WASHINGTON – Momentum slowed Friday on the expected nomination of former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman to head the FBI as the White House decided to postpone an announcement of President Donald Trump’s pick for the job held by James Comey before his firing.
Donald Trump
Posted inJustice
Trump says Lieberman front-runner to head FBI
Updated at 7:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday said former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is his top pick to replace ousted FBI chief James Comey. There has been no official White House announcement of the nomination, but one is expected soon.
Posted inNews
CT senators blame Trump for ‘sabotaging’ Obamacare
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Democratic senators, joined by a colleague from Maryland, on Thursday slammed the Trump administration for trying to “sabotage” the Affordable Care Act and demolish a health care system that has extended insurance coverage to millions of Americans. Republicans say the ACA is collapsing on its own.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal blasts Trump for ‘witch hunt’ tweet
Blumenthal said Trump’s angry tweets were an attempt to intimidate a newly appointed prosecutor who will investigate whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia’s attempt to influence the U.S. elections.
Posted inPolitics
Trump interviews Lieberman for job as FBI director
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump interviewed former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman Wednesday as a candidate to replace fired FBI Director James Comey, a White House official said.
Posted inPolitics
Trump turns Coast Guard address into a rally
Updated at 3:15 p.m.
NEW LONDON — It began as a traditional commencement address, but by the end of his speech, President Donald Trump had turned it into a combination rally and commentary on his present adversity. “No politician in history – and I say this with great surety – has been treated worse or more unfairly,” Trump said.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Support rises in Congress and public for independent Russia probe
WASHINGTON – Even before former FBI Director James Comey’s firing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal was pressing for any probe of Russian links to the Trump administration be conducted by a special prosecutor. But some now say a special prosecutor may not be enough.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal wants Trump-Comey tapes subpoenaed, if they exist
“The irony is that presidents in the past have taped conversations – Nixon among them – and I have raised the possibility that we might have another Supreme Court case like United States vs. Nixon, which resulted in those tapes being made available and public,” Blumenthal said.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy to Trump: Maybe you’re not fit, but welcome anyway
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy intends to welcome President Trump to the Coast Guard Academy in New London next week, but that didn’t stop him from suggesting Friday that, well, maybe Trump falls short of Harry Truman’s standard for what it takes to be president.
Posted inPolitics
Trump attacks ‘Richie’ Blumenthal on Twitter over Comey
Updated at 12:29 p.m. President Trump used Twitter on Wednesday to dismiss a Democratic critic of his firing of the FBI director, resurrecting U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s misstatements about service in Vietnam. He called the senator ‘Richie.’
Posted inHealth, Politics
Health insurers seek big rate hikes, blame Obamacare’s uncertain future
WASHINGTON — The state’s health insurers are asking for sizeable rate increases for individual and small-business policies sold in 2018, led by Anthem, which is seeking an average 33.8 percent increase on plans covering individuals and their families.
Posted inPolitics
This time, Newtown bike riders rolling away from Congress
WASHINGTON — With Donald Trump in the White House and a GOP lock on Congress, the 26 bike riders who roll hundreds of miles every year from Newtown to the U.S. Capitol to honor those slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School decided to change course. Instead of riding to Congress, they were riding away from it Thursday and toward where they believe their message has more resonance.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Feds give Barrios a 30-day stay of deportation
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities have given Guatemalan immigrant Luis Barrios, who in Connecticut has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, a 30-day stay of a deportation that was to have occurred in the early hours of Thursday.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Comey: No regrets over Clinton emails, but he’d rather have been on the CT shore
WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday vigorously defended his handling of a probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails and deflected Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s questions about whether President Donald Trump was a target of an FBI investigation into Russian meddling in U.S. elections.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Blumenthal joins Dem effort to block Trump offshore drilling plan
WASHINGTON — Offshore drilling is the focus of the latest battle between environmentalists and the Trump administration. On Tuesday, a group of 15 Democratic senators reintroduced the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism Anti-Drilling (COAST) Act to keep oil and gas drilling banned in the Atlantic and other coastal areas.