WASHINGTON — When it comes to disclosures about political ads, the Internet was like the Wild West, with few regulations that required them to lift the veil on those using social media to influence voters, a situation that allowed Russian operatives to meddle in U.S. elections last year. But that may be changing thanks to political pressure from lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Blumenthal asks Twitter, Facebook, about fake ads in Russian troll probe
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday asked Twitter and Facebook executives what they knew about specific attempts by Russian trolls to disseminate information through fake ads and stories, and received little response. Facebook says as many as 126 million people may have seen content from accounts tied to Russian sources.
Posted inPolitics
Competing with Trump, a social worker speaks for Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria announced its landfall near Yabucoa, P.R., with a terrible wailing. Sustained winds of 155 miles per hour shredded the electric grid, flattened trees, scoured gardens and ruined the back of the sturdy cement home of a retired Hartford school social worker, Janette Hernandez. “I still hear that sound in my head,” she said. Hernandez is back in Connecticut, giving voice to the stories of people she left behind.
Posted inPolitics
Tweet, Facebook post generate blowback at GOP
President Trump retweeted a cartoon image of a train running over a CNN reporter to his 35.9 million Twitter followers. Kyle Reyes, owner of a self-described “outrageous” Manchester marketing company, questioned in a Facebook video seen 36,000 times if the white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., actually were actors hired by the political left. Both caused problems for the GOP.
Posted inPolitics
Lawmaker’s tweet on castration: ‘I don’t hold back’
Rep. Kevin Skulczcyck, R-Griswold, the retired correction officer who tweeted on Mother’s Day about whether Connecticut should consider chemically castrating child molesters, compares himself to President Trump, at least when it comes to sharing blunt opinions on Twitter.
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 inPolitics
Is the F-35 stealth fighter vulnerable to a Trump tweet?
One of Connecticut’s U.S. senators insists he won’t jump at every tweet by President-elect Donald J. Trump. But the other says he could not ignore what he took as Trump’s suggestion Monday that production of the F-35 fighter, the source of thousands of job in Connecticut and air superiority for the U.S. and its allies, might be reduced or abandoned.
Posted inPolitics
Himes: Trump ‘unhinged’ and Electoral College should block him
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Himes said President-elect Donald Trump’s dismissal of U.S. intelligence agencies was “the last straw” that prompted the lawmaker to send out an incendiary tweet Sunday night saying Trump is “unhinged’‘ and the Electoral College should stop him from becoming president.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT budget talks remain gridlocked as pols jab via Twitter
State budget talks continued to stall Saturday as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration and Democratic legislative leaders remained at odds over how to resolve a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the fiscal year that begins July 1. And though talks — which bogged down late Friday — remained in limbo, Democratic legislative leaders insisted they are ready to resume talks with the governor at any time.
Posted inPolitics
Congressman Himes rode political roller-coaster in 113th Congress
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jim Himes faced some big challenges during the two years of the outgoing Congress and will find himself in a shrinking pool of centrists in the new session that is gaveled in after the New Year. (This is the fourth in a series of stories about the roles each member of the Connecticut congressional delegation played in the 113th Congress.)
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy’s budget office enters the Twitter age as 2014 campaign approaches
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget office has become the latest entity in state government to enter the social media arena. The Office of Policy and Management launched its own Twitter account this week with the handle ConnOPM.