Mueller team questions
Trump friend Tom Barrack
WASHINGTON — Investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller have interviewed one of President Donald Trump’s closest friends and confidants, California real estate investor Tom Barrack, The Associated Press has learned.
Barrack was interviewed as part of the federal investigation of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The specific topics covered in questions from Mueller’s team were not immediately clear.
One of the people who spoke to AP said the questioning focused entirely on two officials from Trump’s campaign who have been indicted by Mueller: Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort’s longtime deputy, Rick Gates. Gates agreed to plead guilty to federal conspiracy and false-statement charges in February and began cooperating with investigators.
This person said Barrack was interviewed “months ago” and was asked a few questions about Gates’ work on Trump’s inaugural committee, which Barrack chaired, and but there were no questions about the money raised by that committee.
Doctors reject Trump’s ‘war zone’ comments on London crime
LONDON — Some British doctors and legislators reacted angrily Saturday to President Donald Trump’s pro-gun comments at an NRA convention comparing a London hospital to a war zone because of knife crime.
Trump’s provocative comments are expected to increase concerns about his planned first presidential visit to Britain on July 13.
Dr. Martin Griffiths, a surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, tweeted that he would be “happy to invite Mr. Trump” to visit his hospital and meet with London’s mayor and police chief to learn how the city has reduced violent crime.
Dr. Karim Brohi, another Royal London surgeon, said Trump’s position makes no sense.
“There is more we can all do to combat this violence, but to suggest guns are part of the solution is ridiculous,” Brohi tweeted. “Gunshot wounds are at least twice as lethal as knife injuries and more difficult to repair.”
Nearly 1600 reported arrested in Russian anti-Putin protests
MOSCOW (AP) — Russians angered by the impending inauguration of Vladimir Putin to a new term as president protested Saturday in scores of cities across the country — and police responded by reportedly arresting nearly 1,600 of them.
Among those arrested was protest organizer Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner who is Putin’s most prominent foe. Police seized Navalny by the arms and legs and carried the thrashing activist from Moscow’s Pushkin Square, where thousands were gathered for an unauthorized protest.
Police also used batons against protesters who chanted “Putin is a thief!” and “Russia will be free!”
Demonstrations under the slogan “He is not our czar” took place throughout the country, from Yakutsk in the far northeast to St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the fringes of Europe.
The protests demonstrated that Navalny’s opposition, although considered beleaguered by Russian officials and largely ignored by state-controlled television, has sizeable support in much of the country.
___
Immigration detention prolonged in Alabama’s ‘black hole’
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Olusegun Olatunji paid a $40,700 fine, did three months in a halfway house and spent a year on probation for selling counterfeit hats out of an Indianapolis shopping mall. Then, since the Nigerian native had overstayed a work visa 30 years ago, immigration officials detained him to await deportation in 2014.
More than three years later, he’s still waiting. He’s moved among six immigration detention centers, including his ongoing second stay at a county jail in northeastern Alabama that critics call a black hole for complicated deportation cases.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained more than 100,000 immigrants during the 2017 fiscal year, holding them an average of 34 days before releasing or deporting them, federal records show. Average length of detention was 22 days in fiscal year 2016.
But some are held for months or years because of pending appeals or delayed deportations — time that could increase after President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Many of the longest-running cases involve immigrants such as Olatunji who have been convicted of committing a nonimmigration crime but appeal their deportation. Olatunji, who like many in the system has no attorney, said he wants to stay to be able to support his 15-year-old U.S.-born son’s college education.
