1 Trump Defends Declaration Of National Emergency On U.S.-Mexican Border
President Trump is defending his declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexican border. In case you missed it. Trump said the U.S. is confronting a "national security crisis" at White House event on Friday. He cited an "invasion" of the U.S. by illegal immigrants and warned about the flow of illicit drugs along the southern border. Trump also talked about human trafficking and insisted that a massive border wall is an effective deterrent. But he also said he didn’t need the declaration and that this would simply move things along. Under the emergency declaration, Trump plans to divert Defense Department funds to build the wall. As such, a number of Democrats are calling his declaration an illegal end run around Congress. Meanwhile, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan says the Department of Defense will start reviews to see where funding can be diverted to build part of a wall along the border with Mexico. Legally, Shanahan must declare the wall a military necessity before Defense department construction money can be used. Shanahan is expected to meet with the secretaries of each military branch to find where three-point-six-billion dollars can be found in the construction budget. Another two-point-five billion is expected to come out of a Defense department drug interdiction fund.
2 Lindsey Graham To Investigate Comments Made By Andrew McCabe
Senator Lindsey Graham is pledging to fully investigate comments from Andrew McCabe after the former FBI Director said he discussed plans to remove President Trump from office. On CBS' "Face The Nation," the South Carolina Republican said he's going to find out what happened and the only way he knows how to do that is to call people in under oath.In an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired yesterday, McCabe revealed he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein [[ ROSE-en-styne ]] came close to approaching Vice President Pence in 2017 to ask him to invoke the 25th Amendment to have Trump removed from office, under the clause that addresses a President’s competency and mental fitness to discharge his duties. Graham said he intends to subpoena McCabe and Rosenstein to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee if they won't agree to do so voluntarily.
3 Jussie Smollett Accused Of "Orchestrating" Attack
For three weeks, Jussie Smollett has maintained that he was attacked by two white men in ski masks. He still does. The difference now? Chicago Police are confirming that the focus of the investigation has changed. Specifically, that what he has said was an attack, was a hoax. Police say the two men arrested last week – Ola and Abel Osundairo – claim that they were paid $3500 to help Smollett stage the attack. Officials have also released the brothers without charging them. Officials have also reached out to Smollett's attorneys and said they need to talk to him again. As of press time, he has not. Who is speaking out? Smollett’s lawyers. In a statement, they say Smollett is “angry and devastated” by the suggestion that he was part of a setup. “He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying. One of these purported suspects was Jussie's personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video,” they note. “It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie's complicity.”