Curious about today’s topics on The Larry O’Connor Show? Below are a few stories on the radar. Be sure to listen to The Larry O’Connor Show Monday – Friday 3pm – 6pm on WMAL.
Some Local PTAs Have Enormous Budgets. Is That a Problem? (The Washingtonian)
In August, members of the Home & School Association (HSA) of Lafayette Elementary in Chevy Chase DC discovered that more than $29,500 of its funds was missing. An investigation found another $12,000 in fraudulent spending. That revelation followed a similar case at the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Organizations (MCCPTA), an umbrella group that includes parents from nearly 200 schools. Last spring, board members realized that $39,000 was gone.
Both cases have been resolved: A Lafayette parent was identified as the culprit and, after paying back the money, won’t face prosecution. And in November, former MCCPTA treasurer Lisa Betts pleaded guilty to embezzlement. But the ease with which PTA funds slipped away is shaking up area bake sales. “We’re a tight-knit community,” says Jamie Smith, who has two kids at Lafayette and is dismayed that “the trust of people who give money to the HSA was betrayed.” [Read More]
A federal judge’s decision to block Trump administration plans to phase out protections for so-called undocumented “dreamers” brought sharp backlash Wednesday from the White House, calling the injunction “outrageous.”
The order by U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued Tuesday says safeguards against deportation must remain in place for the nearly 690,000 immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while a legal challenge to ending the Obama-era program proceeds.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the decision to terminate the program on Sept. 5 and said no renewal applications would be accepted after Oct. 5. Under the administration’s plan, permits that expired after March 5 could not be renewed. [Read More]
Grim dossier claim spurs speculation about possible Russian rubout (Fox News)
A bombshell revelation made public Tuesday that “somebody’s already been killed” as a result of the publication of an unconfirmed anti-Trump dossier has sparked speculation that it was a reference to an ex-KGB agent mysteriously found dead in his car a year ago in Moscow.
The attorney for Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson told Senate investigators in a 300-page deposition released Tuesday that a murder had been carried out as a result of the publication of an unverified and salacious dossier about Donald Trump.
“Somebody’s already been killed as a result of the publication of this dossier and no harm should come to anybody related to this honest work,” said Joshua Levy in the deposition, which was taken Aug. 22, but released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Read More]
One of the most contentious issues surrounding the Trump dossier is the question of whether the FBI used unverified material from the dossier — a Clinton campaign opposition research product — to apply for permission to spy on Americans. Investigators from both House and Senate have long wanted to see any FISA applications (that is, spying requests filed with the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court) that dealt with the Trump-Russia affair.
Now, they have seen them. [Read More]
Democratic women plan all-black fashion statement for State of the Union (NBC News)
Taking their cue from the Golden Globes, a group of Democratic women in Congress plans to wear black to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address later this month.
Support for the symbolic protest is high within the Democratic Women’s Working Group, which includes all of the Democratic women in the House, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told NBC News on Tuesday. [Read More]
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