The Tap: Thursday, August 18, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #30 of The Tap, which was published on August 20, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• The Clinton Foundation announced that it will no longer accept foreign and corporate donations if Hillary Clinton is elected president. Regardless of the election outcome, it will also stop holding an annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting. The Associated Press reported that “Bill Clinton said the foundation plans to continue its work, but intends to refocus its efforts in a process that will take up to a year to complete. The former president...said he will resign from the board, and the foundation will only accept contributions from U.S. citizens and independent charities.” The charity organization has been under scrutiny for previously accepting contributions from countries with a history of human rights violations like Saudi Arabia.

• During a rally in North Carolina, Donald Trump expressed regret for hurtful comments he has made throughout the election cycle. “Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues,” he said. The New York Times suggested the words were a reflection of the influence of Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Trump also discussed creating a “new American future” and asked black voters to consider him supporting him. “What do you have to lose by trying something new?” Trump said.

• According to The News & Observer, Hillary Clinton has 19 campaign offices across North Carolina, while Donald Trump currently has none in the key battleground state. Trump spokesman Kirk Bell announced on that “the North Carolina team has acquired new field operatives and will shortly announce the opening of campaign offices across North Carolina.” Politico reported, however, “Interviews with more than a dozen North Carolina operatives and lawmakers reveal that Trump has failed to consolidate the Republican base in North Carolina. Worse, according to these sources, he is particularly driving away female and independent voters who are crucial in Republican-leaning suburbs, such as Apex, outside of Raleigh.”

• Hillary Clinton met with top law enforcement officials in New York City in a closed-door session to discuss policing and race relations. “It's obvious that recent events — from Dallas and Baton Rouge to Milwaukee and across the country — underscore how difficult and important the work is ahead of us to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and our communities. We have to be clear-eyed about the challenges we face. We can't ignore them, and certainly we must not inflame them,” she said.

• WIRED endorsed Hillary Clinton, marking the technology magazine’s first presidential endorsement. Editor-in-chief Scott Dadich wrote in an op-ed, “Her vision is bright and forward-looking; Donald Trump’s is dark and atavistic. She’s qualified, she knows the material; Trump is all bluster. We happen to believe that for all the barbs aimed at Hillary Clinton—the whole calculating, tactical, Tracy Flick enchilada—she is the only candidate who can assess the data, consult with the people who need to be heard, and make decisions that she can logically defend. Sure, she’s calculating. She’s tactical. There are worse things you can ask of a person with nuclear codes.”

• USA Today reported that the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing in September where they will question the FBI on allegations that Hillary Clinton committed perjury when testifying about her private emails server. FBI Director James Comey is expected to be a witness.

• The Obama administration announced that they used a $400 million cash payment as leverage to ensure that Iran released four Americans who were being held there as prisoners. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. officials wouldn’t let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying four freed Americans departed from Tehran on Jan. 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day." The timing of the cash payment, which occurred the same weekend the nuclear deal with Iran was formally implemented, raised suspicions that the Obama administration paid ransom to secure the release of the four Americans. On Thursday, when asked about the exchange, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “We deliberately leveraged that moment to finalize these outstanding issues nearly simultaneously. With concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release, given unnecessary delays regarding persons in Iran who could not be located as well as, to be quite honest, mutual mistrust between Iran and the United States, we of course sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released. That was our top priority.” He added that the U.S. does not pay ransom.
  • See also: Iran nuclear agreement: U.S. withheld cash until hostages were released

• In a memo, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced that the Department of Justice will end its use of private prisons. Yates instructed officials to stop renewing or significantly reduce contracts with private prison operators. Yates wrote, “They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”

State

• The final state budget for Massachusetts has been cut by about $630 million, or about 2 percent, from earlier projections due to poorer-than-expected revenue in the second half of the previous fiscal year. Revenue estimates fell from $26.86 billion to $26.23 billion. The state’s fiscal year began July 1, and the Department of Revenue had announced earlier this month that revenue was up compared to this time last year. Income, corporate, and business taxes exceeded projections; however, sales and use taxes and withholding collections fell short of projections. According to state law, the administration and finance secretary must submit an updated budget by October 15 unless she believes there have not been significant changes since the last estimate.

Preview of the day

There were no items for this day in issue #29 of The Tap, which was published on August 13, 2016. See the "Review of the day" tab for more information.