Cocktails & Popcorn: Ford, UAW & Antitrust - It's All About The Timing -- In Detroit

This is awkward.

Now, why would the feds launch an antitrust probe against Ford right at the beginning of UAW negotiations?

They eat each other alive.

#sayhisname

Feds launch antitrust probe into California mpg deal with Ford, others

Washington — The Trump administration is escalating its battle with California over gas-mileage rules by launching an antitrust investigation into Ford Motor Co. and three other automakers that have agreed to higher fuel-economy rules than President Trump has pushed for.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Ford, Volkswagen AG, Honda Motor Co. and BMW AG for reaching a deal with California to voluntarily increase the average fuel economy of their fleets to about 50 miles per gallon by the end of the 2026 model year, Ford, Honda and BMW confirmed Friday. The Justice Department declined comment.

In a letter obtained by The Detroit News, the Justice Department said it is concerned the agreement between the auto companies and California "may violate federal antitrust laws." The agency said it is inviting the carmakers to meet with federal regulators "in order to help us determine whether that is a possibility and what are the appropriate next steps we should take" and is planning to review communication between the carmakers concerning the formation of the pact.

Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter sent Friday to the California Air Resources Board, which negotiated the deal with the carmakers, that the proposed agreement "appears to be inconsistent with federal law."

"Congress has squarely vested the authority to set fuel economy standards for new motor vehicles, and nationwide standards for [greenhouse gas] vehicle emissions, with the federal government, not with California or any other state," Steven Bradbury and Matthew Leopold, general counsels for the EPA, wrote in a letter to CARB Administrator Mary Nichols. 

EPA's lawyers urged CARB to immediately disassociate itself from the commitments made by the four automakers. "Those commitments may result in legal consequences given the limits placed in federal law on California's authority," the letter said.

The California Air Resources Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra declined to comment.

Ford said in a statement: "We have received a letter from the Department of Justice and will cooperate with respect to any inquiry.”

Honda said it will "work cooperatively with the Department of Justice with regard to the recent emissions agreement reached between the State of California and various automotive manufacturers, including Honda."

BMW said: "We can confirm receipt of an inquiry from the Department of Justice and will respond appropriately."

Volkswagen declined to comment, saying: “We are in regular contact with U.S. authorities on a number of matters, but do not comment on specific private communications we may or may not receive.”

The investigation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources, is the latest front in a battle over mpg rules between the Trump administration and California that has ensnared automakers in a fight that is likely to end up in a lengthy court battle.

The move by the carmakers to agree separately with California to higher mpg standards flew in the face of the Trump administration's two-year push to freeze fuel-mileage rules at about 39 mpg for model years 2021 to 2026.

The Trump administration has responded by moving forward with a plan to revoke part of California's right to set its own gas mileage rules for cars, setting up a likely protracted legal fight.

The Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is planning to submit a proposed "One National Program" rule that prohibits states from setting their own gas mileage rules in a bid to ensure a single national level for fuel economy standards that would directed by Congress, a source familiar with the interagency process who was not authorized to speak on the record said Thursday.

The "One National Program" rule will not be final until it is submitted to the Federal Register and approved under the federal government's traditional rulemaking process after the White House review process is complete.

At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning to revoke aspects of a Clean Air Act waiver that has been used for years by California to set its own emission standards, according to the source that is familiar with the internal administration discussions. That would undo California's Advanced Clean Car Rule, which calls for automakers to reduce pollution from new cars from 2012 model year levels by 40% by 2025.

The Trump administration's plan would leave in place California’s low-emission vehicle standards that have been in place since the 1990s.

The White House and California have locked horns over gas mileage rules since the earliest days of Trump's presidency. His administration announced last year its intention to ease stringent gas-mileage rules that would have required fleets averaging nearly 55 miles per gallon by 2025. The administration proposed a freeze in the mandate after 2020, touching off a fierce battle with California, which helped craft the Obama-era rules.

The two sides attempted to negotiate a potential agreement, but the White House announced in February it was pulling out of the talks and moving forward with its proposed freeze.

Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have adopted California’s mileage rules, meaning automakers could be left with one set of rules for a quarter of the country and another set for the remaining states unless the Trump administration and California can come to an agreement. Congress gave California the right to set its own standards years ago under the Clean Air Act.

Carmakers have consistently pushed for one national fuel-economy standard. They have pressed the Trump administration to go back to the negotiating table with California.

Environmentalists have decried the Trump administration's efforts to roll back the Obama-era fuel economy standards as an attack on the environment from a hostile administration.

“The Trump administration is trying to bully automakers into accepting a rule rollback the companies don’t want,” said Luke Tonachel, director of clean vehicles and fuels at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s bizarre — but not surprising — that this Environmental Protection Agency is attacking companies that want to cut pollution.”


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What I Know About The Missing House Democratic Caucus Server Going Poof

Do you not just hate when that happens?

POOF!

Would you like to know what I know about the House Democratic Caucus server going poof?

I bet you would really like to know what I know about the House Democratic Caucus server going poof.

Well, you know what I always say, "What the heck do I know?"

All I know, as a verified factual finding, supported by companion federal and international law, is that Perkins Coie Sucks.

#perkinscoiesucks

Senate Judiciary Chairmen Grassley, Graham; Ranking Members Feinstein, Whitehouse Ask John Podesta & DNC Tom Perez: "Why Does Perkins Coie Suck?"

Learn more: BEVERLY TRAN: Senate Judiciary Chairmen Grassley, Graham; Ranking Members Feinstein, Whitehouse Ask John Podesta & DNC Tom Perez: "Why Does Perkins Coie Suck?" http://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2018/01/senate-judiciary-chairmen-grassley.html#ixzz5KJTkkZFp
Stop Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare 

HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS SERVER VANISHED, TOP CONGRESSIONAL COP SAYS

A secret memo marked “URGENT” detailed how the House Democratic Caucus’s server went “missing” soon after it became evidence in a cybersecurity probe. The secret memo also said more than “40 House offices may have been victims of IT security violations.”

In the memo, Congress’s top law enforcement official, Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, along with Chief Administrative Officer Phil Kiko, wrote, “We have concluded that the employees [Democratic systems administrator Imran Awan and his family] are an ongoing and serious risk to the House of Representatives, possibly threatening the integrity of our information systems and thereby members’ capacity to serve constituents.”

The memo, addressed to the Committee on House Administration (CHA) and dated Feb. 3, 2017, was recently reviewed and transcribed by The Daily Caller News Foundation. The letter bolsters TheDCNF’s previous reporting about the missing server and evidence of fraudon Capitol Hill.

It details how the caucus server, run by then-caucus Chairman Rep. Xavier Becerra, was secretly copied by authorities after the House Inspector General (IG) identified suspicious activity on it, but the Awans’ physical access was not blocked.

But after, the report reads, the server appears to have been secretly replaced with one that looked similar.

The memo called for firing the Pakistani-born aides, revoking all their computer accounts, and changing the locks on any door they had access to.

Rep. Louie Gohmert — a Texas Republican on the House Committee on the Judiciary who has done oversight work on the case — said the missing server contained copies of Congress members’ emails.

“They put 40 members of Congress’s data on one server … That server, with that serial number, has disappeared,” he said.

Multiple sources connected to the investigation told TheDCNF that shortly after an IG report came out identifying the House Democratic Caucus server as key evidence in a criminal probe, the evidence was stolen.

“They [the Awans] deliberately turned over a fake server” to falsify evidence, one official close to the CHA alleged. “It was a breach. The data was completely out of [members’] possession.”

The six-page letter says:

• In September of 2016 … the CHA and [IG] briefed the former Chairman of the Democratic Caucus about suspicious activity related to their server that the [IG] identified. As a result, the former Chairman of the Democratic Caucus directed the CAO to copy the data from their server and two computers.
• The CHA directed the IG to refer the matter to the US Capitol Police. The USCP initiated an investigation that continues to this day.
• In late 2016, the former Chairman of the Democratic Caucus announced his intention to resign from Congress to assume a new position. The CAO and [sergeant-at-arms] worked with the Chairman to account for his inventory, including the one server.
• While reviewing the inventory, the CAO discovered that the serial number of the server did not match that of the one imaged in September. [Investigators] also discovered that the server in question [the replacement server] was still operating under the employee’s control, contrary to the explicit instructions of the former chairman to turn over all equipment and fully cooperate with the inquiry and investigation. [A House source said the “employee” was Abid Awan.]
• The USCP interviewed relevant staff regarding the missing server.
• On January 24, 2017, the CAO acquired the [replacement] server from the control of the employees and transferred that server to the USCP.

President Donald Trump referenced the Democratic Caucus’ missing server in a tweet. But because the letter to the CHA was kept secret, many news outlets have not grasped that the House’s top cop documented a “missing server” connected to the Democratic Caucus.

The timeline laid out in the letter also shows that Becerra — now California’s Democratic attorney general — failed to ensure that the Awans didn’t have access to House computer systems during the 2016 election, which was wrought with cybersecurity scandals.

An IG presentation from September 2016 shows that Becerra knew of problems months before the server disappeared.

“The Caucus Chief of Staff requested one of the shared employees to not provide IT services or access their computers,” it read. “This shared employee continued.” It’s unclear why that request was not granted or why it was a request rather than an order.

A House official close to the probe said the employee was Abid, who was not on Becerra or the Caucus’s payroll. The official said Becerra Chief of Staff Sean McCluskie apparently knew Abid was accessing Caucus servers. According to payroll records, Abid’s sister-in-law, Hina Alvi, was the Caucus’ systems administrator.

The Awans’ continued physical access to Becerra’s equipment after red flags emerged enabled the server to disappear after it became evidence, House officials close to the investigation told TheDCNF.

(RELATED: Becerra Tried To Block Awan From House Democratic Caucus Server, But Logins Continued; He Didn’t Go To Cops)

Becerra has refused to comment, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.

The February 2017 memo itemizes “numerous and egregious violations of House IT security” by members of the Awan family, including using Congress members’ usernames and “the unauthorized storage of sensitive House information outside the House.”

“These employees accessed user accounts and computers for offices that did not employ them, without the knowledge and permission of the impacted Member’s office,” it said, adding, “4 of the employees accessed the Democratic Caucus computers 5,735 times.” More than 100 office computers were open to access from people not on the office’s staff, it said.

Chris Gowen — a former aide to Hillary Clinton who is now serving as Imran’s attorney — told TheDCNF, “There is no missing server and never was.”

He didn’t provide any support for his claim, which is contrary to evidence Kiko and Irving presented to Congress.

The memo said the CHA possesses voluminous evidence, including, “Interview notes with House Members’ Chiefs of Staff,” and “Logon activity and computer access logs.” Prosecutors have not brought charges.

The Awans were banned from Congress’s computer network the day the letter was sent, and Kiko held a briefing to convey the message to chiefs of staff for members who employed them.

But Democrats claim they were never told about any of the cybersecurity issues itemized in the urgent memo. Rep. Jackie Speier — a California Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who employed Imran and his wife, Hina Alvi — said she never heard of any missing server.

Joaquin Castro of Texas — another Democratic intelligence committee member who employed one of the Awans — told TheDCNF that Kiko never told him of any cybersecurity issues whatsoever and that the Awan probe was instead described as a theft issue.

Indeed, the CHA issued only one public statement on the case and titled it the “House Theft Investigation” — wording that avoids cybersecurity words while political news coverage raged about other cybersecurity issues in the 2016 election.

Yet even the alleged theft has not resulted in criminal charges — even though the letter also says House authorities have “purchase orders and vouchers” that allegedly show procurement fraud, as well as testimony from a Democratic chief of staff to Rep. Yvette Clarke, who warned of procurement fraud.

The FBI arrested Imran at the airport in July 2017 for alleged bank fraud that occurred six months prior, and Democrats have since claimed that the case is about nothing but bank fraud. Bank fraud does not explain why the Awans were kicked off the House network concurrent with the urgent memo, which did not cite bank fraud.

A Democratic IT aide who alleged that Imran solicited a bribe from him told TheDCNF he believes members of Congress are playing dumb and covering the matter up. Wendy Anderson, a former chief of staff to New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, told House investigators that she suspected that her predecessor, Shelley Davis, was working with Abid on a theft scheme, but Clarke refused to fire Abid until outside investigators got involved, TheDCNF reported.

Eighteen months after the evidence was recounted in the urgent memo, prosecution appears to have stalled for reasons not publicly explained. Imran is in court July 3 for a possible plea deal in the bank fraud case. Gohmert said the FBI has refused to accept evidence demonstrating alleged House misconduct, and some witnesses with first-hand knowledge say the bureau has not interviewed them.

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Another Travel Ban, Another Trafficking Tiny Humans Adoption Ploy

I am waiting for the adoption outrage campaign.

I can see it now....

There will be the first national discussion on the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children which is not a law, but a policy, left for state rulemaking and how it allows the trafficking of tiny humans using federal funding.

There will be groundbreaking discussions on state borders when it comes to jurisdictions of child abuse and neglect proceedings.

Talks will ensue on how one is put on a central registry before they are even notified that there was an ex parte hearing, where charges have been lodged to open the federal funding spigot for concurrent planning of double billing schemes, where one is presumed guilty until proven innocent, where one is not allowed to confront the accuser, where predictive modeling can generate evidence for the court on future emotional harms.

People will begin to question about the identities of these children, the birth certificates and the trust funds.

The world will start to focus on the horrors behind foster care and adoption in the United States and around the world.

I do not believe this will ever take place, but a gal can dream.

As for my take on this state travel ban, I see it as a distraction because Becerra is a Meanie.

There was alot of that child welfare money flowing through those campaigns on that House Democratic Caucus server he turned over with fake information.

"Hey, Xavier, did you wipe all that stuff on those special meetings where everyone and the press core was trying to figure out who was smashing the DNC leadership plans on taking my Sweetie out of office? You all know you love me."

#perkinscoiesucks 

California bans travel to another state based on its 'discriminatory' LGBT adoption law

Add Oklahoma to the list of states to which California is banning state-funded and state-sponsored travel.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Friday that as a result of "discriminatory legislation" that became Oklahoma law last month, the western state will prohibit travel to its midwestern counterpart.

A 2017 California law requires that its attorney general keeps a list of states subject to a state travel ban because of "laws that authorize or require discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression," Becerra's office said in a statement.

"California taxpayers are taking a stand against bigotry and in support of those who would be harmed by this prejudiced policy." he said.

Oklahoma becomes the ninth state subject to the state-funded ban. Travel to Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas had previously been prohibited due to the 2017 law. 

#Oklahoma will be added to the list of restricted states for state-funded travel based on the discriminatory law that would allow private adoption agencies to refuse services to #LGBTQ parents & foster children based on religious/moral grounds. #PrideMonthhttps://t.co/FIL1YfsLxn

— Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) June 1, 2018

In May, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill that allows private adoption agencies to deny same-sex couples from their adoption services on the basis of "religious or moral convictions or policies." The bill sparked backlash from LGBTQ advocates.

Fallin, a Republican, defended the bill in a statement after signing it, saying "the state will not be in any way restricting current practice allowing LGBTQ individuals and couples fostering or adopting. It does not ban same-sex adoption or foster care in Oklahoma."

Michael McNutt, a spokesperson for Fallin, also defended the bill after California announced its ban. 

"There appears to be more and more Californians sharing our values as we are seeing more Californians move to Oklahoma," he said in a statement to USA TODAY. "With our state’s economy being as strong as it is, we won’t miss a few Californians traveling on state business showing up in our state."

LGBTQ advocates in California applauded the ban, which goes into effect June 22.

"Every child deserves a loving, supportive family, and it’s neither pro-child, nor pro-family, for Oklahoma to deny them one," Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said in a statement.

California's announcement came on the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month.

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Day 97.3 Becerra's Chinatown - Preview

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Day 97.1 Becerra False Image, Crushed Drives, Deep Uranium

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Day 40.3. Bercerra Secret Server Reprisals?

How about addressing what happens to whistleblowers?

They will be stripped of credentials.

They will be mocked and ridiculed in the public stocks of the political and community glamour circuits.

They will lose their jobs.

They will charged, fined and sanctioned until they are eligible for social welfare assistance.

They will be become homeless.

They will lose their children.

They will be branded as a social pariah. 

They will be physically spat upon.

They will be brandished with the venimous spears of salicious slander and legacies pierced with vociferous scandals, in the eyes of the public.

But now, there shall be no more scorn for those who dedicate their lives to expose fraud, but in this instance, a fraud perpitrated upon the legacies of the future.

Try addressing this stuff, Mr. Media.

You cannot and will not because it interferes with your nefarious, profiteering operations.

Checkmate.

Qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur.

Sssshhhh.....

Stop Child Medicaid Fraud by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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