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POTUS Names a New Chief of Staff

US President Donald Trump has named General John Kelly, who currently heads the Department of Homeland Security, as his next chief of staff.

The announcement, made on Twitter on Friday afternoon, removes Reince Priebus from the role.

The embattled former chief of staff had faced pressure since being named as a possible leaker by Mr Trump’s newly appointed director of communication.

Mr Priebus told CNN he resigned on Thursday after talking with Mr Trump.

“The president wanted to go in a different direction,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, adding that he thought Gen Kelly was “a brilliant pick”. (Read more from “POTUS Names a New Chief of Staff” HERE)

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What Jeff Sessions Thinks About Trump’s Attacks

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he’s hurt by President Donald Trump’s recent criticism, but he’s confident he made the right decision recusing himself from the Russia investigation.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that aired Thursday night, Sessions vowed to continue his work as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

“I’m confident I made the right decision, a decision that’s consistent for the rule of law,” Sessions said. “An attorney general who doesn’t follow the law isn’t very effective in leading the Department of Justice.”

In recent days, Trump has faced mounting criticism from Republicans and conservatives for attacking Sessions, one of his most loyal supporters and a staunch ally on a range of policy goals. (For more from the author of “What Jeff Sessions Thinks About Trump’s Attacks” please click HERE)

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Retired Trans Navy SEAL Challenges Trump

A retired Navy SEAL who came out as a transgender ‘woman’ after retiring in 2011 urged President Donald Trump to say to his face that he is not worthy of serving in the U.S. military.

“Let’s meet face to face and you tell me I’m not worthy,” Kristin Beck told Business Insider Wednesday. “Transgender doesn’t matter. Do your service.”

Beck served 20 years in the Navy SEALs with SEAL Teams 1, 5 and the elite Team 6. Beck was deployed 13 times, including stints abroad in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The SEAL veteran received multiple military awards and decorations, including a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat and the Bronze Star award for valor.

“I was defending individual liberty,” Beck said. “I defended for Republicans. I defended for Democrats. I defended for everyone.”

Beck’s statement came in response to Trump’s announcement Wednesday that the U.S. government will not allow transgender individuals “to serve in any capacity” in the U.S. armed forces.

“After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” Trump said in a series of tweets.

“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” the president said.

But Beck said the cost of providing medical services to transgender service members is “negligible.”

“You’re talking about .000001% of the military budget,” Beck said.

“They care more about the airplane or the tank than they care about people,” Beck said. “They don’t care about people. They don’t care about human beings.”

Beck said any issues that would arise due to transgender service members would be a result of incompetent leadership more than anything else.

“A very professional unit with great leadership wouldn’t have a problem,” Beck said. “I can have a Muslim serving right beside Jerry Falwell, and we’re not going to have a problem. It’s a leadership issue, not a transgender issue.”

Beck publicly came out as transgender in 2013 after retiring from the Navy in 2011.

The naval veteran told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a June 2013 interview that “no one ever met the real me” during 20 years of military service. (For more from the author of “Retired Trans Navy SEAL Challenges Trump” please click HERE)

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Los Angeles Mayor Defies Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy

The mayor of Los Angeles vowed on Wednesday not to comply with the Trump administration’s order to notify the Department of Homeland Security before releasing illegal aliens from custody.

“Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that sanctuary cities must give federal immigration authorities access to jails and alert them when someone facing deportation will be released from custody, in order to receive certain law enforcement grants,” Fox News reported.

Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti told BuzzFeed that his government will not comply with the order.

“We will not change what we are doing and our values are not for sale,” Garcetti said Wednesday. “This decision was more of the kind of ideological rhetoric that actually makes us less safe.”

The mayor further contended, “What they’re asking the city to do is in violation of the Constitution.”

Garcetti’s argument regarding why the DOJ’s policy is unconstitutional was not included in the story.

The federal government has the enumerated power to craft the country’s immigration laws, and it can withhold grant money if those seeking it are not in compliance with the grant’s parameters.

In March, Garcetti issued an executive order barring local government officials from assisting federal immigration officers.

Additionally, in 2014 the Los Angeles Police Department stated it would not honor detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The order further bars LA employees from granting any immigration agent access to a city facility not open to the public unless legally required to do so.

In a statement on Tuesday, Sessions contended that sanctuary city policies like those employed by Los Angeles are dangerous.

“So-called sanctuary policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes,” the attorney general said.

“These policies also encourage illegal immigration and even human trafficking by perpetuating the lie that in certain cities, illegal aliens can live outside the law … We must encourage these `sanctuary’ jurisdictions to change their policies and partner with federal law enforcement to remove criminals.” (For more from the author of “Los Angeles Mayor Defies Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy” please click HERE)

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FACT CHECK: Are 15,000 Trans People Serving in the US Military?

President Donald Trump sent out a series of tweets on Wednesday stating that the U.S. “will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” Immediately after these tweets politicians, organizations and political commentators began tweeting out certain numbers of how many transgender people are serving or have served in the military . . .

The number of trans people serving in the military is unclear. There have been two major studies on the number, with each study purporting different figures . . .

California Rep. Mark Takano tweeted out that Trump was attacking “15,ooo trans service members.” Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights organization, also tweeted the 15,000 figure. The Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that “150K transgender Americans have bravely served USA.” . . .

The Williams Institute study from 2014 estimated “that approximately 15,500 transgender individuals are serving on active duty or in the Guard or Reserve forces.” The study suggests that “8,800 transgender individuals are currently on active duty.”

A study in 2016 from the RAND Corporation, sponsored by the secretary of defense, estimates that “the number of transgender individuals currently serving in the active component of the U.S. military at between 1,320 and 6,630 out of a total of about 1.3 million service members.” This number accounts for 0.1-0.5 percent of those serving in active military according to the RAND Corporation. (Read more from “FACT CHECK: Are 15,000 Trans People Serving in the US Military?” HERE)

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Crazy Talk: Psychs Crack up Over ‘Psychotic’, ‘Paranoid’ Trump

It’s a “gag rule” that mental-health professionals have followed for 44 years: It’s unethical for psychiatrists to “diagnose” politicians or public figures based solely on that person’s public actions or statements, without conducting an actual in-person examination.

But now that Donald Trump is president, a national psychology organization has given psychoanalysts the green light to publicly comment on Trump’s mental health. And the move could usher in a flood of mental-health “experts” on TV news programs claiming the president is unstable or even unfit to serve in the White House.

Without ever having examined Trump, psychological professionals already have called the president “psychotic,” “narcissistic,” “paranoid,” “hypomanic,” “emotionally unstable,” “delusional” and “psychologically isolated” and claimed he has a “dangerous mental illness.” One physician suggested Trump could be suffering from an untreated sexually transmitted disease known as neurosyphilis.

Some mental health “experts” have even gone so far as to call conservatism a mental illness, claiming prominent Republicans have shown signs of denial, delusion, hallucination, disordered thinking, anger, anti-social behavior, sexual preoccupation, grandiosity, general oddness and paranoia.

And in what appears to be one of the left’s latest lines of attack against the president, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have already proposed creation of an 11-member panel that could oust Trump for being mentally or physically unfit for office. (Read more from “Crazy Talk: Psychs Crack up Over ‘Psychotic’, ‘Paranoid’ Trump” HERE)

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Donald Trump Speaks About Considering Firing Sessions

President Donald Trump responded to rumors that he was considering firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but did not say whether he planned to fire him.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said, when questioned by reporters at a press conference. “Time will tell.”

Trump denied that he was letting Sessions “twist in the wind.”

“I am disappointed in the Attorney General,” he said frankly. “He should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office.”

He added that Sessions made the wrong decision, saying that it hurt the office of the presidency. (Read more from “Donald Trump Speaks About Considering Firing Sessions” HERE)

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Here’s What Voters Think About a Trump Impeachment – It’s Pretty Surprising

Voters are evenly divided on whether or not President Donald Trump should be removed from office, according to a poll released Monday morning.

Forty-two percent of respondents said that the president should be removed from his office in some way, but another 42 percent believe that the president should stay exactly where he is, according to a poll released by USA Today. The remaining respondents were undecided.

A question in the poll asked voters if they would be “upset” if Trump is impeached in some way. Thirty-four percent answered in the affirmative, but 34 percent of voters said they wouldn’t feel upset if Democrats were somehow able to follow through with their threats . . .

Forty-six percent of respondents don’t believe Trump will finish out his first term, with only 27 percent of all voters believing that the president will serve through the 2020 presidential election. (Read more from “Here’s What Voters Think About a Trump Impeachment – It’s Pretty Surprising” HERE)

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Trump Calls House Intel’s Top Democrat ‘Sleazy’

President Trump on Monday morning criticized the Democratic leader of the House investigation into Russian attempts to interfere with the 2016 election, calling Burbank Rep. Adam Schiff “sleazy” and “biased.”

Schiff is the highest ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee, which is examining whether the Trump campaign assisted in Russia’s efforts. The committee is meeting behind closed doors Tuesday to hear from Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The investigation has catapulted Schiff into the national spotlight. Schiff has become a frequent guest on cable and Sunday morning news shows, and has turned to Twitter, the president’s preferred medium, to respond directly to Trump.

(Read more from “Trump Calls House Intel’s Top Democrat ‘Sleazy'” HERE)

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FACT CHECK: Has Mueller Crossed Trump’s ‘Red Line’ in the Russia Investigation?

. . .Towards the end of an interview with The New York Times last Wednesday, reporters asked Trump about the Russia investigation.

“If Mueller was looking at your finances and your family finances, unrelated to Russia – is that a red line?” asked a Times reporter.

“Would that be a breach of what his actual charge is?” a different Times reporter interjected.

“I would say yeah,” replied Trump. “I would say yes.”

Although it’s unclear from the transcript which question Trump answered, some news outlets have characterized the remark as the president drawing a “red line” for Mueller on the Russia investigation. The president did not draw it himself, but the White House has not disputed the “red line” either. (Read more from “FACT CHECK: Has Mueller Crossed Trump’s ‘Red Line’ in the Russia Investigation?” HERE)

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