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.
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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.
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Blumenthal: Comey’s comments ‘cryptic’ and actions ‘highly unusual’
While stepping back from demanding James Comey’s resignation, as some Democrats have done, Blumenthal, a former federal prosecutor, said Comey has a lot of explaining to do about his “cryptic” comments.
Posted inJustice
Feds say East Hartford plane crash was ‘intentional’
WASHINGTON — Federal safety investigators say the crash of a small plane in East Hartford was intentional, not an accident, and have ceded control of the probe to the FBI.
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Murphy starts new campaign fund to help gun control candidates
WASHINGTON – Since Congress won’t pass any new gun control legislation, Sen. Chris Murphy and two Senate colleagues are taking another tack – raising money for candidates who will support these bills in the next Congress.
Posted inHealth
House passes mental health bill, Murphy presses Senate to follow
WASHINGTON — As the U.S. House of Representatives passed an overhaul of federal mental health policy on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy pressed for a Senate vote on a similar bipartisan bill he has sponsored with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
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Larson, Lewis meet with Speaker Ryan, but no deal on gun bills vote
WASHINGTON – Democratic U.S. Reps. John Larson and John Lewis met with House Speaker Paul Ryan late Tuesday, and receiving no assurances that votes would be held on gun control legislation, said they will continue their campaign to pressure House GOP leaders.
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Larson plotted House revolt clandestinely with Lewis
WASHINGTON – Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis was the face of the unprecedented uprising by House Democrats seeking votes on gun control measures, but it was Rep. John Larson who was the behind-the-scenes planner of the insurrection and who kept it on course for more than 16 hours.
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New chance for ‘terror gap’ gun bill
WASHINGTON – After the Senate voted down four gun control bills inspired by the Orlando massacre, a compromise emerged that would prevent those suspected of terrorist ties from purchasing weapons – and Connecticut’s senators say that’s encouraging.
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Push intensifies for terror-list gun bill backed by CT lawmakers
WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats, including those representing Connecticut, escalated the pressure on GOP colleagues Tuesday to revisit and pass legislation that would prohibit those on the federal terror list from purchasing a gun.
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Blumenthal, Himes sponsor new bill to combat human trafficking
WASHINGTON – After Shandra Woworuntu lost her job as a manager of a bank in Indonesia, she responded to an employment ad she thought would offer her a new life in the United States . But instead of a job, she found herself ensnared by sex traffickers who sold her in New York and Connecticut for the next three years.
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CT lawmakers seek more funds for gun background check system
WASHINGTON — All five members of Connecticut’s U.S. House delegation joined dozens of other lawmakers – many of them but not all fellow Democrats – to ask for more money for the federal gun purchaser background check system.
Posted inJustice
It’s the FBI, but no reason to panic at legislature
The FBI director James B. Comey did his best Friday to disappear into a crowded hearing room at the Legislative Office Building, not an easy task for a man who stands six-feet, eight inches tall and travels with a pack of bodyguards. He was there to support his wife, Patrice, an advocate for foster children.
Posted inPolitics
U.S. asks CT, other states, for help enforcing gun rules
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration coupled its move to tighten gun laws with a plea to Connecticut and other states for help to strengthen a flawed system used to screen gun buyers.
Posted inPolitics
Obama’s action on guns fulfills promise to Newtown families
WASHINGTON — Tearing up as he spoke of the slaying of 20 Newtown first-graders, President Obama made an emotional appeal to the nation for support of his gun-control initiatives on Tuesday, saying, “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad.”