John Bolton, who is days away from becoming President Donald Trump's national security advisor, has been meeting with White House attorneys about possible conflicts of interest, CNBC has learned. The exact sticking points for Bolton are unclear, but ethics experts say the appearance of a possible future role for Bolton with an entity such as a political action committee could be a cause for concern for White House officials. Bolton's PAC and super PAC, which are no longer receiving or spending capital, have been financial players in the early going of the midterm election cycle. White House lawyers and Bolton continue to discuss and review any potential conflicts of interest for the former U.N. ambassador, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told CNBC on the condition of anonymity. A spokesman for Bolton, however, said that there haven't been any issues. Get More at CNBC.com … [Read more...] about John Bolton Runs Into Potential Ethics Issues Before He Becomes Trump’s National Security Advisor
National security
Russia wants United Nations Security Council to discuss spy poisoning
News / UK and world by Press Association April 5, 2018, 7:11 am FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppEmail Sign up to our Daily newsletter Russia has called for the United Nations Security Council to meet on Thursday to discuss the Salisbury attack after it lost a bid to stage a joint investigation with the UK into the poisoning. Boris Johnson has attacked Moscow for trying to “obscure the truth and confuse the public” about the nerve-agent assault on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Russia called a meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague on Wednesday to insist its experts must be involved in the testing programme and probe. But it lost the vote after Britain told the extraordinary meeting the demand was a sign the federation was “nervous” of what the inquiries will find. Moscow has asked for an open session of the UN Security Council to be held on Thursday at 8pm UK time. UK … [Read more...] about Russia wants United Nations Security Council to discuss spy poisoning
President Trump ousts National Security Adviser, replaces him with John Bolton
Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, who became the country's National Security Adviser after Gen. Mike Flynn resigned in scandal last year, will resign and be replaced by John R. Bolton, a hard-line former United States ambassador to the United Nations, according to a report from The New York Times.McMaster has been discussing his resignation with Trump for several weeks, according to the report, and will officially retire from the military.The New York Times report also said that Trump wanted to make changes to his national security team before his meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, sometime before the end of May.Last week, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson was ousted by Trump and replaced by Mike Pompeo, who used to be the director of the C.I.A.John DeRosier … [Read more...] about President Trump ousts National Security Adviser, replaces him with John Bolton
Reports: Trump to remove Philly native H.R. McMaster as national security adviser
Possibly continuing his purge of top White House officials, President Donald Trump is expected to oust national security advisor and Philadelphia native H.R. McMaster, according to reports. The Washington Post, citing five sources close to the situation, reported Thursday that Trump had never clicked with the three-star Army general and now plans to boot him from the administration. McMaster, 55, was raised in Roxborough and attended grade school at Norwood Fontbonne Academy, a private Catholic K-8 school in Chestnut Hill. He graduated from Valley Forge Military College in 1980 and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1984. Earlier this year, Valley Forge Military College renamed its Center for Advancement of Security Studies for McMaster. The Trump administration also has seen the recent departure of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Gary Cohn, the president's top economic advisor. Tillerson was fired while Cohn left because of disagreements over trade tariffs. … [Read more...] about Reports: Trump to remove Philly native H.R. McMaster as national security adviser
McMaster Blasts Russia in Final Comments as National Security Adviser
H.R. McMaster, in his final remarks as National Security Adviser, blasted Russia for its acts of aggression, warned that President Vladimir Putin believes he is winning a new form of warfare, and said Russia was one of several “revisionist and repressive powers” seeking to undermine America’s “values, institutions, and way of life.” Speaking at a dinner for the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington, McMaster denounced Russia for waging “hybrid warfare,” which he described as “a pernicious form of aggression that combines political, economic, informational, and cyber assaults against sovereign nations.” McMaster’s analysis of the Kremlin’s battle plan looped in everything from interference in the elections of the United States and other countries and cyber-espionage against NATO to Russia’s unsafe intercepts of American aircraft and the attempted assassination of … [Read more...] about McMaster Blasts Russia in Final Comments as National Security Adviser