News article:

Ah, the airport, where modern folk heroes are made. The airport, where that inspired flight attendant did what everyone who's ever been in the spam-in-a-can crush of a flying aluminum tube - where we collectively pretend that a clutch of peanuts is a meal and a seat cushion is a "flotation device" - has always dreamed of doing: pull the lever, blow the door, explode the chute, grab a beer, slide to the tarmac and walk through the gates to the sanity that lies beyond. Not since Rick and Louis disappeared into the Casablanca fog headed for the Free French garrison in Brazzaville has a stroll on the tarmac thrilled so many.

 Who cares that the crazed steward got arrested, pleaded guilty to sundry charges, and probably was a rude, unpleasant SOB to begin with? Bonnie and Clyde were psychopaths, yet what child of the '60s did not fall in love with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty?

 And now three months later, the newest airport hero arrives. His genius was not innovation in getting out, but deconstructing the entire process of getting in. John Tyner, cleverly armed with an iPhone to give YouTube immortality to the encounter, took exception to the TSA guard about to give him the benefit of Homeland Security's newest brainstorm - the upgraded, full-palm, up the groin, all-body pat-down. In a stroke, the young man ascended to myth, or at least the next edition of Bartlett's, warning the agent not to "touch my junk."

 Not quite the 18th-century elegance of "Don't Tread on Me," but the age of Twitter has a different cadence from the age of the musket. What the modern battle cry lacks in archaic charm, it makes up for in full-body syllabic punch.

 Don't touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter. Don't touch my junk, Obamacare - get out of my doctor's examining room, I'm wearing a paper-thin gown slit down the back. Don't touch my junk, Google - Street View is cool, but get off my street. Don't touch my junk, you airport security goon - my package belongs to no one but me, and do you really think I'm a Nigerian nut job preparing for my 72-virgin orgy by blowing my johnson to kingdom come?

 In "Up in the Air," that ironic take on the cramped freneticism of airport life, George Clooney explains why he always follows Asians in the security line:

 "They pack light, travel efficiently, and they got a thing for slip-on shoes, God love 'em."

 "That's racist!"

 "I'm like my mother. I stereotype. It's faster."

 That riff is a crowd-pleaser because everyone knows that the entire apparatus of the security line is a national homage to political correctness. Nowhere do more people meekly acquiesce to more useless inconvenience and needless indignity for less purpose. Wizened seniors strain to untie their shoes; beltless salesmen struggle comically to hold up their pants; 3-year-olds scream while being searched insanely for explosives - when everyone, everyone, knows that none of these people is a threat to anyone.

 The ultimate idiocy is the full-body screening of the pilot. The pilot doesn't need a bomb or box cutter to bring down a plane. All he has to do is drive it into the water, like the EgyptAir pilot who crashed his plane off Nantucket while intoning "I rely on God," killing all on board.

 But we must not bring that up. We pretend that we go through this nonsense as a small price paid to ensure the safety of air travel. Rubbish. This has nothing to do with safety - 95 percent of these inspections, searches, shoe removals and pat-downs are ridiculously unnecessary. The only reason we continue to do this is that people are too cowed to even question the absurd taboo against profiling - when the profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known. So instead of seeking out terrorists, we seek out tubes of gel in stroller pouches.

 The junk man's revolt marks the point at which a docile public declares that it will tolerate only so much idiocy. Metal detector? Back-of-the-hand pat? Okay. We will swallow hard and pretend airline attackers are randomly distributed in the population.

 But now you insist on a full-body scan, a fairly accurate representation of my naked image to be viewed by a total stranger? Or alternatively, the full-body pat-down, which, as the junk man correctly noted, would be sexual assault if performed by anyone else?

 This time you have gone too far, Big Bro'. The sleeping giant awakes. Take my shoes, remove my belt, waste my time and try my patience. But don't touch my junk.

 letters@charleskrauthammer.com ||||| Airport scanners, pat-downs and tens of thousands of new federal employees have made searches too intrusive but haven’t made us any safer. Time to fix this broken system. By Robert W. Poole, Jr.

 “If you touch my junk,” John Tyner told a TSA agent who was frisking him, “I’ll have you arrested.”

 Welcome to the security theater of the United States.

 In its rush to improve airport security following the tragic 9/11 attacks, Congress created a monster. President George W. Bush and Congress federalized airport security in 2001, forming a massive new government bureaucracy that has now reportedly grown to more than 67,000 employees.

 These days, those thousands of Transportation Security Administration employees are conducting invasive searches, making 3-year-olds scream while they are patted down for weapons, frisking nuns, looking at naked images of your body, and forcing you to throw away perfectly good liquids.

 And yet our airports are still far from secure. As USA Today reported in 2008, “A November GAO report said investigators repeatedly smuggled liquid explosives and detonators past airport checkpoints in 2006. An internal TSA report said screeners in Los Angeles and Chicago airports missed fake bombs on agents in more than 60 percent of tests in 2006.”

 And the privacy-invading new scanners being installed at airports won’t automatically fix that. A government report found it “remains unclear” if the scanners now being installed would have caught the underwear bomber last Christmas.

 People are outraged at the TSA’s aggressive pat-downs and privacy-invading scans. Yet the TSA continues to foolishly pretend that everyone boarding a plane is equally likely to try to blow it up. This equal-risk assumption has caused knee-jerk reactions to the shoe-bomber (take your shoes off), the liquids bombers (small toiletries, no liquids through the checkpoint), the underwear bomber (body scans and pat-downs). Heaven help us the first time a would-be suicide bomber is caught with explosives hidden in a body cavity. By the TSA’s logic, they would have to make body-cavity searches routine for all of us.

 The TSA continues to foolishly pretend that everyone boarding a plane is equally likely to try to blow it up. (David Goldman / AP Photo)

 This nonsense needs to stop, and that means shifting to a risk-based screening system. Passengers should be divided into three risk groups and dealt with accordingly: high, medium, and low-risk.

 Low-risk travelers would be those about whom solid information exists that they are not a threat to aviation. Obvious candidates include cockpit crews and those already holding government security clearances. By the same token, frequent air travelers should be able to volunteer for trusted traveler aviation-security clearances by submitting to a rigorous background check. If you pass, you get a biometric ID card, present it at the airport proving you’re the person who was already cleared and go through minimal security.

 In its rush to improve airport security following the tragic 9/11 attacks, Congress created a monster.

 High-risk travelers would be those on any of the various watch lists maintained by the Department of Homeland Security—not just the current TSA no-fly and selectee lists. Yes, this would be a form of “profiling,” but not based on race, ethnicity, or religion. Rather, it would be evidence-based profiling, using intelligence information and previous travel history information.

 • Conor Friedersdorf: Who Pats Down Your Privates?Everyone else would be considered medium-risk. They would face old-fashioned checkpoint screening, fully clothed (including shoes and jackets)—walk-through metal detectors and two-dimensional X-ray of their carry-ons. And as with the low-risk people, a small fraction would be randomly selected for secondary screening. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The "if-you-touch-my-junk" guy is gaining traction as the poster boy of the anti-body-scan movement. Charles Krauthammer takes up his cause today, declaring that "don't touch my junk" is, in fact, "the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter." It applies to everything from Obamacare to Google Street View. Maybe not as elegant as Don't Tread on Me, but perfect in the "age of Twitter," he writes in the Washington Post. More to the point, it highlights the "idiocy" of the TSA strategy. Until we get over this "absurd taboo against profiling"—especially "when the profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known"—we're all going to suffer. That includes pilots, who wouldn't exactly need a box cutter to take down a plane, he points out. Robert Poole in the Daily Beast also cites the touch-my-junk guy (real name John Tyner) in calling for an end to the scanner "nonsense." His solution involves "evidence-based profiling" that divides travelers into high, medium, and low risks. Click here for details on that.


Article:

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Memphis woman said she feels betrayed after her date stole her car and then used it to go on a date with her God sister.

 As far as nights out go, Faith Pugh said the one she had Saturday with Kelton Griffin was disappointing from the beginning.

 She said when he showed up, he didn’t even bring his own car.

 “I don’t know who dropped him off. He just got dropped off,” Pugh said.

 Pugh said she knew Griffin from their years in high school, but hadn’t spoken to him much lately until he reached out and suggested dinner.

 “He just out of the blue texted me and asked me to go out,” Pugh said.

 They took Pugh’s black Volvo, but then Pugh said Griffin couldn’t decide where he wanted to take her.

 They ended up stopping at an Airport Area gas station.

 “He asked me could I go in the gas station for him to get a cigar,” she said.

 It turns out that was a big mistake.

 “He drove off. I came outside and my car was gone,” Pugh said.

 Pugh said her mother picked her up, but then she got a surprising text from her God sister, saying Griffin had asked her out.

 “I said, ‘Okay, well send me the address to where you at, and I’m on my way. Tell him to come on,’” she said.

 Pugh said they used the GPS on her God sister’s phone to tail Griffin before losing him, but then found him again at a drive-in movie theater on Summer Avenue.

 Pugh said he was in her car with her God sister.

 “He let her drive, so she drove him to the drive-in. He didn’t even have any money. She actually paid their way to get in the drive-in just so I could get my car back,” Pugh said.

 Police arrested Griffin that night.

 It’s not his first arrest.

 In 2016, police said he and two other men ate out before robbing a restaurant.

 If he’s looking for company for his next meal out, Pugh said he needn’t look to her.

 “I hope he’s in jail for a long time. I never want to speak to him ever again,” she said. ||||| MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC)-- A man is accused of stealing a car on a date and using it to take another woman on a date.

 A woman reported her car stolen Saturday after Kelton Griffin went to her house to go on a date.

 According to a police report, Griffin stopped at Marathon station on Winchester Road and asked the woman to get him some cigars. While she was in the building, he drove off in her Volvo.

 WMC is reporting that the victim said she tried to contact Griffin but he would not answer her calls and deleted her from social media.

 Later in the evening, another woman texted the victim that Griffin had asked her on a date.

 The victim relayed information about the date and led police to the Summer Drive-In theater.

 Officers found Griffin in the driver seat of the Volvo and took him into custody.

 Griffin is charged with theft of property. |||||
What is a summary?

– From the annals of classy guys: A Tennesee man is accused of stealing a woman's car to use on a date with her godsister that same night, the Commercial Appeal reports. Kelton Griffin, 21, allegedly took out Faith Pugh last weekend in her black Volvo because he had no wheels himself. "He just out of the blue texted me and asked me to go out," Pugh tells WREG. And when they did, she says, "he asked me could I go in the gas station for him to get a cigar." Emerging from said station, she saw no Griffin and no car. Picked up by her mother, Pugh says she got a text from her godsister—saying Griffin had asked her on a date. Pugh and her mom apparently followed them via GPS on her godsister's phone, and found the pair watching a movie at a drive-in. "He let her drive," says Pugh, "so she drove him to the drive-in. He didn't even have any money. She actually paid their way to get in the drive-in just so I could get my car back." Griffin was soon arrested by Memphis police and charged with property theft, per Lex 18. Police say he's been arrested before, for robbing a restaurant with two other men in 2016. Seems Pugh isn't exactly waiting for his call: "I hope he's in jail for a long time," she says. "I never want to speak to him ever again."


Summarize this article:

Closure for mountaineer as remains of friends lost in Himalayas 30 years ago found

 Published on 10 December, 2018

 A Kirk official who spent weeks searching for two friends who disappeared in the Himalayas more than 30 years ago has spoken of his relief after their bodies were finally found.

 Steve Aisthorpe, 55, was part of an expedition to Pumori on the Nepal-Tibet border with Kristinn Rúnarsson and Thorsteinn Gudjonsson who were last seen alive at a height of 21,650ft on October 18, 1988.

 Their remains were discovered last month by an American mountaineer at the snout of the glacier below the climb route which suggests they fell down the face, into the crevasse at its base.

 Nepali tea break - L-R - Kristinn Rúnarsson and Thorsteinn Gudjonsson.

 Mr Aisthorpe, a mission development worker for the Church of Scotland, said the positioning of the ropes implied that his friends, who were both 27, had either reached, or almost reached, the ridge at the top of the face when disaster struck.

 He said it is likely that the remains were slowly carried down the mountain by a retreating glacier over the last 30 years.

 The bodies were brought back to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, by a group of local climbers and a cremation service was attended by relatives of the men who took their ashes home to Iceland.

 Faith

 Mr Aisthorpe of Kincraig in the Highlands said: “The discovery of the remains of Thorsteinn and Kristinn after so many years have inevitably brought many emotions to the surface for all who knew and loved these wonderful guys.

 “But it has also brought people together and I pray will help with greater closure and, in time, peace.

 “My diary of the expedition reminds me of how, as someone who had only recently embraced the Christian faith, I found comfort and guidance as I turned to God in prayer.

 “In the midst of the desperate tasks of searching and then leaving the mountain alone, the words of a Psalm were a personal reality - ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble’.

 “I plan to go to Reykjavík in Iceland to meet their families soon and pay my respects.”

 Kristinn Rúnarsson by a lone red tent at an Pumori expedition camp.

 Mr Aisthorpe said further clues about what exactly happened to the men could emerge because two camera films were found in a pocket of a jacket and have been sent to a specialist in Australia for development.

 He became friends with Thorsteinn in 1987 after they were introduced by a mutual friend who was also a mountaineering enthusiast.

 Pumori, which is nearly 23,500ft high, is one of Mount Everest’s more challenging neighbours.

 The four man expedition, which included Jon Geirsson, established a base camp, 17,388ft below a glacial lake west of Kala Patthar.

 Over a 12 day period, the group moved on to set up a high camp on the upper Changri Shar glacier and it was during this time that Mr Geirsson fell ill and decided to return home.

 Mr Aisthorpe had also begun to suffer from a gastric flu and on October 16, 1988, he descended to the village of Pheriche to consult the doctor there.

 He was told that it would take a week for him to recover so he sent a message back to the high camp suggesting that Thorsteinn and Kristinn “should feel free” to make a summit attempt without him.

 They set off and were never seen again.

 Kristinn Rúnarsson on the lower part of West face of Pumori. Steve Aisthorpe.

 Recalling the tragic episode, Mr Aisthorpe, authorof The Invisible Church, said: “I’ve never felt as alone as the day I arrived back at our high camp.

 “As I worked my way upwards, I desperately hoped that Kristinn and Torsteinn had descended safely and were now lying in their sleeping bags in the tiny red tent camp.

 “As it came into view, I called out at the top of my voice - my calls echoed from the rocks and ice before fading.

 “But the silence was palpable.

 “Even as I finally reached and then unzipped the tent, I still nurtured a hope that the boys would be lying there, comatose, sleeping off the climb of their lives.

 “But it was empty and I scanned our route up the steep face above, but nothing moved.

 “It was then that my guts started to twist and a cold sweat began.”

 Steve Aisthorpe.

 Mr Aisthorpe said he summoned help and a helicopter search was finally launched five days after the men were last seen.

 “In 1988, there were very few helicopters in Nepal and those that existed were not capable of the kinds of searches and rescues that take place in the Himalayas these days,” he added.

 “I was onboard and we soared above the site of our high camp and began to scrutinise the lower part of our route.

 “Looking down into the deep crevasse that guarded the base of the west face, I expected to see a flash of red or yellow Goretex but there was nothing.

 “A couple of weeks later I left the area, convinced that Kristinn and Torsteinn must have fallen somewhere high on the face, and their remains swallowed by the cavernous crevasse below.

 “This was what I explained to their families and friends on a visit to Reykjavík shortly after my return from Nepal.”

 West face of Pumori taken from helicopter during search in October, 1988.

 Described by their friends as a breath of fresh air, Thorsteinn and Kristinn were considered to be Iceland's leading exponents of Himalayan climbing at the time and well known for their open, easy-going personalities.

 Kristinn's girlfriend was four months pregnant when he died.

 His son, also called Kristinn, is the spitting image of his father and was part of the party that went to Kathmandu for the cremation service.

 The tragedy did not put Mr Aisthorpe off Nepal or mountaineering and over the following few years he returned to the country each spring and autumn to guide on some of the smaller peaks.

 He became increasingly interested in the country and its people and moved there with his wife Liz and two sons, John and Scott, in 1995 and stayed for 12 years.

 The couple worked with the International Nepal Fellowship (INF), a Christian charity involved in health and community development.

 Steve Aisthorpe has also spent time in Afghanistan.

 The Church of Scotland is one of the founding partners of the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) charity which was established in 1954.

 Generous Kirk members have raised nearly £476,000 to help rebuild shattered communities in the Dhading region following a devastating earthquake in 2015.

 UMN director Joel Hafvenstein said it would have been “impossible” for the charity and its local partners to help thousands of people if it wasn’t for the Kirk’s Let Us Build a House campaign.

 He said the money had made a “tremendous, transformational difference”.

 It has enabled UMN and its partners to build 35 earthquake resistant schools with 48 blocks, bio-gas plants, eight community water taps, 350 household toilets, toilet blocks for schools and health centres, repair vital water irrigation systems and mini-hydro plants, reinstate 33 miles of roads and paths and kit out schools with computer suites.

 The Kathmandu headquartered organisation has built five earthquake resistant demonstration houses across the Dhading region to inspire people to use the same building techniques and materials in their own reconstruction projects.

 Nearly 600 masons have been specially trained to assist them.

 All still images supplied by Steve Aisthorpe. ||||| A Scottish mountaineer who spent weeks searching for two friends who disappeared in the Himalayas more than 30 years ago has spoken of finally feeling a sense of closure after their bodies were recently found.

 Steve Aisthorpe, 55, was with Kristinn Rúnarsson and Þorsteinn Guðjónsson on an expedition to Pumori on the Nepal-Tibet border when he fell ill partway through the expedition and told his friends to go on without him.

 Rúnarsson and Guðjónsson were last seen alive at a height of 21,650ft on 18 October 1988. Their remains were found last month by an American mountaineer at the end of a glacier below the climb route, which suggests they fell into the crevasse at its base.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Steve Aisthorpe, now 55, fell ill part of the way through the expedition. Photograph: Steve Aisthorpe/PA

 Aisthorpe, a mission development worker for the Church of Scotland, said: “The discovery of the remains of Þorsteinn and Kristinn after so many years have inevitably brought many emotions to the surface for all who knew and loved these wonderful guys.”

 The bodies were brought back to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, by a group of local climbers. A cremation service was attended by relatives of the men who took their ashes home to Iceland. Aisthorpe said that Rúnarsson’s fiancee was pregnant with his child at the time of the tragedy and he now has a son who is 30 years old. His son was one of the family members at Kathmandu.

 Aisthorpe spoke of his distress as he spent weeks searching for two friends. He said: “I’ve never felt as alone as the day I arrived back at our high camp. As I worked my way upwards, I desperately hoped that Kristinn and Þorsteinn had descended safely and were now lying in their sleeping bags in the tiny red tent camp.

 “As it came into view, I called out at the top of my voice – my calls echoed from the rocks and ice before fading. But the silence was palpable.”

 He eventually reached their tent, but found it to be empty. “It was then that my guts started to twist and a cold sweat began,” he said.

 Aisthorpe said he summoned help and a helicopter search was finally launched five days after the men were last seen. Aisthorpe left a couple of weeks later after no signs of his friends were found.

 He hadn’t heard anything about what happened to his two friends until three weeks ago when an Icelandic filmmaker, who was already in touch with Aisthorpe about making a documentary about his experiences, called him. “It was him who contacted me while I was in holiday in Morocco, about three weeks go, and said have you heard the news,” Aisthorpe said. “What ran through my mind first of all was: ‘Is it really their bodies?’”

 The remains were transported to Kathmandu and the authorities contacted Aisthorpe asking if he had any photographs of Rúnarsson’s and Guðjónsson shortly before they died. Aisthorpe sent some through and the authorities were able to identify some articles of clothing and equipment.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘The silence was palpable’: the empty tent belonging to the missing mountaineers. Photograph: Steve Aisthorpe/PA

 “The two things that’s happened over the last three weeks is closure and the other thing is that it’s brought us all together again,” he said. Aisthorpe is planning to go to Reykjavík in Iceland soon to meet their families and pay his respects.

 He added his faith was “vital” in helping him make sense of the tragedy. “This week, I dug out my diary from that period and it was interesting to see how vital my faith was at that time. I recorded in my diary the sense of loving presence and how prayer and what I was reading in the scriptures on particular days really seemed to speak to the situation,” he said. |||||

– The bodies of those who succumb to the Himalayan mountains likely stay on the slopes forever—it's often too difficult, dangerous, and costly to retrieve them. That fact didn't stop Steve Aisthorpe of Scotland from his recent mission on the Nepal-Tibet border: to get "closure" on the fate of Kristinn Runarsson and Thorsteinn Gudjonsson, friends and fellow climbers who vanished during a 1988 expedition with him. Aisthorpe, who the Guardian notes found out just a few weeks ago his friends' bodies had been seen at the end of a glacier on Pumori mountain, recalls on the Church of Scotland's website how his group started as four climbers in October of that year, though one of the men fell ill early on and dropped out. Aisthorpe, then 26, came down with the flu, and so he climbed back down on Oct. 16, 1988, to seek medical attention. When Aisthorpe realized he was in no condition to attempt the climb, he sent a message back to Runarsson and Gudjonsson, both 27 and from Iceland: "Feel free" to go for the summit without him. The two men were never seen alive again after Oct. 18. When Aisthorpe finally felt well enough to head back to the last camp where he'd left his friends, "my calls echoed from the rocks and ice before fading. … the silence was palpable." Fast-forward 30 years, when an American climber spotted their bodies just last month; a group of local climbers brought the remains down. Among those at the cremation ceremony in Kathmandu for the men was Runarsson’s 30-year-old son; Runarsson’s fiancee had been pregnant when the father of her child was lost to Pumori. More on their tale here. (Two highly experienced climbers died on El Capitan over the summer.)


Write a summary based on this article:

“I need a bill that gives this country tremendous border security,” President Donald Trump said. “I have to have that.” | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images White House, in reversal, embraces Dreamer legislation The president’s comments came hours after he seemed to disavow a compromise immigration bill.

 The White House on Friday evening walked back Donald Trump’s criticism of a House GOP bill shielding Dreamers from deportation, saying in a statement that the president would sign the legislation.

 After a daylong, dizzying back-and-forth over Trump’s position, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Trump misunderstood a question on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning when he argued he would not sign a “moderate” immigration proposal scheduled for a vote next week.

 Story Continued Below

 Many on Capitol Hill — and even in the White House — believed Trump was referring to immigration legislation released Thursday, the product of weeks of negotiations between centrist Republicans, conservatives and GOP leaders. But Shah argued that Trump was instead knocking a proposal backed by moderates and Democrats that would codify the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without any significant immigration crackdown.

 “The President fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the House leadership bill," Shah said, referring to a conservative DACA plan that's expected to fail next week, as well as the compromise bill released Thursday.

 Trump, he added, "would sign either."

 Trump’s apparent embrace of the bill is a boon to House leaders hoping to pass the text next week. Conservatives need the president to give them cover to vote for a bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

 The vote is still expected to fall short because of opposition from immigration hardliners and some GOP centrists. But Trump's apparent criticism Friday morning would have led to an embarrassing spectacle in which only a few dozen lawmakers supported the plan, some leadership sources speculated.

 Trump's earlier comments Friday might still spook skittish lawmakers, making passage difficult. The president has big-footed senior White House officials before, catching them off-guard and reversing official White House positions without so much as a warning. Republicans will spend all next week fretting about a repeat of such a situation.

 The White House's support of the bill isn't entirely surprising. The new House proposal mirrors Trump's own framework to increase security, curb legal immigration and shield Dreamers from deportation. Not only that, top White House officials, including immigration hawk Stephen Miller, were working behind the scenes to whip support for the document. And the White House had drafted a policy statement saying the president would sign the bill.

 But Trump heard conservative criticism of the proposal on TV, according to senior Republicans, and swatted the proposal down Friday morning.

 “I’m looking at both of them,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” in an interview Friday morning from the White House lawn. “I certainly wouldn’t sign the more moderate one.”

 Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 Hours later, the president added to the confusion with a tweet that demanded provisions that the compromise bill seemingly includes. “Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain, and go to Merit Based Immigration. Go for it!“ he wrote.

 Before Shah's clarification, the president's statement appeared to have dealt a fatal blow to the bill. GOP leaders knew few Republicans would back a bill Trump rejected, so they delayed a planned vote-counting session slated for Friday.

 House Majority Whip Steve Scalise even threatened to withdraw his support for the package. His office told Breitbart that the Louisiana Republican, who wants to be speaker someday, would not whip support for any immigration bill the president opposed.

 After the morning interview, GOP leaders and White House aides scrambled to get Trump back on message. And early on, senior Republicans predicted that Trump would not only walk back his comments but fully endorse the compromise bill. His comments on TV, they said, left him enough wiggle room to say he was discussing a Democratic proposal that did not include his wall.

 That's exactly what the White House did — it just took more than eight hours.

 Before the White House clarification, however, some conservatives applauded the president.

 "He's correctly judging the American people's opinion on this subject; we're not there yet," said Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). Asked what more he needed in the compromise bill, Perry seemed aghast: "Enforcement! Enforcement! We can't keep on having these half-measures that don't fix the problem."

 Trump's initial comments came after Ryan and other members of the House leadership team told reporters that they’d described their bill to the president and he was “excited” about it. Ryan has stressed to reporters that he has been working "hand in glove" with the administration in writing the bill.

 Indeed, senior White House policy adviser Miller came to Capitol Hill earlier this week to encourage wary conservatives fearful of backlash from the base to support the plan. And GOP leaders in meetings talked about the possibility of Trump as well as the White House helping them whip support.

 Had the White House not reversed Trump's position, GOP leaders would have found themselves backed into a corner, having to ask Republicans to vote against their own president on a controversial topic that divides the party most.

 Leaders told worried Republicans to keep calm on Friday and that a statement clearing things up would eventually follow.

 "We're waiting for some clarification on what that really means," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). "We don't know."

 Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who helped craft the compromise bill, said he was told that Trump "will sign it."

 "I think once he has a chance to digest it, he will sign it," Diaz-Balart said, though he declined to say who told him that, and cautioned that it would have to be verified with the White House. Diaz-Balart admitted Republicans "have a big problem" if Congress backs a compromise package and he vetoes it. "We need the president to look at it, and look at in detail... But I am hoping we can get his support."

 Trump's initial remarks seemed to be a rebuke to Ryan and his team, who’ve spent hours huddled in the speaker’s office trying to hash out an immigration bill that moderate Republicans from districts with big Latino populations and conservatives could back. Both sides have given ground in the talks: Moderates begrudgingly accepted strict enforcement measures, while conservatives for the first time were open to providing citizenship for Dreamers.

 What’s more, the GOP plan reflected Trump’s own “four pillars” proposal that includes a pathway to citizenship, an end to the diversity visa lottery program, curbs on family migration and $25 billion for the border wall. It would also increase border security and interior enforcement.

 Trump's rejection of the bill would have been a huge blow to moderate Republicans who this spring forced the immigration matter to the forefront. Banding with Democrats, they threatened to take over the floor, circumvent their own party and pass legislation to shield Dreamers from deportation — unless Republicans could agree on their own plan to address the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

 That set off the intense negotiating sessions that led to the compromise bill released Thursday.

 John Bresnahan contributed to this report. ||||| FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2017, file photo, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., speaks at a rally in Washington. Merkley, while trying to gain access to a federal facility housing immigrant children in Texas near... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2017, file photo, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., speaks at a rally in Washington. Merkley, while trying to gain access to a federal facility housing immigrant children in Texas near the Mexico border and talk to a supervisor was turned away after police were summoned. (AP Photo/Manuel... (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ignited eleventh-hour confusion Friday over Republican efforts to push immigration legislation through the House, saying he wouldn't sign a "moderate" package. The White House later walked back the comments, formally endorsing the measure and saying Trump had been confused.

 The campaign-season tumult erupted as GOP leaders put finishing touches on a pair of Republican bills: a hard-right proposal and a middle-ground plan negotiated by the party's conservative and moderate wings, with White House input. Only the compromise bill would open a door to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and reduce the separation of children from their parents when families are detained crossing the border — a practice that has drawn bipartisan condemnation in recent days.

 "I'm looking at both of them," Trump said when asked about the proposals during an impromptu interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," adding: "I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate one."

 The comment prompted widespread confusion on the Hill and jeopardized Republicans' plans for votes on both bills next week. Leaders released a schedule for next week that included "possible consideration" of immigration legislation.

 Earlier this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan had told colleagues that Trump supported the middle-ground package. White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner who has been accused of trying to sabotage immigration deals in the past, told conservative lawmakers at a closed-door meeting that the president backed that plan.

 But a senior White House official later said Trump had misspoken and believed his Fox interviewer was asking about an effort by GOP moderates — abandoned for now — that would have forced votes on a handful of bills and likely led to House passage of liberal-leaning versions party leaders oppose. The official, who was not authorized to discuss internal conversations by name, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

 The interviewer had specifically asked whether Trump supported a conservative bill penned by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., o or "something more moderate," and asked whether he'd sign "either one."

 The White House later put out a statement formally endorsing the measure.

 "The President fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the House leadership bill," said White House spokesman Raj Shah, adding that Trump would sign "either the Goodlatte or the leadership bills."

 Trump also weighed in by tweet, writing that any bill "MUST HAVE" provisions financing his proposed wall with Mexico and curbing the existing legal immigration system. Those items are included in the middle-ground package.

 "Go for it! WIN!" Trump wrote in a tweet that stopped short of explicitly endorsing the compromise plan.

 Despite their policy clashes, both Republican factions have been eager for the votes to be held as a way to show constituents where they stand. In addition, party leaders want to move on from an issue that divides the GOP, complicating their effort to retain House control in November's elections.

 The more conservative measure is seen as virtually certain to lose. Party leaders have nurtured hopes that the compromise version could pass, but Trump's backing would be crucial. His opposition would be an embarrassing and likely fatal setback.

 Conservatives are leery of legislation protecting from deportation immigrants who arrived illegally, calling it amnesty.

 After Trump made his comments on Fox, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the GOP's No. 2 vote counter, told reporters that leaders were seeking "clarity" from the White House. He suggested that plans for votes next week were being reconsidered.

 "House Republicans are not going to take on immigration without the support and endorsement of President Trump," McHenry said.

 Democrats are expected to solidly oppose both GOP bills, giving Republicans little leeway for losing support.

 "When the president says he's not going to sign it, just shows how low his standards are," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

 The compromise bill would mandate that children with families seized entering the U.S. be kept together for as long as they are in the custody of the Homeland Security Department, which staffs border facilities and enforces immigration laws. Critics say family separation would still be possible because another agency could take parents being prosecuted into custody.

 Spotlighting the political sensitivity of the issue, congressional Republicans have distanced themselves from the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border. The White House has cited the Bible in defending its "zero tolerance" approach to illegal border crossings.

 Both the conservative and compromise bills would provide money for Trump's long-sought border wall with Mexico. Each contains other strict border security provisions, and would end a visa lottery and tighten rules that let U.S. citizens sponsor relatives for legal status.

 Both bills, which are still undergoing changes, contain provisions aimed at helping young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, often called Dreamers.

 Hundreds of thousands of them have been protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Trump has terminated that program, though federal courts have temporarily kept it functioning. DACA has let the immigrants live and work in the U.S. in renewable two-year increments, but does not give them permanent legal status.

 The latest version of the conservative bill would extend DACA protections for renewable six-year periods. They could later apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship.

 An expanded number of children who arrived legally with parents who have obtained work visas would also be covered.

 ___

 Associated Press reporters Lisa Mascaro, Matthew Daly and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. |||||

– The White House has walked back comments made by President Trump on Friday that he would not sign a "moderate" immigration reform bill scheduled for a vote next week. A spokesman said Trump had misunderstood the question and does indeed back the measure, reports Politico. The tumult erupted as GOP leaders put the finishing touches on a pair of Republican bills: a hard-right proposal and a middle-ground plan negotiated by the party's conservative and moderate wings, with White House input. Only the compromise bill would open a door to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children ("Dreamers"), and reduce the separation of children from their parents when families are detained crossing the border. When asked about the bills Friday in a Fox News interview, Trump said, "I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate one." But a senior White House official later said Trump had misspoken and believed his Fox interviewer was asking about an effort by GOP moderates—abandoned for now—that would have forced votes on a handful of bills and likely led to House passage of liberal-leaning versions party leaders oppose, per the AP. The White House later put out a statement formally endorsing the "moderate" measure now in the works. Earlier this week, Paul Ryan had said the president was on board with it. Trump also weighed in by tweet, writing that any bill "MUST HAVE" provisions financing his proposed wall with Mexico and curbing the existing legal immigration system. Those items are included in the middle-ground package. Democrats are expected to solidly oppose both GOP bills, giving Republicans little leeway for losing support.


Write an article based on this summary:

– Bowe Bergdahl will be back in the US late tonight. Both AP and CNN quote defense officials as saying he will be transferred overnight from a military base in Germany to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. The reports offer no more details on Bergdahl's recuperation after being held five years by the Taliban. The issue of his return came up publicly yesterday when defense chief Chuck Hagel testified before Congress, and Republican Jeff Miller pressed him on why Bergdahl was still in Germany, notes the Idaho Statesman. “Why hasn’t he been returned to the United States?" asked Miller, who seemed to be suggesting that the Pentagon was keeping Bergdahl overseas to shield him from questions. "We have seriously wounded soldiers that have returned to the United States almost immediately after they are stabilized. ... You’re trying to tell me that he’s being held in Landstuhl, Germany because of his medical condition?” Hagel: “Congressman, I hope you’re not implying anything other than that. The fact— Miller: "I'm just asking the question." Hagel: “I’m gonna give you an answer too. I don’t like the implication of the question. He’s being held there because our medical professionals don’t believe he’s ready ... to take the next step to rehabilitation.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. defense official says released captive Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is scheduled to arrive at a military medical center in Texas on Friday.

 FILE - In this file image taken from video obtained from Voice Of Jihad Website, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, stands with a Taliban... (Associated Press)

 The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been publicly announced, declined to provide details. Officials had previously said the intention was for Bergdahl to be reunited with his family at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

 Bergdahl was released from Taliban captivity on May 31 and has been recuperating at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany since June 1. He was deployed in eastern Afghanistan when he disappeared in June 2009. ||||| Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo was a member of the House when it approved two articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton, and a member of the Senate during the trial. He voted to impeach. “Our entire legal system is dependent on our ability to find the truth,” Crapo said then. ||||| Story highlights Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is en route and expected to arrive in Texas

 The Daily Beast publishes letters from the soldier

 Bergdahl has been recovering at a military hospital in Germany

 He was released last month after five years in Taliban captivity

 Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is on a flight from Europe and is scheduled to arrive in San Antonio, Texas, within hours.

 Bergdahl had been in a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, since he was released in Afghanistan after five years of Taliban captivity.

 He is expected to be taken to a military hospital in the Texas city for continued rehabilitation.

 "I can confirm that he is now en route to the United States aboard a U.S. military aircraft, having departed Ramstein Air Base earlier this afternoon," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Thursday. "He will arrive in San Antonio early tomorrow morning, where he will continue the reintegration process at Brooke Army Medical Center."

 "Our first priority is making sure that Sgt. Bergdahl continues to get the care and support he needs."

 Previously, three U.S. officials had told CNN that the soldier would arrive in Texas at midnight local time (1 a.m. ET).

 Bergdahl was exchanged on May 31 for five Taliban figures detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 The swap sparked a controversy that touches on a range of volatile issues -- ending the Afghanistan war, releasing Guantanamo detainees, accusations by members of Bergdahl's unit that he deserted -- and it comes in an election year that has further widened the partisan divide in Washington.

 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has defended the deal, saying it was Bergdahl's last and best chance to get out. Critics have said the cost of the swap was too high, and that Congress should have been notified in advance.

 Slow recovery

 Bergdahl is "continuing to improve every day," Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said this week. The solider had not spoken with his family.

 The "decision to speak with the family is a decision the returnee has to make when he or she is emotionally in the right place to make the phone call," Warren said.

 Bergdahl went missing on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan's Paktika province, where he was deployed with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

 An Army fact-finding investigation conducted in the months after his disappearance concluded he left his outpost deliberately and of his own free will, according to an official who was briefed on the report.

 The Army has no definitive finding that Bergdahl deserted because that would require knowing his intent -- something officials couldn't learn without talking to the soldier, a U.S. military official told CNN.

 As Bergdahl recovers, details are slowly emerging about the conditions he endured during five years of captivity.

 Citing an American official, The New York Times has reported that Bergdahl told medical staff that the box he was kept in for weeks at a time was pitch black and like a shark cage.

 CNN has reported that Bergdahl has said he was kept in a small box after trying to escape, according to a senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of not being identified. The official also told CNN that Bergdahl suffers from psychological trauma caused by physical abuse.

 In his own words

 The exact conditions of his captivity are not known, and Bergdahl has not spoken publicly since his release.

 But on Thursday, The Daily Beast published two letters the solider reportedly wrote to his family while imprisoned by the Taliban. The website obtained the letters by "sources in contact with the Taliban." It confirmed their authenticity with U.S. and Western officials.

 In the letters -- dated 2012 and 2013 -- Bergdahl discusses his life and partially explains why he disappeared in 2009.

 "To my friends & family, in regards to the circomestance (sic) here, I am as well as can be here," he wrote. "I am given food and drink."

 Bergdahl had harsh words for Army leadership.

 "Leadership was lacking, if not non-existent. The conditions were bad and looked to be getting worse for the men that where actuly (sic) the ones risking thier (sic) lives from attack," he wrote.

 "If this letter makes it to the U.S.A., tell those involved in the investigation that there are more sides to the cittuwation (sic)," Bergdahl said. "Please tell D.C. to wait for all evadince (sic) to come in."

 Hagel on Bergdahl deal

 Hagel appeared Wednesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing to defend the swap, where Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, appeared to strike a nerve when he pressed the defense chief on why it was taking the U.S. military so long to interview Bergdahl.

 Hagel already had fielded lawmakers' accusations that the White House overstepped presidential authority and negotiated with terrorists to gain Bergdahl's freedom.

 Hagel started to explain that doctors treating Bergdahl will decide when he is ready to talk, but Miller cut him off.

 "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Why hasn't he been returned to the United States?" Miller asked, noting that wounded soldiers from battle zones get flown back for treatment within days. "You're trying to tell me that he's being held at Landstuhl, Germany, because of his medical condition?"

 Hagel responded, "Congressman, I hope you're not implying anything other than that," as the two continued to talk over each other.

 "I don't like the implication of the question," Hagel said at one point, and when Miller persisted about injured combat troops coming back to the United States quickly, Hagel raised his voice.

 "This isn't just about a physical situation," he said. "This guy was held for almost five years in God knows what kind of conditions. ... This is not just about can he get on his feet and walk and get to a plane." |||||


News article:

We’ve got all the latest developments in the death of Julia Roberts‘ half-sister Nancy Motes, including a reaction from her fiancé John Dilbeck, and a look at the lurking conflict between her grieving partner and surviving family members.

 As we previously reported, Moats was found dead at 37 Sunday in what officials indicated was a suicide via overdose, with Los Angeles County Coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter confirming to Yahoo! that numerous “notes [were] found at the scene,” as well as “both prescription and nonprescription pills.” (Toxicology tests remain pending in Moats’ death, Winter said, adding the results could take up to 10 weeks.)

 PHOTOS: Stars Who OD’d

 On Wednesday, MailOnline.com that caught up with Dilbeck as he ran errands in Santa Monica, Calif; asked if he thought Motes was a drug addict, he shook his head sideways, gesturing, “No.”

 When the outlet asked Dilbeck if he’d been in touch with the Pretty Woman star, amidst reports of serious dissension between his camp and his late fiance’s family, he said he had “no comment at this time.”

 While Dibeck wasn’t talking, a source close to the situation told the NY Post that he’ll be pushing to keep Moats’ belongings as the sole beneficiary of her estate, which would have implications involving the Oscar-winner.

 PHOTOS: Hollywood Bodyguards Tell All — Who Steals, Sexts, Does Drugs & More Star Secrets Revealed

 “If Nancy had photos and wrote a diary, describing her feelings towards her sister, he could use them,” the source said. “There is a fear that John could be holding Nancy’s personal items hostage and possibly sell them to the highest bidder.

 “While Nancy wasn’t a wealthy woman, she would have had gifts given to her by Julia, as well as intimate family pictures.”

 The source said that longstanding hard feelings between Dilbeck and Moats’ relatives stemmed from the fact that Roberts and their mother, Betty Lou Motes, “felt that he was a bad influence on” Nancy.

 PHOTOS: Hollywood Bodyguards Tell All — Who Steals, Sexts, Does Drugs & More Star Secrets Revealed

 “Julia and her mother had tried for a long time, for years, to get Nancy to go into rehab, and she repeatedly refused,” the source told the paper. “They did not approve of John … but you can’t tell someone of Nancy’s age whom not to date.”

 On Tuesday, Dilbeck’s brother Connor publicly chided Moats’ family for their treatment of the late dog walker, and said he believed that the late woman timed her suicide to put a dent in Roberts’ Oscar chances next month. (Roberts, who won the Best Actress award in 2000 for Erin Brockovich, is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role in August: Osage County.)

 If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please immediately seek help. You can speak with a skilled, trained counselor at a national Suicide Prevention Lifeline crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7 — call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). ||||| EXCLUSIVE: Julia Roberts' half-sister 'deliberately timed suicide to harm actress's Oscar chances,' claims her fiance's brother

 Nancy Motes took an overdose after writing a suicide note which contained dark secrets about Julia Roberts that she wanted to be made public, said Conner Dilbeck in an exclusive interview with MailOnline

 Nancy's fiance John Dilbeck, Conner's brother, found her dead body in the bath Sunday, the same day Julia was due to be at an Oscar nominees lunch

 The actress is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County

 However, RadarOnline reported the 37-year-old was battling drug addiction and Julia had tried to save her multiple times by getting her to go to rehab

 Julia Roberts' half-sister may have killed herself in a deliberate attempt to harm the actress' career and scupper her chances of winning an Oscar at this year's Academy Awards, her fiance's brother claimed today.

 Nancy Motes took an overdose after writing a suicide note which allegedly contained dark secrets about the Pretty Woman star that she wanted to be made public, said Conner Dilbeck in an exclusive interview with MailOnline.

 Nancy's fiance John Dilbeck, Conner's own brother, found her dead body in the bath Sunday, the same day Julia was due to be at an Oscar nominees lunch. She is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County.

 Scroll down for video

 Nominated: Julia Roberts is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County. She is pictured left in the film

 Tragic: Nancy Motes with her fiancé John Dilbeck' - who is said to be too distraught to face the public since her death

 'We are talking about people who are powerful,' Conner told MailOnline.

 'People who have very delicate power, people who are in the limelight. Their power can be destroyed very easily if unfortunate things make them look more wicked.

 'They have to be careful, it can destroy their career or their Academy Award.'

 The insight into Nancy's life comes as RadarOnline reported that the 37-year-old who worked as a production worker on Glee was battling drug addiction and Julia had tried to save her numerous times by getting her to go to rehab.

 Authorities recovered both prescription and non-prescription drugs at the Los Angeles home.

 'Julia tried in vain over the years, even in the last six months, to get Nancy to go to rehab,' a source close to Julia reportedly told RadarOnline.

 'Nancy refused the offers and that is when she would often publicly lash out at Julia. It hurt Julia, but she knew her sister was battling addiction.'

 The sisters' relationship became even more rocky after Nancy blasted Julia to Britain's Sun newspaper last August. She also gave a bruising interview to the New York Daily News.

 Tragic: Julia Roberts' half-sister Nancy Motes killed herself in a desperate attempt to destroy the actress' career and scupper her chances of winning an Oscar at this year's Academy Awards, Conner Dilbeck, pictured, has claimed in an exclusive interview with MailOnline

 Busy woman: Roberts has been working the awards circuit for her turn in August: Osage County, which she did here on January 18 while attending the Screen Actors Guild Awards

 Plea: Conner wrote about his brother's fiance and Nancy's troubles with Julia Roberts on his Facebook page along with a photo of when John Dilbeck proposed

 According to Page Six, the Hollywood star was 'mortified' by the 'embarrassing' stories and wondered if her cash-strapped sister had betrayed her by selling the juicy details to the UK tabloid for money.

 It's not clear if Nancy was in fact paid by The Sun for the interview.

 However, Conner told MailOnline Julia inflicted 'pure cruelty' on her sister and Nancy's suicide letter was a desperate attempt to expose the alleged treatment.

 And a friend and neighbor of Nancy Motes told MailOnline that her death was 'not a Philip Seymour Hoffman thing' but a planned suicide.

 Conner claimed the note is eight pages long - not five as had been thought - and Julia is said to be 'terrified' about it coming out.

 Conner also revealed that John Dilbeck was overcome by the 'horror' of seeing his fiance's lifeless body in the bath.

 In a Facebook post Conner wrote: 'Nancy wanted the Truth to come out and she was Willing to Die to get her point across.'

 Conner, 40, lived with Nancy and John in their apartment in Santa Monica, California for years, during which time he saw their relationship blossom.

 But the dark side was that he claimed it gave him a front row seat to the he mistreatment he claims Nancy suffered at the hands of Julia.

 Watch the full interview on Inside Edition

 Emotional: Nancy Motes appeared to post aggressive messages onto her Twitter account in the weeks prior to her tragic death apparently attacking her half-sister Julia Roberts

 Conner said: 'I have spent enough time with Nancy and I know enough about her that I can say from first hand experience a lot of things that have happened.'

 He added: 'The truth is in the eight pages of her suicide letter.'

 In a series of furious posts on Facebook, Conner railed against Julia and squarely blamed her for the tragedy.

 He wrote: 'I am posting this as a plea to everyone to Pray for my Brother John.

 'His lovely Fiancé, Nancy Motes, was driven to Take her Life yesterday because of the Pure Cruelty of her Sister, Julia Roberts (yes Ms. Pretty Woman herself), that has done everything in her power to Ruin her and my brothers lives.

 'He is overwhelmed by this horrible event and all the Turmoil Julia has subjected them too.' Speaking to MailOnline, Conner said that after his brother found his fiance's body last Sunday he called the police and then called his family in distress. Breaking into tears, he said: 'The one thing that has made it more emotional for our family than anything else is to think of the horror of my brother having to walk in their and find his dead love in the water and nothing he could do about it and how she was driven to do this.'

 Oscars: Nancy Motes killed herself to scupper her sister's Oscar chances, it has been claimed. Roberts, left, stars in the film with Meryl Streep, center In the months before her death, Nancy took aim at her famous sister on Twitter and one particular tweet apparently gives weight to the claim that she was plotting to hurt the Notting Hill star in some way. Nancy's death hasn't officially been ruled a suicide as a toxicology report has not been completed but her the family said in a statement that she died of 'an apparent drug overdose.' In December, an emotional Nancy mysteriously tweeted, apparently about Julia: 'Hey Hag! Glad you f****ed with me yet? You're going to LOVE what's coming! FYI-You're an awful, hate filled old pathetic excuse for a human.'

 Conner's account comes after John Fraschetti, who also knows Nancy's grieving fiancé, claimed the family of the Oscar winner were now 'crying crocodile tears' over the former Glee production worker's death. He said they are only interested in manipulating public opinion after her suicide, but during her life, 'drove her to death.' Making the incendiary comments Tuesday outside Nancy and Dilbeck's home, Fraschetti said Nancy spiraled into depression after Betty Lou Motes, the mother she and Roberts shared, 'rejected' her six months ago - and that she 'just couldn't handle it anymore'. 'And then you get the actress woman who is pretending to grieve but she didn't want to deal with Nancy and made her f***ing miserable.' Nancy Motes was found dead on Sunday in a bathtub filled with water with prescription and 'illegal drugs' near her in an apparent suicide. Fraschetti claims to have seen the letter she left behind.

 Fraschetti, who has known Dilbeck since he was 13, said that since her death, her family have been careful to mold a favorable public reaction. 'They are crying crocodile tears. They have taken control of this situation, but they never cared of her when she was alive,' said Fraschetti. Fraschetti said that Nancy, 'couldn't stand the rejection of her mom, who in the last six months had cut her off entirely.' Upset: Julia Roberts' mother Betty Lou Motes is seen leaving her home in Los Angeles looking frail and upset Tuesday afternoon Cut-off: Nancy Motes is pictured in this photo with Julia Roberts when the Oscar winning actress was around 22 years old

 'It hurt her that none of her family wanted to be with her. She had a miserable Christmas, truly awful, and I think she just couldn't handle it anymore.'

 Fraschetti admitted that Nancy's well-documented problems with drugs and her weight had caused divisions, but claimed that to cut her off was unforgivable.

 'They didn’t care when she was alive. She was a handful, and yes she had her problems, but there’s a way to deal with your relatives,' said an angry Fraschetti.

 Nancy's suicide note also reveals the true depths of depression that her family's rejection had sent her to.

 'It read about how much she loved and cared for her fiancé and how happy he made her, but it also said how unhappy and depressed her family made her and how she couldn’t cope anymore,' said Fraschetti, who said that fiancé, Dilbeck, is grief stricken by Nancy's death and can't face the media.

 Indicating that the suicide note goes into detail about how hurt she felt by being ignored, Fraschetti said that Roberts and her family even put pressure on Dilbeck to delete tweets.

 But, it was revealed last night that Nancy had apparently tweeted a string of vicious messages aimed at her Oscar winning sister, including 'Just so you all know "America's Sweetheart" is a B****!!' on January 20.

 That and others were indeed deleted overnight.

 Friend: John Fraschetti has known Nancy Motes' fiance John Dilbeck since he was 13 and says that Julia Roberts and her family cutting off Nancy caused her suicide

 'We've got a person who is grieving so much, but then there is the other so called family who are grieving, so to speak, who want to see as little grief as possible for them,' said Fraschetti.

 'It's the rich versus the poor, the fake versus the real, he's the one who's in agony, he's the one that's genuine.'

 And in an apparent confirmation that she did indeed commit suicide, Fraschetti said that her death was planned, but that she didn't use heroin like Philip Seymour Hoffman.

 She wasn’t into heroin, as far as I was aware. It’s not like her or John were heroin addicts. Come on, it’s ridiculous.

 ‘I wouldn’t read too much into where she did it, it wasn’t in some drug den. She was dog sitting, and I imagine she did this, so she didn’t have to do it at home and let John find her.'

 And this afternoon, Julia Roberts' grief-stricken mother looked frail and visibly shaken as she visited the Oscar-winner following the apparent suicide death of her younger daughter, Nancy Motes.

 Dressed in a tartan hat and black jacket, Betty Lou Motes was driven by a friend from her home in Pacific Palisades to Julia's mansion in Malibu.

 The visit came after it was reported that Nancy left a five page suicide note in which she accused her famous sibling of driving her to kill herself.

 Her fiancé discovered her body, which had been dead as long as 12 hours, but a responding EMT worker recovered the extensive letter, according to the New York Daily News.

 In the note, Nancy dedicated three pages to her tortured relationship with the Pretty Woman actress, the Daily News quoted a source close to the investigation as saying.

 Gone too soon: Nancy Motes, pictured in August (left), died on Sunday from an apparent drug overdose; she is the half-sister of Julia Roberts (right)

 Rage: Nancy Motes, tweeted under her husband-to-be's last name online. This vitriolic attack is believed to be against her half-sister, Julia Roberts and happened a little more than a month before she died

 Pain: Nancy Motes is also believed to have launched these attacks on the star of Pretty Woman and Mystic Pizza - calling her cruel and blaming her for causing her rage despite her best efforts to remain calm

 Sad: Nancy Motes posted these bittersweet tweets in October - in which she laments that she is having to leave her family to find the love she craves from another

 'It was definitely a suicide. She left a five-page suicide letter. The EMT found it,' the source told the Daily News.

 'There were three pages of rantings that her sister drove her to do this. There was one page to her mom, telling her how much she loved her, and one page apologizing to (her fiancé).'

 Nancy and Dilbeck were scheduled to be married in May, but the Georgia native seemed to be unraveling recently.

 On Twitter, she sounded decidedly unstable, lashing out at Julia, whom she claims bullied her about her weight when they were growing up. 'So my "sister" said that with all her friends & fans she doesn't need any more love. Just so you all know "America's Sweetheart" is a B****!!' she tweeted on January 20, referring to Roberts. 'Do you want to be a fan of someone so cruel? She's not even that good of an actress. Happy you totally F***ed with me?' she added in a subsequent tweet before claiming she'd never been more angry. 'I must admit I maybe going to far… But I never been so angry in my life. I'm actually a pretty easygoing, peaceful person.'

 '(M)y own family has abandoned me,' she tweeted January 22. Three weeks later, she was dead.

 The emotional comments, seen on the Twitter handle @Dabbs76, had been deleted by Tuesday morning.

 Family: Roberts with Motes and their mother Betty Lou when the star was filming 1997's My Best Friend's Wedding

 The most recent Twitter outburst followed similar rants late last year.

 For example, Nancy had written previously of her family abandoning her.

 'Feeling blessed, even though I'm sick as a dog! I'm very grateful that I have my loves family, since my own family has abandoned me,' she tweeted, referring to her new partner.

 Her next tweets also appeared to be angrily directed at the Notting Hill star.

 She tweeted: 'Hey Hag! Glad you f****ed with me yet? You’re going to LOVE what’s coming! FYI-You’re an awful, hate filled old pathetic excuse for a human.

 'I must be grateful & not hateful. I must forgive. But Damn that is a REALLY hard thing to do sometimes, right?!?!'

 Back on December 19, Nancy also sounded depressed. She wrote: 'I must remember how blessed I am even in this very low point in my life. I want ALL of my family to have an awesome magical Christmas! '

 And on December 15 she tweeted: 'Must remember to stay strong. Life is a fight. You have to stay in it.'

 Back in October Nancy also spoke about her family rift, tweeting: 'It’s a shame when you get more support from strangers than you do from your family. I can’t wait to officially belong to another family!'

 She also wrote that she was getting support from her and Julia’s mother Betty, writing: 'So glad to have the support & love of my friends & mom!

 Still a smashing success: At 46, Roberts is more in demand than ever; here she leaves a talk about her Meryl Streep drama on February 4

 Nancy last tweeted on Saturday, the day before she was found dead in the bathtub.

 She wrote: 'Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturdays & watching East Los High! Season 3 coming soon!'

 Nancy joined twitter last August and had 69 followers.

 She posted several happy photos with her fiancé John Dilbeck who she was due to marry on May 17.

 Nancy had been tweeting excitedly about the big day, on October 21 she wrote: 'I found my beautiful shoes for my wedding day! And anyone that wants to bring me down during all the planning I have to do can kiss my ass!'

 On October 3 she tweeted a photo of them together, writing: 'YAY! Wedding Venue found! Wedding dress found! Things are truly happening! It's all soooo exciting! I love him!'

 Since her tormented tweets were made public overnight, they key sections have been deleted.

 On Monday, her family confirmed to People the 37-year-old had passed away in what appears to be an overdose.

 On top: The actress on the February cover of Vanity Fair, on stands now

 'It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes ... confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose,' the statement read. 'There is no official report from the Coroner's office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated.'

 She was discovered in the bathtub of a home by her fiancé John Dilbeck and pronounced dead at 2:12 p.m., a spokesman for the Los Angeles Coroner's Office told MailOnline.

 It is believed she was found at a house where she was pet-sitting for a friend.

 Today, Ed Winter, assistant chief at the LA County Coroner's Office, said: ‘The autopsy has been completed and the cause of death has been deferred depending on the toxicology reports. This can take between six and eight weeks.

 ‘A number of prescription medications were found in the bathroom area as were illegal drugs. We are still investigating whether they were hers or not. We’re not releasing what illegal drugs they were.

 ‘It could be a possible suicide, but we don’t know the cause of death yet for sure, which is depending on further investigation. It’s more complicated as she also had some medical issues, so we’re not sure what happened at the moment.

 'We are not being specific what those issues are, but it could mean a number of reasons for her death, she could have been taking a bath and had a heart attack. We just don’t know at this stage.'

 Julia's rep did not return calls to MailOnline. The actress cancelled an appearance at an Academy Awards luncheon on Monday.

 Nancy was an aspiring actress who had worked as a production assistant on TV's Glee.

 Julia and Nancy had the same mother, Betty Lou, but different fathers: Nancy's dad was Michael Motes and Julia's is the late Walter Grady Roberts.

 In August the blonde had complained about growing up in the shadow of the Pretty Woman star, who has been working the awards circuit this year for her turn in August: Osage County with Meryl Streep.

 Thinner: Nancy Motes looked considerably thinner in August 2013 as she grabbed coffee near her home in Santa Monica

 The younger sibling had said she was known as Julia's 'fat little sister' and said the Oscar-winner had taunted her about her weight, leading her to undergo weight loss surgery in June 2012.

 Roberts, 46, made her feel embarrassed and ashamed of her weight, according to Nancy, which peaked at 20st.

 She resorted to a £20,000 gastric bypass operation last year.

 'It makes me feel incredibly hurt and very sad,' Motes said. 'When you're in a family of very, very exceptionally beautiful people it's intimidating.'

 Her other siblings include Eric Roberts, 57, and Lisa Roberts Gillan, 48, who are also actors.

 Actress Emma Roberts is the daughter of Eric.

 'I think that growing up as Pretty Woman's little sister has definitely made me try to see the person inside and not the person outside,' she added. 'A lot of my life I felt judged for my weight.'

 Motes, who grew up in the US state of Georgia, was only 13 when Roberts shot to Hollywood fame as hooker Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman.

 The actress, who had won a Golden Globe for playing a young bride in Steel Magnolias, received a second for Pretty Woman.

 Motes, who described herself as an 'awkward' child who was bullied at school, could not compete with the success of her 'very pretty and very popular' sister.

 She said: 'When I was in high school and she was an adult, she would just let me know that I was definitely overweight. She would make it quite clear to me and in a not so nice manner.

 'Julia did not want to see me go down that path [of acting] … So I just got a lot of criticism from Julia, which was very discouraging for me.'

 After graduating from high school in 1995, Motes auditioned for roles in Hollywood while working as a waitress. But she could not afford to continue so returned to Georgia.

 Niece: Emma Roberts, pictured Monday with Evan Peters, was Nancy's niece

 Three years ago Nancy moved back to Los Angeles, after meeting her fiancé John Dilbeck. But she claimed Roberts started taunting her about her weight again days after she arrived.

 With her weight soaring, she finally decided to have a gastric bypass fitted.

 Motes said she could not afford the £20,000 fee, but rather than ask Roberts, who is worth £90million, for financial help, she took out a loan.

 She had lost 7st since the operation last June and had planned on marrying in May.

 However, RadarOnline reported last year that Julia planned to boycott the nuptials because she didn't like the groom and didn't want to get stuck paying for the wedding.

 'Julia doesn't think much of Nancy's husband-to-be,' the website quoted an insider as saying. 'She's convinced he's sponging off Nancy, who doesn't have much money in the first place.'

 At the time of her death, it was not known if she had mended her relationship with Julia.

 She said last year: 'It's a work in progress, it's not going to be fixed overnight, nor do I think it's going to be fixed by me just getting skinny.' ||||| Julia Roberts was left devastated and anguished that she could not convince her half-sister Nancy Motes to enter rehab before her tragic drug overdose death in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 9, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.

 Motes, 37, a former production worker on the hit television show Glee, was found dead Sunday in a bathtub at a Los Angeles home, where authorities recovered both prescription and non-prescription drugs.

 A source close to Oscar-nominee Roberts told Radar: “The sisters had a very complex relationship. They used to be very close when they were younger. Julia tried in vain over the years, even in the last six months, to get Nancy to go to rehab. Nancy refused the offers and that is when she would often publicly lash out at Julia.

 PHOTOS: Stars Who OD’d

 “It hurt Julia, but she knew her sister was battling addiction.

 “The addiction to prescription drugs made Nancy a totally different person. There would be periods of sobriety and with that brought clarity. It would be during those moments that the sisters would reconnect. Sadly, of course, those times became less frequent before her death.”

 As Radar previously reported, Motes called the Pretty Woman star a “b*tch” and appeared to have called her a “hag” as she vented in a series of tweets sent late last month.

 PHOTOS: Cheating, Gay Lovers, Incest, Drugs & Lip Synching! 50 Of Hollywood’s Juiciest Confessions

 It was yet another illustration of the pair’s rocky relationship after Motes previously declared Roberts led her to take the extreme measure of having gastric bypass surgery.

 “When I was in high school and she was an adult, she would just let me know that I was definitely overweight,” Motes told the New York Daily News last year.

 “She would make it quite clear to me and in a not-so-nice a manner.”

 PHOTOS: Celebs Who Died Young

 In tweets that have since been deleted, Motes wrote on Jan. 19 under the handle @Dabbs76, “So my ‘sister’ said that with all her friends & fans she doesn’t need anymore love. Just so you all know ‘America’s Sweetheart’ is a B—-H!!’”

 She later added, “Do you want to be a fan of someone so cruel? She’s not even that good of an actress. Happy you totally F—ed with me?”

 The family insider revealed to Radar that Roberts, 46, made arrangements for her troubled sister to check into a first class rehab facility last year.

 “She had agreed to go… this was about a year ago,” the source said.

 PHOTOS: Heroin Addicts, Coke Fiends & Celebrity Stoners — Hollywood Drug Dealers Tell All!

 “At the last minute, Nancy backed out, gave no reason. Yet, Julia told Nancy if she was ready to get healthy, all she had to do was call. Julia never got that call.”

 On Monday, Roberts’ rep released a statement announcing the death of her Motes, as the August: Osage County star withdrew from a number of professional commitments in the wake of the family tragedy, including appearances Monday at a pre-Academy Award luncheon and one on Jimmy Kimmel.

 “There is no official report from the Coroner’s office yet,” the spokesperson said. “The family is both shocked and devastated.”

 Nearly Unrecognizable! 20 Shocking Photos Of Stars Without Makeup

 Added our source: Julia is taking the death very hard. It’s extremely difficult for her because it didn’t have to happen. Julia has a great support network around her and she is relying on her husband [Danny Moder], more now than ever.”

 The star’s younger sibling was also half-sister to Eric Roberts and aunt to American Horror Story actress, Emma Roberts.

 If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please immediately seek help. You can speak with a skilled, trained counselor at a national Suicide Prevention Lifeline crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7 — call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). ||||| Julia Roberts has remained silent over the death of her troubled half-sister Nancy Motes, but privately a struggle is going on between the Hollywood star’s family and her late sibling’s devastated fiancé.

 A source exclusively tells Page Six that John Dilbeck, whom Motes planned to marry in May, is planning on asserting his right to be a beneficiary of her estate based on their years together and to keep control of her possessions.

 The source tells us: “Julia and her mother had tried for a long time, for years, to get Nancy to go into rehab, and she repeatedly refused. They did not approve of John and felt that he was a bad influence on her. But you can’t tell someone of Nancy’s age whom not to date. She was living in a tiny apartment with John, his brother and a child.

 “While Nancy wasn’t a wealthy woman, she would have had gifts given to her by Julia as well as intimate family pictures.

 “There is a fear that John could be holding Nancy’s personal items hostage and possibly sell them to the highest bidder. If Nancy had photos and wrote a diary, describing her feelings towards her sister, he could use them.”

 Nancy took an overdose after writing a suicide note, which allegedly contained dark secrets about the “Pretty Woman” star that she wanted to be made public, Conner Dilbeck, John’s brother, has claimed in an interview.

 John found his fiancée’s body in the bath Sunday, the day before Julia was due to be at an Oscar nominees lunch. She is up for Best Supporting Actress for “August: Osage County.”

 Conner claims Julia inflicted “pure cruelty” on her sister and Nancy’s suicide letter was a desperate attempt to expose the alleged treatment.

 Conner claimed the note is eight pages long, and Motes deliberately timed her apparent overdose to destroy Julia’s Oscar chances. The note is believed to be in the possession of police — who have not confirmed its contents to Julia’s family.

 A source countered, “Julia has been nominated for other awards. Timing a suicide doesn’t make sense.” Roberts’ rep declined to comment. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The latest drama surrounding the death of Julia Roberts' half-sister, Nancy Motes: A source tells the New York Post that Roberts may end up in a battle with Motes' fiance, John Dilbeck, who plans to argue that he should be a beneficiary of Motes' estate due to the length of their relationship. Of particular concern: gifts Roberts gave her sister and "intimate family pictures," the source explains. "There is a fear that John could be holding Nancy’s personal items hostage and possibly sell them to the highest bidder. If Nancy had photos and wrote a diary, describing her feelings towards her sister, he could use them," the source adds. And things get more bizarre: In an interview with the Daily Mail, Dilbeck's brother Conner—who has been ranting about Roberts on Facebook—claims Motes killed herself at this time specifically to hurt Roberts' chances of winning an Oscar for her role in August: Osage County. "We are talking about people who are powerful," he says. "People who have very delicate power, people who are in the limelight. Their power can be destroyed very easily if unfortunate things make them look more wicked. They have to be careful, it can destroy their career or their Academy Award." He also claims Motes' suicide note contains secrets about Roberts that Motes wanted to make public, and that Roberts is "terrified" the note could come out. Meanwhile, Radar has stories from both sides: Some sources insist Roberts had been trying to help Motes by getting her into rehab, but Motes' fiance says she was not a drug addict.


Article:

WASHINGTON -- Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has requested withdrawal of her Swiss citizenship after news that she and her children had recently applied for Swiss papers caused a stir.Referring to the Swiss citizenship as an “automatic” designation conferred upon her when she married her husband, Marcus Bachmann, the son of Swiss immigrants, Bachmann said she was withdrawing the citizenship to make clear her allegiance to the U.S.“Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978,” Bachmann said in a statement. “I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen.”"I am, and always have been, 100% committed to our United States Constitution and the United States of America," the statement continued. "As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, stepdaughter of an Army veteran and sister of a Navy veteran, I am proud of my allegiance to the greatest nation the world has ever known."The former Republican presidential candidate who has often criticized President Obama for his “socialist” policies, had seemed the most unlikely American politician to have dual citizenship with a European country that is ruled in part by the Social Democratic Party The statement also said that “under Swiss law, Bachmann automatically received dual citizenship when she married her husband, a dual American and Swiss citizen, in 1978.”But that contradicts earlier statements by Bachmann and her spokeswoman, Becky Rogness, who said the Bachmann family had sought the citizenship."Congresswoman Bachmann's husband is of Swiss descent so she has been eligible for dual citizenship since they got married in 1978," Rogness said. "However, recently some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual citizenship so they went through the process as a family."Bachmann had initially tried to downplay the citizenship, calling it a “non-story” and saying the family had “just recently updated our documents.”kim.geiger@latimes.com ||||| Bachmann moves to withdraw Swiss citizenship

 Posted at 2:37 PM on May 10, 2012 by Mark Zdechlik (13 Comments)

 Filed under: Campaign 2008: MN Legislature, Michele Bachmann

 Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is no longer interested in having dual US-Swiss citizenship.

 Two days after a Swiss TV news crew broke the story that Bachmann sought in February to have her Swiss citizenship registered by Swiss authorities, Bachmann issued the following statement:

 "Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978."

 "I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen. I am, and always have been, 100 percent committed to our United States Constitution and the United States of America. As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, stepdaughter of an Army veteran and sister of a Navy veteran, I am proud of my allegiance to the greatest nation the world has ever known."

 Yesterday Bachmann's DFL challenger Jim Graves called news that Bachmann had sought to register her Swiss citizen a "distraction." Graves also noted in a news release that he and his family were "proud to be Americans."

 Comments (13)

 Could this be that her security clearance might be in jeopardy due to her dual citizenship, or just that fact that this makes her look like she's not a "Real 'Merkin??"

 Go back to Switzerland, commie! Your kind ain't welcome in the USA!

 Members of Congress aren't actually subject to the rules on "foreign preference" that apply to federal employees and contractors (or congressional staffers) seeking a formal security clearance -- they just have to swear an oath promising not to reveal national secrets. (This disparity was raised a few years ago, during the Randy 'Duke' Cunningham trial.)

 Still, you can't imagine it sitting comfortably with Bachmann's membership on the House Intelligence Committee. Her statement yesterday used language that implied an attempt to talk her way out of the problem; my guess is that it wasn't sufficient for her colleagues and the intelligence agencies, and once again raises questions about her judgement.

 She was probably just confused and meant to become a citizen of Sweden. Or Swaziland.

 Many people find benefits from dual citizenship and having it doesn't make them any less American. It might have given her more access to travel internationally (if she wished to go someplace that didn't welcome U.S. citizens, but did welcome Swiss). Once again, the press has taken something Michele has done and blown it entirely out of promotion.

 How could she not know that the USA does not acknowledge dual citizenship?

 Flip flop. :)

 It is possible to have US citizenship along with citizenship in another country, methods are usually automatic and can include marrying a foreign national, which is the case with Bachmann. IIRC some of her children were interested in Swiss citizenship, her husband's home country. One can also become a dual national by being born in a country that automatically grants citizenship to those born in the country. This happens more often to children of foreign nationals born in the US, but could also happen to US parents in Canada on vacation.

 However, swearing an oath of allegiance to a country in a context similar to the way an immigrant becoming a US citizen, will cause one to give up their US citizenship. Then again, this is true of the reverse as well. After taking the required classes and tests and then swearing an oath of allegiance and becoming a US citizen, one implicitly renouncing any citizenship they may have previously held.

 (My terminology may be a bit off in places.)

 So obtaining citizenship in six countries might sound like a fun challenge, but would actually be difficult/impossible. In any case, the State Department recommends against holding dual citizenship for various reasons.

 Oops, looks like she found out the government subsidy for foster kids is actually lower in socialist Switzerland.

 Who cares? What's the big deal. Does it really make any difference? She's a US Citizen, lives in the US so again who cares?

 There is still hope. Remember when she was running for president. She is from Iowa ! Minnesota was never mentioned. Go and take some of your husbands business government money with you.

 Cliff said: "Who cares? What's the big deal."

 The issue isn't really about what Bachmann did. It's about her constant questioning of Democrats' loyalty to this country and the way she harped on President Obama's birth certificate for years after the matter was settled, the questioning of his loyalty, the insinuations that he was really a Muslim, etc., etc.

 It's the sheer hypocrisy, political opportunism and gamesmanship that rankles. Her tactics of total nuclear war on her opponents, her questioning of their very loyalty to this country that's the issue.

 This exposes the sham of her stance. She obviously doesn't believe a word of any of the nonsense she's been spouting about the president for the last four years, because she turned around and voluntarily did something that puts her loyalty to the county under question, whereas all the president did was be born as an American citizen from an American mother and raised under circumstances completely out of his control.

 She just figured out Switzerland isn't in the U.S.A. |||||
What is a summary?

– If you were concerned that Michele Bachmann's Swiss citizenship meant she'd given up on America, worry no longer: She's getting rid of it. "Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978," she said in a statement, according to Minnesota Public Radio. "I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen." Bachmann hopes to put an end to the story that surfaced earlier this week. At the time, her spokeswoman described the situation this way, notes the LA Times: "Congresswoman Bachmann's husband is of Swiss descent so she has been eligible for dual citizenship since they got married in 1978. However, recently some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual citizenship so they went through the process as a family." Her opponent in November, Jim Graves of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, has called the Swiss story a "distraction." He has confirmed that he and his family are also "proud to be Americans."


Just One More Thing...

 We have sent you a verification email. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your profile.

 If you do not receive the verification message within a few minutes of signing up, please check your Spam or Junk folder.

 Close ||||| FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Sheriff's investigators say a man accused of setting fire to a Florida mosque confessed and said he was embarrassed.

 According to a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit released Thursday, 32-year-old Joseph Schreiber was developed as a suspect in the fire Sunday at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce in part because of a tip.

 Detectives say that after his arrest Wednesday, Schreiber admitted setting the fire, said he had no intention of hurting anyone and was embarrassed to have committed the crime.

 Schreiber was ordered held without bail earlier Thursday. The public defender's office had no immediate comment.

 Schreiber was arrested in connection with the fire at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, which sustained extensive damage in a blaze set late Sunday, on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

 The fire also coincided with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

 Schreiber was arrested Wednesday by St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office investigators, and charged with arson after a tip came in to deputies Tuesday night identifying Schreiber as the suspect in the mosque arson.

 Deputies said they searched Schreiber's home and also found a motorcycle matching the one that was seen in surveillance video, speeding away from the fire.

 They also found Schreiber posted anti-Islamic comments on social media, deputies said.

 "There is anti-Islam propaganda, and that corroborates our fear that it has to do with the Islamic community," said Maj. Dave Thompson, with the Sheriff's Office.

 News 6 found out Schreiber has been in and out of prison, serving a combined 6 1/2 years for theft.

 Because the arson may be a hate crime, investigators said he could face a first-degree felony for igniting the mosque, which could land him back in prison for 30 years.

 If he's found to be a habitual offender, he could face life in prison.

 The FBI is continuing its investigation to see if Schreiber could face federal charges.

 Copyright 2016 by WKMG ClickOrlando. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ||||| (Reuters) - A Florida man who investigators say posted anti-Islamic material on social media was arrested on Wednesday on charges of setting fire to a mosque attended by the gunman who committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, police said.

 The case is being prosecuted as a hate crime under Florida law, and the suspect, Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, faces at least 30 years in prison if convicted of committing Monday’s arson attack, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.

 Schreiber is accused of starting the blaze that heavily damaged the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, a place of worship for gunman Omar Mateen before he shot 49 people to death and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub in June.

 Mateen himself was killed by law enforcement officers at the end of the shooting in Orlando, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of the Atlantic coast town of Fort Pierce.

 Fire erupted at the mosque at about 12:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, coinciding with one of the holiest of Muslim holidays, Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, and authorities immediately branded it an arson attack.

 No one was inside the building at the time, but the blaze forced the congregation to hold prayer services elsewhere.

 The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office told reporters afterward that surveillance video showed a man riding up to the building on a motorcycle, getting off the bike and approaching the mosque with a bottle of liquid and papers moments before flames erupted.

 At a news conference announcing an arrest on Wednesday, Sheriff’s Major David Thompson said Schreiber owns a motorcycle like the one seen in the video. Thompson said tips from the public led investigators to the suspect and his home in nearby Port St. Lucie, where a search turned up additional evidence tying him to the crime.

 An examination of Schreiber’s social media account also uncovered “multiple anti-Islamic posts and comments,” Thompson said. He did not elaborate.

 But a Facebook page apparently belonging to the suspect - established under his name with photos resembling his booking photo - include a message posted on July 12 that said “ALL ISLAM IS RADICAL, and should be considered TERRORIST AND CRIMANALS” written in capital letters with several mispellings.

 Schreiber was arrested without incident on Wednesday while walking along a sidewalk in Fort Pierce, Thompson said.

 Schreiber, who was being held without bond, was still being questioned by police following his arrest. He was expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday. It was not clear if he had obtained legal representation.

 Emergency personnel are seen at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce which was set on fire, in Fort Pierce, Florida, September 12, 2016. St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters

 He has been charged with arson, and his status as a “prison release re-offender” qualifies him for a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 30 years if convicted. And as a “habitual felony offender” whose criminal record includes armed robbery, Schreiber also would be eligible for a life term, police said.

 Federal authorities are also investigating the fire for any potential violations of federal law, U.S. officials said.

 The Fort Pierce Islamic Center has reported numerous threats of violence and intimidation since it was identified publicly as Mateen’s place of worship. In June a motorcycle gang circled the property and shouted at its members, and in July a Muslim man was beaten outside the mosque. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Police have arrested a suspect in the fire that left a 100-square-foot hole in the roof of a Florida mosque occasionally attended by Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, WKMG reports. According to Reuters, 32-year-old Joseph Schreiber is believed to be behind Sunday's arson at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce. Scrhreiber was caught based on tips and surveillance video, the Palm Beach Post reports. The arson charge against Schreiber carries a hate-crime enhancement. Schreiber has been arrested at least 11 times since 2003 and spent time in prison in 2008 and 2010 for theft. As a "prison release re-offender," he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years. He could get life in prison if convicted as a "habitual felony offender." Police say Schreiber made anti-Islamic posts to social media. The Post quotes one such post, which reads: "ALL ISLAM...should be considered TERRORIST AND CRIMINALS and all hoo participate in such activity should be found guilty of WAR CRIM." No one was injured in the arson, and it's unclear if the mosque was targeted because Mateen went there.