NRA chooses Iran-Contra figure as its new president
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday he was “Fighting Back” against the Russia probe and warned the “13 Angry Democrats” on the special counsel’s team to “just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!”
Trump also suggested special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia was politically motivated.
“Is this Phony Witch Hunt going to go on even longer so it wrongfully impacts the Mid-Term Elections, which is what the Democrats always intended?” Trump tweeted. “Republicans better get tough and smart before it is too late.”
Mueller is also examining whether there was any effort to obstruct his investigation. To that, Trump tweeted Monday, “There is no O, it’s called Fighting Back.”
In a series of tweets — nearly a dozen — the president touched on a range of subjects, but kept returning to the Russia probe. He repeated his earlier claim that Mueller’s team is made up of Democrats.
“The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice...and just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!”
Trump had applauded Friday when a federal judge questioned Mueller’s authority in a case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Mueller is a longtime Republican. Some members of his team made political contributions to Democrats, including Clinton. But Mueller could not have barred them from serving on the team. Federal regulations and Justice Department policy prohibit the consideration of political affiliation in hiring and other personnel actions involving career attorneys.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is facing a backlog of requests for comprehensive cybersecurity reviews of state election systems as the May primary elections approach.
With the midterm congressional primaries about to go into full swing, the Department of Homeland Security is playing catch-up in helping to ensure that state election systems are secure against cybertampering by the Russians or others bent on mischief.
The department said it has completed on-site risk assessments of election systems in just nine of 17 states that have formally requested them so far. It has pledged to do so by November for every state that asks.
The security reviews are designed to identify any weaknesses that could be exploited by hackers; such examinations are routinely conducted in the private sector. They are just one tool, although an important
ATLANTA — Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North, the gungho Marine at the center of the Iran-Contra affair three decades ago, was named president Monday of the National Rifle Association, giving it star power as it faces a powerful backlash over the massacres in Florida and Las Vegas.
North, 74, will be the biggest celebrity to lead the 5-million-member gun lobby since Hollywood leading man Charlton Heston, who famously declared in 2000 that his guns would have to be taken “from my cold, dead hands.”
“Oliver North is a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader,” NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said.
Momentum for gun control has been building since the mass shooting in Las Vegas last fall that killed 58 people and the Feb. 14 rampage at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead. North was picked by the NRA’s board of directors, which elects a president every two years, and is expected to assume office within the next several weeks. He succeeds Pete Brownell, who did not seek a second term.
LaPierre remains as vice File, Michael Conroy / AP File, Sue Ogrocki /
Oliver North is set to become the new president of the National Rifle Association within a few weeks. AP will take on a more public role in the style of Heston, a fiery presence who used his acting background to energize members.
North was a military aide to the National Security Council during the Reagan administration in the 1980s he emerged into the spotlight for his role in arranging the secret sale of weapons to Iran and the diversion of the proceeds to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. He was convicted in 1989 of obstructing Congress during its investigation, destroying government documents and accepting an illegal gratuity. Those convictions were overturned in 1991.