TV News LIES

The Justice Department on Thursday said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for Trump and his supporters in attacking the FBI's Russia investigation.

The move is a stunning reversal for one of the signature cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. It comes even though prosecutors for the last three years had maintained that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in a January 2017 interview. Flynn himself admitted as much, and became a key cooperator for Mueller as he investigated ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

In court documents being filed Thursday, the Justice Department said it is dropping the case “after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information.” The documents were obtained by The Associated Press.

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s pause in holding White House coronavirus briefings only lasted the weekend as officials said he would participate in one on Monday to update Americans on new testing guidelines.

Trump’s advisers have been arguing that the sessions, held nearly every day for more than a month, had begun to show him in an unfavorable light, particularly after a Thursday news conference at which he asked his health experts whether disinfectants that kill the virus on surfaces might be a used in patients as a treatment.

Some Republicans fear Trump is doing his re-election prospects more harm than good with sessions that often turn into harangues against reporters, and have watched his job approval numbers drop at a time when they should be gaining steam.

TVNL Comment:  The Egomaniac in Chief could not stay away from the cameras for long.  Go for it, Donald, and tell us about another magical cure for COVID-19.

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The Trump administration, state officials and even individual hospital workers are now racing against each other to get the necessary masks, gloves and other safety equipment to fight coronavirus — a scramble that hospitals and doctors say has come too late and left them at risk. But according to a previously unrevealed White House playbook, the government should’ve begun a federal-wide effort to procure that personal protective equipment at least two months ago.

“Is there sufficient personal protective equipment for healthcare workers who are providing medical care?” the playbook instructs its readers, as one early decision that officials should address when facing a potential pandemic. “If YES: What are the triggers to signal exhaustion of supplies? Are additional supplies available? If NO: Should the Strategic National Stockpile release PPE to states?”

A D.C.-based federal judge ruled Sunday that President Donald Trump's appointment of Ken Cuccinelli as acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a decision that suspends two policies Cuccinelli implemented while leading the agency.

Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner who was previously attorney general in Virginia, became acting head of USCIS in June, assuming the newly created role of “principal deputy director." In November, Cuccinelli also assumed the position of "senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary" at USCIS' parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

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Victoria Coates, one of President Donald Trump’s longest-serving national security aides, is leaving the White House soon to become a senior adviser at the Energy Department, the White House said on Thursday.

Coates has been at the Trump White House since he took office three years ago and has been a key player in the administration’s deliberations on Iran and the Middle East.

But she had battled rumors that she was the author of an opinion article by someone styling themselves as “Anonymous” expressing opposition to Trump’s agenda that ran in the New York Times on Sept. 5, 2018.

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