Trump cranks up heat on Sessions, says “time will tell” fate
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump cranked up the heat Tuesday on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, scorning him as “very weak” and refusing to say whether he’ll fire the nation’s top law enforcement officer and his onetime political ally. It was an extraordinary public rebuke, and even fellow Republicans pushed back forcefully.
All through a day of anything-but-subtle tweets and statements, Trump rued his decision to choose Sessions for his Cabinet and left the former senator’s future prospects dangling.
“We will see what happens,” Trump said. “Time will tell. Time will tell.”
His intensifying criticism has fueled speculation that the attorney general may step down even if the president stops short of firing him. But several people close to the former Alabama senator have said he does not plan to quit.
In private, Trump raged to confidants that Sessions had been disloyal in recusing himself from the federal investigation of Russia’s meddling in the presidential election and the possibility of collaboration with the Trump campaign. Sessions himself had met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the election as a representative of the Trump campaign and thus stepped aside from the probe.
Report: NKorea’s missile program farther along than thought
WASHINGTON (AP) — Intelligence officials believe North Korea will have a reliable, intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon as early as next year, according to a report published Tuesday amid a warning from a top Republican lawmaker who says he has grown increasingly alarmed about Pyongyang’s weapons program.
The Washington Post reported that a new confidential assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency trims two years off the timeline for when North Korea could strike North American cities with atomic weapons. The assessment was triggered by recent North Korean missile tests that indicated the nation’s program was further along than expected.
The newspaper said that U.S. officials who had seen the assessment said it concluded that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be able to produce a “reliable, nuclear-capable ICBM” program by sometime next year, allowing the program to move from prototype to assembly line.
The House Armed Services Committee held a classified briefing for all members of the chamber on Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile development. The briefing team included Rob Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy; Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency; and representatives from the DIA and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.
“The apparent success of the July Fourth test is an alarming development as North Korea accelerates its pursuit of being able to hold the United States at risk with nuclear weapons,” Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said after the classified briefing, “I have grown increasingly alarmed that North Korea is acting with a greater sense of urgency than we are.”
Charlie Gard’s parents ask court to let him die at home
LONDON (AP) — Charlie Gard’s parents know their treasured son is about to die. They have one final wish — to take him home, put him to bed and kiss him goodbye.
The mother of the critically ill baby at the center of an international medical and legal battle returned to London’s High Court on Tuesday, asking a judge to let the family take Charlie home for “a few days of tranquility” before his ventilator is disconnected and he is allowed to “slip away.”
After months of court hearings over the 11-month-old baby’s fate that drew attention from Pope Francis, U.S. President Donald Trump and people around the world, discussion came down to the mundane, heart-wrenching details of ending a life: How could Charlie be transported from a hospital to his parents’ west London home? Could ventilation be maintained on the way? Would his ventilator fit through the front door of the house?
“The parents’ last wish is to take Charlie home for a few days of tranquility outside the hospital,” family lawyer Grant Armstrong said in a written statement.
He accused London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie is being treated, of putting obstacles in the way.
The hospital’s lawyer, Katie Gollop, said Great Ormond Street wanted “above all” to fulfill the parents’ last wish, but also had to take the baby’s best interests into account.
“The care plan must be safe, it must spare Charlie all pain and protect his dignity,” she said.
The hospital said Charlie would be able to die with dignity, surrounded by his family, in a hospice. Armstrong said Charlie’s parents regarded that as only “a notch better” than the hospital.
Judge Nicholas Francis, who has dealt with the emotionally draining case for months, said the sensitive issues cried out “for mediation” — not for the ruling of a judge. But so far attempts to find agreement have failed.
At the end of the hearing attended by Charlie’s mother, Connie Yates, Francis said he felt a hospice, rather than the family home, would be best. The judge said he would make his final ruling on Wednesday.
Kushner, Manafort meet with congressional investigators
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two key members of President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign met Tuesday with congressional investigators probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates.
Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner returned to Capitol Hill for a second day of private meetings, this time for a closed-door conversation with lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee.
Separately, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met with bipartisan staff of the Senate intelligence committee and “answered their questions fully,” his spokesman, Jason Maloni, said.
Manafort’s discussion with the committee staff was confined to his recollection of a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower, according to two people familiar with the interview. Both demanded anonymity to discuss details because the interview occurred behind closed doors.
Manafort also turned over his contemporaneous notes documenting the meeting, one said. The other person said Manafort has agreed to additional interviews with the Senate intelligence committee staff on other topics. Those meetings haven’t yet been scheduled.
IRS sees big drop in identity theft, stolen tax refunds
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is seeing a big drop in the number of identity theft victims after the agency teamed up with tax preparers to fight the problem, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday.
The number of victims was nearly cut in half last year, compared to the previous year. At the same time, he said, more businesses are being targeted.
In 2015, thieves stole the identities of nearly 700,000 victims. Last year, the number dropped to 377,000.
Koskinen said the IRS identified 107,000 identity theft victims in the first five months of this year.
Thieves use stolen identities to try to obtain fraudulent tax refunds. They get the refunds by obtaining private information about victims — Social Security numbers, birth dates and income data — and using it to file fraudulent tax returns in their name.
