Month: February 2018

Mayor’s Office Confirms Sgt. Forrest Was Only Metro Nashville Security Officer to Travel With Megan Barry to 2016 DNC, Claims Trip Was ‘Appropriate’ City Business, Expenses Paid by Campaign

Tennessee Star Staff

Sean Braisted, Director of Communications for the Mayor’s Office, has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Mayor Megan Barry’s lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, was the only Metro Nashville security officer assigned to travel with the mayor when she attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 2016. Mayor Barry has previously claimed that Forrest only accompanied her out of state as a security officer when paid by Metro Nashville when she was traveling on official city business. Barry attended the Democratic National Convention not on city business, but on political and personal business as a delegate committed to Hillary Clinton. Braisted failed to respond directly to The Star’s request that he identify the specific city business Barry conducted at the Democratic National Convention. Instead, he asserted that Barry “met with many other mayors, as well as state and federal officials during the course of this trip.” He also fell back on a previous statement by Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson in explaining why Forrest was assigned to accompany Mayor Barry on this trip, and presumably, was paid by Metro Nashville to do so. “As Chief Anderson has said, the mayor is the mayor wherever she is and…

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‘Game of Thrones’ Creators to Make New ‘Star Wars’ Films

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Lucasfilm announced plans Tuesday for a new series of “Star Wars” films made by the team behind “Game of Thrones,” as it seeks to build on the lucrative sci-fi franchise. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the smash-hit, Emmy Award-winning television series, will write and produce new films that are separate from the main Skywalker saga and the trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson, writer-director of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

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House Committee Votes to Release Democratic Memo on FISA Application

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The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence voted unanimously Monday evening to release the Democratic Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act memo to the public, sending the document to the president to decide whether he wants to approve its release. Republicans voted to declassify the Democratic memo, which reportedly weakens allegations made in the memo crafted by the intelligence committee’s chairman, Devin Nunes. The committee’s unanimous vote sends the Democratic memo to the White House, giving President Donald Trump five days to decide if he wants to declassify and release it to the American public, Politico reported.

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State Rep. Jimmy Matlock Files Bill To End Taxpayer Assistance of Abortion Clinics

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE – In a press conference held the same day he filed a bill to put an end to Tennessee taxpayer dollars funding abortion clinics, State Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City) appeared with Senate sponsor Mike Bell (R-Riceville), and debunked the narrative that Tennessee abortion providers are fully defunded. “The fact is,” Matlock said, accompanied by 20 legislators explained to members of the news media, “through the form of TennCare reimbursements, abortion providers still receive some state taxpayer money.” Through the required 90-10 federal-state match, over $1 million has been paid to these facilities over the past six years, according to Matlock. It’s “our money, [so] we should have a say where it goes,” he said. House Bill 2251 instructs the Commissioner of Finance & Administration “to seek a Medicaid waiver under the current TennCare II waiver to be able to exclude providers who perform elective abortions from receiving taxpayer dollars.” “We argue that these dollars do, in fact, support abortion clinics and, therefore, abortion.” As such, Matlock vowed, “We will see this bill through, and end taxpayer support of abortion facilities.” The House bill has 22 co-sponsors, including Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) who spoke of her long-standing pro-life position and support…

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OFF THE RECORD: Deviant for a Day? What About Two Years?!

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Amidst the daily revelations surrounding the scandalous behavior of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Off the Record thought it might be interesting to explore the teachings of Barry’s extremely liberal husband Bruce, who teaches at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Bruce is a member of the national board of directors of the ACLU and is past President of the Tennessee ACLU chapter. According to his Vanderbilt bio: “Professor Barry’s current and recent research explores the social context of ethical decision making, the intersection of ethics and emotion, and deception and entitlement in negotiation.” (Emphasis added.) Vanderbilt also notes that Professor’s Barry’s expertise is in two particular areas: “(1) social issues in management, including ethics, public policy, and workplace rights; and (2) the psychology of interpersonal and group behavior in organizations, including power, influence, negotiation, conflict and justice.” So, exactly how does Professor Barry impart his expertise and research on these issues into the minds of his students? A review of the course syllabus from one of his classes at Vanderbilt’s Owen School a few years back is instructive. The syllabus details the various class assignments and expectations, grading, etc. for Management 443, Power and Influence in Organizations. One particular assignment of interest, representing…

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NewsChannel5 Report: Mayor’s Office Releases More Details of Megan Barry’s Travels with Security Chief Lover

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New questions surrounding the need for Mayor Megan Barry to have such extensive, around-the-clock security led by her lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, were asked by NewsChannel 5 in a segment that aired Monday evening. Phil Williams, the investigative reporter the embattled Barry sat down with to initially admit her affair with Forrest, reported the Mayor’s office released “new details about the Mayor’s travel and the use of security, in hopes of convincing the public that she did not abuse taxpayer money.” Mayor Barry spent Sunday morning at two African-American churches praying on stage for the communities’ forgiveness. Meanwhile, Barry’s staff gathered evidence to document her travel, and her time spent with her Security Chief and paramour, Rob Forrest in the course of their two year affair. The documents released by the Mayor’s Office say that Barry traveled out-of-state alone in 2015-2016 to Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, Oklahoma City and Phoenix. Other trips to Los Angeles, Williams reported, were with staff members and no security. Her first trip that included Forrest with additional staff was to Minneapolis in April of 2016. Starting in 2017, Barry and Forrest began traveling alone, and the couple took a total of nine trips together outside of…

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Williamson County Director of Schools Mike Looney Signs Letter Sent to Voters By Supporters of Sales Tax Increase

Tennessee Star Staff

Williamson County Director of Schools Mike Looney signed a letter sent to Williamson County voters by Citizens for School Funding, a political action committee supporting the proposed sales tax increase on the ballot in the county today its supporters say is necessary to fund increased construction of Williamson County Public Schools. The proposal, widely panned by limited government conservatives, is the only issue on the ballot, and has a chance of passing primarily because its supporters have orchestrated the vote to take place in the dead of winter. In the letter, which is clearly intended to support the sales tax increase, Looney advances the fiction that he is not taking a position on today’s vote: My position does not allow me to advocate for-or-against the election, but I can confirm WCS currently lacks the funding needed to build additional classrooms needed for students. More specifically, we need to build schools and upgrade some of our older campuses. Please use your voice to help our elected officials best determine how to provide for the school district’s needs. Time is of the essence. As always, if you have questions about our schools feel free to contact me at 615-293-0997. Presumably, both Dr.…

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John McCain Stands with Illegal Aliens, Introduces Bill for DACA Citizenship and NO WALL

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Sen. John McCain is reportedly joining with Democratic colleague Christopher Coons to introduce legislation that gives Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals’ illegals a path to citizenship, but denies President Donald Trump his funding to build a wall. McCain giving the Democrats what they want at the expense of the Republicans – now there’s something you don’t see every day… NOT!

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Diane Black Picks Up Her Petition to Officially File Her Run for Governor

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Gubernatorial hopeful Diane Black picked up her petition to run for Governor in her hometown of Gallatin Monday as friends and family looked on. “I was honored to join my family and supporters from middle Tennessee today,” Black said in a statement. “I’ve been humbled and energized by the outpouring of support I’ve received all across this state since announcing my campaign, and I’m grateful to all of those who have come out to show their dedication to having a strong conservative leader in the Governor’s office.” In the latest fundraising reporting, Diane Black outraised all other gubernatorial candidates, with a total of nearly $1.75 million dollars between August and January, representing more than 1,000 contributions from all 95 Tennessee counties. The Tennessee Star / Triton Poll released last week found that in a head-to-head contest, Black leads Democratic frontrunner Karl Dean by 11 percentage points.

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Commentary: President Trump Is Right about ‘Fair and Reciprocal’ Trade

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by Robert Romano   “I want reciprocal. If they’re going to charge us 100 percent for a motorcycle, it should be 100 percent the other way, too.” That was President Donald Trump in an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen on Jan. 26 while he was on the ground in Davos, Switzerland renewing his call for “fair and reciprocal” trade. Here, the President was referring to India’s 100 percent tariff on motorcycles manufactured in the U.S., including Harley-Davidson, and telling the subcontinent that if it’s going to put that kind of tax on U.S. goods, then it should go in the other direction, too. Trump is right. Sometimes the only incentive for another country to lower their tariff wall is for them to feel tariffs, too. That is how tariffs have been lowered the past century following Smoot-Hawley — reciprocally. When each side is mutually agreeing to lower their tariffs in an enforceable, the world gets closer to free trade. In the case of India, a good place to start is the $4.7 billion of trade preferences the U.S. gives under the General System of Preferences. At $19 billion a year, the General System of Preferences, which expired Dec. 31, “provide opportunities for…

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Nashville Mayor’s Office Inadvertently Admits to Another Likely Ethics Problem Linked to Greece Trip for Embattled Megan Barry

Chris Alto

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s admission to adultery with Sgt. Robert Forrest, head of her security detail, has already raised questions about whether public funds provided opportunities facilitating the affair when the two traveled alone together in furtherance of city business. According to Police Chief Anderson, Sgt. Forrest’s schedule and hours were dictated by the Mayor’s office. If it is determined that public funds were used for personal benefit or other unauthorized purposes, it may constitute a misappropriation of funds. Confirmation by the Mayor’s office that she accepted payment by 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), a project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, for travel and lodging expenses for her trip to Greece may cause an ethical violation for the Mayor separate and apart from the fact that Sgt. Forrest’s costs for the Greece trip were paid for with public funds while their affair was ongoing. “Mayor Barry’s travel and lodging expenses were paid for by 100RC, any other costs she paid for out of pocket,” the Mayor’s Director of Communications Sean Braisted told The Tennessee Star in a story published on Monday morning. In 2016, Mayor Barry issued Executive Order 005, Financial and other disclosures by certain Metropolitan Government employees and officials; ethics, conflict of…

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Truth, Trust Are ‘Kryptonite’ To Barry, Metro Council In Promoting $9 Billion Transit Plan

Jason M. Reynolds

In popular media, Superman fights for “truth, justice and the American way.” The superhero who is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive” is vulnerable to a substance known as Kryptonite. Those who back Nashville’s $9 billion transit system are facing their own version of Kryptonite: Trust. Even one prominent supporter now says he has some doubts. The uncertainty comes nearly a week following news that Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, the face of the Let’s Move Nashville Transit Improvement Plan, had an adulterous, years-long affair with veteran police Sgt. Rob Forrest who was in charge of her security. Barry dodged her responsibilities as an elected official having an affair with an employee who resigned, while she kept her job, and it was revealed her affair violated her office’s mission statement of transparency and her own executive order that employees should be ethical and avoid conflicts of interest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate any potential breaking of the law, including “misappropriation of public funds and official misconduct,” District Attorney Glenn Funk spokesman Steve Hayslip told The Tennessean. The Metro Council voted Jan. 23 on a second reading of the plan to hide the…

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Commentary: The Obama Coverup for Hillary Clinton Was Worse Than Collusion

Tennessee Star Staff

Records available through the FBI Vault prove beyond any doubt that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her inner circle of trusted aides, including Human Abedin and Cheryl Mills, were subjects of a formal investigation into mishandling of classified information, beginning July 10, 2015. Yes, you read the above correctly, a formal FBI investigation commenced…

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Trey Gowdy Says FBI Concealed Clinton Role in Steele Dossier

Tennessee Star Staff

The House’s top investigator on Sunday said the FBI failed to notify a surveillance court it was relying on material funded by Democrats and the Hillary Clinton campaign when it asked to snoop on an adviser tied to the Trump campaign. Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, also said judges wouldn’t have authorized and repeatedly renewed a warrant to spy on the former Trump aide, Carter Page, if it hadn’t been for that very material, compiled by investigator Christopher Steele in a controversial dossier.

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Parents Furious School Canceled Father Daughter Dance Over ‘Gender Crap’

Tennessee Star Staff

A New York elementary school was forced to cancel its father daughter dance to adhere to new policies calling for “gender neutral” events. The public teacher associations for Staten Island’s Public School 65 put the father daughter dance on pause to double check whether it adheres to Department of Education new guidelines on gender practices, reports The New York Post.

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Steve Womack Selected to Replace Diane Black as House Budget Committee Chairman

Tennessee Star Staff

Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas was chosen last month to replace a fellow Republican, Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee, as chairman of the House Budget Committee. With fiscal 2018 appropriations yet to be finalized, Womack finds himself in an uncertain position. If a deal is reached to raise the Budget Control Act caps for 2019, some of his fellow Republicans might not want to do a budget. That would be a failure. While nonbinding, the budget resolution sets out important policy initiatives and paves the way for reconciliation, a powerful tool to making meaningful reform a reality.

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Maryland to Sue Trump over New Cap on State and Local Tax Deductions

Tennessee Star Staff

Maryland will sue the Trump administration for capping state and local tax (SALT) deductions in its new federal tax law, the state’s attorney general said Thursday. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by President Trump last year contains a provision capping SALT deductions at $10,000, and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said residents across the heavily-taxed state stand to take a hit as a result.

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Trip to Greece with Sgt. Forrest May Constitute a Misappropriation of Public Funds

Chris Alto

Despite claiming that her adulterous affair with a subordinate Metro employee and head of her security detail, Sgt. Robert Forrest, Jr, was a personal matter, Mayor Megan Barry’ very public admission of the affair has generated intense scrutiny of trips Barry says were for city-related business but were also trips on which she and Sgt. Forrest traveled alone together and which provided opportunities to pursue their affair. In her first admission to the adultery, the Mayor claimed that throughout her two year affair with Forrest, nothing illegal occurred and no policies were violated. Since making those claims, however, at the request of Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has opened an investigation to determine whether during the course of the Mayor’s affair any criminal laws were broken, including “misappropriation of public funds and official misconduct.” If it is determined that public funds were used for personal benefit or other unauthorized purposes, it may constitute a misappropriation of funds. Metro Code of Ordinances dictates specific “Standards of Conduct” for all Metro employees that could apply as well. Mayor Barry insists that her “personal time” with Sgt. Forrest during these trips did not occur while they were “on…

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‘Please Stand’: Diane Black Produces Pro-Anthem TV Spot to Run During Super Bowl Pregame Show

Tennessee Star Staff

She is a popular Tennessee Republican. Rep. Diane Black, a staunch social and fiscal conservative, also happens to be running for governor of the state. Her campaign reports that she has raised more money than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, accruing $1.75 million in the past five months, the funds arriving from every county.

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Study Finds Massive Bias in Networks’ Nunes Memo Coverage

Tennessee Star Staff

Even before Friday’s long-awaited release of a by the FBI and the Justice Department during the 2016 campaign, Republican members of Congress had dropped a deluge of hints about its contents. But viewers of the three major television news broadcasts would hardly know it. The Big Three networks were far more interested in reporting Democrats’ arguments making the document public, according to a by the Media Research Center (MRC).

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Expert IDs Likely Reason for FBI’s Memo Objection — Embarrassment

Tennessee Star Staff

Loud objections from the Department of Justice and the FBI to release of a memo by the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are likely based on embarrassment, not legitimate security concerns, a defense expert said Friday. Rebecca Grant, president of IRIS Independent Research and director of the Washington Security Forum, said on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that the agency’s objections are “puzzling” and revealing.

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Texas Committee Votes to Keep Confederate Statue, but Add Anti-Slavery Plaque and Kiosks

Tennessee Star Staff

A Texas committee voted to keep a Confederate statue, but will add an anti-slavery plaque and kiosks to it, according to a Thursday report. The monument advisory committee in Denton, Texas, voted 12-3 to preserve a Confederate soldier statue but add a plaque and audiovisual interviews bashing slavery and segregation, reported the Denton Record-Chronicle.

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Mayor Megan Barry’s Two Year Active Concealment of Extramarital Affair with Bodyguard Violates Her Office’s Mission Statement and Her Own Executive Order

Chris Alto

The 2017 Guide to the Mayor’s Office, posted on the Metro Nashville government website starts with the Mission Statement for the Mayor’s Office: To serve the citizens of Davidson County by directing the executive and administrative functions of the Metropolitan Government through enhanced collaboration while ensuring the local government operates in an efficient, transparent and fiscally responsible manner. On February 24, 2016, Mayor Megan Barry signed Executive Order 005, Financial and other disclosures by certain Metropolitan Government employees and officials; ethics, conflict of interest, and acceptance of gifts on the part of employees of Metropolitan Government. The Mission Statement of the Mayor’s office and her Executive Order are both implicated by Barry’s two year affair with a subordinate Metro Nashville employee while both of them were on the Metro payroll and using public funds to travel together on city business. “Fiscal responsibility” has emerged as a dominant issue as details of the affair have emerged, some of which are opaque at best. While the Mayor has been deliberately vague on the precise starting and ending dates of her affair with Sgt. Robert Forrest, head of her security detail, she has insisted that every trip on which they traveled alone together, was…

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Commentary: Would a ‘Senator Mitt Romney’ Caucus with the Republicans?

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Mitt Romney & Orrin Hatch

by CHQ Staff   CNN’s Maeve Reston reports that Mitt Romney has signaled he is moving toward with a run for a US Senate seat from Utah, tweeting Thursday that he will make a formal announcement about his plans on February 15. “Looking forward to making an announcement on February 15th about the Utah Senate race,” he tweeted. While Romney has been quietly talking to potential aides in Utah, the tweet will allow him to hire a staff and make preparations more openly — while also courting the conservative delegates who control the Utah GOP’s nominating convention. However, before those delegates make a decision, we hope they will take a look at the real Mitt Romney. By means unknown, John McCain’s 2008 opposition research file on Mitt Romney – all 200 pages of it – ended-up on the internet. God bless whoever posted it, because it makes truly compelling reading and it shows conclusively that Mitt Romney’s greatest talent as a candidate is his ability to keep every hair in place while not telling the truth. http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-book-on-mitt-romney-here-is-john-mccains-ent For those who prefer not to wade through all 200 pages of the file there is a good “50 greatest hits list” here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-fifty-greatest-hits-from-john-mccains-giant-m…

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Spice Girls Announce Plans to Work Together Again

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The Spice Girls got back together on Friday for the first time since 2012 and announced plans to explore “incredible new opportunities” in the future. The British 1990s pop phenomenon — Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Horner — reunited at Horner’s house north of London, along with their former manager Simon Fuller.

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What Happens if Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Resigns?

Tennessee Star Staff

The scandal that has enveloped Nashville Mayor Megan Barry in the wake of her admission that she had a two year affair with the head of her security detail has many wondering how she can weather the storm. As more details emerge regarding the use of taxpayer funds for her travels with Sgt. Rob Forrest, including 9 trips where the two of them traveled alone, speculation increases that she may ultimately be forced to resign. If that happens, what happens next? A Barry resignation during the next six months would immediately elevate the current Vice Mayor to serving as acting Mayor pending a special election to fill the vacancy in the Mayor’s office. (If Mayor Barry doesn’t resign until a date within 12 months of the next election for Mayor, then there would NOT be a special election and the Vice Mayor would simply fill the role until the scheduled election occurs.) The Nashville Metro Charter specifics in Section 15.03 that: “There shall be held a special metropolitan election to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term in the office of mayor and in the office of district council member whenever such vacancy shall exist more than twelve (12) months…

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College Syllabus Calls Trump ‘White Supremacist’ and ‘Orange Reality Star’

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At California State University’s Dominguez Hills campus (CSUDH), students in an introductory political science class called American Institutions have been given a syllabus that is nothing short of troubling. The syllabus — from Dr. Brooke Mascagni, a lecturer in political science at the school — refers to the sitting president of the United States as a “white supremacist, misogynist, narcissistic, volatile, belligerent, uninformed, stubborn, failed businessman and orange reality star,” as reported.

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Davidson County Residents Post Petition Calling on ‘Megan Barry to Resign Immediately from the Office of Mayor’

Christina Botteri

Less than 36 hours after Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry admitted to a years-long affair with top staffer Rob Forrest, some Davidson County citizens have had enough and are calling on Barry to step down. Backers are careful to note that while the Mayor’s infidelity in her marriage belies a systemic, ethical shortcoming, it is not chief among their concerns. What is, is the fiscal impact her relationship with Forrest had in terms of overtime payments, travel arrangements, and other costs associated with his many cross-country and overseas trips with her – all paid by Metro Nashville taxpayers. At least one observer noted that since these additional payments occurred over an extended period of time, Forrest’s retirement pension could be further enriched due to how the City calculates the benefit. A petition, hosted at ipetition.com has been posted calling for Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation. It reads: A PETITION FROM THE RESIDENTS OF DAVIDSON COUNTY We, the undersigned residents of Davidson County, Tennessee, state that, based on evident facts which have recently come to light, it is wholly appropriate under the rights accorded to free people under a free government that we protest the fact that: 1. A relationship of a sexual nature has existed…

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Former Reagan Attorney Believes Nunes Memo Could Undermine Mueller

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Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 campaign may be undermined by release of a House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee memo Friday, according to a former U.S. attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan. “The memo provides additional evidence of the animus of the Obama-Lynch FBI and Justice Department toward Donald Trump,” said Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia under Reagan.

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Republican State Senator Todd Gardenhire Re-Re-Re-Files Bill to Grant In-State Tuition Benefits to Illegal Alien Students

Christina Botteri
Gardenhire White

State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) filed bill SB2263 Thursday which would grant in-state tuition discount benefits to illegal alien students. Dubbed ‘Tuition Opportunity,’ the measure was unsurprisingly co-sponsored by the Chattanooga-area lawmaker’s friend and ally, State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis), who filed HB2429, a state house version of the same bill. The bills’ summary reads: Education, Higher – As introduced, exempts certain students from paying out-of-state tuition at state institutions of higher education. – Amends TCA Section 4-58-102; Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49, Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9. This year will be the fourth time the duo has sought to extend the education benefits. In 2015, the proposal passed the state Senate and failed in the state House by a single vote. Gardenhire and White tried again in 2016, where is failed to pass out of committee, despite and emotion discussion leading up to the vote. Last year, in 2017, they tried yet again, and the proposal did not make out it of committee. Nashville-based refugee, immigrant, and illegal alien advocacy group, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refuge Rights Coalition (TIRRC) celebrated the bill’s introduction with a statement: For months, we’ve been fighting to defend DACA and to fight for Dream Act…

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Commentary: How Trump and the GOP Congress Can Break the Midterm Jinx in 2018

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by Robert Romano   Congressional midterms after a President wins the White House can be a brutal affair. The out-party tends to be motivated and has a knack for taking it out on Congress. The incumbent party, usually, is unable to match the opposition’s energy and so losses tend to follow. It’s the midterm jinx. The White House incumbent party tends to lose House seats in midterm elections 89 percent of the time dating back a century, with losses averaging 35 seats. The exceptions were 1934, 1998 and 2002. But it’s not all bad. Sometimes there are losses, but minimal ones. In 1926, 1962, 1986 and 1990 the losses were kept to less than 10 seats. 1954, 1970, 1978 and 2014 the losses were less than 20 seats. On the Senate side, the situation is slightly less depressing, owing to the fact that only one-third of the Senate stands for election every two years. Still, the White House incumbent party tends to lose Senate seats about 71 percent of the time, with losses averaging about 6 seats. Here, there are more exceptions where seats were either gained or none lost: 1906, 1914, 1934, 1962, 1970, 1982, 1998 and 2002. Now,…

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Advocates Cheer Trump Boost of ‘Right to Try’ Experimental Medical Treatments

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Advocates of the “Right to Try” movement hope a State of the Union shoutout by President Donald Trump this will build momentum for legislation to let dying patents bypass government red tape to use experimental drugs in the U.S. Naomi Lopez Bauman, director of health care policy at the libertarian Goldwater Institute, said the president’s endorsement during his Tuesday address to the nation will help.

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Megan Barry First Nashville Mayor To Take Police Guard Outside of Mid-South and Travel Alone With Security Chief Lover

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry took her lover/police guard on far more trips, and on longer journeys, than her previous two predecessors, multiple media outlets report. NewsChannel 5 broke the story Wednesday of Barry’s years-long affair with the former head of her security detail, Metro Police Sgt. Rob Forrest, who abruptly announced his retirement after 31 years with the department. Forrest traveled with Barry across the U.S. as well as Greece and Paris. District Attorney Glenn Funk asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look for any potential criminal wrongdoing by Barry. NewsChannel 5 on Thursday interviewed former Mayor Bill Purcell. He said Forrest joined another officer on the mayoral security detail after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. One officer would drive with him to events “in the city of Nashville, primarily,” while the other would drive separately. Purcell was asked if Forrest traveled with him outside the city. Purcell said one or both would travel with him around the region, but he does not recall them accompanying him out of the state. Former Mayor Karl Dean told The Tennessean Thursday his security detail joined him when he drove to a location like Louisville or Little Rock, but not when he flew…

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Marco Rubio: Senate Needs a ‘Plan B’ on Immigration If Comprehensive Bill Fails

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Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the Senate needs to have a “plan B” if comprehensive immigration reform fails. The Florida Republican explained that he believes the visa lottery system and chain migration can be dealt with in a way that attracts bipartisan support, but he said if not, the Senate needs to act on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), those brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and on border security.

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FISA Memo Released: Raises ‘Concerns With the Legitimacy and Legality of Certain DOJ and FBI Interactions With the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’

Tennessee Star Staff

On Friday, the White House authorized the release of a controversial House Intelligence Committee memo. “Our findings, which are detailed below, (1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI Interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process,” the memo began. “The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute . . . a FISA order on an American citizen must by renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause,” the memo noted. “Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Then-DAG Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ,” the memo continued. “In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that . . .…

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Trump Economy Is Heading Upward and Reversing the Obama Era

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When President Donald Trump told the Davos World Economic Forum that America is “once again experiencing strong economic growth,” the Associated Press hurried to publish a “fact check” contradicting the chief executive. “The economy is doing better by some measures but data released just as Trump finished speaking shows it hasn’t yet accelerated meaningfully since his inauguration,” AP said, referring to the Department of Commerce report that the Gross Domestic Product grew 2.6 percent during the fourth quarter of 2017.

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