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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/fbi-director-deputy-attorney-general-republican-hearing-1.4726349

U.S. House Republicans shout down deputy attorney general at tense hearing

Rosenstein has become target for Trump allies for appointing Mueller to head Russia probe

Thomson Reuters· Posted: Jun 28, 2018 1:38 PM ET






 
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-travel-washington-larry-kudlow-1.4727170 

Stephen Harper expected to meet Trump's top economic adviser in Washington amid trade tensions

Sources tell CBC News the former prime minister is expected to meet with Larry Kudlow

Katie Simpson, Vassy Kapelos· CBC News· Posted: Jun 28, 2018 6:13 PM ET





 
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U.S. House Republicans shout down deputy attorney general at tense hearing

Rosenstein has become target for Trump allies for appointing Mueller to head Russia probe

Thomson Reuters· Posted: Jun 28, 2018 1:38 PM ET



Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and FBI Director Christopher Wray testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)





Republicans accused top U.S. federal law enforcement officials Thursday of withholding important documents from them and demanded details about surveillance tactics during the Russia investigation in a contentious congressional hearing that capped days of mounting partisan complaints.

Underscoring their frustration, Republicans briefly put the hearing on hold so they could approve a resolution on the House floor demanding that the Justice Department turn over thousands of documents by next week.

The House Judiciary Committee hearing marked deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein's first appearance before Congress since an internal Department of Justice report criticizing the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation revealed new disparaging text messages among FBI officials about Donald Trump during the 2016 election. FBI director Christopher Wray also appeared before Congress on Thursday.
Republicans on the panel seized on the watchdog report to allege bias by the FBI and to discredit an investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign that is now led by special counsel Robert Mueller. They suggested that the Justice Department had conspired against Trump by refusing to produce documents they believe would show improper FBI conduct.

Whatever you got, finish it the hell up.- Trey Gowdy , congressman from South Carolina

"This country is being hurt by it. We are being divided," Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, said of Mueller's investigation. Gowdy led a separate two-year investigation into the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and Clinton's role in those attacks as secretary of state.

"Whatever you got," Gowdy added, "finish it the hell up because this country is being torn apart."

Attacks, allegations of bias

Rosenstein, at times raising his voice and pointing his finger, strongly defended himself and the department during the hours-long hearing, saying he was doing his best to balance congressional oversight with the need to preserve the integrity of ongoing investigations. He said despite Republican allegations, he was "not trying to hide anything."

"We are not in contempt of this Congress, and we are not going to be in contempt of this Congress," he said.
The hearing came amid Republican attacks on the Justice Department and allegations of FBI bias against Trump. On Wednesday, lawmakers spent 11 hours behind closed doors grilling Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who worked on both the Clinton and Russia investigations and traded anti-Trump text messages with an FBI lawyer. The inspector general criticized the officials for creating an appearance of impropriety but did not find evidence that bias had tainted the decisions of prosecutors in the Clinton investigation.

Strzok is expected to return to the committee early next month for an open hearing. The FBI lawyer he texted with, Lisa Page, is also expected to talk to lawmakers.

Deadline to turn over documents

The resolution that passed along party lines Thursday demanded that the department turn over by July 6 documents on FBI investigations into Clinton's private email use and Trump campaign ties to Russia.

Both investigations unfolded during the presidential election, causing the FBI — which prides itself on independence — to become entangled in presidential politics in ways that are continuing to shake out.
Republican Mark Meadows, from North Carolina, one of the sponsors of the resolution, did not deny Democratic assertions that the document requests were related to efforts to undercut Mueller's probe.

"Yes, when we get these documents, we believe that it will do away with this whole fiasco of what they call the Russian Trump collusion because there wasn't any," he said on the House floor.
The House judiciary and intelligence panels, which have subpoenaed the documents, want to use the records as part of congressional investigations into the FBI's decision to clear Clinton in the email probe and its opening of an investigation into potential co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The Justice Department has already turned over more than 800,000 documents to congressional committees, but the subpoenas are asking for additional materials, including records about any surveillance of Trump campaign associates. Lawmakers have threatened to hold top DOJ officials in contempt or vote to impeach them if the documents aren't turned over.

Heated exchanges

On the floor, lawmakers hurled insults as Republicans said Congress is entitled to whatever it wants.

"We have a petulant Department of Justice defended by a petulant Democratic Party," said Tom Garrett, a representative from Virginia.

We're caught up in this nonsense because they can't get over Hillary Clinton's emails. Get over it!- Jamie Raskin, Democratic representative from Maryland

Democrat Jamie Raskin or Maryland shot back: "We're caught up in this nonsense because they can't get over Hillary Clinton's emails. Get over it!"

Wray and Rosenstein said law enforcement officials have been working diligently to provide the records, though Republicans made clear their dissatisfaction at the pace.

"We have caught you hiding information from Congress," Republican Jim Jordan said at the hearing, an accusation Rosenstein strongly denied.

"I am the deputy attorney general of the United States, OK?" he said. "I'm not the person doing the redacting. I am responsible for responding to your concerns, as I have.

"Whenever you have brought issues to my attention, I have taken appropriate steps to remedy them," he added.

He also dismissed media reports that he had threatened to subpoena staff members of the House Intelligence Committee, saying to laughter, "There's no way to subpoena phone calls."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia, signaled the hearing's tone in his opening remarks when he complained about the Justice Department's failure to produce all the requested documents.

"The Department of Justice and the FBI are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. The president and Congress are," Goodlatte said.

Florida representative Ron DeSantis, a Republican, demanded to know why Rosenstein had not recused himself from overseeing Mueller's investigation into whether Trump had obstructed justice — given Rosenstein's role in laying the groundwork for the firing of FBI director James Comey.

Rosenstein's memo criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton investigation was initially cited by the White House as justification for his firing.

"I can assure you that if it were appropriate for me to recuse, I'd be more than happy to do so and let somebody else handle this," Rosenstein said.​

Stephen Harper expected to meet Trump's top economic adviser in Washington amid trade tensions

Sources tell CBC News the former prime minister is expected to meet with Larry Kudlow

Katie Simpson, Vassy Kapelos· CBC News· Posted: Jun 28, 2018 6:13 PM ET


Former prime minister Stephen Harper will travel to Washington to meet with Larry Kudlow, U.S. President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, sources tell CBC News. (Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press)



Former prime minister Stephen Harper is poised to meet with two top Trump administration officials in Washington against a backdrop of fractious talk over tariffs, CBC News has confirmed.

Harper is expected to travel to Washington on Monday, July 2, and has scheduled meetings with Larry Kudlow — the director of the National Economic Council and Trump's go-to economic adviser — and John Bolton, the president's national security adviser, according to multiple sources who spoke to CBC News on the condition of anonymity.

Kudlow, who recently suffered a heart attack but is now back on the job, was one of the president's surrogates who went on TV after the G7 summit in Charlevoix to attack Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally over his plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. Kudlow is one of Trump's most trusted economic advisers.

CTV News first reported Harper's planned meeting with Bolton in Washington, citing details contained in emails the broadcaster had obtained.

Sources told CBC News that Harper, who now works as a consultant after leaving federal politics, personally approached the two officials to ask for a meeting.
Harper has not shied away from wading into the NAFTA talks, offering commentary on TV and at conferences. He has criticized some of the Liberal government's actions on the trade file while defending the NAFTA agreement itself.

Sources say that ahead of the meeting, Bolton phoned the Canadian embassy in Washington to make some arrangements — a call that caught Canadian officials off-guard as they were not expecting such a visit.

Adding to the confusion, say the sources, the White House did not specify which "prime minister" was expected for the meetings; the Americans often use political titles long after a politician has left office. That led some Canadian officials to believe a visit by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been planned in secret.

Trudeau's foreign policy adviser, John Hannaford, contacted his counterpart in the White House, who apologized and explained it was former prime minister Harper who would be visiting.

That prompted confusion on the part of Trudeau's inner circle, the sources say, as it's customary for past prime ministers to keep their successor in the loop on foreign travel plans of this magnitude.

This was also an issue when Harper himself was in office and he had to contend with former prime minister Jean Chrétien travelling to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin during the Crimean crisis. Harper had taken a tough stand against Putin and his incursion into Ukrainian territory.

In addition to his consulting work, Harper meets often with international conservative leaders as chair of the International Democrat Union, an alliance of conservative and centre-right parties founded 35 years ago by Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Germany's Helmut Kohl and then-U.S. president George Bush Sr., among others

Canada readies final tariff list

Relations between Canada and the U.S. have soured considerably in recent weeks after Trump slapped punitive tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel imports as part of his drive to protect the U.S. industry from what he claims is unfair foreign competition. His administration has sought to justify the tariffs on national security grounds.
A 25-per-cent tariff will be levied on Canadian steel, while a 10 per cent tariff will be applied to aluminum. In response, Canada has vowed to impose $16.5 billion worth of new tariffs on a host of U.S. goods, from lawnmowers to playing cards and felt-tipped pens.

The final list of U.S. goods to be taxed will be released tomorrow by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and will take effect as of July 1.