Sen. Rubio: Corporations Aren't Investing Tax Cuts in Jobs

WASHINGTON — 

Sen. Marco Rubio says big businesses aren't investing much of their windfall from President Donald Trump's tax cuts into their workers despite GOP promises during last year's debate.

"There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they're going to take the money they're saving and reinvest it in American workers," Rubio, R-Fla., told The Economist in a story release Monday. "In fact they bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there's no evidence whatsoever that the money's been massively poured back into the American worker."

Rubio's comments run counter to the cheerleading seen from other Republicans — and Democrats quickly jumped on the remarks.

"We couldn't have said it any better ourselves," said Matt House, a spokesman for top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

The GOP tax cut reduced the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and also lower rates on individuals. Democrats say too much of the cuts went to the wealthy and businesses while hastening the arrival of $1 trillion-plus annual budget deficits.

GOP leaders are making the tax cuts the centerpiece of the fall midterm campaign and credit the tax cuts for boosting the economy. But the tax cuts have been underperforming in opinion polls, such as a Gallup survey earlier this month that found 39 percent of respondents approved of the GOP tax measure, with 52 percent disapproving.

Rubio, a rival contender to Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016, voted for the tax cuts in December after unsuccessfully pressing to make the $2,000 per-child tax credit fully refundable for lower-income workers.

"Sen. Rubio pushed for a better balance in the tax law between tax cuts for big businesses and families, as he's done for years," said Rubio spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas, adding that Rubio still believes that "cutting the corporate tax rate will make America a more competitive place to do business."

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Porn Star Stormy Daniels Sues President Trump for Defamation

The porn actress alleging a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump is escalating her legal fight, suing the president for defamation.

Stormy Daniels filed the complaint in federal court in New York on Monday. At issue is a tweet Trump made in which he dismissed a composite sketch that Daniels says depicted a man who threatened her in 2011 to stay quiet about her alleged relationship with Trump.

In the tweet earlier in April, Trump said: "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools [but they know it]!"

The filing says the tweet was "false and defamatory," arguing that Trump was speaking about Daniels and that he "knew that his false, disparaging statement would be read by people around the world, as well as widely reported." It also says Daniels has been "exposed to death threats and other threats of physical violence."

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages. Her attorney Michael Avenatti said Monday: "We intend on teaching Mr. Trump that you cannot simply make things up about someone and disseminate them without serious consequences."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Trump in another legal matter in New York did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The lawsuit is the latest legal move from Daniels, who already is suing to be released from a non-disclosure deal she agreed to days before the 2016 election in exchange for $130,000. The payment was made by the president's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. That civil lawsuit was delayed in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday, with the judge citing a criminal investigation that Cohen is facing.

Cohen asked for a delay after FBI agents raided his home and office several weeks ago. The FBI was seeking records about the nondisclosure agreement. Cohen's attorney said in court last week that because the criminal investigation overlaps with issues in the lawsuit, his client's right against self-incrimination could be adversely impacted because he won't be able to respond and defend himself.

Aided by her hard-charging attorney, Michael Avenatti, Daniels has aggressively sought to keep her case in the public eye. Several weeks ago, she revealed a sketch on ABC's "The View" that she said depicts the man who warned her in 2011 to stay quiet about a 2006 tryst with Trump. Daniels said the man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot when she was with her young daughter.

Trump faces a number of allegations about his sexual exploits long before he ran for president. The White House says Trump did not have a sexual encounter with Daniels, and the president has denied the other allegations as well.

Trump is also facing a New York defamation lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice." Zervos has accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact in 2007 and sued him after he dismissed the claims as made up. A judge ruled that lawsuit can move forward.

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Correspondents' Annual Dinner Jokes Draw Trump's Ire

No Guns Allowed at NRA Convention when Trump, Pence Speak

DALLAS — 

Attendees at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Dallas can carry their firearms — except during the forum where President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence speak Friday.

A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend Friday. Pence had already been slated to speak at Friday's leadership forum,

The NRA has said on its website that due to Pence's attendance, the U.S. Secret Service is responsible for security then. It's standard for the Secret Service to bar firearms from being carried into places visited by the people they protect, regardless of state laws.

Some students at the Parkland, Florida, high school where 17 people were killed in February criticized the NRA on social media for what they see as hypocrisy.

Guns were also banned during Trump's appearance at the NRA's annual meeting in Atlanta last year.

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White House Not Addressing Reports on Jackson's Future

The White House says Dr. Ronny Jackson remains assigned to the White House — but it's not addressing reports the Navy rear admiral won't be returning to the job of President Donald Trump's personal physician.

Jackson abandoned his nomination to be secretary of Veterans Affairs last week.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement Jackson is still assigned to the White House, adding that there were "no personnel announcements at this time."

Politico first reported Sunday that Jackson would not return to the role of personal physician to the president. Dr. Sean Conley, a Navy veteran, took the role of Trump's personal physician after Jackson was nominated.

Jackson withdrew his nomination amid allegations that he drank on the job and overprescribed medication. Jackson has denied those allegations.

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Comey Dismisses Republican Report on Russia as 'Political Document'

Fired FBI Director James Comey is dismissing a Republican-led House committee report clearing the Trump campaign of collusion with the Russians as a "political document."

"This is not my understanding of what the facts were before I left the FBI and I think the most important piece of work is the one the special counsel's doing now," Comey said on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday.

Comey called the investigation by the House Intelligence Committee "a wreck" that damaged relations with the intelligence community and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees requests for surveillance warrants against foreign spies inside the United States.

While the committee report acknowledged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, it says investigators found no evidence the Trump campaign worked with the Russians.

Democrats on the committee say the Republicans on the panel did not interview enough witnesses or find enough evidence to back the report's findings.

Ranking Democrat Adam Schiff called its conclusions "superficial."

President Donald Trump has consistently denied his campaign colluded with the Russians. He has called himself the subject of a "witch hunt" and calls Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe a "hoax."

Comey told Meet the Press Sunday something he wrote in his just-published best seller about his career - that he has serious doubts about Trump's credibility, even if Mueller were to interview the president under oath.

"Sometimes people who have serious credibility problems can tell the truth when they realize that the consequences of not telling the truth in an interview or in the grand jury would be dire. But you'd have to go in with a healthy sense that he might lie to you."

Comey said like all good prosecutors, Mueller wants to finish his probe as quickly as he can.

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Drugmakers Push Back Against Lawmakers' Calls to Tax Opioids

Trump Calls for Senator to Resign Over Opposition to Nominee for Veterans Post

U.S. President Donald Trump called for the resignation Saturday of Democratic Senator Jon Tester for raising concerns about Trump's pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ronny Jackson, who withdrew his name from consideration on Thursday.

Jackson, who is the White House physician and a Navy Rear Admiral, dropped his bid Thursday to head the country's second-largest federal agency as lawmakers probed allegations of professional misconduct and excessive drinking.

In a pair of tweets, Trump wrote the allegations "are proving false" and that Tester, who represents the western state of Montana, should step down.

Trump blamed Tester for the demise of Jackson's nomination after Tester said Wednesday that 20 current and former members of the military familiar with Jackson's office had told lawmakers that he drank on the job. They also said Jackson oversaw a toxic work environment and handed out drug prescriptions with little consideration of a patient's medical background.

Jackson said if the allegations "had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years. Going into this process, I expected tough questions about how to best care for our veterans, but I did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity."

The White House presented documents to reporters from an administration official who claims they exonerate Jackson from the accusations of inappropriately dispensing medication and crashing a government vehicle after a Secret Service going away party.

Jackson was fast losing support in Congress.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers indefinitely postponed Jackson's scheduled Wednesday confirmation hearing as they investigated the allegations.

Several news outlets reported that Jackson was known as the "candy man" for over-prescribing drug prescriptions, while CNN said that in one 2015 incident Jackson drunkenly banged on the hotel room door of a female employee in the middle of the night on an overseas trip. The U.S. Secret Service intervened to stop Jackson, according to the report, so then-President Barack Obama, sleeping in another hotel room, would not be awakened.

Jackson gained a degree of fame unusual for White House physicians earlier this year when he took questions from the White House press corps on national television, describing at length about Trump's health after conducting the president's physical exam.

Trump, the oldest first-term president in American history, was plagued at the time by questions about his physical health, weight and mental stability. But Jackson gave the president a top rating. "The president's overall health is excellent," Jackson declared at the time.

Trump unexpectedly picked Jackson to replace a holdover from the administration of former president Obama, David Shulkin, whom Trump fired. Several lawmakers have complained that the White House did not properly vet Jackson's background before Trump announced Jackson's appointment.

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Trump Betting on Large, Friendly Crowd at Michigan Rally

WASHINGTON — 

President Donald Trump was betting on a big crowd and a friendly reception at a Saturday evening rally in Michigan - one of the states in the Upper Midwest that Hillary Clinton counted on in 2016 but saw slip away.

In fact, Trump was the first Republican presidential nominee to capture Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

"Look forward to being in the Great State of Michigan tonight," Trump said in a tweet hours before the event in Washington Township, Michigan, which is about 40 miles north of Detroit.

He also tweeted: "Major business expansion and jobs pouring into your State. Auto companies expanding at record pace. Big crowd tonight, will be live on T.V."

Also scheduled to air on cable television Saturday night was a Washington tradition that Trump says he's happy to skip: The White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

Trump said in a fundraising pitch from campaign that he had come up with something better than being stuck in a room "with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me."

He said he would rather spend the evening "with my favorite deplorables."

During the 2016 campaign, Clinton drew laughs when she told supporters at a private fundraiser that half of Trump supporters could be lumped into a "basket of deplorables" - denouncing them as "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it."

Clinton later did a partial rollback, said she had been "grossly generalistic" and regretted saying the label fit "half" of Trump's supporters. But she didn't back down from the general sentiment.

Trump soon had the video running in his campaign ads, and his supporters wore the "deplorable" label as a badge of honor.

Macomb County, the site of Trump's rally, is among the predominantly white counties known as a base for "Reagan Democrats" - blue-collar voters who abandoned the Democratic Party for Ronald Reagan, but who can be intriguingly movable.

Democrat Barack Obama won the county twice in his White House runs, then Trump carried it by more than 11 percentage points.

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Ex-con Candidate Compounding GOP Woes in West Virginia

HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA — 

Republican Don Blankenship doesn't care if his party and his president don't think he can beat Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin this fall.

This former coal mining executive, an ex-convict released from prison less than a year ago, is willing to risk his personal fortune and the GOP's golden opportunity in West Virginia for the chance to prove them all wrong.

"I'll get elected on my own merits," Blankenship says.

There aren't a lot of things that can sink Republicans' hopes in the ruby red state that Donald Trump won by 42 percentage points in 2016, but Blankenship could well be one.

His candidacy is sending shudders down the spines of Republicans who are furiously working to ensure he is not their choice to take on Manchin in November. While Blankenship's bid is a long shot, he's testing whether a party led by an anti-establishment outsider can rein in its anti-establishment impulses.

"The establishment, no matter who you define it as, has not been creating jobs in West Virginia," Blankenship said at a primary debate this past week.

Even before Blankenship emerged as a legitimate Republican candidate, West Virginia was a worry for some Republicans.

Former Gov. Manchin has held elected office in West Virginia for the better part of the past three decades, and he's worked hard to cozy up to Trump and nurture a bipartisan brand.

He has voted with the Republican president more than he has opposed him, his office says, noting that the senator and Trump have collaborated on trade, environmental rules, gun violence and court nominations.

The alignment with Trump was so effective that former White House adviser Steve Bannon worried privately to colleagues that Trump might actually endorse the Democrat. An outright endorsement now is unlikely, but a Blankenship primary victory on May 8 could push Trump to help Manchin, at least indirectly, by ignoring West Virginia this fall.

The state has long been considered a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans, who hold a two-seat Senate majority that suddenly feels less secure given signs of Democratic momentum in Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee and elsewhere. If Democrats can win West Virginia, which gave Trump his largest margin of victory in the nation, they may have a slim chance at seizing the Senate majority.

Some of Trump's most prominent conservative supporters, particularly those in Bannon's network, have rallied behind state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a former Capitol Hill aide who was raised in New Jersey but has served as West Virginia's top lawyer since 2013.

Rep. Evan Jenkins, a former Democrat, has highlighted his West Virginia roots and deep allegiance to Trump. Jenkins noted that Manchin missed a big chance to align himself with Trump on key issues such as taxes and health care.

"The president gave Joe Manchin every opportunity in the early weeks and months of his administration to vote the right way," Jenkins said in an interview. "He voted wrong."

But in interviews this past week, Morrisey and Jenkins declined to attack Blankenship for his role in the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster, the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades, killing 29 men. Blankenship led the company that owned the mine and was sentenced to a year in prison for conspiring to break safety laws, a misdemeanor.

Raising that dark history has been left to the national GOP forces believed to be behind the Mountain Families PAC, an organization created last month that has invested more than $700,000 attacking Blankenship on television. A spokesman for the Senate GOP's most powerful super PAC declined to confirm or deny a connection to the group.

Trump has done his part to hurt Blankenship's chances as well.

The president excluded Blankenship from a recent West Virginia stop, where Trump appeared with Jenkins on one side and Morrisey on the other. And Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, who leads the Senate GOP's national campaign efforts, had this to say to reporters when asked about Blankenship last week: "Do they let ankle bracelets get out of the house?"

For voters, Blankenship remains a deeply polarizing figure.

Blankenship calls himself a West Virginian but had his supervised release transferred last August to federal officials in Nevada, where he has a six-bedroom home with his fiancee 20 miles from Las Vegas, in Henderson.

"It's a friendly place and I like it," said Blankenship, whose supervised release ends May 9, the day after the primary.

Blankenship recently drew attention for comments on a radio show about the father of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Blankenship said he believed McConnell has a conflict of interest in foreign relations matters, in particular those dealing with China. Chao's father was born in China and started an international shipping company in New York.

According to media reports, Blankenship's fiancee also was born in China.

"I don't have any problem with Chinese people, Chinese girlfriend, Chinese anything," Blankenship told the radio station. "But I have an issue when the father-in-law is a wealthy Chinaperson and has a lot of connections with some of the brass, if you will, in China."

Stanley Stewart, a retired miner who was inside the Upper Big Branch mine when it blew up in 2010, calls Blankenship 'ruthless, cold-blooded, cold-hearted, self-centered."

"I feel that if anybody voted for Don Blankenship, they may as well stick a knife in their back and twist it, because that's exactly what he'll do," Stewart said in an interview.

But there is skepticism that Blankenship was treated fairly by the courts. Blankenship has cast himself as a victim of an overbearing Obama administration, an argument that resonates with many white working-class voters on the ground here. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court last October left in place his conviction when the justices declined to take up his case.

"What they've said he's actually done (in the criminal case), I don't believe none of that," 21-year-old coal mechanic Zack Ball said while grabbing a bite to eat in the Boone County coal community of Danville. "Don Blankenship all the way."

Inside a Whitesville pizza shop a few miles north of the shuttered Upper Big Branch mine, retiree Debbie Pauley said Blankenship "was railroaded" at his trial.

"I think that Blankenship does have integrity," she said. "I don't think he'd put up with any crap."

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Merkel, Macron and Cabinet Turmoil in Trump White House

Merkel, Macron and Cabinet Turmoil — Just Another Week at the Trump White House

It was another landmark week in the presidency of Donald Trump. Trump hosted key U.S. allies Emmanuel Macron of France and Angela Merkel of Germany. But he also had to weather more turmoil in his Cabinet as well as the ongoing Russia investigation and intensifying scrutiny of his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

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Federal Court Upholds Texas Voter ID Law

Trump: House Report Proves 'No Collusion'

Former Vermont Governor Who Presided Over Liberal Swing Dies

MONTPELIER — 

Former Democratic Gov. Philip Hoff, who's credited with starting Vermont's transition from one of the most Republican-entrenched states in the country to one of the most liberal, has died. He was 93.

Hoff, who became the first Democrat elected governor of Vermont in more than 100 years in 1962, died on Thursday, according to The Residence at Shelburne Bay, where he had been living.

"Phil Hoff forever changed the state of Vermont," said Steve Terry, a former journalist who helped write a biography titled "Philip Hoff: How Red Turned Blue in the Green Mountain State." ''His influence in the 1960s has molded and created the Vermont many of us know today."

During his six years in office, Hoff helped start a process that evolved into the state's environmental movement. He focused on reducing pollution and cleaning up the state's rivers and streams.

He also emphasized education reform and helped revamp the state's judicial system.

Hoff's policies helped refocus state government on meeting the needs of residents, a philosophy embraced by his Republican successor, Deane C. Davis.

The office has alternated between Democratic and Republican governors since Hoff was elected.

At the mid-point of the 20th century, Vermont remained one of the most Republican states in the country. The state was dominated by a couple of political families, but Hoff shook up the staid Vermont political structure.

He became governor when the state was under a federal court mandate to reapportion the state House, where each of the state's 241 cities and towns were represented by a single person, no matter the community's population.

"The people of Vermont have clearly said that they don't want to continue with the old ways, and if we fail to respond to forces at work in our society, we face a bleak future," Hoff said at his 1963 inaugural address.

"I loved it any time he came into the office because there was a sense of vibrancy and life," said U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who joined Hoff's Burlington law firm after graduating from law school in 1964. Two years later, Hoff appointed Leahy as Chittenden County state's attorney, a post he held for eight years, until his 1974 election to the U.S. Senate.

"I'd see the governor all the time," Leahy said. "I was the star-struck young lawyer in his office. I'd see people staying in the halls, just waiting to say hi to him. We'd have meetings with him. It was exciting."

Philip Henderson Hoff was born on June 29, 1924, in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. He took time off from Williams College to serve in the Navy during World War II and returned to Williams after the war. He graduated and went on to law school at Cornell University before moving to Burlington in 1951.

Hoff first ran for office in 1958 for a seat on the Burlington Board of Aldermen. He was defeated.

Two years later, he was elected to the Vermont House after running what Terry called "a minimalist campaign." He had no campaign literature of his own and instead handed out brochures promoting the presidential candidacy of U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

After one term in the Legislature, Hoff won the race for governor in 1962 after he campaigned on the need for change and to end 100 years of one-party rule.

Hoff was briefly considered as a vice presidential candidate in 1968 but withdrew his name when it became clear his friend, Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, was being considered. Hoff ran for the U.S. Senate in 1970, but lost to the incumbent GOP Sen. Winston Prouty.

Hoff returned to the Legislature in 1982 after being elected to the state Senate. He served three, two-year terms.

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Arkansas Appealing Judge's Order Blocking Voter ID Law

LITTLE ROCK — 

Arkansas officials are appealing a judge's order blocking the state from enforcing a voter ID law nearly identical to a measure struck down as unconstitutional four years ago.

Secretary of State Mark Martin filed notice Friday that he's appealing Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Alice Gray's ruling against the voter ID law to the state Supreme Court. Gray on Thursday ruled the law was unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing the measure, less than a month before Arkansas' May 22 primary. Early voting for Arkansas' primary begins May 7.

A lawsuit challenging the measure claims the law enacted last year circumvents a 2014 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that struck down a previous voter ID measure.

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Trump, Merkel Meet on Key Issues

GOP-led House Panel Officially Clears Trump in Russia Probe

The Republican-led House intelligence committee on Friday officially declared the end of its Russia probe, saying in its final report that it found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The report's conclusion is fiercely opposed by committee Democrats, who say the committee did not interview enough witnesses or gather enough evidence to support its finding.

The investigation began with bipartisan promise but ultimately succumbed to factional squabbling. Republicans had already announced the main findings last month. An investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller is ongoing, as are probes led by the Senate intelligence and judiciary committees.

The House panel did find that Russia sought to sow discord in the U.S. through cyberattacks and social media. Some portions of the public report are redacted for national security reasons. Republicans say they will pressure intelligence agencies to be able to release more information.

Trump has repeatedly said there was "no collusion."

In a statement, Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who has been leading the investigation, said he was "extremely disappointed with the overzealous redactions" made by the intelligence agencies. He said many of the blacked-out details include information already public, such as witness names and previously declassified information.

Conaway said the committee had pledged to be "as transparent as possible" with the report.

"I don't believe the information we're releasing today meets that standard, which is why my team and I will continue to challenge the IC's many unnecessary redactions with the hopes of releasing more of the report in the coming months," he said.

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Pompeo Begins Mission with NATO Meeting in Brussels

Trump Trip to UK Announced

Judge Appoints 'Special Master' to Review Seized Trump Lawyer Documents

Senate Panel Votes to Protect Special Counsel From Arbitrary Dismissal

Trump Keeps Some Kennedy Assassination Records Secret

Senate Confirms Pompeo as Secretary of State

Trump Hints Hands-Off Approach Toward Justice Dept Could Change

Scrutiny of Trump Lawyer Cohen Adds to President's Distractions

White House Doctor Withdraws Name to be Next Veterans Chief

Trump Lawyer Will Plead Fifth in Porn Star Case

U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer plans to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a lawsuit filed against him by adult-film star Stormy Daniels.

Michael Cohen said in a brief filed Wednesday in a California court that he decided to invoke his constitutional right after the FBI raided his home, office and hotel room earlier this month.

The raids sought documents relating to Daniels and other matters.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Cohen for defamation for suggesting that she lied about an alleged affair with Trump.

Cohen has admitted paying Daniels $130,000 in hush money just weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen has said he paid Daniels out of his own pocket and that then-candidate Trump had no knowledge of the transaction.

Some legal experts said the payment could be construed as an illegal campaign contribution.

Trump denied knowing about the payment and has also denied there was an affair.

Daniels is suing Trump and Cohen in hopes of being freed from a nondisclosure agreement. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, had previously told reporters that he expected Cohen to plead the Fifth Amendment, but it was not official until the court filing Wednesday.

Along with making the payment to Daniels, Cohen also negotiated a $150,000 payment in 2016 to Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who also says she had an affair with Trump.

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White House Doctor Continues Veterans Chief Fight

Republican Wins US House Race in Arizona GOP Stronghold

GLENDALE, ARIZONA — 

Republican Debbie Lesko has won the special election in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, keeping the U.S. House seat in GOP control.

The former state senator on Tuesday defeated Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician. Tipernini had hoped to replicate surprising Democratic wins in Pennsylvania, Alabama and other states in a year where opposition to President Donald Trump's policies have boosted the party's chances in Republican strongholds.

Lesko replaces former Rep. Trent Franks, a Republican who resigned in December amid sexual misconduct allegations.

The district sprawls across western Phoenix suburbs, covering some of the most conservative areas of the red state, including the retirement community of Sun City.

National Republican groups spent big to back Lesko, pouring in more than $500,000 in the suburban Phoenix district for television and mail ads and phone calls to voters. National Democratic groups hadn't committed money to the race, a sign they didn't believe the seat was in play. Still, the influential Cook Political Report moved the race from solid Republican to likely Republican the week before the election.

In the Feb. 27 primary, two out of every three ballots were cast for a Republican.

The seat became open when Franks stepped down after acknowledging that he had discussed surrogacy with two female staffers. A former aide told The Associated Press that he pressed her to carry his child as a surrogate and offered her $5 million.

Tipirneni was seen as a fresh Democratic face with relatively moderate views that could get support in the district. Making a push for older voters, she had said Lesko would vote to go after entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicaid to pay for tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy. She's pushed a plan to allow some people to buy into Medicare.

Lesko slammed Tipirneni as being out of touch with voters who oppose government-run health care. She called the Democrat too liberal for the area, and pointed to Tipirneni's opposition to a wall on the Mexican border.

Several Republican voters who spoke with AP said they backed Lesko primarily because she supported President Donald Trump's border security plans.

David Hunt, a 64-year-old retired construction and warehouse worker from Glendale, said he cast his vote Tuesday for Lesko because he believed that immigrants in the country illegally are creating unfair competition for jobs for recent high school students in Arizona.

"She's the best candidate to deal with the porous border,'' Hunt said.

His views were echoed by Larry Bettis, a retiree from Glendale.

"Immigration - the fence,'' Bettis said. "That's all I really care about.''

Democrats said they wanted to send a message to Trump and supported Democratic health care plans.

"I don't like the president and felt it was time to take a stand,'' said Nikole Allen, a 45-year-old medical assistant from New York now living in Glendale. "It's time for us to vote the Republicans out.''

Lance Ostrander, a registered Democrat who works for Maricopa County and lives in Peoria, said he'd be happy if Tipirneni wins.

"We'd really like a change,'' he said. "Trump had a lot of good ideas at first but a lot of people feel like they were hoodwinked."

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EPA Proposes to Bar Use of Confidential Data in Rulemaking

WASHINGTON — 

The Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule Tuesday that would stop it from relying on scientific research underpinned by confidential data in its making of regulations.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt billed the measure as a way to boost transparency for the benefit of the industries his agency regulates. But scientists and former EPA officials worry it will hamstring the agency's ability to protect public health by putting key medical and industry data off limits.

"The science that we use is going to be transparent, it's going to be reproducible," Pruitt told a gathering at the EPA.

"It's going to be able to be analyzed by those in the marketplace, and those that watch what we do can make informed decisions about whether we've drawn the proper conclusions or not," said Pruitt, who has been pursuing President Donald Trump's mission to ease the regulatory burden on business.

The EPA has for decades relied on scientific research that is rooted in confidential medical and industry data as a basis for its air, water and chemicals rules. While it publishes enormous amounts of research and data to the public, the confidential material is held back.

Business interests have argued the practice is tantamount to writing laws behind closed doors and unfairly prevents them from vetting the research underpinning the EPA's often costly regulatory requirements. They argue that if the data cannot be published, the rules should not be adopted.

But ex-EPA officials say the practice is vital.

"Other government agencies also use studies like these to develop policy and regulations, and to buttress and defend rules against legal challenges. They are, in fact, essential to making sound public policy," former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Janet McCabe, former assistant administrator for air and water, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times last month.

The new policy would be based on proposed legislation spearheaded by the chairman of the House Science Committee, Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican who denies mainstream climate change science.

Emails obtained through a public records request last week showed that Smith or his staff met with Pruitt's staff in recent months to craft the policy. Those emails also showed that Pruitt's staff grappled with the possibility the policy would complicate things for the chemicals industry, which submits reams of confidential data to EPA regulatory programs.

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International Child Abductions Draw Outcry on Capitol Hill

Iran Nuclear Deal's Fate Remains Unresolved Following Trump-Macron Talks

US Supreme Court to Hear Travel Ban Case

Trump Welcomes Macron with Military Pageantry

Confirmation Hearing Delayed for Trump's Pick for VA Chief

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Narrowly Recommends Pompeo Nomination

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee narrowly voted to recommend CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be confirmed as secretary of state in a vote expected later this week in the full Senate. In a dramatic reversal, Republican Senator Rand Paul changed his mind moments before the meeting started, giving Pompeo the minimum number of votes he needed. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.

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Pence Picks Kellogg to Serve as National Security Adviser

WASHINGTON — 

Vice President Mike Pence has chosen retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, a top official with the National Security Council, to serve as his national security adviser.

Pence selected Kellogg, a national security aide to President Donald Trump, to fill the role after his top choice, Jon Lerner, withdrew his name from consideration.

Lerner, an adviser to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, pulled out of a proposed dual role after Trump learned of his planned hiring. Lerner is a longtime Republican strategist and pollster who previously worked with the Club for Growth, which aired ads critical of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Pence said in a statement that Kellogg "brings a wealth of experience in national security and foreign policy matters to this role and has already been an integral part of the President's national security team."

Kellogg has served as chief of staff at the National Security Council and is the latest NSC official to depart after the arrival of Trump national security adviser John Bolton. Also gone are spokesman Michael Anton, homeland security adviser Tom Bossert, and deputy national security advisers Ricky Waddell and Nadia Schadlow.

Kellogg served as acting national security adviser after Michael Flynn resigned in February 2017 as Trump's first national security adviser. Flynn's successor, H.R. McMaster, was recently replaced by Bolton.

Kellogg, who served in the U.S. Army for more than three decades, previously served as commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and as a top aide to Paul Bremer, who led the Coalition Provisional Authority during the reconstruction of Iraq.

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Former US President George H.W. Bush Admitted to Houston Hospital

Macron Begins State Visit with Trump

Trump Says He May Tie Mexican Immigration Control to NAFTA

Trump Assails Democratic Opposition to Pompeo Nomination

U.S. President Donald Trump assailed opposition Democrats Monday as "obstructionists" who appear set to vote against CIA director Mike Pompeo as Trump's pick to become secretary of state.

Pompeo's nomination faces significant opposition on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where Republicans hold an 11-10 majority over Democrats. A vote is set for later in the day. But all 10 Democrats and Republican Sen. Rand Paul have announced they oppose making Pompeo the country's top diplomat.

In a rare rebuke to a U.S. president on a confirmation vote for a key national security position, the panel could give Pompeo an unfavorable recommendation and still send his nomination to the full Senate. The Senate vote on his nomination also is expected to be close, with as yet only one Democrat, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, announcing her support for Pompeo's confirmation.

"Hard to believe Obstructionists May vote against Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State," Trump said on Twitter. "The Dems will not approve hundreds of good people, including the Ambassador to Germany. They are maxing out the time on approval process for all, never happened before. Need more Republicans!"

The Senate panel vote, however, could have been locked up for Pompeo were it not for the opposition of Paul, who said he will vote against Pompeo because he supported the 2003 American invasion of Iraq that eventually toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Several days ago, Trump said, "I will say this about Rand Paul: He's never let me down. Rand Paul is a very special guy as far as I'm concerned."

Trump has tweeted several favorable comments about Pompeo, whom he recently dispatched to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un in advance of Trump's planned summit with Kim over denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

"Mike Pompeo is outstanding. First in his class at West Point. A top student at Harvard Law School. A success at whatever he has done. We need the Senate to approve Mike ASAP. He will be a great Secretary of State!" Trump said.

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Romney’s Senate Race Must Run Through Utah Primary

Trump Says He Doesn't Think Personal Lawyer Will 'Flip'

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — 

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he didn't expect Michael Cohen, his longtime personal lawyer and fixer, to "flip" as the government investigates Cohen's business dealings.

Trump, in a series of tweets fired off from Florida on the morning of former first lady Barbara Bush's funeral, accused The New York Times and one of its reporters of "going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will 'flip' " — a term that can mean cooperating with the government in exchange for leniency.

"Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble," even if "it means lying or making up stories," Trump said, before adding: "Sorry, I don't see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!"

The FBI raided Cohen's home, office and hotel room this month, looking for evidence of fraud amid a criminal investigation. That included records related to payments Cohen made in 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom allege having had sexual encounters with Trump, people familiar with the raid have told The Associated Press.

Prosecutors have said they're investigating Cohen's personal business dealings but haven't said what crime they believe he may have committed. Cohen's lawyers have called the raid an assault on attorney-client privilege, and Trump has said it was "an attack on our country."

In the tweets, sent shortly after he arrived at one of his Florida golf courses, Trump accused the newspaper of using "non-existent 'sources' " in a Friday story about the relationship between Trump and Cohen, who has said he would "take a bullet" for his boss. The story quoted several people on the record.

Trump also lashed out personally at one of the story's writers, calling reporter Maggie Haberman "third rate" and claiming he has "nothing to do with" her. Trump later deleted and reposted the tweets, correcting the spelling of Haberman's name.

Haberman is widely seen as one of the most diligent reporters covering the president and is known to speak with him often. The Times responded on Twitter, saying it stood by the story and praising Haberman, who was part of the team that just won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on Trump.

The tweets came as the rest of the country was preparing for the funeral of Mrs. Bush. The president chose not to go to the Houston service, but first lady Melania Trump attended. Trump tweeted that he would watch from Florida.

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Internal Review Cleared Trump's CIA Pick in Videotape Destruction

WASHINGTON — 

A internal CIA review in 2011 cleared U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to head the agency, Gina Haspel, of wrongdoing in the destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of an al Qaeda suspect, according to a memorandum that the CIA declassified and released on Friday.

The spy agency released the memo in response to demands by U.S. lawmakers for more details on Haspel’s career and as part of its effort to bolster her nomination. Haspel’s bid to be the first woman CIA director faces scrutiny on Capitol Hill due to her involvement in a discontinued interrogation program that many regarded as using torture.

“I have found no fault with the performance of Ms. Haspel,” Michael Morell, then the CIA’s deputy director, wrote in the December 2011 memo

“I have concluded that she acted appropriately in her role” as chief of staff to Jose Rodriguez, the head of CIA spy operations, Morell wrote.

At issue was a decision Rodriguez has said he made in November 2005 to destroy videotapes showing the waterboarding of CIA detainee Abu Zubaydeh who U.S. officials believed at the time — incorrectly — was a top-level al Qaeda operative.

Waterboarding is a form of simulated drowning. Zubaydeh's role in al Qaeda was later found to have been overstated.

CIA officials have long said that Haspel drafted a cable from Rodriguez ordering agency officers in the field to destroy the tapes, and that she believed Rodriguez was going to clear it first with the agency's director at the time, Porter Goss.

At the time the cable was sent, Haspel worked in CIA headquarters outside Washington, D.C. Published accounts have said she was chief in 2002 of a base in Thailand where detainees were interrogated but arrived there after Zubaydah's waterboarding.

The memo appears to support the CIA version of events.

Haspel “drafted the cable on the direct orders of Mr. Rodriguez; she did not release that cable. It was not her decision to destroy the tapes; it was Mr. Rodriguez’s,” Morell wrote.

Rodriguez has said he ordered the tapes destroyed out of fear that, if leaked, they could put CIA officers at risk.

Haspel, who is now the agency’s No. 2 official, is due to appear at a May 9 hearing on her confirmation before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Haspel has the backing of the committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Richard Burr. At least two committee Democrats have expressed concern about her nomination.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement on Friday that he remained troubled by Haspel's nomination and called on the Trump administration to release “much more information about this episode.”

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Ex-FBI Deputy Director ‘Disappointed' in Comey Comments

Students Walk Out of Class to Demand Tighter US Gun Laws

Mattis: US-North Korea Talks Will Not Shake Ties With Japan

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the possible talks between the United States and North Korea would not change the strong relationship the United States has with Japan.

Mattis met Friday with his Japanese counterpart, Itsunori Onodera, at the Pentagon, saying, "This is a mutually beneficial alliance between two democratic nations that trust each other. Nothing is going to shake that."

WATCH: Mattis on Strength of US-Japan Relationship

Onodera said the "ironclad US-Japan alliance" must work with the international community to make North Korea abandon all weapons of mass destruction "in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."

The United States and South Korea are planning separate summits with North Korea over banning nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. No date has yet been set for the talks involving the United States, while the two Koreas plan to meet April 27.

WATCH:Onodera: Pressure on North Korea Must Be Maintained

On Friday, the two Koreas opened a hotline between their leaders, a week before their planned summit in the Demilitarized Zone. The hotline is the latest step in intense diplomatic activity on and around the Korean Peninsula, initiated with the Winter Olympics in the South.

On Thursday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said North Korea was not imposing conditions on upcoming summits with him and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Moon told corporate executives in Seoul, "They have not attached any conditions that the U.S. cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea." He said, "All they are talking about is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security."

Moon said, "I don't think denuclearization has different meanings for South and North Korea. The North is expressing a will for a complete denuclearization."

Long pause in tests

North Korea has defended its nuclear development and missile tests, in defiance of U.N. Security Council mandates, as a deterrent to what it sees as a threat from the United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. But it has not tested a missile since late November and has not conducted a nuclear test since last September.

Trump struck an optimistic note this week about the possibility of a denuclearized North Korea.

"As I've said before, there is a bright path available to North Korea when it achieves denuclearization in a complete and verifiable and irreversible way," Trump said.

But he cautioned that if his talks with Kim did not go the way he hoped, he was willing to walk away.

VOA national security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.

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Trump Lawyer Told to File Statement to Slow Porn Star's Suit

LOS ANGELES — 

A federal judge on Friday told lawyers for President Donald Trump's attorney Michael Cohen that Cohen needs to file a declaration in court in order to delay a lawsuit filed by porn actress Stormy Daniels aimed at dissolving a confidentiality agreement that prevents her from talking about an alleged affair with Trump.

Judge S. James Otero said Cohen needs to file a statement declaring that his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination might be jeopardized if the case filed in Los Angeles goes forward.

Otero said at a hearing in Los Angeles that it was not enough for Cohen's attorney to file that statement on his behalf, and he gave Cohen until next Wednesday to do so.

Cohen sought to delay the civil case after FBI agents raided his office and residence, seeking records about the $130,000 agreement that Daniels signed days before the 2016 presidential election.

After the raids, Cohen asked the judge to grant a stay for at least 90 days and argued that because the allegations in the lawsuit overlap with the criminal investigation, Cohen's civil rights "may be adversely affected if this case proceeds."

Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, objected to the requested delay and said he was pleased with the outcome of the hearing.

Avenatti said outside court it was "clear to me Michael Cohen and the president do not want to publicly state" that Cohen intends to invoke the Fifth Amendment.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has offered to return the $130,000 so she can "set the record straight." She argues the agreement is legally invalid because it was only signed by her and Cohen, not by Trump.

Cohen, who has denied there was ever an affair, said he paid the money out of his pocket using a home equity loan. He has said neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Daniels and he was not reimbursed for the payment.

Trump answered questions about Daniels for the first time earlier this month and said he had no knowledge of the payment made by Cohen and didn't know where Cohen had gotten the money. The White House has repeatedly said Trump denies the affair.

Cohen's attorneys have accused Daniels of violating the confidentiality clauses more than 20 times and said she could be liable for $1 million in damages for each violation.

The case took on new significance last week when FBI agents raided Cohen's office, hotel and residence.

The agents were seeking any information on payments made to Daniels and a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, according to people familiar with the investigation but not authorized to discuss it publicly. The search warrants also sought bank records, records on Cohen's dealings in the taxi industry and his communications with the Trump campaign, the people said.

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DNC Lawsuit Blames Election Loss on Trump-Russia Alliance

NEW YORK — 

The Democratic National Committee on Friday sued President Donald Trump's campaign, Trump's son, his son-in-law, the Russian Federation and Wikileaks, saying they conspired to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election by breaking into DNC computers and stealing tens of thousands of emails and documents.

The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court sought unspecified damages and an order to prevent further interference with DNC computer systems.

"During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump's campaign," DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. He called it an "act of unprecedented treachery."

The lawsuit said Trump and his associates had existing relationships with Russia and Russian oligarchs that enabled creation of a Trump-Russia conspiracy.

Trump has said repeatedly that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.

The lawsuit alleges the "brazen attack on American democracy" began with a cyberattack on DNC computers and phone systems, allowing the extraction of tens of thousands of documents and emails. It said the assault enabled Russia to advance its own interests and support Trump.

The lawsuit accuses Donald Trump Jr. of secretly communicating with WikiLeaks, saying the president's son was offered a password to an anti-Trump lawsuit in one exchange. The lawsuit blames the president too, saying he praised the illegal dissemination of DNC documents throughout fall 2016, making it a central theme of his speeches and rallies.

The lawsuit said Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was part of the conspiracy as a senior adviser and key decision-makers in the campaign. It said he began in June 2016 to control all campaign data-driven efforts, beginning with establishment of a 100-person "data hub" in San Antonio, Texas, and by hiring Cambridge Analytica, the social media and analytics firm.

The lawsuit said the conspiracy "inflicted profound damage upon the DNC," costing it donations and preventing it from communicating the party's values and vision to voters and sowing discord inside the Democratic party.

"The conspiracy constituted an act of previously unimaginable treachery: the campaign of the presidential nominee of a major party in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency," the lawsuit said. "And, in carrying out this effort, defendants' conspiracy to disseminate documents stolen from the DNC in violation of the laws of the United States as well as the laws of the state of Virginia and the District of Columbia. Under the laws of this nation, Russia and its co-conspirators must answer for these actions."

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Trump Accuses Comey of Profit, Ruining Michael Flynn's Life

AP Fact Check: Trump Skews Reasons Behind His 2016 Win

Rudy Giuliani to Join Trump Legal Team in Russia Probe

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has joined President Donald Trump's legal team dealing with the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

"I'm doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller," Giuliani told The Washington Post on Thursday, referring to the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has had notable difficulties in recruiting new lawyers since the resignation of John Dowd last month.

"Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country," Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow quoted the president as saying.

Giuliani told The Post that he would work alongside Trump's current attorneys, Jay Sekulow and Ty Cobb, who are focusing on the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He also said he will soon take a leave of absence from his law firm, Greenberg Traurig.

Before Giuliani's political career, the 73-year-old former Republican presidential candidate served as the U.S. Associate Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

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Senate Narrowly Confirms Trump's Pick to Head NASA

WASHINGTON — 

NASA's latest nail-biting drama was far from orbit as the Senate narrowly confirmed President Donald Trump's choice of a tea party congressman to run the space agency in an unprecedented party-line vote.

In a 50-49 vote Thursday, Oklahoma Representative James Bridenstine, a Navy Reserve pilot, was confirmed as NASA's 13th administrator, an agency that usually is kept away from partisanship. His three predecessors — two nominated by Republicans — were all approved unanimously. Before that, one NASA chief served under three presidents, two Republicans and a Democrat.

The two days of voting were as tense as a launch countdown.

A procedural vote Wednesday initially ended in a 49-49 tie — Vice President Mike Pence, who normally breaks a tie, was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — before Arizona Republican Jeff Flake switched from opposition to support, using his vote as leverage to address an unrelated issue.

Thursday's vote included the drama of another delayed but approving vote by Flake, a last-minute no vote by Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth — who wheeled onto the floor with her 10-day-old baby in tow — and the possibility of a tie-breaker by Pence, who was back in town.

NASA is a couple years away from launching a new giant rocket and crew capsule to replace the space shuttle fleet that was retired in 2011.

"I look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the president's vision for American leadership in space," Bridenstine said in a NASA release after the vote.

Sharply different views

Democrats opposing Bridenstine said his outspoken divisiveness, earlier rejection of mainstream climate change science and lack of space experience made him unqualified. Republicans praised him as a qualified war hero.

"His record of behavior in the Congress is as divisive as any in Washington, including his attacks on members of this body from his own party," Florida Democrat Bill Nelson said.

Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, cited past Bridenstine comments that rejected mainstream climate science, invoking the movie "Apollo 13."

"Houston, we have a problem," Markey said. "NASA's science, NASA's mission and American leadership will be in jeopardy under Congressman Bridenstine's leadership."

During his confirmation hearing, Bridenstine said he acknowledged that global warming was real and man-made, but wouldn't say that it was mostly human-caused, as the overwhelming majority of scientists and scientific literature have done. And Bridenstine told Nelson, "I want to make sure that NASA remains, as you said, apolitical."

Texas Republican Ted Cruz praised the NASA nominee as "a war hero."

"NASA needs a strong leader and it will have that strong leader in Jim Bridenstine," Cruz said.

Sean O'Keefe, who was NASA chief under President George W. Bush and was confirmed unanimously, said the close vote "is a consequence of an erosion of comity in the Congress, particularly in the Senate. Political fights will always break out, but now most policy choices are more likely to emerge based on the party with the majority than the power of the idea."

Alan Ladwig, a top NASA political appointee under Democrats, said this was a case of both party politics and a divisive nominee who doesn't accept science.

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European MPs Implore US to Not Quit Iran Nuclear Pact

North Korea, Comey, Stormy Add to Trump's Chaotic Week

CIA Director Nominee to Face Confirmation Hearing in May

The confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency will begin next month.

The current deputy CIA director Gina Haspel will testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence starting on May 9, the committee announced Thursday.

If confirmed, Haspel would replace Mike Pompeo, who was nominated be Secretary of State after Trump fired Rex Tillerson.

Haspel is the first woman tapped to head the CIA.

Michael Bowman contributed to this report.

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California Governor: Deal Reached on National Guard, Border

EPA Chief Sat in Coach When Not Flying on Taxpayer’s Dime

WASHINGTON — 

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt flew in coach-class seats on at least two trips home to Oklahoma when taxpayers weren’t footing the bill, despite claims he needed to travel in first class at government expense because of security threats.

Copies of Pruitt’s official schedule released this week following a public records request show flights made in August and October to Tulsa on Southwest Airlines, a budget carrier that doesn’t offer premium-class seats.

The Associated Press reported earlier this month that an EPA official said the administrator sat in coach on personal flights to watch college football games using a companion pass obtained with frequent flyer miles accrued by Ken Wagner, a former law partner Pruitt hired as one of his senior advisers at EPA. The official spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of retaliation.

'Unpleasant interactions'

Pruitt's full-time security team still accompanied him on the trips to Oklahoma, with their travel expenses still borne by taxpayers. The EPA administrator has said the agency’s security officials determined that he should fly in first class during government trips following “unpleasant interactions” with other airline passengers.

Asked Wednesday about the records reviewed by AP, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said “the same security procedures are followed whether Administrator Pruitt is on official or personal travel.” Wilcox did not directly respond to why Pruitt didn’t need to fly in first class on the personal flights.

Companion pass

EPA ethics lawyer Kevin Minoli also confirmed for the first time that Pruitt flew on a companion pass during the personal flights, reimbursing Wagner for a $5.60 airline fee and half the cost of the adviser’s ticket. The agency did not disclose the original cost of Wagner’s ticket or whether he paid for it with frequent flyer miles.

Minoli added that EPA ethics officials are now consulting with the Office of Government Ethics to determine “whether any additional steps needed to be taken to ensure full compliance with the ethics requirements.”

Former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub said Wednesday the companion tickets provided to Pruitt likely violated a federal prohibition that bars officials from accepting gifts from their subordinates exceeding $10. Shaub said the value of the gift is determined not by what Wagner actually paid for the ticket, but what the full market value would have been had the ticket been purchased with cash.

“EPA’s discussion of the discounted price that the donor paid is disingenuous,'' said Shaub, who resigned last year after clashing with President Donald Trump on ethics issues. “In this case, EPA should look to see what Pruitt would have had to pay if he had purchased the ticket on the day that he accepted the gift of free airfare from his subordinate.”

Under intense scrutiny

Shaub said he expected his former colleagues in the Office of Government Ethics would advise Pruitt that it was inappropriate for him to accept the gifted airfare from an EPA employee and that he must repay Wagner at full market value.

The cut-rate airfare is the latest ethical issue to ensnare Pruitt, who has been under intense scrutiny since it was first revealed last month that he had stayed last year in a bargain-priced Capitol Hill condo tied to a fossil-fuels lobbyist.

The embattled EPA administrator and those around him are the subject of multiple investigations launched by government watchdogs and congressional committees looking into luxury travel expenses, outsized security spending and massive raises awarded to political appointees.

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California City Sued Over ‘Sanctuary’

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA — 

Residents sued the tiny Southern California city of Los Alamitos on Wednesday to challenge a vote by elected officials to exempt the community from a state law that limits police collaboration with U.S. immigration authorities.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant rights advocates said the lawsuit was filed in Superior Court in Orange County. It contends the city of 12,000 people cannot choose which state laws to follow and which laws to ignore, and that the actions of Los Alamitos leaders are wasting taxpayer money and scaring immigrants from attending church services.

“You can't hurt people in your community so you get airtime on Fox News,” said Jessica Karp Bansal, litigation director for the National Day Laborers Organizing Network and a lawyer for plaintiffs.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the group Los Alamitos Community United and a local pastor and an attorney. It came after Los Alamitos leaders voted to exempt the community from California's so-called immigrant sanctuary law, which limits police collaboration with federal deportation agents and aims to keep immigration enforcement out of public schools.

Mayor Troy Edgar said he had not seen the lawsuit and would be limited in what he could say about pending litigation. Messages seeking comment left at Los Alamitos City Hall were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit follows a spate of actions by Republican elected officials in at least a dozen California cities and in the state’s Orange and San Diego counties in recent weeks on the “sanctuary” law. Most have voted to lend support to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit filed last month against California or passed resolutions stating their position.

Los Alamitos, however, voted to adopt a local ordinance to exempt the city from California’s law, which immigrant advocates say could erode community members’ trust in local police and dampen attendance at church and community events.

California’s Democratic legislature passed the state law last year in response to President Donald Trump’s calls for more deportations and a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The opposition has been largely in Orange County cities but has recently expanded to others.

It comes as Republicans aim to hold onto four key congressional seats in this year’s elections in Orange County, a region of 3.2 million people that was long considered a GOP stronghold but voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

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More Senate Democrats Oppose Pompeo for Secretary of State

In Photos: Barbara Bush

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US VIPs Pay Tribute to Barbara Bush

US Election Calendar Could Factor into N. Korea Talks

Trump Contradicts Himself Over Comey Firing

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he did not fire James Comey "because of the phony Russia investigation," contradicting his 2017 statement that he ousted the FBI director last year over the probe.

Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017, as the law enforcement agency investigated alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and Trump's campaign. The firing prompted the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to lead the inquiry and look at possible obstruction of justice.

Trump, who has denied collusion with Moscow, on Wednesday posted a tweet referring to "Slippery James Comey" and said he "was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation." Trump did not elaborate.

American intelligence agencies have said Russia interfered in the 2016 election through a campaign of propaganda and hacking in a scheme to sow U.S. discord and help get Trump elected. Russia has denied interfering in the election.

Two days after dismissing Comey, Trump had explained why he did it in a televised interview with NBC News.

"In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story," he said. "It's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won."

The Republican president has escalated his attacks on Comey, calling him a liar and a "slimeball," as the former FBI director embarks on a media tour to promote his book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership.

Comey's book chronicles his brief service under Trump, who he described as "morally unfit" to be president, while likening his leadership style to that of a mafia boss.

Comey, a longtime Republican who said he did not vote in 2016, told ABC News on Wednesday that he no longer considered himself a member of the party. He said Republicans have "lost their way" in adopting Trump and becoming "transactional" instead of maintaining conservative values.

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Trump Accuses Porn Star Stormy Daniels of Pulling 'Total Con Job'

Trump Economic Adviser Says Haley 'Got Ahead of Curve' on Sanctions

Bipartisan Coalition Pushes DACA Bill in House

WASHINGTON — 

Pressure grew in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to debate legislation protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation, in a challenge to President Donald Trump, who has declared as "dead" an existing program allowing them to legally study and work in the United States.

A coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers was expected to announce Wednesday that it had more than 218 House members on board with moving ahead with bipartisan legislation. That is the minimum number needed in the 435-member House to pass bills.

A House Democratic aide with knowledge of the maneuverings said an announcement of the supporters was aimed at pressuring House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, to move to either bring such legislation to the House floor or to intensify high-level negotiations on crafting a new compromise bill.

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in an emailed statement, "We continue to work to find the support for a solution that addresses both border security and DACA."

Temporary legal status

DACA is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, giving temporary legal status to immigrants brought illegally into the United States by their parents or other relatives when they were children.

In September, Trump announced he was ending the program, effective March 5. But a court has ordered the program to continue for existing beneficiaries until legal challenges to its termination are resolved.

Strong added that Republicans already had made "good-faith offers" to protect the young immigrants. Democrats rejected those offers, which included significant reductions in legal immigration that the Trump administration wanted.

Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said that a bipartisan bill unveiled in January now had "over 218 votes. ... I think it's going to have significantly over" that number.

If Ryan were to refuse to bring such legislation to the floor, the bill's supporters could employ a rarely used procedure to force action, if they had at least 218 backers.

Under one strategy being weighed, the House could debate the bipartisan bill, along with two or three other alternatives. A similar debate played out in the Senate last February, with all the measures failing to win enough votes to advance.

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Republican Congressman Dent to Resign Next Month

U.S. Congressman Charlie Dent, a leader of a moderate group of Republicans and a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday he would resign from Congress next month.

"After discussions with my family and careful consideration," I have decided to leave Congress in the coming weeks," Dent said. "It is my intention to aggressively advocate for responsible governance and pragmatic solutions in the coming years."

Dent previously announced he would retire from Congress in September for personal reasons while also complaining that the Republican Party, which controls both houses of Congress and the White House, has shifted further to the right. Dent's initial announcement was made amid threats from Trump supporters to launch a campaign to replace him.

Dent is chairman of the Tuesday Group, an informal alliance of several dozen moderate Republicans. He and Trump clashed in 2017 over the battle to replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare — an effort that eventually failed.

He also submitted legislation Friday that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election from any attempts by the Trump administration to oust him.

Dent's resignation could lead to a costly special election if the Democratic governor in Dent's home state of Pennsylvania orders one. Republicans would have to spend millions of dollars to defend the seat. It is unclear if Gov. Tom Wolf would schedule a special election before the November 6 midterm elections.

Democrat Conor Lamb was victorious in a March special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, which Trump won by 20 points in 2016.

Dent's 15th district, which Trump captured by an 8-point margin, is more competitive for Democrats.

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US Senator Sanders Introducing Bill Targeting Opioid Manufacturers

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will introduce a bill on Tuesday that would fine opioid drug manufacturers for deceptive marketing and implement the harshest penalties yet on drugmakers found responsible for contributing to the drug epidemic.

Sanders, an independent who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, said the bill aimed to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for their role in the epidemic and force them to help pay for the crisis, which the White House

Council of Economic Advisers has estimated cost more than $500 billion in 2015.

The legislation, called the Opioid Crisis Accountability Act of 2018, would ban marketing that falsely suggests an opioid does not have addictive qualities or risks and would fine companies that are found liable for contributing to the epidemic $7.8 billion.

Companies that violate the marketing provision would be fined 25 percent of the profits from their opioid products.

The legislation would also create criminal liability for top executives of pharmaceutical companies that are found to have contributed to the epidemic.

"At a time when local, state and federal government are spending many billions of dollars a year, those people will be held accountable and asked to contribute to help us address the crisis," Sanders said in an interview. "It shouldn't just be the taxpayer that has to pay for the damage that they did."

The bill does not yet have any co-sponsors, and with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, it is unlikely to move forward anytime soon.

More than 63,600 people died because of drug overdoses in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Congress has held several hearings on the opioid crisis in recent months and recently appropriated billions of dollars to address the epidemic. It is considering dozens of bills to address the crisis, but the legislation so far has been fairly limited in scope, including bills that address government policies and authorize the creation of grant programs.

Several states, including Ohio and Kentucky — among the hardest hit by drug addiction — have filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers for fueling the epidemic.

"The real legal struggles have taken place at the state level," Sanders said. "It seems to me that it's appropriate to take that fight... here to the federal government."

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Trump Remains in Battle Mode Over Comey Interview

The Trump White House remained in battle mode Monday, one day after former FBI director James Comey described the president as “morally unfit” for office in an interview with ABC News. The administration has mounted a furious counterattack against Comey through Twitter and White House surrogates, as we hear from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone.

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Trump Lawyer Cohen Also Represented Controversial Talk Show Host Sean Hannity

Granddaughter: Former US First Lady Barbara Bush in Good Spirits Despite Failing Health

White House Expects ‘Very Positive’ Trump-Abe Talks

US Watchdog Attacks $43,000 Bill for Official's Soundproof Booth

WASHINGTON — 

A U.S. government watchdog on Monday said the Environmental Protection Agency violated the law when it approved a $43,000 soundproof privacy booth for use by the agency's embattled administrator, Scott Pruitt.

The Government Accountability Office said EPA failed to comply with a law prohibiting a government agency from spending more than $5,000 in federal funds to furnish or redecorate an office of a presidential appointee such as Pruitt without first notifying congressional appropriations committees.

The GAO conclusion that the size of the expenditure for the soundproof booth was illegal is the latest Washington brouhaha over Pruitt's spending practices.

Previously, critics say that Pruitt has overspent on first-class air travel and hotel rooms on his business trips and ordered costly extra security because of verbal attacks against him by critics of his environmental policies when they have spotted him in public.

Pruitt is one of President Donald Trump's most controversial appointments and has done what he said he would when Trump named him to oversee the country's environmental regulations — dismantle many of the restrictive policies on the environmental practices of businesses imposed by the administration of former President Barack Obama.

As news of Pruitt's EPA spending practices has surfaced in recent weeks, some Democratic lawmakers have called for Trump to fire him, an action reportedly echoed behind the scenes by White House chief of staff John Kelly who also called for his dismissal. Other Trump appointees have also been ousted because of spending abuses.

But Trump on several occasions gave Pruitt a vote of confidence, saying earlier this month, "I think he’s done a fantastic job. I think he’s done an incredible job. He’s been very courageous. It hasn’t been easy, but I think he’s done a fantastic job.”

EPA justified the $43,238 expenditure for the soundproof booth, saying Pruitt needed space where he could use a "classified telephone" so he could have private conversations about agency business.

"A classified phone cannot simply be put on an office desk or in a conference room," EPA said.

EPA said the bill for the soundproof booth, built in a former storage closet in Pruitt's office, included more than $24,000 for the booth itself and its assembly, $8,000 to remove closed circuit television equipment, $3,300 to drop the ceiling around the booth and another $3,300 for painting.

GAO said EPA should notify Congress it violated the law, but it was not clear whether the booth would have to be removed.

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Fired FBI Director Comey and President Trump Trade Insults

Fired FBI Director Comey Calls Trump 'Morally Unfit to be President'

WH: Trump Wants US Forces Out of Syria As Soon As Possible

Trump-Comey Spat Erupts Anew

Washington is witnessing a renewed war of words between President Donald Trump and a man he fired last year, former FBI director James Comey. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports Comey is speaking out ahead of the release of a book detailing turbulent encounters with Trump, as well as the FBI’s probe of Hillary Clinton’s handling of emails as secretary of state.

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Trump Contends FBI Chief He Fired Should Be Jailed

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. President Donald Trump contended Sunday that James Comey, the FBI director he fired who has written a scathing new book on the Trump presidency, should be imprisoned, claiming that he revealed classified information and lied to Congress.

Trump unleashed a new broadside on Comey hours ahead of a widely publicized television interview with the former chief of the country's top law enforcement agency. Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty," is set for publication Tuesday and has already soared to near the top of best-seller lists because of pre-sales.

In the book, Comey likens Trump to a “mafia boss” and referred to his presidency as a “forest fire."

"The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail)," Trump said on Twitter, apparently claiming wrongly that the notes Comey wrote about private meetings with Trump and talked about publicly were classified. It was not immediately clear what Trump was referencing in his contention that Comey lied in testimony before congressional committees. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/985487209510948864

"I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty," Trump said, disputing a key contention made by Comey. "I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His 'memos' are self serving and FAKE!"

Trump declared, "Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!"

Comey wrote in the book, "This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty." Comey claimed Trump was particularly concerned about unproven allegations that in 2013 he had watched as prostitutes urinated on a bed in a Moscow hotel, asking Comey to investigate to disprove it.

Comey is kicking off his national publicity tour promoting sales of the book with a Sunday night interview on ABC News.

Trump assailed Comey for acknowledging that shortly before Trump's November 2016 election victory, he considered the fact that Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, was leading in national polls over Trump as the FBI chief reopened an investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server to handle classified information when she was secretary of state several years before.

"Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!," Trump said.

The U.S. leader also revisited a June 2016 incident, when Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, met privately with then-attorney general Loretta Lynch on an airport tarmac at a time when Lynch was overseeing the FBI's email investigation involving Hillary Clinton in which Hillary Clinton was weeks later cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

"Comey throws AG Lynch 'under the bus!'" Trump claimed. "Why can’t we all find out what happened on the tarmac in the back of the plane with Wild Bill and Lynch? Was she promised a Supreme Court seat, or (to stay on as attorney general in a would-be Clinton presidency), in order to lay off Hillary. No golf and grandkids talk (give us all a break)!"

Trump also railed again about last week's FBI raid on the New York office and home of his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in search of documents related to hefty hush money payoffs shortly before the election to two women who claim to have had affairs with Trump a decade before he ran for the presidency. Trump has denied both purported liaisons.

U.S. legal principles shield from disclosure conversations lawyers hold with their clients — attorney-client privilege — unless they are plotting criminal activity.

"Attorney Client privilege is now a thing of the past," Trump tweeted. "I have many (too many!) lawyers and they are probably wondering when their offices, and even homes, are going to be raided with everything, including their phones and computers, taken. All lawyers are deflated and concerned!"

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Gun Rights Advocates Hold Rallies in US State Capitals

Ryan Endorses McCarthy for House Speakership, NBC Says

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to be his successor, NBC News reported Friday.

"We all think that Kevin is the right person," the Wisconsin lawmaker said in an interview airing Sunday on Meet the Press.

Ryan said Wednesday that he would not seek re-election in November, dealing a blow to fellow Republicans and President Donald Trump before the congressional elections.

The announcement dismayed some Republicans already concerned about their prospects with U.S. voters in November. Now they fear they may have to deal with a House of Representatives leadership struggle when the party should focus on defending its congressional majorities and advancing Trump's agenda.

Ryan's endorsement, however, gives McCarthy an edge in the leadership contest.

Ryan told NBC he believed having McCarthy step in would work toward a smoother transition in House leadership.

"We have made a huge, positive difference in people's lives, and people are more confident as a result of it," Ryan said. "This leadership team has done that, and so I really do envision a more seamless transition, versus, say, the time when I came in."

Another name circulating as a possible Ryan replacement was House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. He and McCarthy are expected to wage a furious effort to raise campaign funds for fellow House Republicans to shore up support for their potential leadership aspirations.

Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose members have at times clashed with Ryan and other Republican leaders, said he was also open to pursuing the role of speaker.

"We have six more months to prove Republicans deserve to keep the majority. If and when there is a speaker's race, colleagues have approached me about running, and that's something I'm open to doing," Jordan said in an statement emailed Friday to Reuters.

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