Peter Strzok Hearing
Peter Strzok was called to testify on Thursday before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees about private text messages he sent as an FBI investigator, which were highlighted in the recent report from Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The report was critical of the handling of a federal probe into Hillary Clinton's email server.
Following opening statements from the committees' chairmen and ranking members, the hearing quickly devolved into a bout of bickering over parliamentary procedures in which both parties' lawmakers argued about whether certain questions were appropriate to ask Strzok. After getting the green light, House Oversight Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., tore into Strzok over his texts about Trump.
"No wonder Bob Mueller kicked you off the investigation, Mr. Strzok," Gowdy said. Strzok pushed back, saying he believed he was not removed from the probe because of his own bias, but rather "that it was done based on the appearance" of the texts. He accused Gowdy of misrepresenting that testimony. "I don't appreciate what was originally said being changed," Strzok said — to which Gowdy responded: "I don't give a damn what you appreciate."
Trump calls Out Sessions Over FBI Lawyer Lisa Page's No-Show at Congress
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, said Wednesday that Republicans recently were forced to call in U.S. Marshals to serve former FBI lawyer Lisa Page with a subpoena to testify before Congress, as Goodlatte accused Page of “apparently” having “something to hide.”
The revelation came after Page’s lawyer claimed she “will cooperate with this investigation,” even as Page defied that subpoena to appear on Wednesday before the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform Committees.
The chairs of two House Committees threatened to hold Lisa Page in contempt if she continues to ignore a Congressional subpoena. The two lawmakers called on Page to testify Thursday when her lover, FBI agent Peter Strzok, testified before both committees. In addition, the lawmakers said they would be open to having her testify privately on Friday.
In a letter to Page’s attorney, Amy Jeffress, Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), said contempt charges will be filed if Lisa Page does not testify by Friday morning.
If Lisa Page does not appear by 10:30am on Friday, contempt proceedings will begin, according to Goodlatte and Gowdy. Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday he is willing to hold former FBI attorney Lisa Page in contempt of Congress if she continues defying a congressional subpoena to answer questions about anti-Donald Trump text message exchanges.
Ryan told reporters, “If she wants to come plead the Fifth, that’s her choice. But a subpoena to testify before Congress is not optional. It’s mandatory. She needs to comply.”
Lisa Page’s attorney, Amy Jeffress, said Wednesday that Page is not refusing to cooperate with the committees but had been treated unfairly and denied access to relevant FBI files necessary for her to prepare.
“Through her actions and words, Lisa has made it abundantly clear that she will cooperate with this investigation. All she is asking is to be treated as other witnesses have under the Committees’ own rules,” Jeffress said in a statement.
According to Jeffress, Page has volunteered to testify later this month, as long as she receives more details about the scope of the committees’ questioning and access to certain FBI files. Jeffress said the Justice Department confirmed late Tuesday night that the files would be made available to her.
President Trump Goes to England
President Trump arrived at the Stansted airport in London on Thursday making this his first visit to the UK as president.
President Trump and the First Lady will have a meet and greet at the US Ambassador’s residence in London’s Regent’s Park. Then the couple will attend a black-tie dinner at the Grade I-listed Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire hosted by Theresa May.
On Friday, the president will meet again with Theresa May for a visit to a defense site. Theresa May and President Trump will then travel to Chequers, for “substantial bilateral talks on a range of foreign policy issues” during a working lunch.
NATO Summit recap:
President Trump kicked off his meetings on a defiant note, calling allies “delinquent” over their defense spending and attacking Germany as a “captive” of Russia because of its energy dealings.
The president criticized allies and pressed for large spending increases but at the end of the summit Mr. Trump signed onto a joint statement that largely reaffirmed existing commitments. Trump called on other NATO members to more than double their military spending in talks on Wednesday
“During the president’s remarks today at the NATO summit, he suggested that countries not only meet their commitment of 2 percent of their G.D.P. on defense spending, but that they increase it to 4 percent,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement.
Along with 28 other heads of state, Mr. Trump signed the 23-page NATO declaration, which reflects months of negotiation.
The allies agreed to a NATO Readiness Initiative, which would allow the group to assemble a fighting force of 30 land battalions, 30 aircraft squadrons and 30 warships within 30 days.
Papa John's Founder John Schnatter Resigns After Apologizing for Racial Slur
John Schnatter, the founder, chairman and public face of pizza chain Papa John’s used the N-word on a conference call in May. John Schnatter confirmed the incident in an emailed statement to Forbes on Wednesday.
The call was arranged between Papa John’s executives and marketing agency Laundry Service. It was designed as a role-playing exercise for John Schnatter in an effort to prevent future public-relations snafus.
John Schnatter caused an uproar in November 2017 when he waded into the debate over national anthem protests in the NFL and partly blamed the league for slowing sales at Papa John’s.
On the May call, Schnatter was asked how he would distance himself from racist groups online. He responded by downplaying the significance of his NFL statement. “Colonel Sanders called blacks n-----s,” he said, before complaining that Colonel Sanders never faced public backlash.
After learning about the incident, Laundry Service owner Casey Wasserman moved to terminate the company’s contract with Papa John’s.
In an emailed statement on Wednesday afternoon, Schnatter confirmed the allegations.
"News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true," he said. "Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society."
Shares of the pizza chain surged 11 percent Thursday morning — recovering all of the $96.2 million, and then some, in market value the company lost after Schnatter's comments were reported by Forbes the day before.
Papa John's said in a statement late Wednesday night that it will appoint a new chairman in the coming weeks. Olivia Kirtley, the board's lead independent director, will run the board until a permanent replacement is found, it added.
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