Rodent meat – a sustainable way to feed the world?

The mere thought of eating a rat would immediately trigger a strong “yuck” reaction among most Westerners, but for many people from around the world a rodent is a much anticipated culinary treat. Rats are a regular staple in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, parts of the Philippines and Indonesia, Thailand, Ghana, China and Vietnam. In South and Central America, several rodent species are highly appreciated as culinary items and some are even farmed much like pigs and cows. In some Asian countries, rodent meat is so popular, it is even sold in supermarkets.

“Rats are tinned in the Philippines, sold as STAR meat (rats spelled backwards) in supermarkets, often eaten at weddings in Vietnam, and usually considered a delicacy by most South East Asians”, said Grant Singleton, an expert on rodent biology and management at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

Cambodia exports up to 2 tonnes of wild rats to Vietnam per day on the peak of the “rat‐season” Among members of the Adi tribe, in north‐east India, rats are valued not just for their taste, but also as a cultural item. Every year, on March 7, they celebrate Unying‐Aran, a popular hunting festival where the most precious prey are rats. “Gifts of rats, dead of course, are also an important item in making sure the bride's relatives are happy to see their daughter leave her old family and join that of her husband”, said Victor Benno Meyer‐Rochow at Oulu University, Finland, who recently published a study on the eating habits of this tribe.

The idea of rodents as game or livestock is not just a question of cultural or culinary traditions, however. Some experts suggest that farming and eating rodents could be one solution for alleviating the world's hunger and malnutrition problems.

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Report: HP, Dell, Amazon and Microsoft Consider Moving Production Out of China

Major tech manufacturers including HP, Dell, Amazon, and Microsoft are all considering moving a portion of their production out of China as a result of the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

Nikkei Asian Review reports that a number of major tech firms including HP, Dell, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Sony, and Nintendo are all considering moving their production businesses out of China, motivated in part by the recent trade war between the U.S. and China. Sources told Nikkei that HP and Dell, the number one and number three personal computer manufacturers which account for 40 percent of the global market, may relocate up to 30 percent of their notebook production to countries outside of China.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Sony, and Nintendo are also reportedly considering moving their gaming console and smart speaker manufacturing out of the country. The sudden shift is reportedly due to tense trade relations between the U.S. and China combined with the rising price of production costs in China. It seems that the country could soon see a major shift in technology production.

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Former NYC Top Cop on Andy Ngo: FBI Must Investigate Antifa’s Funding

An FBI investigation of criminal conduct across Antifa would reveal its funding sources, said former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who offered his analysis of Antifa’s assault of journalist Andy Ngo in Portland in a Monday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.

Last Saturday, Ngo was allegedly assaulted by Antifa agitators in Portland, Oregon. He was later hospitalized for a brain bleed.

“I think the FBI has to get involved,” stated Kerik. “I agree with Ted Cruz. I think there has to be civil rights investigations. Somebody is funding these organizations. This is a domestic terror group. This is a group using violence and intimidation to attack people for political reasons, and when they do, that becomes an act of terrorism.”

Kerik continued, “[Antifa] should be investigated for criminal conduct and I’m sure — I’m 100 percent positive — that if you investigate them as a terrorist organization, you’re going to get to see the funding stream, and you’re going to find out who’s putting up the money to pay these nitwits to go out there and attack people.”

Kerik noted that Antifa’s criminal violence is mostly concentrated in cities under “Democrat rule [and] leadership.”

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Watch the greatest Fourth of July celebration in our Nation’s history tomorrow

Tomorrow, Americans will gather in Washington, D.C., for a celebration of our Nation’s independence on its 243rd birthday. Year after year, the Fourth of July is a patriotic reminder of the freedoms and opportunities this country has blessed us with. This year, President Donald J. Trump is inviting Americans to join him for a first-of-its-kind ceremony on the National Mall. 🎬 Watch: President Trump’s “Salute to America” live tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. ET The “Salute to America” will be kicked off by President Trump at the Lincoln Memorial tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by a celebration that will honor each of America’s five military branches with music, military demonstrations, and multiple flyovers. “This is going to be a fantastic Fourth of July with increased access across the National Mall . . . and an address by our Commander-in-Chief,” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said. “We received an extraordinary donation for a phenomenal fireworks display, and our colleagues from the Department of Defense will be providing a one-of-a-kind music and air power experience including a flight demonstration from the Blue Angels.” Of course, there’s no better way to cap off Independence Day than with a spectacular fireworks show. Tomorrow night, the National Park Service and its partners will host one for the ages. With D.C.’s iconic monuments and memorials as the backdrop, the 35-minute show will be the largest fireworks display ever in the Washington capital region.   “Our July 4th Salute to America at the Lincoln Memorial is looking to be really big,” President Trump wrote on Twitter today. “It will be the show of a lifetime!” Plan your visit: More on tomorrow’s “Salute to America.” Washington Examiner: Boom: Donations to Trump’s July Fourth ‘Salute’ to Double Fireworks Display, Longest Ever

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Keegan Barber

Event staff construct the stage for “Salute to America,” an Independence Day event at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. | July 3, 2019

Ted Cruz GOES OFF On Illegal Immigration and Democrats

Obama DHS secretary says decriminalizing border crossings is 'open borders'

President Barack Obama's secretary of Homeland Security criticized the presidential Democratic candidates who have come out in support of decriminalizing illegal border crossings.

Julián Castro, Obama's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has called for the repeal of Section 1325 in Title 8 of the U.S. Code, which makes it a misdemeanor for migrants to enter the United States illegally.

In his recently released immigration plan, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said he would "virtually eliminate" all immigrant detention centers.

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Tijuana Authorities Investigating Migrant Groups Trying to Buy Children to Cross into the United States

“Some migrants in Tijuana are trying to purchase children from vulnerable single mothers in local shelters so they can more easily cross into the United States, according to shelter directors, migrants and Tijuana law enforcement authorities,” Wendy Fry reports for The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“U.S. border authorities have been warning since June 2018 about people fraudulently using children who aren’t theirs to pose as family units and gain entry into the United States a claim that critics said was overblown. But now, authorities in Tijuana are warning migrant mothers to keep their children close by and supervised, after reports of men offering to purchase migrant children in order to cross.”

“I can’t go to work because I can’t take my eyes off my boys,” a migrant from Honduras says. “They want to rob our kids so they can cross into the United States.”

Click here to read more.

QAnon Followers Think JFK Jr. Is Coming Back on the 4th of July

Consider, if you will, a sliding scale of celebrities. On one end of this spectrum are those who are still alive, including but not limited to: Jennifer Aniston, Justin Bieber, nine-tenths of the original cast of Beverly Hills, 90210. On the other end are those who are dead, also including but not limited to: Elvis Presley, John Belushi, and (arguably) Tupac.

On this scientific scale, John F. Kennedy Jr. falls somewhere in between Judy Garland and former Minnesota Twins center fielder Kirby Puckett; all of which is to say, he is extremely, irrefutably dead. In July 1999, the pulchritudinous son of John and Jackie Kennedy and cofounder of George magazine perished in a tragic plane crash at the age of 38, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette and his sister-in-law Lauren. At least, this is the conventional narrative perpetuated by the fake news media, according to supporters of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon. Hardcore Q believers think that JFK Jr. is not only alive and well, but also that he plans to emerge from his 20-year hiatus from public life by coming out and supporting Trump as his running mate in 2020. Moreover, they believe that a guy in Pittsburgh named Vincent Fusca is actually JFK Jr. in disguise, and they have made T-shirts promoting this belief.

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You can listen to the QAnon podcast HERE 

ThinkProgress for Sale

Left-wing think tank Center for American Progress is putting its news source ThinkProgress up for sale, citing financial strains.

"Unfortunately, like so many other news outlets that have relied on advertising to fund its work, ThinkProgress has seen a significant drop in revenue in recent years, along with other financial strains. In addition, events over the last few years have underscored the divergent missions of American Progress and ThinkProgress," Navin Nayak, executive director of the CAP Action Fund, told the Daily Beast.

"For all of these reasons, we announced to the ThinkProgress staff today that we are searching for a new publisher for the news site," Nayak continued. "This is a tough decision since ThinkProgress has been a part of CAP Action almost since its founding. While ThinkProgress' financial challenges are unsustainable for an organization like CAP Action, we are hopeful that there are publishers who would be better able to support ThinkProgress' mission and better positioned to maximize the significant value ThinkProgress has built up."

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Accident On Route 50 at Route 90

Berlin Fire and EMS on scene. Eastbound Route 50 at Route 90. Motor vehicle accident with rollover.  Eastbound Route 50 is currently shut down.

Insurance Commissioner to Visit Wicomico County to Meet with Consumers, Business Owners and Producers

Regional Meeting to be held Wednesday, August 14th in Salisbury

​
BALTIMORE– Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. will hold a public meeting in Wicomico County to hear from consumers, business owners and regulated entities about the insurance marketplace.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Salisbury at Wor-Wic Community College, Hazel Center (Room 302), 3200 Campus Center Drive, Salisbury, MD 21804.

“As Maryland’s Insurance Commissioner, I am very interested in gathering information and opinions about the State’s insurance climate,” Commissioner Redmer said. “In these types of forums, we are reaching out to consumers, producers, business owners and insurance entities to hear opinions, questions and concerns about any recent changes in the insurance markets.”

The Commissioner and his staff will be available for interviews with the media.

Please RSVP to Denise Sellers at denise.sellers@maryland.gov if you plan to attend. If you have questions regarding this meeting, please contact Tracy Imm at tracy.imm@maryland.gov.

Hispanic pastors tour border facility lambasted by AOC and say they are ‘shocked by misinformation’

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez was "full of indignation" when he saw the reports and heard from politicians about the deplorable and inhumane conditions for illegal immigrants at an El Paso County, Texas migrant detention center. But what he saw at the same facility toured by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. with a group of pastors was "drastically different."

The president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the world's largest Hispanic Christian organization, and senior pastor of New Seasons Christian Worship Center in Sacramento shared his firsthand experience touring a migrant detention center during a press briefing Monday.

“I read the reports, saw the news clips. I just wanted to see what was actually happening in order to better enable our efforts to find a fair and a just solution to our broken immigration system," Rodriguez, who has advised President Trump and both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush on immigration reform, noted. “To my surprise, I saw something drastically different from the stories I’ve been hearing in our national discourse. Even as a veteran of immigration advocacy in the U.S., I was shocked at the misinformation of the crisis at the border."

“We found no soiled diapers, no deplorable conditions and no lack of basic necessities,” Rodriguez remarked, adding he specifically asked border agents if they staged the facility in response to the negative press. “They unequivocally denied it — we were witnessing the identical conditions the attorneys saw when they toured the facility days earlier."

In fact, some told him the sources from whom the negative coverage originated “never toured the areas of the facility that we toured” and speculated they might have had political motivations.

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America's Hidden History: Independence Day | America Now

Major fire burns 2 Jim Beam bourbon warehouses in Woodford County

Multiple crews are on the scene of a major fire at a bourbon warehouse facility.

Woodford County Emergency Management Director Drew Chandler tells WKYT two barrel warehouses at a Jim Beam aging facility caught fire around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The facility is on McCracken Pike, near the Franklin County line.

Chandler says one warehouse initially caught fire with flames spreading to the second structure.

Crews were able to put out the flames in the second warehouse. Flames were still visible in the first warehouse five hours after the fire started.

Chandler says approximately 45,000 barrels of bourbon were in the warehouse that was still burning. He speculated crews could be on scene until late Wednesday night.

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A Federal Investigation Into Antifa Attack on Journalist Isn’t Just Justified—It’s Needed

Most Americans can agree that journalists should be safe to report on a protest without being targeted, or worse, physically attacked. It’s part of their job. But over the weekend, we learned that for a conservative, Asian, LGBT journalist, those rules don’t necessarily apply.

Quillette editor and photojournalist Andy Ngo, who is known for his work in covering Antifa, set out on Saturday to cover a rally held by the far-right group Proud Boys, and a counterprotest organized by the far-left group, Antifa.

Late in the afternoon, Ngo tweeted that members of Antifa violently attacked him and stole his camera equipment.

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Let Your Voice Be Heard!

"Straight Pride Parade" organizers get letters filled with glitter — and a bomb squad responded

The organizers of a controversial "Straight Pride Parade" planned in Boston this summer said they received suspicious letters, prompting a response from the FBI, three fire departments and the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad. They turned out to be filled with glitter, CBS Boston reported.

Parade organizer John Hugo said he and two other members of Super Happy Fun America, an advocacy group for "straight rights," received letters they deemed suspicious. They did not open them and called authorities.

"We, of course, called the police, I mean why would we open something like that," Hugo told CBS Boston. "Even if it's nothing in it, it's still terrorism as far as I'm concerned because obviously it's meant to intimidate us."

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Drowning In West Ocean City

 

Ocean City Fire/EMS and dive team are on the scene at Sunset Marina in West Ocean City for a drowning/body recovery.  No more information is available at this time.

He Told A Heroic Story Of Saving Kids During A School Shooting. It Turns Out He Wasn’t There.

In May 2018, as a shooter rampaged Santa Fe High School in Texas, David Briscoe, a substitute English teacher at the school, took heroic actions to save his students. He barricaded the door to his classroom with desks and anything else he could find. He turned out the lights and told his students to “get down.” As he and his students remained silent, they heard the screams of those who were being gunned down elsewhere.

A compelling and harrowing tale, to be sure. Except, none of it happened.

The man who called himself David Briscoe told his story to CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and the Austin American-Statesman. All posted his comments and claims.

But in April of this year, Briscoe tried to tell his story to The Texas Tribune. Briscoe talked about the “very, very loud” beginning of the rampage, and how he would never go back to the school because there’s “blood on the walls.” He said he quit teaching after the shooting and moved to Florida.

The Santa Fe Independent School District, however, told the Tribune that no one by the name of David Briscoe had ever been employed there in any capacity.
 
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Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Back Citizenship Question on Census

Sixty-seven percent of voters said that the government should include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, according to a poll released Tuesday.

According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Tuesday, sixty-seven percent of voters said that the government should be allowed to ask U.S. residents if they are citizens.

The poll arises as the Supreme Court decided last week to block a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

The survey found that Americans across the political spectrum support the citizenship question.

Eighty-eight percent of Republicans, 52 percent of Democrats, and sixty-three percent of independents said that they support a citizenship question on the United States census.

Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) told Bretibart News that most Americans want the citizenship question and it should not be a partisan issue.

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Mother Of Child Drag Queen Complains About Pedophile Sexualizing Her Son

The mother of Child Drag Queen Desmond Naples is appalled that a convicted pedophile finds her son sexy and sexualized his performances.

Tom O’Carroll, convicted in the UK in 2006 for distributing child pornography, and former chairman of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) referred to Desmond in a blog post written last month as a “pretty young boy” and “sexy kid.”

“We do not approve of his statements & have written to wordpressdotcom several times but they have yet to remove it. It is highly inappropriate to speak of minors in this manner, said Wendy Napoles in a statement on Instagram. “What Tom O’Carroll has said is out of our control & we do not know him or associate with him or any other pedophiles or sex offenders.”

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Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook are having issues. Again

Call it a perfect social media-free storm.

Facebook's three social platforms — Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — all experienced outages on Wednesday morning.

According to Down Detector, there were problems around the world. Outages were concentrated in the eastern United States, and parts of Europe and South America.

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2020 US Census to be printed without citizenship question

The feds on Tuesday said 2020 Census forms would be printed without the citizenship question that Team Trump had insisted on — a short-term victory for those opposing its inclusion.

A Justice Department lawyer said in a memo that production would start on the forms without the question, which foes said was designed to intimidate illegal immigrants and green-card holders from participating.

“We can confirm that the decision has been made to print the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire without a citizenship question, and that the printer has been instructed to begin the printing process,” Kate Bailey wrote to the lawyers for plaintiffs challenging the inclusion of the question.

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Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher not guilty of murder in ISIS detainee's death

More than nine months after he was charged with murder, attempted murder and a string of other alleged war crimes tied to a 2017 deployment in Iraq, Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher strolled out of a Naval Base San Diego courtroom a free man, guilty only of appearing in an inappropriate photograph.

Military prosecutors had accused Gallagher, 40, of stabbing to death a seriously wounded Islamic State prisoner of war on May 3, 2017 in a SEAL compound near Mosul, but a military panel composed mostly of combat-tested Marine officers disagreed and acquitted the chief.

Several junior petty officers in Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7 also alleged that he had shot at least two civilians from a sniper perch and later tried to cover up his actions, but jurors tossed those charges, too.

Gallagher’s defense team had savaged the witnesses in court as liars bent on usurping a demanding chief they didn’t like and making sure he failed to receive a Silver Star commendation for battlefield heroism.

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Selective Outrage from Democrats Ignores Reality of Obama-Era Migrant Detentions

The current selective outrage from Democrats today stands in sharp contrast to the deplorable conditions migrants faced in detention facilities during the Obama administration in 2014. The commentary from certain Democrats appears to be more politically motivated than directed at improving conditions for migrants in detention.

In June 2014, Breitbart News Director of Border and Cartel Chronicles Projects Brandon Darby shocked the world with the publication of leaked photos showing the deplorable conditions faced by unaccompanied migrant children and family units. Democrat responses at that time appeared to be more angered that migrants were being detained at all than by the horrible conditions forced upon the migrants by Obama administration policies.

Dozens of photographs published by Breitbart News at that time show migrants packed into small holding cells, often shoulder-to-shoulder. Many of the photos show filthy conditions and some reveal portable toilet units. Other’s show people sleeping on the floor in cold conditions without blankets.

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Mexico Overwhelmed As It Takes On More Illegal Immigrants

Mexican resources are buckling as the country attempts to reach its end of a deal with the Trump administration to take on more illegal immigrants from Central America.

The Mexican government has taken dramatic steps to reduce the flow of illegal aliens entering the United States since its deal with the White House in June. Mexico detained 29,153 immigrants in June alone — the biggest number of any month in the country’s recent history, according to the Washington Post.

Mexico has already detained more than 99,000 migrants this year, and more than 71,000 of them have been deported out of the country.

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Woman licks inside of Blue Bell ice cream tub, returns it to store freezer

BRENHAM, Texas — Blue Bell Creameries is working with police to find a woman who licked the inside of an ice cream tub and then put it back in the store's freezer.

The video, which was posted on social media, has been viewed more than 10 million times.

It's not known when or where the incident took place.

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Contaminated Soil From Caustic Acid Spill Removed From Berlin Park

BERLIN – Contaminated soil has been removed from Berlin Falls Park following a chemical spill last week.

A small section of Berlin Falls Park remains fenced-off this week in the wake of a spill of what is believed to be caustic acid. Mayor Gee Williams issued a statement acknowledging the incident this week.

“A chemical spill was located adjacent to two ponds in Berlin Falls Park on Wednesday, June 27,” Williams said. “The Town of Berlin immediately contacted hazardous materials crews who were in the park Wednesday evening to begin cleaning up the spill. Chesapeake Environmental Services (CES) completed the clean-up of the impacted area by early Friday evening.”

Williams said the town had contacted the Maryland Department of the Environment as well.

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California Democrats push bill allowing noncitizens to hold party leadership roles

California lawmakers proposed a bill last week that, if passed, would give noncitizens the chance to serve in state and local Democratic Party leadership positions.

While current state law limits the ability of noncitizens to participate in party politics, the new bill (SB288) would let them serve as state convention delegates and county committee leaders with the Democratic Party, allowing them to be involved in the party platform and other issues.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who was one of the lawmakers behind SB288, did not return Fox News’ request for comment but speaking to reporters last Friday said that the new bill was meant both as a way for noncitizens to have a say in the policies of the California Democratic Party -- and as a rebuke of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration stance.

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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-democrats-push-state-bill-to-allow-noncitizens-to-hold-party-leadership-roles

Hearse gets pulled over in HOV lane, claims body counts as passenger

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — When you're a traffic cop, you've probably heard everything but as the City of Las Vegas begins enforcing the new HOV lanes, drivers are becoming increasingly creative.

Trooper Smaka pulled over a Chrysler van early Monday and as Smaka confronted the driver on why the van was violating the HOV lane law, the driver said "he doesn't count" referring to the deceased body in the cargo area.

The trooper gave the driver a warning, and told him to move out of the lane.

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Elrich Wants to Put Maryland in the Pot Business

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) told Maryland Matters in an interview last week that Maryland shouldn’t just legalize pot, “They should let Maryland farmers grow, and the state should process and sell. And take every dime of revenues.” According to Elrich, the Colorado model — where the state legalizes the drug and collects sales tax from retail sales — misses an opportunity for much greater revenue.[i]

Demonstrating why he is known as “Comrade Elrich,” the County Executive said:

“What’s the justification for giving [the profits] to a bunch of private guys who are rich, so they will get richer, and then you’ll be sitting there with crumbs in your hand, when you could have all of it?”

Elrich promotes the idea to fund the Kirwan Commission educational spending recommendations. Says Elrich, “I’ve talked with [Senate President Mike] Miller and when he goes through all the things you’re going to have with Kirwan, you’re not going to get to the number they need, even putting legalized pot in there, because all you’re going to do is get the [sales] taxes.”

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House Democrats sue Trump administration over tax returns

House Democrats are taking the Trump administration to court in in an effort to obtain President Trump's tax returns. The House Ways and Means Committee is suing the Treasury Department and IRS, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in D.C.

The Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee is suing the Treasury Department and IRS, as well as their respective leaders, Steve Mnuchin and Charles Rettig, in an escalation of the war between Capitol Hill and the White House.

The IRS insists a law allowing the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to access any tax return is overreaching and not applicable, while House Democrats argue the administration is skirting the law.

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New Text to 9-1-1- System For Wicomico County

Flesh-eating bacteria infects boy in West OC

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