Developments on Day 72 in the Trump Administration:

Flynn Failed to Disclose Russia Income

Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor who departed because of conversations with the Russian Ambassador to the US, did not disclose payments from Russian firms for his work in 2015-2016.

The revelation comes days after Flynn offered to testify to the FBI and Congressional committees about ties between Donald Trump’s associates and Russian officials, in return for immunity.

Ironically, Saturday’s exposure came from the White House as it disseminated the financial disclosure forms of current and former personnel.

In a filing earlier this month, Flynn declared that his firm worked for the Turkish Government in 2016 as he joined the Trump campaign, earning $530,000. However, he did not declare any income from Russia.

Flynn also did not include any Russian income in a form signed electronically on February 11, according to the White House.

However, in the form that he signed on March 31, Flynn listed speaking engagements to Russian entities, including the State broadcaster RT and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, in a section titled “sources of compensation exceeding $5,000 in a year”.

The form did not give a total for the payments. However, documents given in mid-March to Representative Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, set out nearly $68,000 in fees and expenses in 2015.

More than $45,000 came for a December 2015 trip in which Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony for RT’s 10th anniversary. Flynn was also paid $11,250 by the US subsidiary of the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab and $11,250 by a US air cargo company affiliated with the Volga-Dnepr Group.

Administration Ends American Bar Association’s Evaluation of Judges

The Administration announces that, after 64 years, the American Bar Association will no longer be asked to evaluate candidates for federal judgeships before their formal nomination.

There are more than 100 judicial vacancies that need to be filled.

President George W. Bush first broke from the practice of consultation, established under the Republican Eisenhower Administration in 1953, but the Trump Administration’s decision is a full halt to the process.

ABA President Linda Klein said the association was “notified that the White House does not intend to follow the long-standing practice of inviting the independent ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary to review the professional qualifications of prospective nominees to the lower federal courts on a pre-nomination basis”.

White House Counsel Don McGahn wrote the ABA that the administration does “not intend to give any professional organizations special access to our nominees”.

The ABA recently gave its highest marks to Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, calling him “well qualified”.

Disclosure Shows Trump’s Super-Wealthy Cabinet and Advisors

Required financial disclosures from the White House reveal the wealth of Donald Trump’s Cabinet and advisors.

The documents provided a snapshot of assets and positions held by personnel when they first entered their new jobs at the White House, before they started selling stocks and other assets that could pose conflicts of interest.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka are worth as much as $741 million from investments and real estates. Kushner held executive positions with 266 LLCs, corporations, groups, and non-profits, from which he has resigned since January.

Gary Cohn, former Goldman Sachs president and now head of the White House National Economic Council, had assets worth at least $230 million, but possibly much more. Cohn listed income ranging from $48 million to nearly $77 million in the year preceding his engagement in the White House.

Reed Cordish, a Baltimore real estate developer before he become Trump’s technology adviser, disclosed pre-White House assets of between $92 million and $798 million and income of between $48 million and $55 million.

White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s pre-White House bank accounts, real estate and other holdings were valued at between $3.3 million and $12.6 million. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had assets of between $604,000 and $1.16 million and income of $1.42 million.

About 25% of Trump White House staffers have “extremely complex” reports, compared to only a tiny portion of staffers in the Obama White House.

Almost three-quarters of the Obama White House filers had disclosure statements that were rated “simple” or “moderate” compared to a third of the Trump Cabinet and advisors.

Federal Judge: Lawsuit Accusing Trump of Incitement of Violence Can Proceed

A federal judge, rejecting Donald Trump’s free speech defense, allowing a lawsuit which accuses the President of inciting violence against protesters at a campaign rally.

Trump’s lawyers sought to dismiss the claim of three protesters that they were shoved and punched by his supporters at a March 1, 2016 rally in Louisville, Kentucky. They argued that Trump did not intend his supporters to use force.

Video showed Trump pointing at the protesters and saying repeatedly, “Get them out.”

Judge David J. Hale found ample facts supporting allegations that the protesters’ injuries were a “direct and proximate result” of Trump’s actions, and noted that the Supreme Court has ruled out constitutional protections for speech that incite violence: “It is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ’em out of here’ advocated the use of force. 2It was an order, an instruction, a command.”

EPA Office Investigating Pruett’s Comments on Climate Change

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Integrity Office is reviewing whether EPA head Scott Pruitt violated the agency’s policies when he said in a TV interview that he does not believe carbon dioxide is behind. global climate change.

The EPA Inspector General’s office responded to a request by the Sierra Gulf to investigate Pruett’s March 9 remark, “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” It said that, if the SIO finds cause, then the Inspector General will consider further action.

An EPA spokeswoman defended Pruitt, who as Oklahoma Attorney General was involved in numerous cases against the agency:

Administrator Pruitt makes no apologies for having a candid dialogue about climate science and commonsense regulations that will protect our environment, without creating unnecessary regulatory burdens that kill jobs.

Differing views and opinions on scientific and technical matters is a legitimate and necessary part of EPA’s decision-making process, which is consistent with EPA’s scientific integrity policy that was in place even during the Obama Administration.

The EPA;s scientific integrity policy requires officials and staff to ensure the agency’s work respects the findings of the broader scientific community.

White House Social Media Director Calls for Ousting of GOP Conservative Congressman

White House social media director Dan Scavino calls for the election defeat of a GOP conservative Representative, amid Donald Trump’s growing battle with the Freedom Caucus that helped defeat the plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

Scavino tweeted on Saturday for opposition to Michigan Representative Justin Amash in the next Republican primary:

Amash was unbowed, responding:

He then issued a call for campaign contributions, “Bring it on. I’ll always stand up for liberty, the Constitution & Americans of every background.”

Jim Jordan, one of the Freedom Caucus’ leaders, came to Amash’s defense on a Sunday morning political talk show: “Justin Amash is a good friend and one of the most principled members of Congress. Frankly, if he is primaried I’m going to do everything I can to help him.”

On Thursday, Trump declared war on the Caucus on Twitter (see Friday’s TrumpWatch), calling out Jordan, Mark Meadows, and Raul Labrador for the opposition to the American Health Care Act, promoted by Speaker Paul Ryan with the President and his inner circle lobbying hard for its adoption.

Labrador joined Jordan in providing public support for Amash.

Meanwhile, lawyers from previous Administrations warned that Scavino may have broken the law against a White House official interfering in an election.

The White House said Scavino’s tweet did not violate federal law “as it clearly comes from his personal account and not his official White House account”.

But Daniel Jacobson, a White House lawyer under President Obama, said staff “can’t use an official or de facto government Twitter account (which this is) to call for defeat of a candidate. De facto means that if you tweet only about WH work from your account, it’s an official account. Labeling ‘personal’ doesn’t change that.”

Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under George W Bush, wrote
: “This is use of official position to influence an election. Look at the photo and description underneath. Bush WH [White House] would have fired him.”