Tag: bahamas
Pay To Play?  GOP Solicited $500K From Ambassador Nominee

Pay To Play? GOP Solicited $500K From Ambassador Nominee

The Republican National Committee attempted to secure a $500,000 donation from billionaire Doug Manchester as his name was in front of the Senate awaiting a confirmation vote for an ambassadorship.

Manchester donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and was offered the position of ambassador to Bahamas on the second day of Trump’s presidency.

CBS News reported on Monday that in September RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel sent Manchester the solicitation as part of what the outlet described as “a possible pay-for-play scheme.”

“Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your family to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?” she wrote.

At the time her email was sent, Manchester’s nomination was still being considered by the Senate. Three days before McDaniel contacted him, Trump tweeted about the stalled nomination.

“I would also like to thank ‘Papa’ Doug Manchester, hopefully the next Ambassador to the Bahamas, for the incredible amount of time, money and passion he has spent on helping to bring safety to the Bahamas,” he wrote, referencing Manchester’s role in assisting aid to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian struck the country.

Manchester’s reply to McDaniel gave the impression that he saw a connection between his money and his nomination.

“As you know I am not supposed to do any, but my wife is sending a contribution for $100,000. Assuming I get voted out of the [Foreign Relations Committee] on Wednesday to the floor we need you to have the majority leader bring it to a majority vote … Once confirmed, I our [sic] family will respond!” he wrote.

When he was confronted by CBS with the document, Manchester denied that there was a pay-for-play implied.

The RNC distanced themselves from the exchange as well.

“Mr. Manchester’s decision to link future contributions to an official action was totally inappropriate,” they told CBS, and said they had returned money donated previously this year from the Manchester family.

Manchester’s nomination was pulled by the Trump administration after he copied staffers for Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jim Risch (R-ID), who both lead committees considering his nomination.

“Risch alerted the White House, which then asked Manchester to withdraw,” CBS reported.

The email from McDaniel was criticized by former Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).

“The timing of that request obviously was not appropriate,” he told CBS.

Corker also said he had concerns about Manchester’s nomination, which was under consideration when he was still in the Senate. He noted that, with Manchester, “we had concerns about judgment, about demeanor, about just the whole reason for taking the job.”

It is not the first controversy stemming from Trump’s inauguration. A top fundraiser for the event is under federal investigation, and key figures like Ivanka Trump have been connected to efforts to profit from it.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Hurricane Matthew Prompts Americans To Flee Coast, Lay In Supplies

Hurricane Matthew Prompts Americans To Flee Coast, Lay In Supplies

By Gabriel Stargardter and Harriet McLeod

MIAMI/CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – People along the southeast U.S. coast fled inland, stocked up on groceries and queued for gasoline on Wednesday as President Barack Obama and state governors urged millions to evacuate or brace for a potentially devastating Hurricane Matthew.

Matthew pummeled the Bahamas and took aim at the United States as the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, appearing likely to hit Florida with powerful winds, storm surges and heavy rain on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

“I want to emphasize to the public – this is a serious storm,” Obama said after a briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “If there is an evacuation order in your community, you need to take it seriously.”

Federal emergency response teams had arrived in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, and were coordinating with state officials and stockpiling supplies, Obama said. Governors in those states have declared states of emergency, enabling them to mobilize the National Guard.

Matthew, a major Category 3 storm, had sustained winds of about 120 mph (195 kph) on Wednesday afternoon, the Miami-based hurricane center said, adding that it was too soon to predict where Matthew was likely to do the most damage.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has ordered an evacuation of more than a million people in coastal areas, about a quarter of whom were expected to comply.

Florida Governor Rick Scott urged those in vulnerable areas to evacuate early, even if orders had not yet been issued, and to use state shelters.

Evacuations, some of them mandatory, were underway in 11 of Florida’s coastal counties, and at least four hospitals had been cleared, Scott said.

“If it turns at the last minute, you are not going to have time to get ready,” Scott said. “You are going to put your life and your family’s life at risk.”

In South Carolina, where the effects of the storm were expected on Saturday morning, drivers reported gridlock and long delays. The city of Charleston handed out sandbags and shovels.

Some gasoline stations posted “out of gas” signs but state officials said they were unaware of any significant shortages.

Lynn Pagliaro, 76, was filling up extra cans of gasoline and loading them into his sport utility vehicle in Charleston, saying he had no choice but to head inland.

“I live at (a retirement community) and they’re shutting off the power,” he said. “I like to get out of town anyway and take the burden off local resources. I was here for Hurricane Hugo. It made a last-minute turn.”

Hugo, a more powerful Category 4 hurricane, slammed into Charleston in September 1989, killing 21 people and causing $7 billion worth of damage on the U.S. mainland, the hurricane center said.

In Miami, the owner of an Exxon gas station in the Brickell district set up cones to form an orderly line of cars that at times stretched an entire block.

“Everybody is filling up. We’re about to run out of gas,” said Jesus Ramirez, 56.

At a nearby Publix supermarket, staff said trade was brisk with customers buying water and canned goods, concerned they might be stuck at home for days. “It’s chaos,” said one employee, who was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Floridians on social media said they were stocking up on groceries and preparing their homes with hurricane shutters.

“The grocery store shelves are practically empty,” said Facebook user Sonja Smith of Boca Raton, Florida.

American Airlines said it was canceling Thursday flights at three south Florida airports and all Friday afternoon flights in and out of Jacksonville.

(Additional reporting by Letitia Stein and Amy Tennery; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Daniel Trotta and Tom Brown)

IMAGE: An aerial photo of downtown Miami as clouds begin to form in advance of Hurricane Matthew, October 5, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Bertha Now A Hurricane Over Atlantic

Bertha Now A Hurricane Over Atlantic

Miami (AFP) — Bertha picked up strength Monday to become the second hurricane of the Atlantic season, but the storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. East Coast, forecasters said.

In its 1500 GMT bulletin, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) put the center of the hurricane about 230 miles east-northeast of Great Abaco Island, in the northern Bahamas.

It was moving towards at 17 miles per hour, with maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 miles per hour and little change in strength expected before Tuesday.

“On the forecast track, Bertha will continue to move away from the Bahamas today and pass about midway between the U.S. east coast and Bermuda on Tuesday,” the NHC said.

It earlier said Bertha was expected to drop up to five inches of rain across eastern portions of the Dominican Republic, as well as the Turks and Caicos through Monday.

Dominican authorities on Sunday declared a red-alert emergency after heavy rains triggered by Bertha toppled trees and flooded the banks of many rivers in the mountainous nation. No injuries were immediately reported.

The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, from June 1 to November 30, was expected to be quieter than usual, the NHC has said, with eight to 13 tropical storms — of which three to six could rise to hurricane strength.

The year’s first hurricane, named Arthur, swiped the Atlantic seaboard over the July 4 holiday weekend, prompting evacuations in some places with its big waves, strong tidal surges, and up to six inches of rain.

Out in the Pacific, another hurricane, dubbed Iselle, was updated to a category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 miles an hour.

Iselle was on track to pass just north of the Hawaiian of Oahu on Thursday — although forecasters expected it to weaken in the coming days.

AFP Photo

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