Open thread for night owls: Trump regime argues that sunshine law doesn't apply to VA advisers
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Issac Arnsdorf at Pro-Publica writes—Trump Administration Defends Legality of VA Shadow Rulers: The Trump administration is defending the legality of having three Trump associates help steer the Department of Veterans Affairs from the president’s Mar-a-Open thread for night owls: Trump regime argues that sunshine law doesn't apply to VA advisers
Issac Arnsdorf at Pro-Publica writes—Trump Administration Defends Legality of VA Shadow Rulers: The Trump administration is defending the legality of having three Trump associates help steer the Department of Veterans Affairs from the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, asserting that a Watergate-era sunshine law on advisory committees shouldn’t apply. In a court filing last week, the government lawyers argued in part that the trio didn’t fit the law’s definition of an advisory committee because rather than being under the agency’s control, the three men reportedly wielded influence over the agency. “Far from alleging that the department managed or controlled the three individuals, the complaint asserts quite the opposite: that the three individuals asserted influence over the department,” Justice Department lawyers said in the filing, which was submitted on Friday. The government asked a judge to throw out a challenge from a liberal activist group, VoteVets, which alleged that the VA’s interactions with the so-called Mar-a-Lago Crowd violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The 1972 law, known as FACA, requires federal agencies to inform the public when they consult outside experts. The stakes of the lawsuit have risen since the VA’s inspector general told senators he would await the court’s decision before deciding whether to conduct his own investigation. The VA has also cited the litigation to resist releasing more documents about the Mar-a-Lago Crowd to ProPublica and to Congress, which a key Democrat called “a transparent attempt to stonewall.” [...] TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES QUOTATION “With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans, and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them, too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting of thanks.” ~~Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Thanksgiving Address (You can find other indigenous perspectives on Thanksgiving at this link and this one.) TWEET OF THE DAY xâÂÂI have done nothing for which an Indian ought to be ashamed. I have fought for my countrymen against the whites who came to cheat them and take away their lands. You know the cause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of itâÂÂâÂÂBlack Hawk pic.twitter.com/mxuA6jxRCY— Brett A. Chapman (@brettachapman) November 21, 2018 BLAST FROM THE PAST On this date at Daily Kos in 2011—Newt Gingrich takes lead in CNN survey: It's been a decent week for Newt Gingrich. Despite getting drilled for being a lobbyist, he's gained a little ground. Mitt Romney is down four points, but he continues to stay near the top of every poll. Herman Cain also had a good week, picking up a little ground, suggesting that at the very least he's stopped the bleeding from his campaign. Everyone else trails Cain by more than the margin of error. Since early September, Newt Gingrich has jumped 17 points while Herman Cain has gained 10 points. The big loser in that span is Rick Perry, who has dropped 21 points. Rounding out the double-digit candidates, Mitt Romney is basically even (down one point). Two-thirds of Republicans say they could change their support, and if past is prologue, they probably will. Probably the best number for Mitt Romney is that 40 percent of Republicans think he'd be their strongest nominee against President Obama. The runner-up is Newt Gingrich, but just 21 percent think he'd be the GOP's best candidate. LINK TO DAILY KOS STORE On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: It’s an all-new Pre-T-Day show. And it's all about Matt Whitaker today. No, seriously. That's it. The whole damned show is about Matt Whitaker. The Trump team's own Khashoggi assassination team, parachuted into the DOJ to dismember law and order. x Embedded Content RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!) Read more