Obstruction of Justice In Front of Congress Caught On-Camera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrlDGvuUxMY

 

Published on Sep 17, 2019

Views: 449,317+

Barry Berke, legal counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, questioned former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski about his relationship with the president and what he told former special counsel Robert Mueller as Mueller investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by the president. Berke aired several clips of Lewandowski's past television interviews, during which Lewandowski sometimes contradicted what special counsel Robert Mueller reported Lewandowski had shared about his interactions with President Donald Trump and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Pressed to explain the inconsistencies, Lewandowski responded that he had "no obligation to be honest with the media."
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White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Monday night had lawyers’ heads spinning when he told President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, not to testify about post-election events — while also saying others were “absolutely immune from compelled congressional testimony with respect to matters related to their service as senior advisers to the President.”
Despite the reality the White House doesn’t want Lewandowski to talk about his conversations with the president, and despite the fact that House Democrats on the Judiciary Committee want Lewandowski to testify about possible obstruction of justice, Lewandowski claimed that he was really excited about the 1 p.m. impeachment-related hearing on Tuesday.

Excited about the opportunity to remind the American people today there was no collusion no obstruction. There were lots of angry Democrats who tried to take down a duly elected President. Tune in. #Senate2020.

— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) September 17, 2019 

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READ MORE > https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile
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NEXT:
Acting Intelligence Chief Refuses to Testify, Prompting Standoff With Congress

By Julian E. Barnes and Nicholas Fandos

Published Sept. 17, 2019Updated Sept. 18, 2019, 12:50 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — The acting director of national intelligence will not testify before Congress this week or immediately hand over a whistle-blower complaint to lawmakers, escalating a standoff between Capitol Hill and leaders of the intelligence agencies.

The Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, demanded in a cryptic letter on Friday that Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, turn over a whistle-blower complaint made to the inspector general for the intelligence agencies.

. . . Mr. Maguire had been confirmed by the Senate to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, but was named the acting director of national intelligence after Dan Coats stepped down in August and Trump administration officials forced his deputy, Sue Gordon, to retire.

His acting status has put Mr. Maguire in a difficult position between a White House testing his loyalty and lawmakers demanding answers to their questions.

 

Another Case of EMINENT DOMAIN In Front of Mesa City Council Next Week

It's Item 5-c "as a matter of public necessity"
19-1029 Staff is requesting approval to continue negotiations to acquire certain undeveloped property located in the 1300 block of North Power Road (APN: 218-04-013B) of approximately 8.38 acres for the construction of the Northeast Public Safety Facility, and in order to avoid construction delays, authorization and direction to staff, that fee title, or other interests in and possession of this property be acquired by the City of Mesa through eminent domain, as a matter of public necessity.

(District 5) *5-c

 What do you want to know about this?

• Northeast Public Safety Facility - what is it?
• Who's has "fee title" or "other interests" to these 8.38 acres now
• What's the title and ownership history
• How does the city justify PUBLIC NECESSITY?

You might start here: Are there any 'trade-offs' of any kind with other city-owned properties?
8-Page Tentative Agenda: Mesa City Council Meeting Mon 23 Sept 2019

Official website for the City of Mesa > https://www.mesaaz.gov
City Hall ....City Council Meetings ...Calendar ... find all the links you need

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More than  5 months ago there was this:

11 April 2019

Who's The Sports-Jock Allred Getting An Inside-Scoop from John Giles & Mark Garcia?

Proposed site for "Mesa Plays'

Just like some members in the Family Tree, Damon Allred somehow managed to get the fast-track on what is up in front of the Mesa City Council to approve "continuing negotiations" in-the-process for Eminent Domain to cease 18 acres at 2200 North Center Street in Mark Freeman's District 1 near Lehi Road above McKellips.
What's that about? A matter of "public necessity" or what?
Here's a clue in the opening image on a billboard at a toxic BLM piece of land deeded to the city for a buck, located at Red Mountain. It got flagged-out in 2018 by taxpayers.

It was what was once a foretold story from the "Field of Schemes" by Marc Garcia back in 2014, and again in 2018, re-packaged with a hotel complex, for an outdoor youth sports complex. Cheered on from the sidelines by the the mouth of Mayor John Giles about that "Mesa Plays" Ballot Item last year that taxpayers rejected. It was declared it dead-on-arrival. Giles said that taxpayers won't have to deal with it again. Look what horse got out-of-the-barn and what jock-journalist  jumped-the-gun loading up a story to Mesa Legend where he's a sportswriter

Damon Allred / Image from
https://twitter.com/bydamonallred

Youth sports project won’t die

04/03/2019 Damon Allred MesaCC Legend

Sports complex project persevering after Mesa Plays failure 
"Whether they pass or fail, not all bills are created equal. Despite a 2018 failure, the Mesa Plays bill continues to live and evolve from its original presentation.
The bill originally proposed the creation of 24 athletic fields, including 10 artificial turf fields, in one massive sports complex located on the corner of 80th St. and Adobe Road, just southeast of Red Mountain High School.
One of the major reasons the City of Mesa wants to build this new complex is to provide high-quality, well-lit fields available for youth usage. . . " [cont'd farther down]
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BLOGGER NOTE: Little did with know that some players or special interests were making-the-rounds apparently for months.
> A written offer was made to the property owner in November 2018 in the amount of $3,820,000 for 18.63 acres of vacant land.
> A counter offer was received from the property owner’s attorney in December 2018 in the amount of $5,700,000.
> A 20-day letter has been sent to the owner on March 6, 2019, by our outside legal counsel. 

• Arizona Revised Statutes require that at least twenty (20) days before filing an action for condemnation the City must provide the property owner with a written purchase offer and an appraisal supporting the amount of the offer. 
• This letter serves as notice that we are not in agreement with their counter offer and we will be proceeding with eminent domain. 

 It's an item for a public City Council meeting on Monday 15 April 2019:

Requesting approval for Staff to continue negotiations to acquire certain property located in the 2200 block of North Center Street for the construction of athletic fields, and in order to avoid construction delays, authorizing and directing Staff, that fee title, or other interests in, and possession of, certain property, be acquired by the City of Mesa through eminent domain, as a matter of public necessity. (District 1)

It is Resolution 5-g       

File #19-0428

On agenda:

4/15/2019

Title:

Requesting approval for Staff to continue negotiations to acquire certain property located in the 2200 block of North Center Street for the construction of athletic fields, and in order to avoid construction delays, authorizing and directing Staff, that fee title, or other interests in, and possession of, certain property, be acquired by the City of Mesa through eminent domain, as a matter of public necessity. (District 1)

Attachments:

1. Council Report, 2. Resolution, 3. Vicinity Map, 4. Detail Map

 

 

The Tuition is TOO DAMN HIGH!

University tuition is skyrocketing everywhere. But tuition at Arizona public universities is about the worst. The Arizona State Constitution says that tuition at state colleges “shall be as nearly free as possible.” But since 2003, the Arizona Board of Regents increased tuition and mandatory fees at the state’s three public universities by 315 to 370%.

Is ASU President Michael Crow tone-deaf on that subject?
". . . The regents arrogantly think they know best what is “affordable.” But they abandoned their responsibility to act as a check on the flagrant spending by university presidents. Since Michael Crow became president of Arizona State University in 2002, tuition has gone up dramatically. . . "
-- Rachel Alexander in Town Hall.com 26 Aug 2019
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"Fortunately, Arizona has an attorney general who isn’t afraid to take on this racket. Arizona AG Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against the regents over the tuition increases and subsidies to illegal immigrants, which has been winding its way through the courts over the last couple of years. He is taking on some powerful interests, but he doesn’t care. He is a principled conservative who wants to actually solve the problem of the student debt crisis, not just put a band-aid on it like some Democratic candidates for president would do with their free tuition plan."
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Opinion:

Struggling ASU students do not have enough resources

Low-income students need more resources to achieve success

"ASU ignores the needs of marginalized communities including working class students and people of color."

Photo by Angel Jimenez | The State Press

By Alexia Isais | 09/08/19 10:14pm

Illustration published on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019.              

"As ASU students face yet another increase in their annual tuition, it can become more difficult for them to stay afloat in a rising pool of costs.
A 2017 study analyzed by The New York Times found that of Arizona's three major universities only about 6% of their combined student populations came from the lowest economic demographic. This demographic covers people who make $20,000 or less per year. . .
This struggling portion of the ASU student body is virtually ignored by the University. 
The University is not providing enough resources such as assistance with tuition and other school related fees. Low-income students deserve to have access to the same resources that wealthier students may already have or could easily obtain.

President Michael Crow did not acknowledge the 6% of lower-income students from the 2017 study in his Arizona Republic guest opinion, where he defended the cost of ASU. 
This comes after a lawsuit from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who argued that the cost of ASU was going against a principle in the Arizona Constitution that in-state universities must be "as nearly free as possible."
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Reach the columnist at amisais@asu.edu or follow @comradealexia on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 500 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arizona tuition increases: Fall 2019 tuition hikes approved for ...
https://www.abc15.com › news › state › arizona-tuition-increases-fall-2019-tuition-hikes...

▶ 2:33

Apr 11, 2019

Some Arizona students will be paying more to go to college this Fall. ... students will see an average 2.8 ...

 

How tuition at Arizona universities compares to other states

https://www.azcentral.com › story › news › politics › fact-check › 2019/04/14 › how-tui...

▶

Apr 14, 2019

Is tuition at Arizona public universities among the highest? ..... Arizona universities' tuition costs have ...

 

Zalmay Khalilzad ('The Thief of Baghad') Returns From Failed Taliban Mission in Afghanistan To Give Testimony Behind-Closed-Doors Today

The House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee issued a subpoena to force Zalmay Khalilzad to appear after it complained about being kept in the dark over the negotiating process with The Taliban in Afghanistan. The subpoena has been withdrawn - Khalilzad is scheduled instead  to testify "in a classified briefing" early this morning  . . .
No so-called 'peace deal' - Not now and not then in Iraq
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"For months, we haven't been able to get answers on the Afghanistan peace plan, and now the president is saying the plan is dead," Representative Eliot Engel, Democrat chairman of the committee, said in a statement.
Engel said the State Department had ignored requests from the committee to arrange briefings with Khalilzad in February and April, as well as at other times during the year. . .
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January 5, 2007: Bush Shakes Up Iraq Advisory Team

  

In preparation for his expected announcement of a new “surge” of 21,500 combat troops for Iraq (see January 10, 2007), President Bush puts together a new team of advisers and officials to oversee his administration’s Iraq policy. The new team includes:
Zalmay Khalilzad  (November 2003)), a well-known neoconservative who formerly held a position with the oil corporation Unocal. He will replace interim ambassador John Bolton, an abrasive neoconservative who could never win confirmation in the post from the US Senate.
Ryan Crocker is the leading candidate to replace Khalilzad as the US ambassador to Iraq. Crocker, who speaks fluent Arabic, is currently the ambassador to Pakistan.
Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte will become the top deputy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Negroponte, a controversial veteran of US foreign operations in Latin America and the Middle East, has also served as the US ambassador to Iraq. Rice is widely viewed as in dire need of a savvy, experienced deputy who can assist her both in handling the sprawling State Department bureaucracy, and focus her efforts to handle diplomatic efforts in the Middle East as well as in other regions.
Retired Admiral Mike McConnell, who headed the National Security Agency under former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, will replace Negroponte as DNI.
Admiral William Fallon, head of the US Pacific Command, will replace General John Abizaid as commander of the US forces in the Middle East. Abizaid has drawn media attention in recent months for his muted criticism of the Bush administration’s Iraqi policies.
Army General David Petraeus will replace General George Casey as the chief military commander in Iraq. Petraeus once headed the effort to train Iraqi security forces. Like Abizaid, Casey has been skeptical about the need for more US forces in Iraq
. [USA Today, 1/5/2007; CBS News, 1/5/2007]

Zalmay Khalilzad as the ambassador to the United Nations. Khalilzad, the only Middle East native in a senior position in the administration, is the former ambassador to both Afghanistan and Iraq
 (see

March 8, 1992: Raw US Plan Is Leaked to the Press; Details Include Preserving Role as Sole Superpower and Obtaining Oil in the Middle East

  

The New York Times headline on March 8, 1992. [Source: Public domain]
The Defense Planning Guidance, “a blueprint for the department’s spending priorities in the aftermath of the first Gulf War and the collapse of the Soviet Union,” is leaked to the New York Times. [New York Times, 3/8/1992; Newsday, 3/16/2003] The document will cause controversy, because it hasn’t yet been “scrubbed” to replace candid language with euphemisms. [New York Times, 3/10/1992; New York Times, 3/11/1992; Observer, 4/7/2002] The document argues that the US dominates the world as sole superpower, and to maintain that role, it “must maintain the mechanisms for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role.” [New York Times, 3/8/1992; New York Times, 3/8/1992] As the Observer summarizes it: “America’s friends are potential enemies. They must be in a state of dependence and seek solutions to their problems in Washington.” [Observer, 4/7/2002]

 

The document is mainly written by Paul Wolfowitz and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who hold relatively low posts at this time, but become deputy defense secretary and Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, respectively, under President George W. Bush. [Newsday, 3/16/2003]

The authors conspicuously avoid mention of collective security arrangements through the United Nations, instead suggesting the US “should expect future coalitions to be ad hoc assemblies, often not lasting beyond the crisis being confronted.” [New York Times, 3/8/1992]

> They call for “punishing” or “threatening punishment” against regional aggressors before they act. [Harper's, 10/2002]

> Interests to be defended preemptively include “access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, [and] threats to US citizens from terrorism.”

> The section describing US interests in the Middle East states that the “overall objective is to remain the predominant outside power in the region and preserve US and Western access to the region’s oil… deter further aggression in the region, foster regional stability, protect US nationals and property, and safeguard… access to international air and seaways.” [New York Times, 3/8/1992]

November 2003: Appointment of Powerful ‘Neocon’ Ambassador Reflects New US Emphasis on Afghanistan

  

Zalmay Khalilzad, a prominent neoconservative connected to top Bush administration officials, is appointed US Ambassador to Afghanistan.
Ethnically Afghani, he had already been appointed special envoy to Afghanistan at the start of 2002 (see January 1, 2002).
But it is increasingly obvious that the US effort in Afghanistan is not going well and Khalilzad’s appointment as ambassador reflects a new Bush administration resolve to devote more attention to Afghanistan.
He had worked for the likes of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney in years past and is easily able to reach President Bush on the phone.
Khalilzad agrees to take the job if the US expands resources in Afghanistan, and as he takes over the US gives $2 billion in aid to the country, double the amount of the year before. [New York Times, 8/12/2007]
Khalilzad becomes so powerful that in 2005 the BBC will note that he is sometimes dubbed “the viceroy, or the real president of Afghanistan.” He is accused of “frequently overshadowing President Hamid Karzai.… No major decisions by the Afghan government [are] made without his involvement.” [BBC, 4/6/2005] Similarly, a London Times article on him will be titled: “US Envoy Accused of Being the Power Pulling Karzai’s Strings.” [London Times, 10/5/2004] A New York Times article on him will be titled: “In Afghanistan, US Envoy Sits in Seat of Power.” [New York Times, 4/17/2004] He will keep this position until April 2005, when it is announced that Khalilzad will become US Ambassador to Iraq, as the Bush administration grows more concerned about the war there. [New York Times, 8/12/2007]

Sean Spicer’s Salsa – Dancing with the Stars

Way too much fun!

Published on Sep 16, 2019

Views: 336,700+

Sean Spicer and Lindsay Arnold dance the Salsa to “Spice Up Your Life” by Spice Girls on Dancing with the Stars Season 28 premiere!

Government Experience Awards 2019 Winners: City of Mesa Radically Improving The Experience of Government

That's what a press announcement from Government Technology said yesterday . . . honoring U.S. governments who are offering citizens increasingly sophisticated digital user experiences.Overall City Government Experience Winners:1st Place: City of Riverside, CA
2nd Place: City of San Diego, CA
3rd Place: City of Mesa, AZ
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Government Experience Innovation Award Winners:

• Mesa, Ariz. User Behavior Flow
• Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services CalFresh Outreach Through #ChooseCalFresh
• Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf’s Executive Order/myCOMPASS Mobile App, Department of Human Services
• Utah Controlled Substance Database

The pioneering “behavior flow” strategy at work in Mesa, Ariz., leverages metrics such as “click to goal”

• to quantify how well the city is delivering services and information to its customers
• and to drive technology enhancements around

> quality of life

> civic engagement

> economic development

>service delivery. 

In Government Experience Awards 2019: Expanding Citizen Services

In the third annual Government Experience Awards, winning jurisdictions took citizen experience to the next level by streamlining websites, focusing on user-friendly design and incorporating real-time feedback.

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Government Experience Awards 2019 Winners Announced

The Center for Digital Government announced winners of its 3rd annual Government Experience Awards, honoring U.S. governments who are offering citizens increasingly sophisticated digital user experiences.

by Janet Grenslitt / September 17, 2019

 

 

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About the Center for Digital Government www.centerdigitalgov.com

The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute focused on information technology policy and best practices in state and local government. 

The Center is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education. www.erepublic.com

For questions, please contact Janet Grenslitt, Director of Surveys and Awards, at jgrenslitt@centerdigitalgov.com.

CDG thanks Citybase, Deloitte, Laserfiche, McAfee, NIC, Nutanix, SHI International Corp., Veeam Software, Verizon and ZScaler, underwriters of the 2019 contest and awards program.

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Government Experience Awards 2019: Expanding Citizen Services

In the third annual Government Experience Awards, winning jurisdictions took citizen experience to the next level by streamlining websites, focusing on user-friendly design and incorporating real-time feedback.

by Adam Stone / September 18, 2019 

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Overall City Government Experience Winners:

1st Place: City of Riverside, CA
2nd Place: City of San Diego, CA
3rd Place: City of Mesa, AZ
4th Place: City of Grand Rapids, MI
5th Place: Town of Gilbert, AZ
5th Place: City of Roseville, CA
 

Government Experience Innovation Award Winners:

• Mesa, Ariz. User Behavior Flow
• Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services CalFresh Outreach Through #ChooseCalFresh
• Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf’s Executive Order/myCOMPASS Mobile App, Department of Human Services
• Utah Controlled Substance Database

Read more about the above winners - click here.

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Click icons in the above map for details on each winner and finalist. State winners are blue; county winners are green; city winners are yellow; and all finalists are in red.

The winners of the third-annual Government Experience Awards, conducted by the Center for Digital Government,* stand out for their efforts to utilize government technology resources at a higher level, with mature implementations driving deeper and more impactful citizen engagements. 

This year’s innovaiton awards winners all stood out for their efforts to take citizen-facing IT to a higher level. “In each case they are tackling more complex issues related to the government experience,” said Dustin Haisler. “They are going beyond just using social media to create coordinated campaigns. They are leveraging data in real time. They are benchmarking in order to drive specific behaviors. All of that suggests a much more sophisticated approach to citizen needs.”

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