1 Trump Says Pardon For Manafort Not Off The Table
President Trump is not ruling out pardoning his former campaign chief Paul Manafort. The President tells the “New York Post” that a pardon is "not off the table," though he notes it's not something he's ever discussed. “It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table,” he offers. “Why would I take it off the table?” Mr. Trump also slammed the Mueller investigation itself saying he's not happy that investigators have gotten several people, including Manafort, to accept plea deals. He said pressuring people under investigation to flip was like McCarthyism, when people were sometimes wrongly accused of being linked to communism. “This flipping stuff is terrible,” he notes. “You flip and you lie and you get — the prosecutors will tell you 99 percent of the time they can get people to flip. It’s rare that they can’t. We are in the McCarthy era. This is no better than McCarthy.”
2 Archdiocese Of Galveston-Houston Archives Raided By Law Enforcement
Law enforcement raided the archives of the Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston yesterday. Cameras rolled as officials with the Texas Rangers, Conroe Police, and the Montgomery County DA's Office descended on the offices. What were they looking for? Information involving Father Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, the Conroe priest accused of molesting at least two teens between 1998 and 2001. But what they reportedly discovered? Multiple files alleging details of child abuse by priests in the diocese. In the search warrant, the DA’s office reportedly sought to examine confidential documents held in the Archdiocese’s Chancery and secret archives. “This is not a search warrant against the Catholic Church,” Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon told reporters. “It’s a search warrant to get evidence about (La Rosa-Lopez). ... If there's something to be covered up, I'm sure I'll find it. And whether it's a thumb drive or it's a pick-up truck or whether it's a DPS van full of stuff, we're going to take everything we believe is pertinent to our case." Ligon also thanked the diocese for cooperating
3 VA Says It Won't Reimburse Underpaid GI Bill Benefits
Commit to your country and they keep their word? Not always. The Department of Veterans Affairs is telling Congress it will not reimburse veterans who were paid less than they were owed under the Forever GI Bill because of a computer error. As we told you before, the VA had promised Congress earlier this month it would make those payments. As you might expect, many student veterans have struggled because of the less-than-expected payments. Now two VA aides are telling NBC News that they could not make the retroactive payments without auditing its previous claims, which would then delay future claims. As part of that, the VA is planning to delay the Forever GI Bill housing allowance until December next year. The change in the housing allowance will take place then, but it will be too late to help students attending schools now under the Forever GI Bill. The VA said trying to audit up to two million claims would delay payments going out on time.