Maher satirizes Mueller, DOJ defies judge, Dem warns intel agencies, DHS sending agents to Guatemala

By Robert A. Vella

First, here are two stories on the mass shooting in Virginia Beach and an update on the lone abortion clinic in Missouri being targeted by state officials:

What we know about the suspect in the Virginia Beach shooting that killed 12

Missouri Clinic Can Keep Performing Abortions After Judge’s Ruling

Maher satirizes Mueller

From:  Bill Maher Goes Off on Robert Mueller: Is Trump ‘a Criminal’?

“Did you see this week? Mueller finally came down from his cloud and spoketh,” Maher said to his in-studio audience. “And what he said was, word for word: the report is my testimony…Make due with my cryptic pronouncements!”

“This is what he said,” the comedian continued. “He said, ‘If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.’ OK. So, is he a criminal? Why say it that way?! What was his wedding like? ‘Robert, do you take this woman…’ ‘I don’t not take her!’”

Maher wasn’t done. “We just want to know: Did Trump work with the Russians?” he asked. “And Mueller is like, you know, it’s a little like sex with your ex-girlfriend who hates you but you’re both horny: you wouldn’t call it ‘planning,’ but you both want the same thing.”

DOJ defies judge

From:  Justice Department fails to comply with court order to release transcripts of Michael Flynn’s conversations with Russian ambassador

Federal prosecutors on Friday declined to make public transcripts of recorded conversations between Michael Flynn and Russia’s ambassador to the United States in December 2016, despite a judge’s order.

In a court filing Friday, the Justice Department wrote that it did not rely on such recordings to establish Flynn’s guilt or determine a recommendation for his sentencing.

Prosecutors also failed to release an unredacted version of portions of the Mueller report related to Flynn that the judge had ordered be made public.

From:  Prosecutors release Flynn voicemail transcript that Mueller reviewed in obstruction probe

Federal prosecutors have released the full transcript of a voicemail from one of President Trump’s attorneys to an attorney for Michael Flynn that special counsel Robert Mueller examined as part of his obstruction inquiry.

The voicemail was left for Robert Kelner, a lawyer for the former national security adviser, after Flynn withdrew from a joint defense agreement with Trump’s attorneys and began cooperating in Mueller’s investigation.

According to the voicemail transcript, Trump’s lawyer asked Flynn’s attorney for a “heads up” if he knew of information that “implicates the president,” describing it as a “national security issue.” The president’s attorney also said that Trump’s feeling toward Flynn “still remains.”

Democrat warns intelligence agencies

From:  House Intelligence chief warns spy agencies of Trump ‘politicization’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Friday warned the FBI and U.S. spy agencies that President Donald Trump is trying to “politicize” U.S. intelligence and law enforcement.

Schiff criticized Trump for giving Attorney General William Barr “sweeping” powers to declassify or downgrade the secrecy of government reporting while conducting what the Justice Department is calling a “review” of “intelligence activities” related to the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign.

In letters to agency heads, Schiff said May 23 orders from Trump telling them to help with Barr’s review was “an effort by the President and the Attorney General to politicize the IC (intelligence community) and law enforcement, to deligitimize a well-founded investigation into the President, and to attack the President’s political enemies.”

DHS sending agents to Guatemala

From:  Trump administration to send DHS agents, investigators to Guatemala-Mexico border

The Department of Homeland Security personnel will work as “advisers” to Guatemala’s national police and migration authorities, and they will aim to disrupt and interdict human smuggling operations, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe a plan that has not been made public. U.S. authorities hope that the effort will cut off popular routes to the United States and deter migrants from beginning their journeys north through Mexico.

[…]

Acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan has advocated the more muscular DHS presence and finalized the agreement with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and other top Guatemalan officials during meetings this week in Guatemala City.

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