Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Tuesday’s Morning Email: Trump Fires Acting Attorney General

Dana Boente has replaced Sally Yates.




PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FIRES ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL SALLY YATES  After she said the Justice Department would not defend Trump’s executive order on immigration. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice” by refusing to defend the executive order.  Yates’ letter, which says she was not “convinced that the Executive Order is lawful.” Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was named as acting attorney general.
"(Yates) has betrayed the Department of Justice," the White House statement said.
    Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET, per an administration official. A few hours later, Boente issued a statement rescinding Yates' order, instructing DOJ lawyers to "defend the lawful orders of our President."
    Trump didn't call Yates to dismiss her, she was informed by hand-delivered letter, according to a different administration official.
    The move set up a clash between the White House and Yates, who was appointed by President Barack Obama and was set to serve until Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, if confirmed.
    "My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts," she said in a letter. "In addition, I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right."
    Trump's executive order, signed Friday, bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days, suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely suspends the Syrian refugee program. Yates' decision came amid a flood of protests against the executive order nationwide and after four federal judges ruled against Trump's order, staying its impact on people who were detained at US airports over the weekend.The dramatic move came soon after CNN reported Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees. 
    Trump tweeted his response shortly after the news broke, saying Democrats have stymied Sessions' confirmation, enabling Yates.
    "The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.," he said.
    "At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful," Yates wrote.
    Yates' decision was always likely to be extremely short-lived as Sessions is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
    White House policy director Stephen Miller, who helped craft the executive order, called Yates' decision "a further demonstration of how politicized our legal system has become."
    The US ban: Why these 7?
    "It's sad that our politics have become so politicized, that you have people refusing to enforce our laws," Miller said Monday night on MSNBC.
    Miller also defended the executive order's legality, insisting that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the President "the ability to exclude any class of would-be visitors or immigrants to our country based on our national security interests."
    BARACK OBAMA WEIGHED IN ON TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION BAN MONDAY AFTERNOON The former president said in a statement that he “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith.” [HuffPost]


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    Monday, 30 January 2017

    Taraji P. Henson Jokes She Feels Like a Barbie Doll on 2017 SAG Awards Red Carpet


    Taraji P. Henson is just a Barbie Girl living in a Barbie World...on rather, on the 2017 SAG Awards red carpet.
    The Hidden Figures and Empire actress wore a semi-sheer, rose chiffon beaded Reem Acra ballgown.
    "I feel like a Barbie doll!" the actress joked to E! News' Giuliana Rancic while posing.
    "People keep stepping on it," she said. "That kind of dress, you have to prepare yourself mentally, like 'Get off my train!'"
    Henson and the rest of the cast of Hidden Figures are nominated for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

    The movie is about a group of African-American women who provided NASA with mathematical data needed to launch its first successful space missions. The movie was also nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture.
    "I think this movie is bigger than myself," Henson told Rancic. "I think this movie is bigger than any award show. Not to diminish the greatness of award shows, but it's just so much bigger than us all. It's a story about unity, about when we're in our worst of times, how we can come together and get on the right side of history. So it's a reminder of what we need to do right now, today."
    "I don't want another young girl thinking that math and science is not for her. And usually, you find that in places where schools are failing," she said, adding, "This movie, I believe, is a movement."
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    Wednesday, 25 January 2017

    SHERRI SHEPHERD VICTORIOUS OVER LAMAR SALLY IN CALIFORNIA CHILD SUPPORT COURT

    EURPUBLISHER

    Sherri Shepherd Claims ‘Huge Victory’ amid ‘Frivolous’ Child Support Bid by Ex-Husband Lamar Sally

    Sherri Shepherd has shared news of a “huge victory” in the child support case filed against 
    her by ex-husband Lamar Sally.
    A rep for the former The View co-host has confirmed to PEOPLE that a judge denied 
    Sally’s request for an increase in child support payments for the couple’s son, Lamar Sally, Jr .
    Sally’s request was filed in mid-December, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. 
    Shepherd and Sally’s 2-year-old — who was conceived using Sally’s sperm and a donor egg, 
    meaning Shepherd does not have a genetic connection to the boy — was born in August 2014 
    after the couple broke up and has been raised since then by Sally. In November 2015,
     a Pennsylvania court of appeals upheld a lower court’s April decision that Shepherd’s name
     would remain on L.J’s birth certificate and that the actress must continue 
    paying child support. The next month, Sally filed for a modification of child support due 
    to Shepherd’s increased earnings, according to the court documents.
    Now, a rep for Shepherd has said in a statement to PEOPLE: “Shepherd had a huge
     victory in the California family court. Sally and his counsel were humiliated as the judge 
    flat out denied his request and politely asked Sally to be seated in the audience, 
    away from counsel table so he could properly dispose of the matter.”
    “The California judge agreed with Shepherd’s counsel Terry Levich Ross, Esq. and
     determined that by Sally’s own agreement in two separate legal judgments,
    New Jersey has exclusive and ongoing jurisdiction over this child support issue and 
    all matters must be dealt with only in that state,” the statement reads.
     “The amount of child support Shepherd is currently paying her ex-husband is 
    more than New Jersey has required her to pay, so if Sally wanted to revisit the 
    matter in a New Jersey court he would likely face having his payments reduced substantially.”
    The statement continued: “Shepherd now hopes that her ex will stop his frivolous attempts
     to get more money out of her and will seek gainful employment to take care of his 
    child like any other capable parent.”
    On Tuesday evening, Sally’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told PEOPLE, 
    “She’s stating that the amount of child support she’s paying is more than
     the state of New Jersey required her to pay. That’s not true, absolutely not true. 
    Ms. Shepherd’s not paying a penny more than New Jersey required her to pay. 
    The fact that she believes that New Jersey would substantially reduce these payments,
     there’s not a shred of evidence of that being capable of happening because Ms. Shepherd 
    has not disclosed what her income is, which we believe is significantly higher than 
    what she declared it was at the time the New Jersey court made the original order in the case.”
    Kaplan also denies that Sally was asked to be seated in the audience during the hearing. 
    “There’s only two chairs available, so I asked Lamar if he could just go sit at one of the
     chairs that’s back from counsel table near the gallery wall, and that’s what he did. 
    The fact that they tried to make something out if it is completely a misstatement is 
    sad and shameful.”
    He later added, “Lamar Sally is a wonderful father. He has 100 percent custodial 
    care because Ms. Shepherd doesn’t want to spend any time with the child, 
    and he is responsible for providing all of the needs of the child, subject to 
    being able to get court orders for Ms. Shepherd to make a contribution 
    pursuant to the court order. Child support is a right of the child, not of the parents. 
    Child support belongs to the child, and the child deserves, under California law 
    as well as New Jersey law, to be supported at a level that the relative and respective 
    income of each parent makes possible for that child to enjoy the standard of living 
    that both parents can provide.”



    “Mr. Sally is not living off of the child support. The needs that he has and t
    he payment for this child are significant, and he wants to make sure that
     given the fact that there’s been a change of circumstances, that 
    Ms. Shepherd not only lives here now, but that she earns significantly 
    more money than she admitted to before, all he’s asking for is that the 
    court base it’s new support order based on what the true facts are. 
    The only one who’s hiding anything here is Ms. Shepherd,” states Kaplan.
     source also tells PEOPLE that Shepherd pays Sally — 
    who has been employed as a substitute teacher for the past two years — $4,100 per month.
    Shepherd also addressed the legal victory on social media on Tuesday —
     and suggested that Sally was attempting to capitalize on his son’s illness.
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    “For the record … I always offered to financially care for my ex-husband’s son.

     What he was demanding was not fair & allowed him to not work,” Shepherd wrote in the first 
    of three tweets. “My ex-husband says he works part-time 20-30 hours a week. 
    I work a min of 15-hours a day. I have always had to hustle to take care of mine.”
    She continued: “Ex continues to say his son has a life threatening blood disorder (G6PD)
     it’s actually common amongst black males…my son Jeffrey also has it.”
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    “How many ex husbands does it take to get money from a single mom. Two. #dumb and #dumber #getalife #getajob,” she continued. “Sorry for all ex-husband tweets. 
    I picked ‘em & accept consequences of bad choices …but never in my
     wildest dreams did I think they were.”
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    “Never a problem helping ex financially w his son … 
    just wanted a fair decision and not made to pay an amount borne from greed and deception,
    ” she later tweeted. “I rest my thumbs … time to put this mimosa down and log 
    off twitter before ex hauls me back in court for making him look like a gold digger.”
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    Sally, who married Shepherd in Chicago in August 2011, filed for legal separation 
    on May 2, 2014, according to L.A. Superior Court documents.
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