Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 21 February 2018

Urged on by Trump, GOP to fight Pennsylvania's district map

tion's most gerrymandered. narrowly won by Demo-
With control of the U.S. crat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
House on the line in No- Costello is in more dire
vember, Trump urged Re- straits now that the court
publicans to challenge the added the heavily Demo-
new map of Pennsylvania's cratic city of Reading to his
18 congressional districts district and ironed out geo-
all the way to the U.S. Su- graphic contortions that
preme Court, if necessary. were designed to capture
"Your Original was correct! more Republican voters.
Don't let the Dems take On Tuesday, Costello could
elections away from you not yet say if he will run in his
so that they can raise tax- district if the court-ordered
es & waste money!" Trump congressional map survives
tweeted. a federal court challenge.
The Democratic-majority But Costello lashed out at
state Supreme Court met the state Supreme Court,
its deadline Monday to is- saying the justices’ map
sue the new boundaries was politically motivated,
after it threw out a 6-year- their map-making pro-
old GOP-drawn map as cess was politically corrupt
unconstitutionally gerry- and that state lawmakers
mandered. The Republi- should consider impeach-
can-controlled Legislature ing them.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, center, accompanied by state House Minority Leader Rep. Frank
Dermody, right, D-Allegheny, and state Rep. Joe Markosek, left, D-Allegheny, discuss state bud- and Democratic Gov. Tom “I’m all riled up,” Costello
get negotiations at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. Wolf did not produce a said.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke) consensus replacement Pennsylvania’s state House
map in the three weeks al- Republican majority lead-
By MARC LEVY formed districts and the ocrats' chances at erasing lotted by the court. er, Dave Reed, now lives
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — odds that a federal court the GOP's U.S. House major- Democrats cheered the in the same district as U.S.
Urged on by President Don- could block them. ity. new map, while Republi- Rep. Glenn Thompson, a
ald Trump, Republicans Republican members of The new map substantially cans blasted it and it left fellow Republican, rather
vowed Tuesday to fight Congress and Pennsylva- overhauls a GOP-drawn dozens of candidates re- than the district of the man
Pennsylvania's new court- nia Republican lawmakers congressional map that considering their future. he had hoped to succeed,
imposed map of congres- planned to sue in federal has helped produce a Chief among them is retiring Republican U.S.
sional districts, as dozens court as early as Wednes- predominantly Republican Republican Rep. Ryan Rep. Bill Shuster. Reed said
of candidates assessed day in a bid to block a map delegation and was widely Costello, whose suburban he did not know what he
their chances under newly expected to improve Dem- viewed as among the na- Philadelphia district was would do.q
Attorney admits he lied to Mueller's federal agents

By CHAD DAY a single charge of making of pro-Russian Ukrainian in- with the FBI late last year, a report on the trial of for-
ERIC TUCKER false statements. terests. The lobbying effort according to court papers. mer Ukrainian Prime Minis-
Associated Press The charge does not in- was part of political con- Van der Zwaan's plea ter Yulia Tymoshenko. She
WASHINGTON (AP) — An volve election meddling or sulting work that Manafort comes on the heels of an is a political foe of former
attorney linked to a for- relate to the Trump cam- and Gates carried out be- extraordinary indictment Ukrainian President Viktor
mer Trump campaign of- paign's operations. It stems fore they joined the Trump from Mueller last week that Yanukovych, whose po-
ficial admitted Tuesday he from a part of the special campaign. charged 13 Russian indi- litical party was a client of
lied to federal investigators counsel's investigation into Gates and Manafort were viduals and three Russian Gates and Manafort.
working for special counsel Paul Manafort, Trump's indicted last year and ac- companies in a hidden so- Van der Zwaan is accused
Robert Mueller. former campaign chair, cused of conspiring to laun- cial media effort to meddle of lying during an interview
Alex van der Zwaan, who and Rick Gates, a former der millions of dollars they in the 2016 U.S. presidential with prosecutors and FBI
worked at the law firm campaign aide and long- earned from political con- election by denigrating agents on Nov. 3, 2017,
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Mea- time business associate of sulting work in Ukraine. Both Democrat Hillary Clinton about the timing of his last
gher & Flom until he was Manafort. have pleaded not guilty. and boosting the chances communication with Gates
fired last year, appeared Manafort and Gates are Van der Zwaan is accused of Trump. According to the and an unidentified person
at the federal courthouse accused of directing a of lying to investigators court filing, prosecutors say described as “Person A.”
in Washington where he covert Washington lobby- about his interactions with van der Zwaan lied about But prosecutors say that
formally pleaded guilty to ing campaign on behalf Gates during an interview his role in the production of wasn’t true. q