Monday, March 4

á           The House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation asking for documents from 81 entities, including the White House and TrumpÕs namesake company, charity, transition team, inauguration and 2016 campaign, as well as several longtime associates and the presidentÕs two adult sons.

á           California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed suit to block changes to the Title X family planning program that would shift millions of federal dollars away from abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood and toward faith-based pregnancy clinics.

Tuesday, March 5

á           Adam Shiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, announced the committee has hired a seasoned former Southern District of New York federal prosecutor with experience going after Russian organized crime to lead its investigations into President Donald Trump.

Wednesday, March 6

á           Senators Dianne Feinstein and Charles Grassley wrote to the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services asking him to open investigation into reports of sexual abuse of minors in their custody at the border.

á           The Commerce Department released a report showing that the U.S. trade deficit with China grew from $375.5 billion in 2017 to $419.20 billion in 2018.

á           Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) introduced a measure to repeal the resolutions that authorized the use of military force for the Gulf and Iraq wars

á           Politico reported that the administration has 30 times refused or delayed turning over documents to 12 House committees, and six administration officials refused to appear before five committees while two officials have refused to come in for interviews with two other committees.

Thursday, March 7

á           Former Trump campaign manager was sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax fraud and bank fraud, a far smaller sentence than the approximately 20 years called for by sentencing guidelines.

á           By a vote of 407 to 23, the House passed a broad measure condemning hatred against Jewish people, Islamic people, Latinos, Asian Americans and LGBTQ people.

Friday, March 8

á           In a party-line vote, the House passed a voting rights, campaign finance and ethics reform package. The legislation includes a national expansion of early voting, redistricting reform, automatic voter registration and stricter disclosure rules for a bevy of political activities.

á           Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was taken into custody for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury on what she said was an investigation of WikiLeaks. She will remain in jail until she changes her mind or until the grand jury finishes its work, which could be 18 months.

á           The Guardian reported that TrumpÕs inauguration fund received $75,000 in donations from each of three shell companies, at least one of which was made for a foreign national who appears ineligible to make political donations in the U.S.

á           U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ruled that all migrant families separated during the governmentÕs border crackdown should be included in a class-action lawsuit.

Saturday, March 9

á           No news to report.

Sunday, March 10

á           A Chinese-American massage-parlor entrepreneur, whose day spas are alleged to include prostitution, arranged for a group of Chinese business executives to attend a paid fundraiser for President Donald Trump in New York City at the end of 2017.

á           Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on ÒMeet the PressÓ that a new Trump proposal for having allies pay the full cost of stationing American troops on their territory, plus 50 percent, Òwould be absolutely devastating.Ó

 

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