Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 12-30-16 Online Edition

White House News
President And His Former AG Eric Holder Pick Interim Head Of Democratic Redistricting Reform
President Barack Obama and Eric Holder’s quickly expanding Democratic joint project to tackle redistricting reform has picked a leader: Kelly Ward, fresh off four years as the executive director of the Democratic Congres- sional Campaign Committee.
Ward is coming in initially as the interim executive direc- tor of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee as it continues to come together, meeting with donors, hiring staff, managing groups joining as members and beginning to identify races to target as the effort gears up for action in 2017, 2018 and into 2020 — and then the actual rounds of redistricting in 2021.
Many of the current maps for state legislature and House districts represent Republi- cans’ “fundamental challenge to our democracy,” Ward said, because of how much ger- rymandering they entail.
President Obama is expected to be involved in a major way with reshaping the Democratic Party after the face-slapping loss to Donald Trump. His former Attorney General Eric Holder is a part of the joint project to focus on redistricting. Kelly Ward has been targeted to be the head for now.
The NDRC is coordinating between several Democratic campaign committees and out- side allies in directing re- sources and attention to races for state legislature and gover- nor, aimed at bringing major changes to the district lines after the next census.
And Donald Trump’s elec- tion, Ward said, has helped wake up Democrats to the
need to focus on these races to begin building the party back. Ward said that since Election Day, there’s been a rapid uptick in the money and inter- est flowing in to the NDRC, which is being chaired by Holder with the full support of President Obama in what’s expected to be a main political focus of his post-pres- idency.
President Obama And Japan’s Prime Minister Visit Pearl Harbor Together On 75th Anniversary Of Attack
President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Abe participate in a wreath-laying ceremony aboard the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 27, 2016.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's rare visit with President Barack Obama came together at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday and spoke of how former enemies can mend bonds and form powerful al- liances that outlive the devas- tating effects of war.
"As the prime minister of Japan, I offer my sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here, as well as to the spir- its of all the brave men and women whose lives were taken by a war that commenced in this very place," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday during joint re- marks with President Obama at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
President Obama said Tuesday that the meeting re- minder that "even the deepest wounds of war can give way to friendship and lasting peace."
The President said "the fruits of peace always outweigh
the plunders of war. This is the enduring truth of this hallowed harbor."
"It is here that we remember that even when hatred burns hottest, even when the tug of tribalism is at its most primal, we must resist the urge to turn inward, we must resist the urge to demonize those who are dif- ferent," he added.
Prime Minister Abe's
visit comes 75 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor and his attendance at the USS Arizona Memorial marks the first such visit in decades by a Japanese prime minster. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Har- bor, 2,403 Americans were killed on Dec. 7, 1941.
It also comes seven months after the President became the first sitting American president to visit the Japanese memorial dedicated to the more than 200,000 people killed when American forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Donald Trump Upset About How Media Covers His Foundation
Texas Man Sent 4 Letters Threatening To Assassinate President Obama
Donald Trump isn't happy about the way journal- ists have covered his charita- ble foundation.
Trump took to Twitter late Monday night to com- plain that he'd given "mil- lions" to his charity — breezing over the fact that he hasn't done so for nearly a decade — while ripping media coverage of the organ- ization he plans to disband as he heads into the White House.
"I gave millions of dollars to DJT Foundation, raised or recieved [SIC.]millions more, ALL of which is given to charity, and media won't re- port!" he tweeted shortly be- fore 10 p.m. Monday.
Trump hasn't donated to the Donald J. Trump Foundation since 2008, in- stead relying on donations from others, though he did give the organization more than $5 million from 1987 until then.
The foundation came under intense scrutiny dur- ing the presidential race, with The Washington Post reporting that Trump used foundation money to buy items for himself and his businesses including por-
President-elect, Donald Trump is using twitter to rant about everything under the sun.
traits of himself and a signed Tim Tebow helmet, as well as using its money to pay off legal fees.
The Trump foundation also admitted on its 2015 IRS filing that it violated a legal prohibition against "self- dealing," which bars the heads of nonprofits from using their charity's money to help themselves, their businesses or their families.
Trump announced last weekend that he'll dissolve the foundation to avoid po- tential conflicts of interest during his time in office.
Gavin Friedman, 21, of Texas, allegedly sent four let- ters threatening President Barack Obama.
California Senator Picks Bill Nelson’s Aide To Be Only Black Legislative Director In U. S. Senate
Newly elected U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D. CA) names Clint Odom as her Legislative Director. He is the only Black person in this position. Odom was an aide for Florida Senator Bill Nelson.
Sen.-elect Kamala Harris is tapping a veteran Senate aide to oversee her office’s legisla- tive business.
Clint Odom, a longtime aide to Florida Sen. Bill Nel- son with both the Commerce Committee and in the senator’s personal office, appears poised to be the only Black legislative director in the Senate, accord- ing to Senate aides who track minority hiring.
Harris, the outgoing Cali- fornia attorney general, was elected to succeed Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is
retiring at the end of the Con- gress.
Odom practiced law in Washington, D.C., and clerked for a federal district judge in Mississippi before arriving in the Senate. He most recently worked for Nelson as the gen- eral counsel and policy director on the minority side of the Commerce, Science and Trans- portation panel, having partic- ular experience in telecommunications both with the Federal Communications Commission and in the private sector.
A Texas man has been in- dicted on charges he threatened to assassinate President Obama.
Gavin Friedman, of Austin, Texas, was serving time in Kerr County jail on unrelated charges when he was hit with federal charges, KSAT 12 re- ports.
An indictment notes that Friedman, 21, allegedly mailed four letters threatening the President, on January 22, April 3, Sept. 19 and Sept. 27.
A January 22 letter allegedly included a line that President Obama “will be killed so that (Friedman) can be martyred in the name of Allah,” KSAT re- ports.
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