Bishop Congratulates Congressional Art Winner
The Steps of Decisions by, Kathryn Sorenson
WASHINGTON – Rep. Rob. Bishop offered his congratulations to the winner of the 2018 Congressional Institute’s Art Competition for Utah’s First District. Logan High School 11th grader Kathryn Sorenson submitted a digital photograph titled, The Steps of Decisions. The piece was selected to hang in a congressional hallway alongside works chosen from each district represented by members of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Bishop said, “My congratulations to this talented young artist. Kathryn’s piece demonstrates that she is a talented photographer with a bright future. As a former Utah House Speaker, I am also partial to the subject matter. I will look fondly upon this image each time I walk to the House floor to vote.”
The black and white photograph shows steps in the Utah State Capitol building leading to the chamber of the Utah House of Representatives. The photo also includes the capitol building’s 101-year-old west lunette mural, The Passing of the Wagons.
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VIDEO: Secretary Perdue: President Trump Will Protect Farmers From China
(Washington, D.C., June 28, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today reassured America’s farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers that they will not have to bear the brunt of China’s retaliatory tariffs resulting from trade disputes. President Trump has been holding China accountable for its history of unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft. Perdue made the remarks during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning.
“There is legitimate anxiety when you see prices depressing. But farmers are resilient, they understand China has not been paying fair,” Perdue said. “The President has told me to tell [farmers] that he's not going to allow them to bear the brunt of these trade disruptions and to make a plan for mitigation unless we are unable resolve the trade issue. That's obviously what farmers would prefer. They would like to have trade. They want to sell their products, they're the most productive in the world. They've come to depend on exports, and that's their first choice. But if they don’t, they have to pay their bills like everyone else.”
You may click HERE or on the video below to watch Secretary Perdue’s CNBC appearance this morning in its entirety.
Secretary Perdue also published an op-ed in USA Today this week recounting the reasons for the President’s actions on China and reminding America’s farmers and ranchers that the President stands with them. You may click HERE to read the piece.
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Judicial Watch Statement Regarding Retirement Announcement of Justice Kennedy
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement of the retirement of Justice Kennedy from the Supreme Court of the United States:
Justice Kennedy’s retirement is another opportunity for President Trump to nominate a constitutional conservative to the bench who will honor the Constitution and the rule of law. President Trump should put forward another nominee who has a demonstrated record of applying the rule of law rather than legislating from the bench.
And the U.S. Senate should move quickly to work with President Trump to consider and approve a new justice who will apply the U.S. Constitution as written and understood by our Founding Fathers.
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“Agents” Emails, Inside the Mind of Bill de Blasio
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last month finally turned over more than 4200 pages of unredacted emails in the “agents of the city” case. De Blasio had resisted disclosure, arguing that five outside advisers were effectively “agents of the city” whose communications should be shielded from the New York Freedom of Information Law. NY1 television and the New York Post sued and won. The documents are out. What have we learned?
Most of the emails reflect the administration’s early priorities—education, budgets, transportation, personnel, press releases and meetings. But there are plenty of glimpses behind the façade and into the true mind of the mayor. It’s not an uplifting picture.
The mayor relies heavily on some of his “agents.” In the lawsuit, the five named “agents” were powerful PR mavens Jonathan Rosen, John Del Cecato, Bill Heyers and Nicholas Baldick, and Democratic Party senior operative Patrick Gaspard, who at the time was U.S. ambassador to South Africa. Gaspard is now president of George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. De Blasio relies heavily on Rosen, a constant presence in the emails. Del Cecato is often in the loop as well. Heyer and Baldick less so. Gaspard appears to be almost totally absent from the emails.
“You were wise last night,” de Blasio wrote to Rosen in an email titled “Smart Man.” “I need to talk to you more about what the group discussed last night. Want to see you in person. If you have a little time, I’ll be in the Slope later. If not, whenever works for you in the next few days.” (P. 1,072 of the production.) It’s a refrain that echoes through the emails.
Rosen is head of BerlinRosen, a communications firm closely tied to New York’s unions, real estate interests and left-leaning groups. Judicial Watch looked at Rosen’s connection to real estate mogul Bruce Ratner—a major de Blasio supporter—in a 2016 investigation, The New Tammany Hall: New York in the Age of Corruption.
The mayor is a whiner. De Blasio complains. A lot. Union leaders opposing him are “bastards.” (P. 1,073). He wants to keep a “scorecard” of “who was a friend and who was cheap.” The New York Times is “idiotic and “disgusting” and “disappointing” (1,080, 1,329).
The mayor hates the media. Tremendous energy goes into managing the Times. “We need to figure out a new paradigm” for the paper, the mayor complains. “This level of bias can’t be ignored. Either starve them or reason with them or something else.” (1,329). Publications large and small draw his enmity. When the Gotham Gazette asks if it’s time for the mayor to do town hall meetings, de Blasio emails Rosen and other top communications aides, “I’m so sick of this meme that I’m thinking of just scheduling town hall meetings so these guys can’t write about it anymore.” (1,133) An Atlantic profile is “horrible,” de Blasio writes. “I strongly advise we avoid profiles from now on.” (1,630)
The mayor hates the governor. De Blasio’s rivalry with Governor Andrew Cuomo is not news to anyone following New York politics, but the emails show raw emotion. “Andrew Cuomo is defiling any sense of decent, normal, high-road government left in New York State,” de Blasio emails top aides as Cuomo maneuvers to cut transit spending. “We can’t take this lying down… We must fight back and have other voices fight back.” (1,410)
The mayor is grandiose and self-pitying. When questions are raised about the mayor’s whereabouts after a firefighter is shot while responding to a blaze on Staten Island, de Blasio emails aides that “the news media is pitiful and it’s sad for our city and our nation.” (1,074)
A lengthy analysis follows. “Here’s what we know: the media wants to focus on death in all its forms and wants me to be present wherever death or grievous injury is involved. Today’s controversy about when exactly I should be at the hospital or an active shooter situation and what I’m ‘allowed’ to do if I’m not there is a case in point. We can make a conscience decision to surrender to them and just go to fires, crime scenes and memorials all day every day — or we can govern.”
He tells his team: “They will never defeat us. Only we can do that.”
The emails run from the opening of the de Blasio administration in January 2014 to December 2016. By late 2015, as pay-to-play controversies and other troubles engulf his administration, the mayor fades from the correspondence. But the agents of the city grind on. In the final email of the package, a senior de Blasio aide writes Rosen to thank him for the “partnerships” he fostered with “companies, foundations and individuals” in support of the mayor’s goals.
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Email: press@oc.usda.gov
ADVISORY: Secretary Perdue to Visit Washington and Idaho MONDAY
(Washington, D.C., June 28, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be in Washington and Idaho on MONDAY, July 2nd to meet with forestry leaders and producers; tour the Washington State University (WSU) College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine; and visit the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment at Idaho State University. During various stops throughout the day, Secretary Perdue will be joined by Governor Butch Otter, Lieutenant Governor Brad Little, and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
WASHINGTON
Secretary Perdue and Rep. McMorris Rodgers Attend Breakfast and Hold Fireside Chat with Agriculture and Forestry Leaders
WHAT: Secretary Perdue and Rep. McMorris Rodgers meet with ag and forestry leaders and hold a fireside chat. Following the event, the Secretary will hold a media availability.
WHEN: MONDAY, July 2nd at 7:45 a.m. PDT
WHERE: The Spokane Club, 1002 West Riverside Avenue Spokane, Washington 99201
Secretary Perdue and Rep. McMorris Rodgers Participate in a Luncheon Conversation with Southern Washington Producers at the McGregor Company
WHAT: Secretary Perdue and Rep. McMorris Rodgers participate in a luncheon conversation with Southern Washington producers. Following the event, the Secretary will hold a media availability.
WHEN: MONDAY, July 2nd at 11:00 a.m. PDT
WHERE: The McGregor Company, 401 Airport Road, Colfax, WA 99111
Secretary Perdue and Rep. McMorris Rodgers Tour WSU
WHAT: Secretary Perdue and Rep. McMorris Rodgers will tour the WSU College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences. They will tour the Plant Growth Facility before meeting with College of Veterinary Medicine faculty at the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health. Following the event, the Secretary will hold a media availability
WHEN: MONDAY, July 2nd at 12:30 p.m. PDT
WHERE: Plant Growth Facility, 122 Wilson Boulevard, Pullman, WA 99163
IDAHO
Secretary Perdue, Gov. Otter, and Lt. Gov. Little Visit the University of Idaho
WHAT: Secretary Perdue, Governor Otter, and Lieutenant Governor Little will meet university leadership at the Integrated Research and Innovation Center (IRIC) before joining a presentation on the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. Following the event, the Secretary will hold a media availability
WHEN: MONDAY, July 2nd at 2:15 p.m. PDT
WHERE: University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
