.

Despite the conversation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Comey, the investigation of Mr. Flynn has proceeded. In Virginia, a federal grand jury has issued subpoenas in recent weeks for records related to Mr. Flynn. Part of the Flynn investigation is centered on his financial ties to Russia and Turkey.

Mr. Comey had been in the Oval Office that day with other senior national security officials for a terrorism threat briefing. When the meeting ended, Mr. Trump told those present — including Mr. Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — to leave the room except for Mr. Comey.

Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.

Mr. Trump then turned the discussion to Mr. Flynn.

After writing up a memo that outlined the meeting, Mr. Comey shared it with senior F.B.I. officials. Mr. Comey and his aides perceived Mr. Trump’s comments as an effort to influence the investigation, but they decided that they would try to keep the conversation secret — even from the F.B.I. agents working on the Russia investigation — so the details of the conversation would not affect the investigation.

Mr. Comey was known among his closest advisers to document conversations that he believed would later be called into question, according to two former confidants, who said Mr. Comey was uncomfortable at times with his relationship with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Comey’s recollection has been bolstered in the past by F.B.I. notes. In 2007, he told Congress about a now-famous showdown with senior White House officials over the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The White House disputed Mr. Comey’s account, but the F.B.I. director at the time, Robert S. Mueller III, kept notes that backed up Mr. Comey’s story.

The Trump administration has offered conflicting answers about how and why the F.B.I. director, James Comey, was fired.

The White House has repeatedly crossed lines that other administrations have been reluctant to cross when discussing politically charged criminal investigations. Mr. Trump has disparaged the continuing F.B.I. investigation as a hoax and called for an inquiry into his political rivals. His representatives have taken the unusual step of declaring no need for a special prosecutor to investigate the president’s associates.

The Oval Office meeting occurred a little more than two weeks after Mr. Trump summoned Mr. Comey to the White House for a lengthy, one-on-one dinner at the residence. At that dinner, on Jan. 27, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Comey at least two times for a pledge of loyalty — which Mr. Comey declined, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.

In a Twitter post on Friday, Mr. Trump said that “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”

After the meeting, Mr. Comey’s associates did not believe there was any way to corroborate Mr. Trump’s statements. But Mr. Trump’s suggestion last week that he was keeping tapes has made them wonder whether there are tapes that back up Mr. Comey’s account.

The Jan. 27 dinner came a day after White House officials learned that Mr. Flynn had been interviewed by F.B.I. agents about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak. On Jan. 26, Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates told the White House counsel about the interview, and said Mr. Flynn could be subject to blackmail by the Russians because they knew he had lied about the content of the calls.

Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman contributed reporting.

Get politics and Washington news updates via Facebook, Twitter and in the Morning Briefing newsletter.


A WORRISOME ENVIRONMENT INDEED!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-reacts-to-reports-of-trumps-disclosure-of-classified-information/
By BLAIR GUILD CBS NEWS May 15, 2017, 8:11 PM
Congress reacts to reports of Trump's disclosure of classified information

President Trump revealed "highly classified" intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Segey Kislyak last week, according to a report in The Washington Post.

The extremely sensitive information was gathered by a U.S. ally united in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and given on the basis that it remain private between the two parties. According to U.S. officials who spoke to the Post, Mr. Trump potentially jeopardized that relationship while also disclosing key ISIS-related intelligence.

"Highly damaging": Ex-CIA deputy director on report Trump revealed classified info
In a briefing Monday evening, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster denied on behalf of the White House that Mr. Trump shared the reported classified intelligence.

The Post's report sent shockwaves through Capitol Hill on Monday, shaking up lawmakers who last week called into question Mr. Trump's relationship with Russia after he fired FBI Director James Comey.

"[O]bviously they're in a downward spiral right now, they've got to figure out a way to come to grips with all the that's happening," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, said when asked by asked by the story by reporters Monday evening.

"You know the shame of it is there is a real good national security team in place and there are good productive things that are underway through them and others. The chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think makes, it creates a worrisome environment."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, expressed concern for national security, saying in a tweet, "a week ago Trump fired Comey. Now this."

3h
Bernie Sanders ✔ @SenSanders
Protecting our national security is one of the most important tasks a president has, and Trump is failing at it. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/864224477693005826 …
Follow
Bernie Sanders ✔ @SenSanders
A week ago Trump fired Comey. Now this. It's vitally important that Trump make public any recordings he has of talks in the Oval Office.
6:36 PM - 15 May 2017
1,242 1,242 Retweets 4,846 4,846 likes

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, called the situation "a slap in the face to the intel community" and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Rhode Island, said if true, Mr. Trump is "sabotaging our war against ISIS."

Follow
Mark Warner ✔ @MarkWarner
If true, this is a slap in the face to the intel community. Risking sources & methods is inexcusable, particularly with the Russians. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/864224477693005826 …
5:58 PM - 15 May 2017
4,469 4,469 Retweets 7,372 7,372 likes

Follow
Richard Blumenthal ✔ @SenBlumenthal
This bombshell report is astonishing & appalling - betraying our allies, endangering safety of sources, & sabotaging our war against ISIS.
6:47 PM - 15 May 2017
580 580 Retweets 959 959 likes

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, drew comparisons between Mr. Trump's own alleged handling of the classified information and Mr. Trump's criticism of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, also describing the behavior as part of "a pattern of recklessness."

4h
Martin Heinrich ✔ @MartinHeinrich
Claiming the CIA was “hacked” #Classified101 http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-classified-information-adam-schiff-236130 …
Follow
Martin Heinrich ✔ @MartinHeinrich
“And then I criticized her for using a personal email server!” pic.twitter.com/IgAjGYsp7p
6:03 PM - 15 May 2017
View image on Twitter
74 74 Retweets 146 146 likes

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, made a similar joke on Twitter.

Follow
Sheldon Whitehouse ✔ @SenWhitehouse
Hillary emails have harmless "classified" info; Republicans chant "lock her up." Trump reveals real secrets to Russians; Rs say what??
7:27 PM - 15 May 2017
1,254 1,254 Retweets 2,031 2,031 likes
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, also commented on the Post's report.

"Even if President Trump unwittingly blew a highly classified code-word source to the Russians, that would be dangerous enough," she said in a statement. "If the President outed a highly classified code-word source intentionally, that would be even more dangerous."

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who also serves as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, tweeted of the report: "If true, deeply disturbing,"

Follow
John McCain ✔ @SenJohnMcCain
If true, deeply disturbing... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_trumpintel-0504pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.2a0556fa5611 …

6:47 PM - 15 May 2017
Photo published for Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
The president was boasting of the ‘great intel’ he receives when he discussed intelligence provided by a U.S. partner.
washingtonpost.com
1,523 1,523 Retweets 2,856 2,856 likes

CBS News Alan He contributed to this report.


IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/politics/trump-russia-classified-information-isis.html?_r=0
POLITICS
Trump Revealed Highly Classified Intelligence to Russia, in Break With Ally, Officials Say
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and ERIC SCHMITT
MAY 15, 2017

Photograph -- President Trump met with Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, in the White House last week. American journalists were barred, but Russia released photographs. Credit Russian Foreign Ministry

WASHINGTON — President Trump boasted about highly classified intelligence in a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador last week, providing details that could expose the source of the information and the manner in which it was collected, a current and a former American government official said Monday.

The intelligence disclosed by Mr. Trump in a meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, was about an Islamic State plot, according to the officials. A foreign ally that closely guards its own secrets provided the information, which was considered so sensitive that American officials did not share it widely within the United States government or pass it on to other allies.

Mr. Trump’s disclosure does not appear to have been illegal — the president has the power to declassify almost anything. But sharing the information without the express permission of the ally who provided it represented a major breach of espionage etiquette, and could jeopardize a crucial intelligence-sharing relationship.

The ally has repeatedly warned American officials that it would cut off access to such sensitive information if it were shared too widely, said the former official. In this case, the fear is that Russia will be able to determine exactly how the information was collected and could disrupt the ally’s espionage efforts.

TRUMP’S RUSSIAN CONNECTION By THE NEW YORK TIMES 00:55
Video
H.R. McMaster on Reports of Trump Sharing Classified Data With Russia

Photograph -- The national security adviser discussed reports that President Trump boasted about highly classified intelligence in a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador. By THE NEW YORK TIMES. Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times.

The Washington Post first reported the disclosure.

Beyond angering a partner and calling into question the ability of the United States to keep secrets, the episode also opens Mr. Trump to criticism of a double standard. The president made Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information through her private email server central to his campaign, leading chants of “lock her up” at rallies. But there was never any indication that Mrs. Clinton exposed sensitive information from an ally or gave it to an adversary.

The Trump administration pushed back on the revelation, with high-ranking officials denying that the president discussed such highly sensitive information with the Russian officials.

“The president and the foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation,” said H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, who attended the meeting. “At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.”

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson echoed General McMaster, saying a range of subjects came up, including “the nature of specific threats,” but not sources, methods or military operations.

But according to the officials, Mr. Trump discussed the contents of the intelligence, not the sources and methods used to collect it. The concern is that knowledge of the information about the Islamic State plot could allow the Russians to figure out the sources and methods.

“This story is false. The president only discussed the common threats that both countries faced,” said Dina Powell, the deputy national security adviser, who was also at the meeting.

The episode immediately reverberated around Washington.

“To compromise a source is something that you just don’t do, and that’s why we keep the information that we get from intelligence sources so close as to prevent that from happening,” Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said on Twitter, “If true, this is a slap in the face to the intel community. Risking sources & methods is inexcusable, particularly with the Russians.”

The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment.

Thomas Kaplan contributed reporting.



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/three-months-chaos-grips-donald-trumps-white-house?cid=eml_mra_20170515
The Rachel Maddow Show / The MaddowBlog
Three months in, chaos grips Donald Trump’s White House
05/15/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 05/15/17 01:37 PM
By Steve Benen

Photograph -- U.S. President Donald Trump hosts an event for military mothers on National Military Spouse Appreciation Day with is wife, first lady Melania Trump, in the East Room of the White Hosue May 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla

In Friday’s White House press briefing, a reporter told Press Secretary Sean Spicer he’d spoken to a former FBI official who was alarmed by Donald Trump threatening former FBI Director James Comey via Twitter. The reporter’s source said the president, in his words, “is simply ‘out of control.’”

Spicer replied, “That’s, frankly, offensive.” He did not elaborate.

The response was about as good as any – it wasn’t as if the president’s chief spokesperson could acknowledge from the podium that Trump really is “out of control” – but the reporter’s FBI contact is hardly the only person thinking along these lines. The morning after the president fired the person overseeing the investigation into his campaign, a White House staffer told Politico the White House’s team had slipped into “total and complete chaos – even by our standards.”

Over the weekend, the Washington Post published a piece that characterized the White House as a dysfunctional mess, led by a president whose stability is in doubt.

In deciding to abruptly fire FBI Director James B. Comey, President Trump characteristically let himself be guided by his own instincts – fueled by his creeping anger and sense of victimhood about a probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election that he considers a “witch hunt.”

The aftermath is a presidency rocked by its most serious self-inflicted crisis yet, exposing dysfunction and distrust within his West Wing and imperiling his agenda. The momentum for the health-care bill that passed the House is gone, and a week scheduled to be devoted to Trump’s preparations for a high-stakes foreign trip was overtaken by distractions and fury.

Across Washington, Trump’s allies have been buzzing about the staff’s competence as well as the president’s state of mind. One GOP figure close to the White House mused privately about whether Trump was “in the grip of some kind of paranoid delusion.”

It’s not often that the Washington Post publishes a quote like that – in the third paragraph, on the front page, in the midst of what appears to be one of the most serious White House scandals in decades.

The piece went to describe Trump as angry, impulsive, and directionless, overseeing aides who are eager to point fingers at one another. Describing the night of the Comey firing, one White House official told the Post, “They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”

An Associated Press report, meanwhile, added that Trump has “become distrustful” of White House staffers, marginalizing once-powerful aides, and relying more and more on his daughter, son-in-law, and Keith Schiller, his longtime bodyguard.

The piece noted that the president “increasingly sees himself as the White House’s only effective spokesperson,” which is genuinely hilarious given the damage he did to himself by effectively admitting to obstructing justice last week – after West Wing officials put their credibility on the line by pushing a narrative that Trump himself discredited.

On the surface, the portrait that emerges is obviously unsettling. Our amateur president is lost, bruised, and isolated, skeptical of his own team, and inadvertently making each of his problems worse. Given that so few people in the West Wing – especially those who have Trump’s ear – have any governing experience, or even a rudimentary understanding of what a functioning White House looks like, there’s no reason to believe Team Trump will right this ship anytime soon.

Indeed, both of the aforementioned reports raise the specter of the president deciding on a major staffing overhaul, though there’s no reason to believe that would make any difference: it’s not as if new staffers would suddenly make Trump competent and responsible.

But just below the surface it’s important to recognize that each of the White House’s problems are of Team Trump’s own making. Three months after Inauguration Day, the president is plagued by scandal, incompetence, and unpopularity, but neither he nor his aides have been forced to confront an external, unpredictable crisis they didn’t see coming.

And every president, without exception, faces external, unpredictable crisis they didn’t see coming.

Is there any reason for anyone to have confidence in Trump World’s ability to control its chaos and respond like grown-ups to a serious challenge the president didn’t create on his own?

Explore:
The MaddowBlog, Donald Trump and White House



THIS IS A SAD LITTLE STORY ABOUT A GIRL WHO, UNLIKE SOME OTHERS, WAS NOT TO BE MEMORIALIZED AT THIS YEAR’S GRADUATION AT ENLOE HIGH SCHOOL IN RALEIGH, NC. THERE ARE TWO THINGS HERE: FIRST HER FAMILY IS SUING THE INSTALLATION COMPANIES FOR A FAULTY JOB THAT CAUSED THE WATER TO BECOME DEADLY. THE CASE WAS IN THE NEWS QUITE A BIT, AND POSSIBLY WITH ROWS OF THOSE ANNOYING SATELLITE TRUCKS FROM CNN, ETC. SECOND, THE FAMILY HAPPENS TO BE JEWISH.

THE SCHOOL SAID THAT MEMORIALS CAN CAUSE HIGH EMOTIONS AT SCHOOL GRADUATIONS WHICH THE SCHOOL MIGHT HAVE DIFFICULTY CONTROLLING. I DOUBT IT. THIS ISN’T A SITUATION LIKE THE SHOOTING OF A BLACK TEENAGER FOR JAYWALKING. THEN YOU’LL HAVE ANGRY CROWDS. I’M AFRAID IT’S MORE A MATTER OF THEIR BELIEVING THAT THE DEATH OF THIS JEWISH GIRL WOULD GET LOST IN THE SHUFFLE OF DAILY NEWS, AND A LOCAL KKK GROUP MIGHT EVEN PROTEST IF SHE WERE TO BE HONORED PUBLICLY, SO FAILING TO DO SO WAS THE EASIEST WAY TO GO. THIS IS A TRICKY POLITICAL CLIMATE.

RACISM AGAINST JEWS DOES CONTINUE IN NC, AND AN UPSURGE OF ANTISEMITISM AND RACISM OF ALL KINDS IS ON THE RISE WITH THE TRUMP PHENOMENON. I’VE NEVER SEEN A DIRECT CLAIM THAT TRUMP, HIMSELF, IS ANTI-SEMITIC, BUT ALL RELIGIONS AND RACES AND ETHNICITIES OTHER THAN WHITE ANGLO-SAXON PROTESTANTS ARE UNPOPULAR WITH THE NEO-NAZI CROWD; AND THE TAINT OF THOSE HATREDS ARE SILENTLY FOSTERED YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT -- MORE WIDELY THAN THEY APPEAR TO BE TO THE UNDISCERNING EYE. THEY’RE READY AND WAITING TO SPROUT UP AGAIN WITH THE ACTIVE RIGHTIST FERMENT THAT WE HAVE TODAY.

THIS STORY, HOWEVER, HAS A HAPPY ENDING. A PETITION BEARING OVER 13,000 SIGNATURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD HAS CONVINCED THE HIGH SCHOOL TO HONOR HER LIFE AFTER ALL.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/raleigh-high-school-to-honor-drowned-student-rachel-rosoff-at-graduation/
CBS/AP/ May 16, 2017, 10:34 AM
Petition convinces high school to honor deceased student at graduation

Photograph -- Rachel Rosoff, who drowned in an electrified swimming pool, will be honored during her high school graduation in June.
/ WNCN-TV

RALEIGH, N.C. -- School officials at a high school in North Carolina say they will now honor a 17-year-old lifeguard, who was electrocuted and drowned in a swimming pool, following widespread backlash at an initial decision not to.

According to the News & Observer reports, Rachel Rosoff will be recognized at Enloe High School's June 14 graduation with a vase placed on stage and a moment of silence.

CBS affiliate WNCN-TV reports the ceremony will also include a moment of silence, a statement from the school within the graduation program, and the possibility of a reference to Rosoff within the valedictorian's speech.

The reversal comes after national coverage of the school's initial decision to not mention Rosoff by name, citing inability to provide trained professionals to support students at the ceremony.

An online petition against the decision amassed 13,500 signatures from all over the world.

The Wake County School District issued a statement on Monday that reads in part: "We appreciate the willingness of Rachel Rosoff's family to resolve the question of Rachel's recognition during a painful and difficult time for all who knew her. We would also like to thank Enloe Principal Will Chavis for his quiet and persistent efforts to help us reach an agreement. We are not providing additional comment out of respect for the Rosoff family and the healing process among Rachel's classmates."

On Sept. 3, 2016 -- just a week into her senior year -- Rosoff dove into a swimming pool in Raleigh without realizing the water was electrified. She subsequently drowned as a result of the incident.

According to an inspection report released by Wake County, a corroded ground wire from 1979 forced electricity into the pool. Authorities say there was no chance for a breaker to trip, sending electricity along another path and into the pool.

Pool inspections that are required each year in North Carolina do not include electrical work.


http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article148913004.html
Mother upset that Enloe High graduation won’t mention student who died
By Chris Cioffi
May 5, 2017

Photograph -- Michelle and Jordana Rosoff, mother and sister of teen lifeguard Rachel Rosoff, talk about Rachel's death. Rachel died by electrocution in a pool accident in North Raleigh in September. Chris Seward - cseward@newsobserver.com

RALEIGH — Rachel Rosoff would have walked across the stage with fellow Enloe High School students at graduation in June, but now school officials say Enloe won’t even acknowledge her.

Rosoff was electrocuted and drowned Sept. 3, a week into her senior year, while working as a lifeguard at the Heritage Point subdivision pool. An online petition, launched by Rosoff’s sister, Jordana, an Enloe sophomore, has gotten roughly 1,800 signatures asking school officials to acknowledge the 17-year-old at graduation.

Wake County Public Schools doesn’t have an official policy on whether to recognize students, but it advises schools not to memorialize students during ceremonies, said schools spokeswoman Lisa Luten. Enloe has no plans to acknowledge Rosoff at graduation.

Enloe Principal William Chavis sent Rosoff’s mother, Michelle Rosoff, an email Wednesday thanking her for advocating on behalf of her daughter, but explaining why Enloe would not acknowledge Rachel.

“A memorial of a lost/loved one has potential to cause students (or others) to react in ways that would take trained professionals (i.e. counselors) to support – we cannot ensure that at such an occasion. Consequently we will not have a memorial at a graduation ceremony,” Chavis said in the email.

Photograph -- A school portrait of Rachel Rosoff, who was electrocuted and drowned in a swimming pool in September 2016. 1011016-ROSOFF-CCS001 Chris Seward - Courtesy of the Rosoff family

Photograph -- Rachel Rosoff’s sister, Jordana, left, and her mom, Michelle Rosoff, during a 2016 interview at their North Raleigh home. Chris Seward - Courtesy of the Rosoff family

Rosoff said she was hurt by the response. She said she feels that not acknowledging her daughter makes it seem as if Rachel didn’t exist.

“I know that Wake County has honored other kids, and it’s not a policy, it’s a choice,” Rosoff said.

Luten said the only other case she knows of was a few years ago when a student died within weeks of graduation. A moment of silence was held for students who were not with their classmates at the ceremony, she said.

On Enloe’s campus, a tree has been planted and a bench has been installed in Rachel’s honor. Rosoff also started a scholarship fund in her daughter’s name, and a link can be found on the school’s website.

“It’s amazing that they can have her on their website for a scholarship, but they won’t acknowledge her at graduation,” Rosoff said.

The family has filed a lawsuit against two electrical contractors, claiming that shoddy workmanship led to the girl’s death. The lawsuit is still pending.

On the petition’s webpage, people have left comments in support of acknowledging Rosoff.

[Family of lifeguard who died in Wake County pool is suing contractors]

“As a former English teacher at Enloe, there were several years students who had died were acknowledged at graduation,” said commenter Melinda Carter of Raleigh. “This administration should do the same.”

Mary Johnson, also of Raleigh, wrote, “Graduation is a day to remember time during high school and lessons they learned. Some of these lessons, such as the loss of a friend, are difficult but just as important to recognize.”


I HOPE THIS CASE WILL BE USABLE AS A PRECEDENT FOR LOTS IF NOT ALL OF THOSE ANTI-VOTER LAWS. I’M GLAD TO SEE THIS STEP FORWARD.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/politics/voter-id-laws-supreme-court-north-carolina.html?_r=0
Strict North Carolina Voter ID Law Thwarted After Supreme Court Rejects Case
By ADAM LIPTAK and MICHAEL WINESMAY 15, 2017

Photograph -- People celebrated at a church in Raleigh on Monday after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case over North Carolina’s voter ID law, leaving in place a lower-court ruling that struck down key parts of the law as an unconstitutional effort to target African-Americans. Credit Robert Willett/The News & Observer

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to revive a restrictive North Carolina voting law that a federal appeals court had struck down as an unconstitutional effort to “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision.”

The court’s decision not to hear an appeal in the case effectively overturned one of the most far-reaching attempts by Republicans to counter what they contended, without evidence, was widespread voter fraud in North Carolina. The law rejected the forms of identification used disproportionately by blacks, including IDs issued to government employees, students and people receiving public assistance.

Democrats and civil rights groups, wary of the Supreme Court now that it has regained a conservative majority with the appointment of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, welcomed the announcement that it would not hear the case.

“An ugly chapter in voter suppression is finally closing,” said Dale Ho, director of the A.C.L.U.’s Voting Rights Project.

The leaders of North Carolina’s Republican-controlled Legislature vowed that they would seek to enact new voting restrictions after their defeat.

“All North Carolinians can rest assured that Republican legislators will continue fighting to protect the integrity of our elections by implementing the common sense requirement to show a photo ID when we vote,” House Speaker Tim Moore and Phil Berger, the president pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate, said in a statement.

But their options will be limited by the appeals court decision and will most likely face opposition from Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the appeal.

“Today’s announcement is good news for North Carolina voters,” Mr. Cooper said in a statement. “We need to be making it easier to vote, not harder.”

The divisions in the state’s leadership, which led to a dispute about who represented the state in the case, figured in the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear it, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a statement that accompanied the court’s one-sentence order. He added that nothing should be read into the court’s decision to decline to hear the case.

The Supreme Court’s action set no precedent and will have no impact in most of the country. But it let stand the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s sweeping rejection of an array of voting restrictions by North Carolina.

The law, enacted by the state legislature in 2013, imposed a range of voting restrictions, including the new voter identification requirements. It was part of a wave of voting restrictions enacted after a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision that effectively struck down a central part of the federal Voting Rights Act, weakening federal oversight of voting rights.

The case challenging the North Carolina law was brought by civil rights groups and the Obama administration. A trial judge rejected arguments that the law violated the Constitution and what remained of the Voting Rights Act. But a three-judge panel of the appeals court disagreed.

The appeals court ruling struck down five parts of the law: its voter ID requirements, a rollback of early voting to 10 days from 17, an elimination of same-day registration and of preregistration of some teenagers, and its ban on counting votes cast in the wrong precinct.

The court found that all five restrictions “disproportionately affected African-Americans.” The law’s voter identification provision, for instance, “retained only those types of photo ID disproportionately held by whites and excluded those disproportionately held by African-Americans.”

That was the case, the court said, even though the state had “failed to identify even a single individual who has ever been charged with committing in-person voter fraud in North Carolina.” But it did find that there was evidence of fraud in absentee voting by mail, a method used disproportionately by white voters. The Legislature, however, exempted absentee voting from the photo ID requirement.

The court also found that the early voting restrictions had a much larger effect on black voters, who “disproportionately used the first seven days of early voting.” The law, the court said, eliminated one of two “souls to the polls” Sundays, when black churches provided rides to polling places.

Voting rights advocates had been watching the North Carolina case for signs of how a closely divided Supreme Court would rule on similar lawsuits now that Justice Gorsuch is on the court.

In September, a deadlocked Supreme Court turned down an emergency pre-election request from state officials to block the appeals court’s ruling. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan voted to reject the state’s arguments. Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. would have temporarily reinstated parts of the law.

The decision on Monday not to hear the case turned on procedural issues, not on the substance of the suit, so the court’s current leanings remain unknown.

State officials asked the Supreme Court in December to hear their appeal in the case, North Carolina v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, No. 16-833.

Two months later, in an unusual last-minute procedural maneuver, two newly elected Democratic officials — Mr. Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein — asked the court to dismiss the state’s petition seeking review. Lawyers for the General Assembly opposed the motion.

In his statement on Monday, Chief Justice Roberts said the Supreme Court’s decision to decline to grant the petition seeking review, or petition for certiorari, turned on that dispute.

“Given the blizzard of filings over who is and who is not authorized to seek review in this Court under North Carolina law,” the chief justice wrote, quoting an earlier decision, “it is important to recall our frequent admonition that ‘the denial of a writ of certiorari imports no expression of opinion upon the merits of the case.’”

Civil liberties advocates, nevertheless, called it a victory for voting rights and — for now, at least — a precedent with broad application.

“This is the law of the land in the Fourth Circuit,” said Daniel T. Donovan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The justices are likely to take a more definitive position on voting rights issues when and if they hear one of several cases that appear bound for the court. The most likely candidate is a lawsuit challenging Texas’ 2011 voter identification law.

A federal district judge ruled in April that the Texas Legislature had intentionally discriminated against black and Hispanic voters when it enacted the law.

Adam Liptak reported from Washington, and Michael Wines from New York.


LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH. IT LOOKS FOR ALL THE WORLD LIKE AN OLD FASHIONED KKK RALLY, WITH ALL THOSE TORCHES. SAD, BUT NOT SURPRISING. THE PENDULUM IS SWINGING AGAIN. STILL, AS LONG AS THERE HAS BEEN MANKIND, THERE HAS BEEN BRUTALITY AND WAR. THIS IS BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE WAR.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/05/14/protestors-nazi-charlottesville-jackson-lee-white-supremacist-rally/22085869/
Protestors chant Nazi phrases, wield torches near Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Va.
JENNIFER KLINE, AOL.COM
May 14th 2017 10:23AM

WATCH VIDEO.

Several dozen torch-wielding protestors gathered Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., chanting Nazi rhetoric as well as "Russia is our friend." Mayor Mike Signer has issued a statement likening the event to a KKK demonstration.

The group congregated in Lee Park by a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which is slated to be removed from the premises later this year following a February city council vote. Earlier in the day, protestors had also gathered at nearby Jackson Park, voicing their commitment to protecting what they called their "white heritage."

Chants of "blood and soil" broke out just after 9 PM. The German-originated expression, popularized in the Nazi era, refers to an ideology of "ethnic purity" based on blood descent and territory.

After about ten minutes of activity, Charlottesville police intervened, and the crowd extinguished their torches and dispersed. Law enforcement had also broken up the Jackson Park protest hours earlier with relative ease, although intervention there followed rowdier arguments and scuffles.

"This event involving torches at night in Lee Park was either profoundly ignorant or was designed to instill fear in our minority populations in a way that hearkens back to the days of the KKK," Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said in a statement.

At Jackson Park, some demonstrators spoke to press. "We're not white supremacists," said protestor Orry Von Dize. "We are simply just white people that love our heritage, our culture, our European identity."

Follow
Jeff Yang ✔ @originalspin
They're chanting "Russia is our friend" and the Nazi Era phrase "Blood and Soil."

How is this happening in America? In the 21st century? https://twitter.com/nycjim/status/863598463002476544 …
12:46 AM - 14 May 2017
2,050 2,050 Retweets 1,629 1,629 likes

Following the event, supporters tweeted photos showing the scene with messages like "You will not replace us" and "#SaveJacksonAndLee."

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
Follow
Cecilia Davenport @CWDaven
#YouWillNotReplaceUs
10:52 PM - 13 May 2017
369 369 Retweets 1,026 1,026 likes

In attendance was infamous white supremacist Richard Spencer, who shared a photo of himself holding a torch. On Sunday, he mocked a reporter who called out the event: "Glad you enjoyed it," he tweeted. Spencer, a Nazi sympathizer who claims he created the "alt-right" movement, made headlines in January 2017 when he was punched in the face on live TV.

RELATED: See the KKK through the years

Slideshow preview image
23 PHOTOS
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) throughout history
SEE GALLERY


A group suing Charlottesville over the Lee statue removal says it had no involvement in the Saturday events. "It has come to our attention that several out-of-town groups associated with white supremacy and (identitarian) beliefs conducted events and protests in both Lee and Jackson Parks today," a rep wrote on Facebook. "Neither Save the Robert E. Lee Statue nor The Monument Fund were in any way involved in these events and only learned of them though media reports."


BERNIE FROM THE BEGINNING TO 2020 – THIS MAY BE A PROMISE TO RUN AGAIN. WATCH THE HOUR-LONG VIDEO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8V9YKUrlYA
BERN - Bernie Sanders Documentary (FULL MOVIE)
Bernie Sanders 2020
Published on Jan 21, 2017

Our Revolution: A Future To Believe In: http://amzn.to/2nN2XHU
Outsider In The White House: http://amzn.to/2o8V400

Top 10 Progressive News Channels
1. Secular Talk: https://www.youtube.com/user/SecularTalk
2. The Jimmy Dore Show: https://www.youtube.com/user/TYTComedy
3. The Real News: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealNews
4. TYT Politics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuMo0RRtnNDuMB8DV5stEag
5. The Ring Of Fire: https://www.youtube.com/user/golefttv
6. The Humanist Report: https://www.youtube.com/user/MikeAnthonyTV
7. The Tim Black Show: https://www.youtube.com/user/TimsTakeLive
8. The David Pakman Show: https://www.youtube.com/user/MidweekPolitics
9. Democracy Now: https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow

THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE ON THIS LIST, BUT I NOTICED IT SAID "RT" ON IT, SO I CHECKED IT OUT. IT IS RUSSIA TIMES, SO I LEFT IT OFF HERE. NO MATTER HOW LIBERAL THEY MAY SEEM, THEY ARE STILL RUSSIA.