Nation Glance
FBI contradicts White House on probe of former aide Porter
WASHINGTON — Contradicting the White House, the FBI said Tuesday it gave the Trump administration information on multiple occasions last year about a top aide accused of domestic abuse by his two ex-wives, and the investigation wrapped up in January.
That account by FBI Director Christopher Wray challenged the White House assertion that Rob Porter’s background “investigation was ongoing” and officials first learned the extent of accusations against him only last week, just before he abruptly resigned.
Wray’s testimony marked the latest development in a scandal that has called into question the judgment of senior members of the White House staff, put new stress on the administration’s already strained credibility with the public, and drawn accusations of tone-deaf handling of abuse allegations.
The week-long fallout from the allegations against Porter, President Donald Trump’s staff secretary, has thrown the West Wing into chaos not seen since the earliest months of the administration.
Mulvaney hawks Trump budget on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON — The White House budget director came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to sell President Donald Trump’s budget, but the administration’s allies in the Senate preferred to talk about last year’s tax cut rather than the trilliondollar deficits contained in the new spending plan.
The president’s budget for the first time acknowledges that the Republican tax overhaul would add billions to the deficit and not “pay for itself” with economic growth and higher revenues.
But Republicans talked about a series of bonuses and wage increases announced by companies whose taxes were cut by the tax bill, Trump’s signature accomplishment in the GOP-controlled Congress.
“In all my years in the United States Senate, I have never seen such positive results, just because we pass the tax bill, so soon,” gushed Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, at a Budget Committee hearing.
Panel Democrats were having none of it.
“The tax reform legislation Trump signed into law a few weeks ago provides 83 percent of the benefits to the top 1 percent, raises taxes on millions of middleclass families, and drives up the deficit,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who aligns with Democrats.