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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, June 09, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 330 ~ 41 of 59
degree assault, a misdemeanor, in June 2004, but prosecutors later dismissed the charge. His wife was listed as the complainant.
A spokesperson for the intelligence panel confirmed Wolfe’s charges were dropped in 2004 and said his security clearance was reissued in 2008. The clearances are reviewed every five years. A government employee’s security clearance can be denied if they have a criminal record of any sort.
“We cannot speak for the committee’s leadership at the time, but they likely would have been aware and the incident would have been looked at as part of the subsequent review by the FBI,” said the spokes- person, who declined to be identified because personnel matters are confidential.
The prosecution comes amid a Trump administration crackdown on leaks of classified information. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have decried such disclosures, with Sessions saying in August that the number of leaks of criminal leak probes had more than tripled in the early months of the Trump administration.
The Obama administration had its own repeated tangles with journalists, including secretly subpoena- ing phone records of Associated Press reporters and editors during a leak investigation into a 2012 article about a bomb plot. The Justice Department amended its media guidelines in 2015 to make it more oner- ous for prosecutors to subpoena journalists for their sources, though officials in the past year have said they are reviewing those policies.
Lauren Easton, director of media relations for the AP, said Friday: “The Associated Press opposes any government overreach that jeopardizes the ability of journalists to freely and safely do their jobs and undermines the vital distinction between the government and the press.”
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Witte reported from Baltimore, Maryland. Associated Press writers Chad Day and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
Trump barrels into G-7 summit, ready to fight US allies By CATHERINE LUCEY and ROB GILLIES, Associated Press
LA MALBAIE, Quebec (AP) — Bruising for a fight, President Donald Trump barreled into the Group of Seven summit Friday, confronting longtime U.S. allies over a burgeoning trade dispute and insisting Russia should be brought back into the fold.
Trump joined the leaders of major industrialized nations in an idyllic Canadian resort town after days of escalating conflict over new U.S. tariffs he slapped on imports of steel and aluminum. Facing pointed criticism from increasingly disillusioned allies, he punched back, uncowed by the growing global outcry.
“Look, all of these countries have been taking advantage of the United States on trade,” Trump told re- porters as he left the White House, repeating his longstanding complaints about trade deficits and tariffs. He declared, “We have to straighten it out.”
However, Trump did seek to lower the temperature after his arrival. He bantered easily with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, joking that the neighboring leader had “agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers.” And he emphasized a “good relationship” with French President Emmanuel Macron, saying they sometimes have a “little test” on trade, but predicting a positive outcome.
Still, the fundamental differences remained clear. Trump again railed against trade deficits with other countries and repeated that he may pursue separate negotiations with Canada and Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Both sides suggested some progress in NAFTA talks, with White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying they were “close to a deal,” though adding there was also discussion of a bilateral deal. A Canadian official said the leaders discussed accelerating the talks.
Macron said there had been “open and direct” discussions on trade, adding that he thought there was a way to get a “win-win” outcome, though details remained unclear.
Before arriving at the meeting of the group, which some suggest Trump is pushing from the Group of