Kari Paul in San Francisco signing off for the night. Here’s the top news of the day:
- FBI agents are reportedly angry Donald Trump is amplifying baseless conspiracy theories on Twitter about the death of disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
- The NYPD is investigating potential hate crimes against Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, New York
- Agents have descended upon Epstein’s Virgin Islands compound as investigations into his crimes continue
Updated
FBI agents are furious with Donald Trump for amplifying conspiracy theories regarding the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Business Insider reported on Monday.
Agents who spoke with the publication said the response to the death of Epstein, who had ties to high-profile politicians, was already “hypercharged” when Trump retweeted a baseless conspiracy theory tying the death to the former president Bill Clinton.
“The last thing investigators need is the president of the United States fanning the flames with these bulls – theories that have no basis in reality,” an anonymous agent told Business Insider.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial for federal sex trafficking charges. Sources say there are no indications of foul play and that suicide remains the most likely cause of death.
The New York City medical examiner’s office completed its autopsy yesterday but said it needed more information before finalizing a cause of death. The Justice Department is opening an investigation into the circumstances of the death.
Updated
Federal agents descended upon the private island of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as part of an ongoing investigation into the late financier, the FBI announced Monday.
Epstein died of an apparent suicide on Saturday while in federal custody at New York’s Metropolitan correctional center after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges last month.
His alleged victims say Epstein used his private island off the coast of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands as a site to abuse young women and girls.
The FBI and the Office of the Inspector General are investigating the death of Epstein, who had recently been taken off of suicide watch at the time of his death.
Updated
The New York police department is investigating attacks on Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn early Monday morning as a hate crime.
The hate crimes unit and local precinct are investigating the assaults, which were carried out against at least three people between the ages of 56 and 71.
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, tweeted he will be directing the state police hate crimes task force to work with NYPD to “ensure those responsible are held accountable”.
“This is sickening,” he said. “In NY, we have absolutely zero tolerance for such heinous acts.”
Police believe there were three attackers and are still searching for them.
Updated
Hello readers, Kari Paul in San Francisco taking over for the evening. More news to come.
That’s it from me today. My West Coast colleague Kari Paul will be taking over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands:
- Attorney General William Barr said Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators “should not rest easy” after the alleged sex-trafficker’s apparent suicide, vowing to bring them to justice.
- Epstein was taken off suicide watch late last month partly due to the urging of his defense team, according to ABC News.
- Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell warned Beijing that any violent crackdown of the Hong Kong protests would be “completely unacceptable.” A Trump administration official urged all parties involved to refrain from violence.
- National security adviser John Bolton, who is in London visiting Boris Johnson, said the Trump administration was supportive of a successful Brexit and would back the move with a US-UK free trade deal. Bolton is the most senior Trump official to meet with the newly elected prime minister.
- The Trump administration announced a new policy penalizing green card applicants who use public benefits, raising concerns about low-income immigrant families disenrolling from programs like food stamps and Medicaid. Immigrants’ rights groups and Democratic attorneys general have already threatened to sue.
- A friend of the Dayton shooter is facing charges for providing him with the body armor and a 100-round magazine he used in the attack.
Kari will be covering more fallout from the Epstein case and the Hong Kong protests, so stay tuned.
Immigrants’ rights groups and Democratic attorneys generals are already threatening to sue the Trump administration over its new “public charge rule.”
The policy would penalize green card applicants who use public benefits, like food stamps or Medicaid.
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York state, said she would take legal action against the “egregious rule”.
I am committed to defending all of New York’s communities, which is why I intend to sue the Trump Administration over this egregious rule. https://t.co/rc9BZGAnxO
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) August 12, 2019
Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, made the same promise. “[W]e will fight with every tool we have available to ensure that everyone in our communities has the freedom to thrive and the necessary resources to do so,” Hincapié said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing Trump in court – again – and to seeing justice prevail as we defend immigrant families and our democracy.”
Updated
Bernie Sanders’ top campaign advisers organized a conference call with reporters on Monday to argue that his presidential run was off to an “exciting” start – despite what one might gather from the evening news.
“The headlines that Bernie’s campaign is in free fall or is falling apart could not be further from the truth,” Ben Tulchin, a campaign pollster, said on a press call with reporters.
Jeff Weaver, a senior campaign adviser who served as Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager, railed against the “undiscriminating acceptance of polls that fit existing narratives”. He said Sanders treatment by the press at this phase in the race was similar to a period in 2015 that he called the “Bernie Black out.” This time around, he called it the “Bernie write off”.
“There seems to be a direct correlation between the media coverage of polls and Bernie Sanders’s specific standing in those polls: the better the number is in poll, the less coverage it receives and the worse he does the more he receives,” Weaver said.
He complained that a recent Quinnipiac poll showing Sanders had slipped to 14% generated 47 news stories in major media outlets while another poll showing him at 22% was covered in only two news stories.
The call was organized as presidential hopefuls Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris gain ground on the Vermont senator.
His team argued that Sanders is well positioned to win the party’s nomination, noting that he has more cash on hand – $27.5 million – than any other Democratic candidate and 1 million volunteers working to help elect him.
Perhaps most importantly, they argued, is that healthcare has emerged as a central issue in the primary – for candidates and voters.
“It’s clearly very positive terrain for us,” Weaver said, insisting that Sanders’s signature Medicare for all plan continues to convert supporters daily. He added: “It also shows a clear differentiation among the candidates in terms of who is willing to take on the big insurance companies and the big pharmaceutical companies to benefit working Americans.”
Sanders’ has long criticized what he refers to as the “mainstream media” and gripes often about coverage of “political gossip” – reporting that covers the horse race as opposed to policy and the issues.
This weekend, Sanders campaign is organizing a softball game against members of the press at Iowa’s Field of Dreams baseball field. The game is meant to show “goodwill and sportsmanship” at a time when the media is frequently “demonized by the president.”
Updated
The Trump administration is advocating for the dissolution of a federal immigration judges’ union that has been critical of the president’s policies.
The Justice Department argued in a Friday court filing with the Federal Labor Relations Authority that immigration judges are actually management officials and therefore ineligible to be represented by the National Association of Immigration Judges.
NAIJ’s president, Ashley Tabaddor, found that argument laughable. “This is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the DOJ to evade transparency and accountability, and undermine the decisional independence of the nation’s 440 Immigration Judges,” she said in a statement. “We don’t even have the authority to order pencils.”
The union has previously complained that the administration’s metrics for evaluating immigration judges undermine judicial independence and due process.
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren voiced support for the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, who have occupied the local airport:
The people of Hong Kong are making clear that they will not tolerate repression, and their movement affirms: The power is with the people. They deserve our support and the support of the world. https://t.co/Ap0OQSsN0N
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 12, 2019
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell warned in a statement that any violent crackdown of the protests by the Chinese government would be “completely unacceptable,” and the Trump administration has urged all parties to refrain from violence.
Epstein taken off suicide watch at his lawyers' urging, ABC News reports
Alleged sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was taken off suicide watch late last month partly due to urging from his defense team, ABC News reports.
The multimillionaire financier reportedly had to also undergo multiple psychiatric evaluations before prison officials approved the move.
It is unlikely that footage exists of Epstein’s apparent suicide, sources said, because cameras are not directed at individual cells in the unit where he was being held.
Attorney General William Barr vowed earlier today that Epstein’s co-conspirators would still face consequences despite the unexpected death. “Let me assure you that case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein,” Barr said in a New Orleans speech. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. Victims deserve justice and will get it.”
Updated
Trump took another swing at Anthony Scaramucci, his former communications director who has been making the rounds on cable news today saying he does not support the president’s re-election bid:
Scaramucci, who like so many others had nothing to do with my Election victory, is only upset that I didn’t want him back in the Administration (where he desperately wanted to be). Also, I seldom had time to return his many calls to me. He just wanted to be on TV!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2019
Dayton shooter's friend charged for providing body armor
A friend of the Dayton shooter is facing federal charges for providing him with the body armor, a gun accessory and a 100-round magazine he used in the attack.
“To be clear, there is no evidence and allegation in this criminal complaint that [Ethan] Kollie intentionally participated in the planning of [Connor] Betts’ Aug. 4 shooting,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman. “I don’t want that to be misconstrued.”
Authorities said Kollie bought the items for Betts and kept them at his home so that his parents wouldn’t discover them.
“I can’t speak to exactly what he thought he was going to use the firearm for,” said FBI agent Todd Wickerham. “But we have not found any indication that he knew he was going to conduct this attack.”
The Houston Chronicle published an editorial over the weekend asking Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke to exit the presidential race and instead run for the Senate in Texas.
“Beto, if you’re listening: Come home. Drop out of the race for president and come back to Texas to run for senator,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “The chances of winning the race you’re in now are vanishingly small. And Texas needs you.”
But if the former congressman did enter the race, he would join a crowded field that includes big names in the state like Army helicopter pilot MJ Hegar, former congressman Chris Bell and state Senator Royce West. Activist Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez also just announced she would run for the Democratic nomination.
The eventual nominee will face off against Republican Senator John Cornyn, who has been preparing for a brutal race in the increasingly purple state by stockpiling millions of campaign dollars.
Bolton expresses support for successful Brexit with promise of trade deal
National security adviser John Bolton, who is in London meeting with Boris Johnson, said the Trump administration backs a successful Brexit and would support it with a US-UK free trade deal.
Bolton said of the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, “If that’s the decision of the British government we will support it enthusiastically, and that’s what i’m trying to convey. We’re with you, we’re with you.”
Bolton’s meeting with Johnson makes him the most senior Trump administration official to meet with the newly elected prime minister.
Democratic presidential candidates are marking the two-year anniversary since the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which claimed the life of counterprotester Heather Heyer:
Two years after Charlottesville, we have a problem with this rising tide of white supremacy in America. And we have a president who encourages and emboldens it. But if we stand together in opposing it, we will win the battle for the soul of this nation. pic.twitter.com/7X6nSZMyQT
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 12, 2019
Two years ago, white supremacy left another ugly mark on our history in #Charlottesville. We won't forget—and we'll continue to fight hate wherever it appears.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 12, 2019
Two years ago today, Heather Heyer was killed when hundreds of neo-Nazis gathered in Charlottesville.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 12, 2019
We must honor Heather by following her example. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Two years ago, neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville—and killed a woman named Heather Heyer. This violence has metastasized from Pittsburgh to El Paso; and the violence will continue until we defeat this hatred and the man endorsing these “very fine people” from the Oval Office.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 12, 2019
McConnell warns Beijing against violent crackdown of Hong Kong protests
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell warned that any violent crackdown of Hong Kong protests by the Chinese government would be “completely unacceptable.”
The people of Hong Kong are bravely standing up to the Chinese Communist Party as Beijing tries to encroach on their autonomy and freedom. Any violent crackdown would be completely unacceptable. As I have said on the Senate floor: The world is watching. https://t.co/5VPm5P4PfB
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) August 12, 2019
A senior Trump administration official and a State Department spokesperson also urged all parties to refrain from violence. The senior official emphasized that the administration was supporting democracy but reiterated the president’s past comment that it was a matter between China and Hong Kong.
The warnings came as protesters shut down Hong Kong’s airport, resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Our colleagues Erin Hale and Lily Kuo report:
The unprecedented cancellation of all flights followed the fourth consecutive day of protests at the airport and amid increasingly threatening statements from Beijing. A Chinese official said ‘terrorism’ was emerging in the city, while in Hong Kong authorities demonstrated water cannon for use in crowd control.
The protests are in their 10th week, with confrontations between protesters and police growing more violent. Rights groups and democracy activists have accused police of using increasingly excessive force. At least 40 people were treated in hospital after clashes on Sunday, including a woman who was hit, reportedly with a beanbag round, and could potentially lose an eye.
Les Wexner, the CEO of L Brands, has been providing federal investigators with documents that he says show Jeffrey Epstein misappropriated funds as his money manager, CNBC reports.
One source said Wexner believes the documents show “all sorts of irregularities and theft.” “There were things that were completely wrong and transactions that weren’t appropriate,” the source said.
Wexner has reportedly been cooperating with federal investigators for weeks, well before Epstein’s apparent suicide on Saturday. L Brand’s stock has slid about 15 percent since the New York Times first reported on Wexner’s connection to the alleged sex-trafficker.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had some harsh words today for Trump, who she said had “betrayed” a lot of people with broken campaign promises.
To @CNN on final day of her #Iowa bus tour, @KamalaHarris on @realDonaldTrump: “He came in office making all kinds of promises to working people... He made a lot of promises and has betrayed a lot of people. Infrastructure week, I guess we slept through that one.” pic.twitter.com/e33YCTRxNY
— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) August 12, 2019
The California senator’s comments came on the final day of her Iowa bus tour, part of her strategic pivot to focus on the first voting state of the Democratic primaries.
The New York Times reports:
As Ms. Harris trundles her way across Iowa on a five-day bus tour that is her longest trip yet to any early primary state, the California Democrat’s embrace of Iowa’s quirky political traditions has delivered the unmistakable message that the state’s kickoff caucuses are increasingly central to her 2020 calculations after months of focus on South Carolina.
By the end of her tour on Monday, Ms. Harris will have made more stops in Iowa on this trip than she did in the entire first half of 2019, according to the Des Moines Register’s candidate tracker. She did not once venture farther west than the Des Moines suburbs until July, as her one planned trip there was scratched because of Senate votes.
Richard Berman, the federal judge who was overseeing Jeffrey Epstein’s case and denied him bail, said through chambers that the alleged sex trafficker’s death is “a tragedy to everyone involved in this case.”
Attorney General William Barr vowed earlier today that Epstein’s co-conspirators would still be held accountable. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy,” Barr said in a New Orleans speech. “Victims deserve justice and will get it.”
Some of Trump’s evangelical supporters, a key constituency for the president, were distraught after a recent rally, when he repeatedly used the word “goddamn.”
Oddly, they did not express similar concerns about a racist “Send her back!” chant that broke out about Representative Ilhan Omar during the rally.
Politico reports:
Paul Hardesty didn’t pay much attention to [Trump]’s campaign rally in Greenville, N.C., last month until a third concerned constituent rang his cell phone.
The residents of Hardesty’s district — he’s a Trump-supporting West Virginia state senator — were calling to complain that Trump was ‘using the Lord’s name in vain,’ as Hardesty recounted. ...
The issue has recently hit a nerve among those who have become some of the president’s most reliable supporters: white evangelicals — who comprise much of Hardesty’s district. The group was key to Trump’s 2016 win, helping bolster his standing in critical swing states, and Trump likely needs to maintain that support if he wants to win a second term. But some are growing fatigued with the irreverent language that often seeps into Trump’s rallies and official events.
‘I’ve had people come to me and say, ‘You know I voted for [Trump], but if he doesn’t tone down the rhetoric, I might just stay home this time,’’ Hardesty said.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Attorney General William Barr said in a speech that there were “serious irregularities” about Jeffrey Epstein’s confinement at Metropolitan Correctional Center and vowed that his co-conspirators would not go unpunished.
- The Trump administration announced a new policy penalizing green card applicants who use public benefits, raising concerns about low-income immigrant families disenrolling from programs like food stamps and Medicaid.
- Trump officials are also moving to overhaul the Endangered Species Act, despite critics’ warnings that it will drive more plants and animals to extinction.
- The president’s former communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, said he would not support Trump’s re-election bid.
The blog is monitoring more developments on the Epstein case and the Trump administration’s policy maneuvers, so stay tuned.
Attorney General William Barr said that he was “appalled and frankly angry” about the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s “failure” to adequately monitor Jeffrey Epstein before his apparent suicide.
The comments in his speech at the National Fraternal Order of Police’s conference in New Orleans came two days after the attorney general issued a similar statement on Epstein’s death announcing the Justice Department’s investigation into the matter.
“I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody,” Barr said in that statement. “Mr. Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered.”
Since taking office, Trump has made more than 12,000 false or misleading statements, according to the Washington Post’s count.
The Post reports:
Trump crossed the 10,000 mark on April 26, and he has been averaging about 20 fishy claims a day since then. From the start of his presidency, he has averaged about 13 such claims a day.
About one-fifth of these claims are about immigration, his signature issue — a percentage that has grown since the government shut down over funding for his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, his most repeated claim — 190 times — is that his border wall is being built. Congress balked at funding the concrete barrier he envisioned, so he has tried to pitch bollard fencing and repairs of existing barriers as ‘a wall.’ ...
Trump has falsely claimed 186 times that the U.S. economy today is the best in history. He began making this claim in June 2018, and it quickly became one of his favorites.
Attorney General William Barr noted that there were “serious irregularities” about Jeffrey Epstein’s confinement at Metropolitan Correctional Center, but he did not specify what they were.
According to reports, Epstein did not have a cellmate at the time his body was discovered, which he should have. His previous cellmate was transferred Friday and not replaced.
Corrections officers should have also been checking on Epstein, who was recently placed on suicide watch, every 30 minutes. But he had been left alone for “several” hours by the time his body was discovered early Saturday morning, a source told the Washington Post.
All of these circumstances will likely be investigated by the Justice Department’s inspector general, the FBI and New York City medical examiner’s office -- all of whom have launched probes into Epstein’s death.
Trump speaks with Boris Johnson
Trump spoke once again today with Boris Johnson and told the new British prime minister that he hopes to meet with him personally “in the near future,” according to the White House.
National security adviser John Bolton is also in London to meet with Johnson, among others, making Bolton the most senior Trump official to visit the new prime minister.
Trump was most recently in the United Kingdom in June to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Attorney general: Epstein's co-conspirators 'should not rest easy'
Attorney General William Barr warned any co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein that they will still be brought to justice, despite the alleged sex trafficker’s apparent suicide.
NEW: Attorney General Bill Barr: "Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy." https://t.co/2UAm012vCA pic.twitter.com/YGAKFg2oYg
— ABC News (@ABC) August 12, 2019
“Let me assure you that case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein,” Barr said in a speech at the National Fraternal Order of Police’s conference in New Orleans. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. Victims deserve justice and will get it.”
Barr also vowed to investigate the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s “failure” to secure Epstein. “We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation,” Barr said. “We will get to the bottom of it, and there will be accountability.”
Updated
Gabbard to report for two weeks of active duty in Indonesia
Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard will be away from the campaign trail for two weeks as she reports for active duty in Indonesia.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, 2020 presidential candidate, will be taking a two-week absence from her campaign Monday to report for active duty with the Hawaiian Army National Guard in Indonesia, she tells CBSN https://t.co/ekBZynOTRH pic.twitter.com/qEdqQ0pJBk
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2019
The Hawaii congresswoman is a veteran of the Iraq War and has served two tours of duty in the Middle East.
Scaramucci announces opposition to Trump's re-election bid
Trump’s former communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, said this morning that he no longer supports the president’s re-election bid.
Our colleague Edward Helmore reports:
On Monday, Scaramucci was asked by CNN whether he was ‘no longer an active supporter of President Trump and his re-election bid?’
Scaramucci replied: ‘I think that’s pretty obvious from over the weekend.’
Asked if he was calling for a change to the Republican nomination for president, Scaramucci said: ‘Well, I’m calling for it to be considered, yes.’
Scaramucci introduced that theme on Sunday, telling Axios: ‘We are now in the early episodes of Chernobyl on HBO, where the reactor is melting down and the apparatchiks are trying to figure out whether to cover it up or start the clean-up process.’
He went on: ‘A couple more weeks like this and ‘country over party’ is going to require the Republicans to replace the top of the ticket in 2020. We can’t afford a full nuclear contamination site post-2020.’
Trump attacked Scaramucci in a series of tweets at the weekend, in which he said his fellow New Yorker had been ‘totally incapable of handling’ his position in the White House and accused him of knowing ‘very little about me’.
Asked about Scaramucci’s comments, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the former communications director was no expert on the president, citing his 11-day tenure in the position. “This is all so self-serving on his part, and the media plays right into it,” Grisham said. “It’s embarrassing to watch.”
Trump administration to overhaul Endangered Species Act
The Trump administration has other major policy changes in the works as well. Officials are reportedly finalizing changes to the Endangered Species Act that experts fear will drive more plants and animals to extinction.
The AP reports:
The Trump administration says the changes will make regulation more efficient and less burdensome while preserving protections for wildlife.
At least 10 attorneys general joined conservation groups in protesting an early draft of the changes, saying they put more wildlife at greater risk of extinction.
A draft version of the changes released last year included ending blanket protections for animals newly deemed threatened and allowing federal authorities for the first time to consider the economic cost of protecting a particular species. Another change could let authorities disregard impacts from climate change, one of the largest threats to habitat, conservation groups said.
The final rule broadly sticks to those changes, according to a person briefed on the changes who was not authorized to publicly speak about them.
Conservationists promised legal action.
Updated
A New York Times reporter noted that, since the “public charge rule” was first drafted, many immigrants she has interviewed have emphasized that they do not use public benefits:
4/My anecdotal experience: Ever since the draft of this reg was published last fall, many immigrants have made a point to EMPHASIZE to me during interviews that they and their children don't use any public benefits. (Even if they're eligible).
— Caitlin Dickerson (@itscaitlinhd) August 12, 2019
It’s worth noting that the new Trump administration policy penalizing green card applicants who use public benefits affects legal immigration.
The president has consistently used vitriolic language to describe illegal immigration, promising his supporters that he will curb the number of crossings at the US-Mexico border.
But his administration has also pursued a number of avenues to cut the number of legal immigrants to the country, including slashing the number of refugee admissions and now penalizing green card applicants who use food stamps or Medicaid.
The overall intended effect seems to be a chilling reduction in the number of immigrants to America --regardless of their legal status.
One reporter asked Ken Cuccinelli whether the new rule penalizing green card applicants who use public benefits flew in the face of the plaque at the Statue of Liberty, which reads “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The reporter asked the acting USCIS director if that plaque should be amended given the implications of this new policy.
“I’m certainly not prepared to take anything down off the Statue of Liberty,” Cuccinelli replied.
"Is that sentiment, give us 'your tired, your poor,' still operative in the United States, or...should the plaque come down from the Statue of Liberty?"
— ABC News (@ABC) August 12, 2019
Ken Cuccinelli: "I'm certainly not prepared to take anything down off the Statue of Liberty." https://t.co/BT3SbY9x4Q pic.twitter.com/zfLWkt5iXL
Ken Cuccinelli said that “criminal investigations” remain ongoing from recent Ice raids of workplaces.
Acting USCIS chief Ken Cuccinelli says "criminal investigations" resulting from recent ICE workplace immigration raids "are still ongoing."
— ABC News (@ABC) August 12, 2019
"You can expect to see more of that as part of the message of this administration. We're going to enforce the law." https://t.co/BT3SbY9x4Q pic.twitter.com/Qj94ykA6zl
About 680 immigrants, most of them Latino, were arrested last week in a series of raids at Mississippi food-processing plants. It marked the largest ever Ice sweep conducted in a single state.
Ken Cuccinelli said he “can’t imagine” the Trump administration would eliminate the refugee admission program, noting that Congress would need to make such a change.
Politico reported last month that some Trump administration officials have been pushing to slash the number of refugee admissions to zero.
Cuccinelli cites need for 'self-sufficiency' to defend new green card policy
Ken Cuccinelli said the new policy penalizing green card applicants who use public benefits is “reenforcing the ideals of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility.”
"Through the public charge rule, President Trump's administration is reenforcing the ideals of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility ensuring immigrants are able to support themselves and become successful here in America," Ken Cuccinelli says https://t.co/nENEcsyMX4 pic.twitter.com/XlRN9ql4j5
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2019
The acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services previously told Fox News that the new rule would “have the long-term benefit of protecting taxpayers by ensuring people who are immigrating to this country don’t become public burdens, that they can stand on their own two feet, as immigrants in years past have done.”
Cuccinelli also cited his family’s own immigration story from Italy as an example of that “self-sufficiency.”
Updated
Cuccinelli announcing new policy for green card applicants
Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, is holding a press briefing at the White House to announce the new policy penalizing green card applicants who use public benefits.
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services head Ken Cuccinelli announces release of public charge rule to limit immigration pic.twitter.com/zsaOqpvSMN
— Cheryl Bolen (@cherylbolen) August 12, 2019
According to the Urban Institute, 1 in 7 adults in immigrant families are eschewing public benefits out of fear that it could affect their chances of getting a green card.
Respondents of the organization’s survey reported choosing not to enroll or even disenrolling from programs like food stamps and Medicaid.
Researchers found that not receiving public benefits in turn caused financial difficulties as well as mental and physical health problems.
New Trump administration policy to penalize green card applicants who use public benefits
The Trump administration has introduced a new policy that could penalize green card applicants who use public benefits, such as food stamps.
BuzzFeed News reports:
The policy will take effect in about two months, according to a filing of the policy in the Federal Register.
The proposed version of the rule was released in September, and it received thousands of public comments online, many of which were critical of the policy. ...
The Immigration and Nationality Act has long allowed the government to deny permanent residency to immigrants who were determined to be a financial burden on society or a ‘public charge’ — meaning they’re dependent on the government for financial support.
The new rule would alter how the government decides if someone is a public charge.
Last year, researchers said the proposed version of the rule would have a serious impact on immigrants, regardless of whether they were impacted by the policy.
‘Numerous studies, by MPI and others, have found the rule would result in disenrollment from public benefits programs by many immigrants, including those not directly affected by the rule, as well as U.S.-born dependents,’ read a report released by the Migration Policy Institute. ‘Already, there are anecdotal reports by service providers of people disenrolling from public benefit programs amid fear or confusion about the rule.’
Cause of death not yet finalized after Epstein's autopsy
Good morning, live blog readers!
The biggest news of the day remains Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier facing sex-trafficking charges who died of an apparent suicide on Saturday. His death has raised numerous questions about how the jail could have allowed such an event to occur.
The New York City medical examiner’s office completed its autopsy yesterday but said it needed more information before finalizing a cause of death. But sources say there are no indications of foul play and that suicide remains the most likely cause of death.
And yet that hasn’t stopped many -- including the president -- from promoting conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death. With the Justice Department opening an investigation into the circumstances of the apparent suicide, much more will likely be learned in the weeks and months to come.
Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on:
- Donald Trump is still on vacation in Bedminster, New Jersey, with no events on his public schedule, so keep an eye on his Twitter feed.
- Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services office, will give a press briefing at the White House at 10 a.m. EDT.
- Today marks two years since the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer.
Stay tuned.
Updated
