Morning Report: August 4, 2017
Sessions on the Leaks
In what could be a dramatic news conference, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will discuss the administration's ongoing efforts to combat intelligence leaks, according to a Justice Department statement.
It comes on the heels of an unprecedented and likely criminal effort to publish communications of President Trump and other world leaders.
Sessions and Coats will deliver remarks at 8am PST on "leaks of classified material threatening national security."
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina will also talk to reporters in an "off-camera pen and pad discussion."
Rosenstein will be asked about the status of the House Judiciary's request of a second special counsel investigation, involving the Obama administration.
Wasserman Schultz Doubles Down on IT Staffer
Debbie Wasserman Schultz defended her decision to keep IT aide Imran Awan on her staff months after she was informed he was under investigation for fraud.
Despite a mountain of evidence pointing to possible criminal activity, the former DNC chair told the Orlando Sun Sentinel that Awan's arrest on charges of mortgage fraud had nothing to do with an investigation into “procurement violations and data transfer violations,” arguing that she kept him on staff over concerns that Awan's civil rights were being violated because he is Muslim.
“I had grave concerns about his due process rights being violated,” she told the paper.
“When their investigation was reviewed with me, I was presented with no evidence of anything that they were being investigated for. And so that, in me, gave me great concern that his due process rights were being violated. That there were racial and ethnic profiling concerns that I had."
The Health Crisis Congress is Ignoring
IVN looked at the critical nursing shortage that's occurring across the country. Danika McClure wrote, "while the debate rages on over health care coverage and the Affordable Care Act, there is still an issue that has been unaddressed by governing bodies and those in the medical field: the drastic shortage of hospital staff — especially those in the nursing field."
McClure noted that nurses are in short supply, despite being one of the fastest-growing occupations in the country.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, by 2022 there will be more than 1 million jobs for RNs, yet by 2025 the nursing shortage will be twice the size of any nurse shortage since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s.
IVN Newsletter
For more IVN coverage and a look at the most recent articles posted click here for the IVN Newsletter.