‘Coin-flip chance’ Trump does it to me: Ex-official fears he will become next Comey
Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor thinks he's probably next on the list of people to get the James Comey treatment from President Donald Trump.
Trump demanded that the Justice Department act on the former FBI director with a prosecution. On Wednesday, Comey was arraigned in court, and Taylor was in court to watch.
"I showed up because I agree or disagree with James Comey's decisions over the years, to me, this is so obviously a case of selective and vindictive prosecution, and sets an extraordinary precedent. Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't say I think that precedent probably affects my fate as well. I'm on the president's enemies list. I think that there's a coin flip chance he tries to put me in the same shoes as James Comey, charge me with something that's obscure," Taylor surmised.
He went on to assert Comey's rights are being violated — and that would apply to anyone in that situation.
"I think it was important for people to go up there, including former Trump officials like myself, to be there at the courthouse and to point out that this is, again, a vindictive prosecution," Taylor added.
Top GOP leader bemoans Dems are ‘holding government funding hostage’
A high-ranking Republican is blaming Democrats over a looming government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post on Monday, claiming that leaders must avert a spending crisis with a bipartisan appropriations process and claiming "Democrats are holding government funding hostage to a long list of partisan demands, totaling more than $1 trillion. And they’re ready to shut down the government if Republicans don’t comply."
Thune was among a group of leaders slated to meet Monday with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, which includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
This closed-door meeting is just hours before the Oct. 1 deadline. A White House official described this as a make-or-break moment. It's also the first time Trump will meet with the Democratic leaders since he took office eight months ago.
Thune argues that "Republicans are open to discussion and negotiation on a number of issues."
"But there’s a difference between careful discussion and negotiation during the appropriations process and taking government funding hostage to jam more than $1 trillion in big-government spending in a funding bill designed to last mere weeks," Thune writes. "Major decisions should not be made in haste. And they certainly shouldn’t be made because one party is threatening to shut down the government if it doesn’t get its way."
As Republicans urge Democrats to accept the bill, Democratic leaders have pushed back against cuts to healthcare.
Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire this year. And without an extension, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 4 million people will lose healthcare over the next 10 years.
Thune claims that "Democrats have decided to abandon the process."
