Neal Katyal | Why Barr Can’t Whitewash the Mueller Report

03 May 19 It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News Neal Katyal | Why Barr Can’t Whitewash the Mueller Report  Neal Katyal, The New York Times Katyal writes: "We have a system in place for our government to uncover evidence against a sitting president. And it’s working." READ MORE Wayne LaPierre, who spoke Friday at an annual meeting of the National Rifle Association, has been at the top of the organization for three decades. (photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg) Senate Democrats Ask NRA Execs, PR Firm for Documents Related to Alleged Self-Dealing Katie Zezima, The Washington Post Zezima writes: "Three Senate Democrats have asked current and former National Rifle Association executives and the organization’s public relations firm to turn over letters, third-party audits, memos and other materials as they look into allegations of self-dealing and examine the NRA’s nonprofit status." READ MORE Alex Jones, Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, and Louis Farrakhan have all been removed from the platform. (photo: Reuters) Facebook Bans Alex Jones, Milo, and Others for Hate Speech Suhauna Hussain, The Los Angeles Times Hussain writes: "In the latest sign that social media giants are feeling the heat for allowing their platforms to amplify voices of extremists, Facebook on Thursday banned conspiracy theorist and InfoWars founder Alex Jones and the accounts of other controversial figures." READ MORE NOTE: THESE ARE ALL NEO CON CHICKEN HAWKS, PNAC MEMBERS, WAR MONGERS AND BONE SPURS!   PLEASE WATCH WHO IS CALLING  FOR A VIOLATION OF  INTERNATIONAL LAW - INVADING A SOVEREIGN  NATION FOR VENEZUELAN OIL FOR THE KOCHS!  Sec. Mike Pompeo. (photo: EPA) Trump Team Is Considering Military Options in Venezuela D. Parvaz, ThinkProgress Parvaz writes: "Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro addressed 4,000 troops in a televised message on Thursday, saying that they must be prepared to fight the 'traitors' supporting opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s failed attempt to take power this week." READ MORE California's governor Gavin Newsom. (photo: Getty) California Senate Passes Bill That Would Keep Trump Off 2020 Ballot Unless He Releases Tax Returns Rachel Frazin, The Hill Frazin writes: "The California state Senate on Thursday approved a bill to require candidates appearing on the presidential primary ballot - including President Trump - to release five years' worth of income tax returns." READ MORE Young Yemenis walk past a tank destroyed in clashes between Houthi and opposition forces in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen. (photo: EPA) US Senate Fails to Override Trump Veto on Yemen War Al Jazeera Excerpt: "The US Senate failed on Thursday to overturn President Donald Trump's veto of legislation that would have ended US military assistance for the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen." READ MORE  SENATE DISGRACE IN ITS ENTIRETY:  he US Senate failed on Thursday to overturn President Donald Trump's veto of legislation that would have ended US military assistance for the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen. The vote handed a victory to the White House for its policy of continuing to back Saudi Arabia. The vote was 53 to 45, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto, despite a handful of Trump's fellow Republicans joining Democrats in backing the War Powers Resolution. It was only the second veto of Trump's presidency, both this year. Neither piece of legislation garnered the two-thirds support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives needed to override the veto. The resolution's passage earlier this year marked the first time both the Senate and House supported the provision of the War Powers Act limiting the president's ability to send troops into action without congressional authorization. Backers of the resolution said they wanted to reassert Congress's constitutional power to declare war, and send a strong message to Saudi Arabia about the devastating civilian toll of the four-year-long civil war in Yemen.  "We've been materially assisting a foreign power in its efforts to bomb its adversaries. And sometimes helping that foreign power to bomb innocent civilians on the ground in the process," Republican Senator Mike Lee, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said before the vote. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running for the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination and was a sponsor of the resolution that passed Congress, framed Thursday's veto vote as a life or death issue. "We can save thousands upon thousands of people if we override Donald Trump's veto," he tweeted shortly before the vote. Congress increasingly frustrated The war in Yemen, which pits Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Houthi rebels backed by Iran, has killed tens of thousands of people and spawned what the United Nations calls the world's most dire humanitarian crisis, with the country on the brink of famine. Many members of Congress have also become increasingly frustrated with Saudi Arabia over its human rights record, anger fueled by the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey last year.  Saudi officials have rejected accusations that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ordered the killing, despite a conclusion by US intelligence that MBS was complicit in the journalist's murder. The resolution's opponents argued that support for the Saudi-UAE coalition was not an appropriate use of the War Powers Act, because the military provides supports such as targeting assistance, not troops. "The premise of this resolution is fundamentally flawed and I believe a misrepresentation of what is happening on the ground in Yemen," Republican Senator Jim Risch said before the vote. Risch, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is writing legislation to address the situation with Saudi Arabia. He declined to discuss possible specific provisions of the measure, but said he hoped to introduce it in May with the goal of finding something that could pass both the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House and be signed, not vetoed, by Trump. Amid US and international anger over the civilian toll of the Yemen conflict, the Trump administration last year stopped providing refuelling support for Saudi aircraft in Yemen. Deepwater Horizon Oil platform on fire. (photo: US Coastguard) Trump Administration to Ease Safety Rules Created After Deadly Deepwater Horizon Explosion Janet McConnaughey and Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press Excerpt: "The Trump administration on Thursday moved to ease safety regulations adopted after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon blowout, the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history that killed nearly a dozen people." READ MORE Contribute to RSN Update My Monthly Donation