According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Executives from a Panamanian securities dealer cannot make the Securities and Exchange Commission foot the bill for the “bacchanalian adventure” that accompanied their deposition in London. Exasperation dripped Thursday from the court’s refusal to make U.S. taxpayers underwrite the European jaunt of Verdmont Capital’s principals and counsel.   read more

On Oct. 14, 2014, an Arizona teen says, a Border Patrol agent accused her of carrying drugs, without cause. He arrested her, took her to a detention room, handcuffed her to a chair, had her sniffed by dogs, and strip-searched by women agents. She was never informed of her legal rights, nor was she allowed to call her mother. Nor did the agents or the dogs find any drugs. But that didn’t stop them from taking her to a hospital, in handcuffs, to be X-rayed and strip-searched more thoroughly.   read more

Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s conviction on ethics charges automatically removes him from office and could mean years in prison for the powerful Republican. Friday night, a jury found the one-time GOP star guilty of 12 counts of public corruption for using the influence and prestige of his political stature to benefit his companies and clients. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.   read more

Demonstrators have formed a human chain near a U.S. air base in western Germany to protest against lethal drone strikes. Organizers estimated that about 5,000 people took part in the chain near the Ramstein Air Base on a rainy Saturday, while police put the number at some 2,000.   read more

House lawmakers Friday passed legislation to increase their office budgets for the first time in years but again deny themselves a pay raise of their own. The additional money for staff salaries and other office expenses is aimed in large part at retaining staff aides, who are often 20-somethings who struggle to make ends meet in Washington, where rents have skyrocketed and opportunities outside of Congress often pay more than Capitol Hill jobs.   read more

A Guantanamo detainee whom the U.S. says it “probably misidentified” 14 years ago finally got a hearing Thursday on his bid for a transfer. Abdul Zahir, 44, arrived at Guantanamo in October 2002 after the United States captured him during an Afghanistan raid. U.S. forces were actually targeting another individual named Abdul Bari, which happens to be an alias Zahir used. The U.S. says it believed Bari was involved in chemical and biological weapons production and distribution for al-Qaida.   read more

A Navy admiral on Thursday pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating a $34 million fraud scheme involving a Malaysian contractor known as “Fat Leonard” — becoming the highest-ranking military official to be taken down in the wide-spanning scandal. Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau, 55, is believed to be the first active-duty naval flag officer to be charged in federal court.   read more

House Republican leaders have blocked a Democratic congressman from Mississippi from offering legislation to ban Confederate imagery from the House side of the Capitol complex. Rep. Bennie Thompson had sought the opportunity to ban display of the Mississippi state flag and statues of Confederate icons such as President Jefferson Davis. Mississippi’s state flag incorporates the Confederate battle flag in its top inner corner.   read more

Federal recordkeeping measures to ensure porn stars are of legal age are unconstitutional because they allow impromptu warrantless searches, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled June 8. In its 65-page split ruling, the Third Circuit said the warrantless searches permitted by two federal statutes violate the First and Fourth amendments because the porn industry is not as heavily regulated as other industries that are subjected to such searches, such as firearms dealers or junkyards.   read more

Retired football players on Thursday fought to revive claims that National Football League teams pumped them with painkillers to get them back on the field, disregarding long-term effects on their health. The former players allege the clubs conspired since at least 1964 to have trainers dole out pills and inject players with painkillers, sometimes mixing them with other drugs in dangerous cocktails, to get them back on the field to drive profits for the league.   read more

MergerWatch surveyed health care statutes and regulations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It found that only 10 states require government review before hospital facilities and services can be shut down. Only eight states and the District of Columbia mandate regulatory review when hospitals enter into more informal partnerships rather than full-scale mergers, closing a loophole that exists in other states for deals to pass with minimal state oversight.   read more

Despite new legal powers to compel recalls and sophisticated technology to fingerprint pathogens, the Food and Drug Administration allowed some food-safety investigations to drag on, placing consumers in jeopardy of death or serious illness. In an unusual urgent warning called an “early alert,” the internal watchdog said the FDA needs to pay “immediate attention” to the problem and follow clear procedures to get manufacturers to promptly recall tainted foods.   read more

On Wednesday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine endorsed continued research on a revolutionary technology known as “gene drive,” concluding after nearly a yearlong study that while it poses risks, its possible benefits make it crucial to pursue. The group also set out a path to conducting what it called “carefully controlled field trials,” despite what some scientists say is the substantial risk of inadvertent release into the environment.   read more

The EPA has no mandatory duty to require disclosure of “inert” ingredients in pesticides, even if those ingredients qualify as hazardous chemicals under separate statutes, U.S. District Judge William Orrick said during a hearing Wednesday. The Center for Environmental Health and Physicians for Social Responsibility sued the EPA a year ago, claiming it shirked its duty under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).   read more

The American Immigration Council sued Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for information on what it has done in the two years since records revealed that it took “no action” in 97% of cases accusing its agents of abuse. It seeks documents relating to complaints made against Customs and Border agents since January 2012, and the process the agency uses to investigate and resolve these complaints.   read more

Rep. Jeb Hensarling's intent to gut Dodd-Frank comes as no surprise; he has received nearly $5.5 million in campaign contributions from key financial industry interests since 2010. Furthermore, Hensarling’s House Financial Services Committee has become a revolving door with numerous members of his staff either coming from, or leaving to work in, the financial industry.   read more