C-12-4 Trump mulls national security adviser pick, White House promises autonomy

Trump met with four finalists for the position of national security adviser on Sunday and may meet with them again on Monday. Among those Trump interviewed acting adviser Keith Kellogg, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster and Lieutenant General Robert Caslen. White House officials made clear on Sunday that the new adviser would have autonomy over staffing decisions, an issue that has been reported to have thwarted some other candidates. Trump's original pick to fill Flynn's vacancy, Vice Admiral Robert Harward, turned it down claiming family and financial issues. Another potential pick, David Petraeus, a retired general and former CIA chief who resigned in 2012, was cut from the president's list. The national security adviser is an independent aide to the president and does not require Senate confirmation. The role has varied between administrations, but all advisers attend National Security Council meetings along with the heads of the State Department, Department of Defense and key security agencies. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-security-idUSKBN15Y0RH

C-12-3 'Muslim-free America' posters turn up on multiple college campuses

Anti-Muslim posters have been put around multiple college campuses across the United States, which is apparently the work of American Vanguard, a far-right, pro-white organization. The posters ask viewers to "Image a Muslim-free America" with images of the World Trade Centers and an American flag. One of these flyers was posted on the Rutgers University campus in NJ and was quickly removed by University police. Rutgers later said that security will be added to the cultural center, where the poster was found. Similar posters were found on the campus of University of Texas in Austin. They were posted on utility poles and some school buildings, including the student campus center and on the College of Liberal Arts. J.B. Bird, UT's director of media relations, said in a statements that the university supports free speech, but that posting signs outside of university buildings is not allowed under campus rules. Only students and student organizations can post signage in approved spaces on campus. The statement did not condemn the content of the signs, only the fact that their placement had violated school rules. On monday, the Texas branch of American Vanguard tweeted photos taking credit for posting the flyers on the UT campus. The American Vanguard also posted on their website a post entitled, "The Texan Offensive" saying, "Members of the American Vanguard in Texas organized a mass poster effort and put ip our materials at Texas State University, Rice University, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Dllas, Collin College, Abilene Christian University, and Louisiana State University with the help of some members in Louisiana." The organizations America Vanguard is a white supremacy organizations on the belief that "white America" is under attack and needs to take back the nation before whites become the minority, according to their website, which is estimated to happen by 2044.

http://college.usatoday.com/2017/02/15/muslim-free-america-posters-turn-up-on-multiple-college-campuses/

C-12-2 Who Knew and Why Did They Do It?

Late Monday night, national security Adviser, Michael Flynn resigned after misleading top White House officials about his connections with Russia's ambassador on U.S. sanctions. Flynn lasted less than a month on the job, starting in January. The White House has said that Trump asked for Flynn to resign because he no longer trusted him. Democratic lawmakers want an investigation on Flynn, but Republicans won't commit. Russian lawmakers claim Flynn is being made a scapegoat, but the real problem may stem from Trump himself. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/14/trumps-problems-over-michael-flynn-just-getting-started/97886918/

C-12-1 Trump Notes 'dangerous' Uptick in Refugees Since Courts Ruled Against Travel Ban

President Trump tweeted on Saturday supporting and defending national security initiatives, saying refugees from 'dangerous' countries are streaming into the U.S under the courts' halt on the travel ban, suggesting that he can undercut the multi-billion dollar cost to build his proclaimed wall. "I am reading that the great WALL will cost more than the government originally thought, but I have not gotten involved in the design or negotiations yet. When I do, Just like with the F-35 FighterJet or the Air Force One Program, price will come WAY DOWN!", said Trump in a tweet. The Department of Homeland Security has said that the wall will take an estimated $21.6 billion and 3 1/2 years to complete. As for the immigration ban halt, Trump tweeted earlier this week, "Our legal system is broken! 77% of refugees allowed into U.S. since travel reprieve hail form seven suspect countries. SO DANGEROUS!" The updated numbers from the State Department show the % closer to 72% for the week of February 3-11 with 402 from Syria, 340 from Iraq, 115 from Iran, 155 from Somalia, 37 from Sudan, and 1,049 total.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/11/trump-notes-dangerous-uptick-in-refugees-since-courts-ruled-against-travel-ban.html

C-11-4 Trump to meet with moderate Democrats with Gorsuch vote in mind

President Trump has invited several red state Democratic senators to lunch at the White House on Thursday in the hopes of swaying their support on his Supreme Court nominee. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Jon Tester of Montana, the senators invited to lunch, are all up for re-election in 2018. Trump will need the help of at least a few Democrats in the legislative branch to get Gorsuch confirmed. Otherwise, Trump would have to rely on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to change the Senate rules in order for Republicans to approve Gorsuch on a party-line vote, something McConnell loathes to do. Heitkamp met with Trump in December, worrying congressional leaders that Keitkamp might leave the Senate to take a job with the Trump administration. Although she did not take the job, she has shown a willingness to work with Trump. Manchin also met with Trump in December, but shortly after, announced he would not be leaving the Senate either. 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/08/politics/trump-moderate-democrats-meeting-neil-gorsuch/index.html

C-11-3 It's Not Just the Park Service: 'Rogue' Federal Twitter Accounts Multiply

Accounts that have the look of real federal agencies, called "rogue accounts", are trending on Twitter. The AtlUSNatParkService Twitter account has gained more than 1 million followers and inspired the creation of many more "unofficial resistance" accounts for specific national parks and other entities, including accounts like Rogue NASA and AltUSForestService. Many of these accounts have claimed that they were initially run by actual members of the real organizations, but many have since altered their descriptions or handed the accounts off to environmentalists and other activists. However, the account leaders are remaining anonymous, continuously tweeting facts about climate change as well as directly apposing Trump. Accounts such as these have been around for years, but the ones recently have been making headlines in the media due to the fact that many of them arose as a result of the Trump administration's apparent gag orders on some federal agencies. Many of these accounts are encouraging their followers to take action on issues by calling their representatives and providing scripts for their lawmakers. For now, most o the "rogue accounts" continue to only share facts and occasionally jokes and snarky comments towards Trump, but all of the participation they are advocating for is normal and seems to inspire participation in our democracy. 

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/01/27/512007632/its-not-just-the-park-service-rogue-federal-twitter-accounts-multiply

C-11-2 Revenge of the Bureaucrats 

On Monday, as one of President Trump's first acts, he signed an executive order freezing most federal hiring. Trump's team is also working on plans to shrink federal agencies focused on domestic policy. Employees angered by this change could leak information to the Capitol and the press as backlash against the policy. They can also use the bureaucracies to slow or "sandbag" the policy proposals. Robert Shea, an official in George Bush's Office of Management and Budget said, "The government is a place where it is easier to keep something from getting done, than it is to actually do something. All of the work that the new administration wants to get accomplished will depend on the speed and productivity of the federal workforce." Aides are also contemplating the process of "reduction in force" that would allow the new administration to skirt the civil service's complicated rules for hiring and firing. The easiest way to do this might be through budget cuts to each agency, which would be mentioned in Trump's first budget proposal in the spring, but this is easier said than done. Thousands of federal workers belong to powerful unions that can mobilize their representatives in Congress. Almost 2/3 of them work for defense and security-related agencies, which are areas of the government that Trump promised not to touch during his campaign. Federal workers are also concerned that Trump may get support for these plans from the Republican-controlled Congress. Earlier this month, House Republicans brought up an 1876 rule that would allow them, with the majority in both the Senate and the House, to use spending legislation to lower the salary of governments employees. Those employees that choose to stay, may fight back against these policies by taking their information to advocacy groups and to the media. Former political appointees said career workers offer invaluable government experience to a new administration and with 2/3 of career employees in leadership positions eligible for retirement in the next few years, the federal government could be facing unprecedented loss. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-government-bureaucrats-234019

C-11-1 Trump Set To Name Supreme Court Pick on Tuesday

President Trump stated today on Twitter that he will announce his nomination for Supreme Court Justice on Tuesday at 8pm ET. Once the nomination is announced, the Senate will debate and vote on the nomination. Trump said to Fox News on Thursday, "I have made my decision pretty much in my mind, yes. That's subject to change at the last moment, but I think this will be a great choice." Former President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland, but Senate Republicans refused to hold a confirmation vote on the pivotal seat so close to a presidential election. Trump was said to have shortened his list to two federal appeals court judges, Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit and Thomas Hardiman of the Third Circuit.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/30/trump-set-to-name-supreme-court-pick-on-tuesday.html

C-10-3 Ethics Lawyers to Sue Trump Over Continuing Business Interests

Lawyers plan to sue President Trump in federal court Monday for continuing business and receiving money form foreign governments, which is in violation of the Constitution. The non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington will file a suit Monday morning in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The suit alleges that Trump violated the Constitution the moment he was sworn in as president because he had not divested his interests in the Trump Organization. Among the allegations is leases held by foreign government-owned entities in Trump Tower, bookings at Trump International Hotel, and payments from foreign government-owned broadcasters related to "The Apprentice" and other transactions and leases at a broad array of other establishments owned or licensed by Trump. Sherri Dillon, a prominent D.C lawyers who has represented Trump as a tax counsel since 2005 said at a news conference on January 11 that "no one would have thought when the Constitution was written that paying your hotel bill was an emolument." But Trump "wants to do more than what the Constitution requires. He'll voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotel to the United States Treasury. This way it is the American people who will profit." But the lawsuit alleges that's the problem. If there are foreign government profits at stake,  the president can't legally accept them in the first place. Ultimately, it is up to a federal judge whether the case goes forward. The first problem the CREW is facing is winning standing to bring the case to court. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ethics-lawyers-sue-trump-over-continuing-business-interests-n710621

C-10-2 Abortion Could Be Outlawed in 33 States if Roe v. Wade Overturned: Report

According to a new report form the Center for Reproductive Rights, abortion could become illegal in over half the states if a future Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. "More than 37 million women in 33 states are at risk of living in a state where abortion could become illegal," the group said. Based on an analysis of party control in state legislatures and governorships, as well as existing laws and constitutional provisions, 22 states are at the highest risk of banning abortion. Most are in the central and southern U.S. Four of these 22 states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota have laws in place that would automatically make abortion illegal if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned. President Trump has pledged to nominate a replacement promptly for Justice Scalia. Any nominee who opposed Roe v. Wade would have the same view Scalia did. Sen. Jeff Sessions said in his confirmation hearing that while he opposes abortion, "It is the law of the land, it has been so established and settled for quite a long time and it deserves respect. And i would respect it and follow it."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/report-abortion-could-be-outlawed-33-states-if-roe-v-n710816

C-10-1 Trump won't release his tax returns because people don't care, top adviser says

A senior aide to President Trump said Sunday that Trump has no plans to release his tax returns, which is a shirt from his pledge during the campaign to release them once an audit was completed. "People didn't care," said Kellyanne Conway. "They voted for him, and let me make this very clear: Most Americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like."Presidents are not required to release their tax returns, but presidents dating to Richard Nixon have routinely done so voluntarily. A Washington Post-ABC poll last week showed that Trump's continued refusal to release his tax returns continues to be an unpopular decision, with 74% of Americans saying he should make documents public, including 53% of Republicans. As of Sunday evening,, a petition for Trump to immediately release his tax returns had received more than 228,000 signatures. At a press conference this month, Trump pointed to an ongoing audit as the reason he couldn't release his tax returns. 

Kellyanne Conway

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/22/trump-wont-release-his-tax-returns-because-people-dont-care-top-adviser-says/?utm_term=.b3bb079ff99f

C-9-4

Trump Tweets MLK Salute, Meets With Son

President-elect Donald Trump called on Americans on Monday to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day and "celebrate all of the many wonderful things he stood for." Trump met with Martin Luther King III at Trump Tower on Monday afternoon. Afterward, Mr. King said that the meeting was "constructive." When asked about the dispute between Trump and Rep. John Lewis, King defended the lawmaker, who Trump attacked saying he was all talk and no action. King addressed the matter saying that Lewis has "demonstrated that he is action. King also said, "I think that in the heat of emotion a lot of things get said on both sides." 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/16/politics/donald-trump-martin-luther-king-day/index.html

C-9-3

Americans Are Abandoning Political Parties

According to usnews.com, the latest Gallop Poll has found that loyalty to both the Democratic and Republican parties is at an all-time low. In 2015, for the 5th year in a row, "at least 4 in 10 U.S adults identify as political independents" a Gallop spokesperson said. 42% of Americans also said they are independents last year and 43% in 2014. 29% of U.S adults said they were Democrats and 26% identified as Republicans. The Democrats' share this year was the lowest in Gallup's 65 years of asking about party identification. The previous Democratic low was 30% in 2014. The 26% the identified as Republicans was only 1 percentage point higher than the historical Gallup low in 2013.

 

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ken-walshs-washington/articles/2016-01-12/americans-are-abandoning-political-parties

C-9-2

Rep. Brooks: Dems'  'war on whites' behind some criticism of Sessions

         Alabama representative Mo Brooks said on a radio interview on Tuesday that the criticism of Alabama Senator, Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's appointed Attorney General, is part of an ongoing "war on whites" by Democrats. "It's really about political power and racial division and what I've referred to on occasion as the 'war on whites.' They are trying to motivate the African-American vote to vote-bloc for Democrats by using every 'Republican is a racist' tool that they can envision, even if they have to lie about it." said Brooks on "The Morning Show With Toni and Gary". Brooks was responding to a question about criticism of Sessions' record on civil rights, which has come under new scrutiny as he seeks to confirm the Justice Department. Sessions was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 in part because of comments he allegedly made about organizations like the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union. Sessions, a Republican, also criticized the 1965 Voting Act as "intrusive" in the 1980's. In his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Sessions called charges of racism against him, "damnably false," saying that he had prosecuted a voter fraud case in response to "pleas from African American, incumbent, elected officials." Brooks, who said in the radio interview that he was under consideration by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley to replace Sessions in the US Senate, was defending Sessions in regard to his position on voting rights. 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/politics/kfile-mo-brooks-war-on-whites/index.html

C-9-1

Jared Kushner to be President-elect Trump's Senior Advisor

       President-elect Donald Trump has appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner to be his Senior advisor. This is the first time in decades a president-elect has appointed a member of his own familyl to his cabinet. This raised much controversy as to if Donald Trump is actually constitutionally capable of doing just that. To get Kushner in the white house, Trump is turning to a 1978 law arguing that it exempts the President from the anti-nepotism statute. Kushner is married to Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, and invented a new generation of data analytics to micro-target voters for Trump's campaign. 

http://www.foxnews.com/live-coverage/transition-to-trump

Mexico:

The Federal Government of Mexico is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republic with the governments of the 32 individual Mexican states. Through the system of separation of powers each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority regulated by the other branches.The executive power is exercised by the executive branch, which is headed by the president and his Cabinet, which, together, are independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested upon the Congress of the Union, a two-chamber legislature comprising the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the Council of the Federal Judiciary, and the collegiate, unitary, and district tribunals.

Mexico has a multi-party system, which means that there are more than three dominant political parties.Nationally, there are three large political parties that dominate: the PRI (International Revolutionary Party), the PAN (National Action Party), and the PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution). Other smaller political parties survive in isolation or by forming local coalitions with any of the big three. There are 10 total national parties, 5 local parties, and 6 other parties.All political parties must be registered before the National Electoral Institute (INE), the institution in charge of organizing and overseeing the federal electoral processes, and must obtain at least 2% of votes in the federal elections to keep their registry. Only 8 of the total 21 parties are registered with the IFE as political parties.

The PRI, which seemed to be the largest political party in Mexico, was the beginning of the PRD, which seemed to focus mainly on economic issues when it broke away from the PRI forming its own political party.

https://mexicoinstituteonelections.wordpress.com/the-parties/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Mexico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_the_Democratic_Revolution