Congressman Darren Soto, who represents Florida’s 9th district, applauded news Monday that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down from his post, calling him a “distraction” to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“We just need to make sure we keep this investigation with integrity and with accuracy, because we want to have the right results,” Soto told Cheddar in an interview. “I think that it’s a positive step that he’s no longer going to be involved and no longer will be an excuse.”
The news follows an Axios report last week that FBI Director Christopher Wray was pressured by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Trump to fire his second in command. Trump and other Republicans claimed that McCabe, whose wife ran for office in Virginia as a Democrat and received donations from Hillary Clinton, had a conflict of interests in the Russian investigation.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that the White House had no involvement in McCabe’s decision. But the New York Times reported that Wray had suggested the move after months of pressure from the administration.
McCabe’s resignation is effective immediately, but he will remain on the payroll until March, when he was already expected to retire with full benefits.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-darren-soto-shares-his-expectations-for-president-trumps-first-state-of-the-union-address).
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
