House panel hires veteran lawyers as Trump investigations begin
WASHINGTON – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y., says he has hired two veteran lawyers and critics of President Donald Trump as his committee begins to investigate the president and his administration. The hiring of the two prominent lawyers, Barry Berke and Norman Eisen, comes as lawmakers from both parties are pressuring Trump attorney general nominee William Barr to release a full accounting of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe when it’s finally complete.
DEARBORN, Mich. – Former Vice President Joe Biden says longtime Michigan Rep. John Dingell believed that having a job meant more than just collecting a paycheck. It was about dignity. Biden spoke about his longtime congressional colleague during a funeral Tuesday for Dingell, who died Thursday at 92. About 800 dignitaries, constituents and others attended the service at a church in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. Biden said Dingell treated everyone with dignity, including during his record 59 years in Congress.
OKLAHOMA CITY – A man charged with trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb outside an Oklahoma City bank is standing trial in federal court. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of Jerry Varnell, who pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted use of an explosive device and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors say Varnell planned to detonate a vehicle bomb Aug. 12, 2017, but the FBI learned of the plan and an undercover agent provided inert materials for the bomb.
BRUSSELS – NATO’S secretary-general warned Tuesday that the military alliance will respond to what it insists are Russia’s violation of a key Cold Warera treaty but will not station more nuclear missiles in Europe. Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty it agreed upon bilaterally with the United States in 1987. On Feb. 2, Washington launched the sixmonth process of leaving the INF, insisting that a missile system Russia calls the Novator 9M729 breaks the pact.