Beltway Insider: Trump Defends Abuser; Nancy Pelosi/DACA; Border Wall; Russian Plane Crash; Super Bowl/Olympics

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Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the minority leader of the U.S. House of Representative, took the floor of the House this week, delivering the longest speech in history, in an effort to force a vote on DREAMERS immigration policy.

According to Gallup, President Trump job approval, over the past week, decreased by four percentage points to 36% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President increased by four percentage points to 59%.

Trump Priorities

President Donald Trump came under fire this week after allegations of Domestic Abuse surfaced against White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter who served the President for more than a year.

Twice married, Porter's former wives, each presented photographs supporting their claims of spousal abuse and violence. Porter, a Harvard, Oxford Educated political aide, offered his resignation.

President Trump upon hearing of the allegation and experiencing the swift departure of Porter, tweeted his support for "Due Process."

The President said via Twitter, "People's lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?" @realdonaldtrump

"The allegations against Rob Porter are serious and deeply troubling.  He did deny them.  The incidents took place long before he joined the White House.  Therefore, they were investigated as part of the background check, as this process is meant for such allegations.  It was not completed, and Rob Porter has since resigned," said Raj Shah, White House Deputy Press Secretary.

White House Acceptable Violence

President Trump is also under fire for his concerning remarks over Women's rights as he has defunded the Violence Against Women office immediately following his inauguration and shut down the Women and Girls office as well.


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Defending the President and acknowledging he is not prepared to speak directly on the closures of these two agencies, Shah said, "I did talk to the President earlier today.  He told me he was very saddened by these reports and by the information that he saw, by the images that he saw.  We do take violence against women and these types of allegations very seriously."

Revolving Door Employment Policies

Rob Porter, on paper, has all the right credentials: Undergrad at Harvard followed with a Juris Doctorate. Then on to Oxford where he earned a Master's of Philosophy. With every degree, and recommendation from Republican Stalwarts like Senator Orrin Hatch, (R-UT), and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), he appeared to be destined for a long political career.

Until this week, when both his ex-wives came forward recounting domestic abuse, verbal and physical, over the course of their marriages.

Porter, it seems as the FBI was also informed of the domestic incidents, was given interim security clearance as nearly all the White House Staffers received after the change of administrations.

Slow to process background checks, when the wives were interviewed by the FBI they were notified that Porter could potentially be susceptible to blackmail over the allegations, which included a restraining order and photographs of facial bruising, a black eye, and discoloration around the eyes of one former wife.

"Porter has said the allegations are false and a "coordinated smear campaign". The Washington Post reported that White House counsel Donald McGahn had known since last January about the allegations Porter's ex-wives made to the FBI, and that Chief of Staff John F. Kelly had known about the allegations since October 2017, still promoting Porter after that. Post reporter Aaron Blake wrote that this development made the allegations a "full-blown scandal,"' according to the Rob Porter Wikipedia entry.

Immigration DACA/Nancy Pelosi

Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the minority leader of the U.S. House of Representative, took the floor of the House this week, delivering the longest speech in history, in an effort to force a vote on DREAMERS immigration policy.

Pelosi, who by virtue of her position under house rules was able to take the floor and begin, a mini-filibuster, speaking for more than eight hours on the DREAMERS Immigration policy.

"Pelosi could have easily made a few "sound-bite worthy" statements and been done with it — points scored in a political column that would demonstrate that she was on the correct side of young Dreamers. Instead, in her trademark 4-inch high heels and with little more planning than the thoughts she gathered on her drive to the Capitol that morning, she turned her "magic minute" at the microphone into an 8-hour demonstration of physical stamina and political resolve," The Hill reported.

President Trump unveiled his plan during the state of the Union which called for merit based DREAMERS policy with certain parameters which alleviate those who have been unable or unwilling to take advantage of every resource the United States offers and move ahead.

DACA gives temporary protection to undocumented migrants who arrived in the us as children.

What are DREAMERS – "Those protected under Daca are known as "Dreamers" by the time Trump announced his decision to rescind the program, 787,580 had been granted approval. To apply, they must have been younger than 31 on 15 June 2012, when the program began, and "undocumented", lacking legal immigration status. They must have arrived in the US before turning 16 and lived there continuously since June 2007. Most Dreamers are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and the largest numbers live in California, Texas, Florida and New York. They range in age from 15 to 36, according to the White House," The Guardian reported.

Each day the vote is delayed 122 lose their protection, more than 800 each week and since Trump terminated the DACA protection in September 2017 more than 7900 have lost their status. A delayed vote represents a life lost; a future in flux.

Border Wall

President Trump, who one year ago after taking the oath of office began his push for the Boarder Wall. A former Manhattan developer, Trump contracted six construction companies to submit plans and build a prototype which would need to have one common element: it cannot be breeched. The materials used to create his version of a border wall

The Trump administration-commissioned six contractors to construct eight prototypes four of them were concrete and the rest were made of other materials and they have all withstood breaching climbing tests.

President Trump has decided to pursue the most efficient Border Wall, of which as the prototypes have been erected near the U.S.-Mexican border in san Diego are always attracting graffiti artist to add the finishing touches to what will become the slabs in the desert without secondary use leaving Border Agent and Homeland Security without field backup.

A single unit from each Wall has been standing in the desert for four months under inspection. The orders were between 18' and 30' feet tall. The testing was to determine if a breech was possible. In one instance a tester was able to hook the top of the wall with a pronged metal device.

"The walls were so high we had to suspend testing. It was unsafe," one Homeland Security official in Washington told Fox News. "One guy made it to the top but he couldn't get down. We had to bring him down with a cherry picker. Testers also favored the prototypes with transparent components, so that border patrol agents can see what's happening on the other side. Trump, too, said he wants the wall to be see-through so that people don't get hit with "sacks of drugs,"' reported Businessinsider.com.

Russian Passenger Plane Crash

A Russian passenger jet, with 65 passengers and six crew members on board, has reportedly crashed the ill-on board has crashed shortly after take-off in the nearby village of Argunovo after the pilot reported a malfunction and requested an emergency landing.

Flighttrader#24 said via twitter, "Saratov Airlines flight #6W703 has crashed about 5-6 minutes after take-off from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. During the last seconds before it crashed the aircraft was falling with up to 22,000 feet per minute. The aircraft involved was a 7 year old Antonov An-148."

"President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to the victims' families and announced an investigation into the cause of the crash," the BBC reported.

Multiple media agency are reporting a wide debris field of wreckage south-east of Moscow with bodies reported near the wreckage. There are no survivors.


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The Antonov An-148 aircraft, a twin jet plane intended for passenger, cargo passenger and cargo transportation for regional and short haul trips, was less than eight years old and considered a dependable member of the Anatonov fleet of short haul aircraft.

Antonov Airlines, a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing company, has not commented via twitter or with any messaging on its website.

Super Bowl/ Olympics

The underdog Philadelphia Eagles stunned the reigning champions New England Patriots by pulling out a victory by forcing a turnover, in the critical 4th Quarter as the Patriots were marching up field with the expectation of pulling out a last minute victory.

For the five time Super Bowl champions a sixth win was not in the cards. The Philadelphia Eagles, who had not won a Super Bowl for nearly half a century, the team with the same record as the Patriots, a quarterback hungry to dethrone Tom Brady, who is considered one of the best in the games history, game to wrestle the champions to the ground.

In what turned out to be an exciting scrimmage up to the very end, and was won by Eagle's Brandon Graham who broke through the Patriot's defensive line to force a turnover and sack Tom Brady.

Super Bowl 2018 was won on mistakes as each team came in with identical records, one held five wins and a record of clinch victories. Brady couldn't be underestimated. courageous

The other, the Philadelphia Eagles, came in hungry, playing smart, knowing to win Brady would have to be stopped especially with minutes left on the clock. It wasn't until the 4th Quarter with 2:16 left on the clock, on a second and seven play, Philadelphia Eagles #55, managed to stop the clock, the momentum, the entire Super Bowl world who had assumed Brady was on the way to the end zone.

Even with the turnover the victory not assured at this point, and the Eagles knew it. Keeping the ball away from Brady until the clock ran out was the goal. Super Bowl 2017 sent the Atlanta Falcons home empty handed with the owners waiting on the field to accept the Vince Lombardi Trophy as Brady pulled a miracle out of his pocket.

That would not be this year and for the fans in Philadelphia who waited nearly a lifetime, since 1960, to see another victory they did it winning Super Bowl LII 41-33.

The Winter Olympics

The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea have begun and not of course without controversary and illness.

Highlights of the first weekend include the Pita Taufatofua, a Tongan Cross Country Skier and Tae-Kwon-Do Martial Artist, received instant internet fame as the hunky oiled up Flag Bearer in 2016 Rio Olympics. The Tongan who has become his nations most known citizen again carried the Flag of his homeland, despite sub-zero temperatures at the PyeongChang Olympics.

Before the start of the Olympics nearly 1000 security guards and workers were sent home as a norovirus, prompting the government to bring in military. The Norovirus, which is essentially a winter vomiting bug, is characterized by severe bouts of vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. They say it is spreading like crazy with Athletes, officials, support staff and visitors all susceptible to the highly contagious bug.

On the medal front, The United States holds the Number 7 spot with a total of two medals in the early days of the 2018 winter Olympics. The Gold won by Red Gerard, a 17 year-old Snowboarder, who hails from Ohio and calls Silverthorne Colorado his Home, and after a nearly fatal wipeout came back to leave the best behind and take the Gold for Team USA.

An historic run in the Luge made history for Chris Mazdzer and Team USA. An underdog if there ever was one, Mazdzer wasn't even considered a medal hopeful and burst into the records books with an historic run giving the U.S. its first ever medal in the Luge.

As the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang progress the world can expect many more breathless moments when the world fades and this one moment is all that matters.

For more information on President Donald Trump: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia.com,