DC lawyer Ted Williams, Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti, National Park Service’s Mike Litterst, Montgomery County CouncilmemberAndrew Friedson and MD Lottery’s Doug Lloyd joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C DO YOU PLAY? Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing has a jackpot of $750 million — it’s the the third-largest in Powerball history and fourth-largest in U.S. lottery history.           

5am – D/E     Jussie Smollett’s Charges Are Dropped, Angering Mayor and Police. (NY Times) — CHICAGO — In a startling about-face on Tuesday that drove a rift between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and local prosecutors, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped all charges against the “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who had been accused of staging a hate crime attack in the city’s downtown in January. The decision, announced in court in a hastily convened hearing, slammed the door on a case that became a national fascination and flashpoint, with its overtones of racial and political discord in a city with a history of tension over law enforcement. It drew waves of celebrity commiseration and torrents of finger-shaking tweets as the victim turned into a suspect and then a defendant. And by Tuesday night, many questions remained unanswered, including why prosecutors had suddenly decided to let Mr. Smollett off only a month after his arrest, and what actually happened at 2 a.m. on Jan. 29 as he was walking back from a late sandwich at a Subway. Mr. Smollett, who is black, gay and outspoken on social issues, had told the police that two men jumped him, while taunting him with homophobic and racial slurs and yelling “This is MAGA country,” a reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. The assailants, according to Mr. Smollett, tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him. He was briefly treated at a hospital.

• JUSSIE SMOLLETT PUT IN 2 DAYS COMMUNITY SERVICE With Jessie Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition
• DAILY CALLER: The CPD superintendent does not mince words.
• Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on dropping of Jussie Smollett charges: “This is a whitewash of justice.”
• “Is there no decency in this man?” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel asks about Jussie Smollett after prosecutors dropped all charges against the “Empire” actor

• Smollett Lawyer Swipes at Chicago PD After Charges Dropped: They Shouldn’t ‘Try Their Cases in the Press’
• SMOLLETT STATEMENT: After all charges against him were dismissed, @JussieSmollett says, “I have been truthful and consistent on every level since day one.” His lawyer says the check he wrote to the Nigerian-American brothers was for personal training. And says those brothers attacked Smollett.
• SMOLLETT MAY NOT BE IN THE CLEAR YET: Despite the hate crime hoax charges against him being dropped Tuesday, “Empire” star Jussie Smollett still may face new legal trouble …  An investigation into a death-threat letter the actor supposedly received prior to an alleged Jan. 29 attack against him has been handed over to the FBI, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told Fox News. Cook County, Ill. First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats told reporters that prosecutors dropped the case because Smollett forfeited a $10,000 bond payment and did community service. The decision to drop charges against Smollett stunned and outraged Chicago police and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who called the series of events “not on the level” and a “whitewash of justice.” Some critics have wondered whether Smollett’s high-powered connections led to the dropping of charges. Messages exchanged between Tina Tchen, an attorney and former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx are attracting increasing scrutiny.
• Chicago Police: Jussie Smollett alleged hoax letter case handed over to FBI:  (Fox News) – Despite the hate crime hoax charges against him being stunningly dropped on Tuesday, “Empire” star Jussie Smollett may not be out of the woods just yet. An investigation into a death threat letter the actor supposedly received prior to the alleged Jan. 29 attack has been handed over to the FBI, Chicago Police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told Fox News. Smollett initially had been suspected as the source of the letter. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is working closely with our law enforcement partners on this investigation,” the U.S. Postal Service said in a statement to Fox News. “We are unable to provide any additional comment at this time.” Chicago cops previously said Smollett allegedly resorted to staging the “bogus” attack after the threatening letter he sent himself at his Chicago Fox studio two weeks earlier didn’t garner enough attention.”If he mailed that threatening letter to himself by using the post office, he engaged in postal fraud. That’s five to 10 years in jail — that’s three times what he’s facing for filing a false report if the feds want to go there,” Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said.
• MICHELLE OBAMA AIDE / SMOLLETT:
  • STRINGS PULLED FOR SMOLLETT? (Fox News) – Who is Tina Tchen, the attorney linked to Jussie Smollett messages? Tina Tchen, the attorney and former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, has garnered scrutiny after messages traded with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx — about the alleged hoax linked to actor Jussie Smollett — emerged shortly before prosecutors dropped all charges against Smollett on Tuesday. Tchen started practicing law in 1983, after she graduated from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, and currently leads the Chicago branch of Buckley LLC. In between, she worked in the Obama White House, first as the director of the Office of Public Engagement and later as the first lady’s chief of staff. Public records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times showed that Tchen sent Foxx an early-morning text on Feb. 1 saying she “wanted to give you a call on behalf of Jussie Smollett and family who I know. They have concerns about the investigation.” Three days earlier, Smollett had said two men attacked him on the way home. Later that day, the Sun-Times reported that a relative of Smollett sent Foxx a text, sparking a relationship that eventually led to Foxx recusing herself from the investigation and prosecution. Foxx also was shown to have emailed Tchen: “Spoke to [Chicago Police] Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson. I convinced him to reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get to me shortly.” Prosecutors on Tuesday abruptly dropped all charges against Smollett after the “Empire” actor — accused of faking a racist, anti-gay attack on himself — agreed to do volunteer service and to let the city keep his $10,000 in bail, in a decision that sparked outrage among Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, among others. The prosecutors gave no detailed explanation for why they abandoned the case only five weeks after filing the charges and threatening to pursue Smollett for the cost of a monthlong investigation, adding that said they still believe Smollett concocted the assault.
  • FACTS: 1) Michelle Obama’s former Chief of Staff interfered in the Smollett case by reaching out to State Attorney Kim Foxx… 2) Foxx had to recuse herself after inappropriate communication w/ Smollett family… 3) Police union calling for federal investigation into the interference
  • Chicago Police Union Demand FBI Investigation Into Smollett Case After Obama Aide Contacted Kim Foxx. (March 21) – Kevin Graham, the president of the Chicago police union, sent a letter on March 15 to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting a federal investigation into Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, alleging that Foxx interfered in the police’s investigation of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.
  • Tiana Lowe ‏@TianaTheFirst  16h16 hours ago We know exactly what happened. Michelle Obama’s former COS cajoled Kim Foxx into rigging the Jussie Smollett case to the point that the police union’s president notified the Justice Department to investigate her conduct. And voila, the charges are dropped.
• DAVID AXELROD TWEETSTORM ON SMOLLETT:
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod:  17h17 hours ago: Will they now bring assault charges against the two brothers who admitted to staging the attack for money at Smollett’s behest.  Or charges for lying to the police? Someone wasn’t being truthful here and the City of Chicago paid the price.
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod:  16h16 hours ago State’s Atty statement: “After reviewing all of the facts & circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community & agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition & appropriate resolution.” Huh?
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod  15h15 hours ago: Unless some better explanation surfaces, here’s the lesson of this weird turn in the Smollett case: You can contrive a hate crime, make it a national news, get caught and-if you are a well-connected celebrity-get off for $10K and have your record expunged and files sealed.
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod 15h15 hours ago: No.  Sorry, folks.  The brief statement offered by the prosecutor didn’t dispute the basic facts in the original charge.  That’s why he was compelled to sacrifice his bond.  They simply said that in light of his voluntary work in the community, this was a just resolution.
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod  15h15 hours ago: Hate crimes are loathsome.  Faking them is insidious and shouldn’t be excused.  Despite Smollett’s denials, nothing the prosecutor said in dismissing the case supports that. If prosecutors have evidence that contradicts the indictment THEY brought, they should share it today.
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod 14h14 hours ago: “The fact that (Smollett) feels that we have exonerated him, we have not. I can’t make it any clearer than that.”   So says the lead prosecutor in Smollett case. So why allow Smollett to get off for $10K and have his records expunged and case files sealed?
  • David Axelrod ‏@davidaxelrod  13h13 hours ago Smollett repaid the city $10k, ostensibly as an offset for the investigation his phony charges ignited that cost the City of Chicago in the millions. It really is outrageous.
• KAMALA ON SMOLLETT: Democrat Senator Kamala Harris on Jussie Smollett’s charges being dropped: “I’m completely confused. I don’t understand. I don’t know, I don’t know the underlying evidence. … I don’t know. I’m at a loss.” Harris had called the alleged attack an “attempted modern-day lynching”

6am – A/B/C MORE ON SMOLLETT

6am – D         INTERVIEW — TED WILLIAMS – DC LAWYER and Fox News Channel contributor – reacted to Jussie Smollett’s charges getting dropped.

6am – E         Rockland in New York declares state of emergency over measles outbreak, bars unvaccinated from public places. ROCKLAND COUNTY, New York (WABC) — Rockland County has declared a state of emergency over the ongoing measles outbreak, with Executive Ed Day announcing that non-vaccinated minors are now barred from public places.  Now in effect, anyone who is under 18 years of age and is not vaccinated against the measles will be prohibited from public places until the declaration expires in 30 days or until they receive the MMR vaccination.  Officials said law enforcement will not be patrolling the streets or asking for vaccination records, but if someone is found in violation of the declaration, their case will be referred to the district attorney’s office.  Parents will also be held accountable for their children if they are found in violation of the state of emergency.  Officials say there are no religious exemptions, and that they have been working with area rabbis who have been encouraging their members to get vaccinated.  According to the emergency declaration, public places are defined as a place where more than 10 persons are intended to congregate for purposes such as civic, governmental, social, or religious functions, or for recreation or shopping, or for food or drink consumption, or awaiting transportation, or for daycare or educational purposes, or for medical treatment.  A place of public assembly shall also include public transportation vehicles, including but not limited to, publicly or privately owned buses or trains, but does not include taxi or livery vehicles.  There are currently 153 confirmed reported cases of measles in the county, according to health officials.

6am – F         THE GREEN ‘NO’ DEAL: The Green New Deal, a sweeping Democratic proposal championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for dealing with climate change, fell at the first hurdle Tuesday as the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to begin debate on the non-binding resolution, with 42 Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voting “present” … No senator voted to begin debate on the legislation, while 57 lawmakers voted against breaking the filibuster. The vote had been teed up by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a bid to make Democratic senators — including several 2020 presidential candidates — go on the record about the measure, which he calls “a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy.” Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, called McConnell’s move a “sham vote.”

• No Senators backed socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) “Green New Deal.” Even Democrat Sen. Ed Markey, who co-authored the Green New Deal with AOC, didn’t vote for it. Democrat Senators Jones, Sinema, Manchin, and King voted with the Republicans.
• MCCONNELL MOCKS AOC: Mitch McConnell mocks Ocasio-Cortez after ‘Green New Deal’ fails to garner a single vote from Democrats: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell mocked Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (R-N.Y.) through his official twitter account after her audacious “Green New Deal” legislation failed a procedural vote in the Senate. Not one vote was cast in favor of the bill Ocasio-Cortez co-sponsored against global warming. 53 Republicans and 4 Democrats voted against the bill, while 43 Democrats simply voted “present,” in order to protest McConnell attempting to force them to vote on the controversial legislation. Ocasio-Cortez claimed that she “encouraged” Democrats to vote present and keep her bill from moving forward. “McConnell tried to rush the #GreenNewDeal straight to the floor without a hearing,” she explained. “The real question we should be asking: Why does the Senate GOP refuse to hold any major hearings on climate change?”

7am – A         INTERVIEW – EMILY ZANOTTI –  Senior Editor, Daily Wire @emzanotti @realDailyWire (based in Chicago, IL) – discussed Jussie Smollett’s charges getting dropped.

7am – B/C     VA CELL PHONE BAN:

• Northam Expands Ban on Holding Cell Phones While Driving. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is trying to revive an effort to ban motorists from holding cellphones while driving. Northam announced Tuesday he’s adding a proposed amendment to legislation that would bar drivers from holding a cellphone while driving in a highway work zone. The governor’s amendment would broaden the ban to all roads in Virginia. Lawmakers in the House and Senate both passed a version of a “hands-free driving” bill earlier this year but could not agree on compromise language in a final product. The legislature will return April 3 to take up Northam’s vetoes and amendments. State law already makes it illegal to text or email on a cellphone while driving.
• Northam amends motorist measures with ‘race inequities’ in mind. (Washington Post) — CHARLOTTESVILLE — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, in his effort to rebuild goodwill after admitting last month to wearing blackface as a young man, took two actions Tuesday related to motorists with “race inequities” in mind. In Charlottesville, the site of the violent rally by white supremacists in 2017, Northam (D) announced that he had amended the state budget to end license suspensions for unpaid court costs — a practice that disproportionately affects the poor. And in Alexandria, Northam announced another amendment to ban handheld cellphone use while driving — with a requirement that the state track citations to ensure that minorities are not unfairly targeted for enforcement.
• Northam makes first N. Va. appearance since blackface scandal broke. For the first time in about two months, embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam made an official public appearance in Northern Virginia Tuesday. Nine Democratic legislators stood by Northam in Alexandria’s brisk-but-sunny Market Square as he announced an amendment — to be taken up by the General Assembly next week — that would ban handheld cellphone use while driving in Virginia. Northam is aiming to get back to normal and lead the state forward despite an admission that he once wore blackface in a 1980s dance contest. That admission was made after revelations of a racist photo on his medical school yearbook page.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – MIKE LITTERST – National Park Service spokesman

• Cherry blossoms are coming: Peak bloom date moved up to April 1. D.C.’s famous cherry blossoms are blooming a bit earlier than expected. Initially expected to reach peak bloom between April 3 and April 6, the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin are on track to peak about April 1, according to the National Park Service. The change was due to mild weather and higher temperatures in the coming days. Trees that are known to be early indicators reached full bloom this week, with the majority of other buds having reached the fourth of six stages in the bloom cycle, the Park Service announced. Predicting the date the Tidal Basin’s 3,800 cherry trees will reach peak bloom — the point when 70 percent of the blossoms have opened — is an inexact science. Weather can push the date forward or back, depending on how many warm or cold days the buds face. Once the blossoms bloom, they will last on trees for about two weeks, as long as no strong winds or rain knock them from their branches.

7am – E         DOJ SETS TIMETABLE TO RELEASE OF MUELLER REPORT –  A version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election will be available to Capitol Hill lawmakers in “weeks, not months,” Attorney General Bill Barr told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham during a Monday phone call, Fox News has learned… According to a senior Department of Justice official, Barr did not tell Graham, R-S.C., that he intends to share the report with the White House in advance of the public release. Still, Graham told “Fox News @ Night” host Shannon Bream, Trump is fine with the DOJ releasing the report without having the White House review it first.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – Montgomery County Councilmember ANDREW FRIEDSON – discussed new proposed limits on parking spaces in Montgomery County.

• Large commercial, residential buildings could be forced to cut available parking in effort to promote transit, carpools. (Bethesda Magazine) — A proposal that could require large commercial and residential properties in the county to have fewer parking spaces in an effort to force greater use of public transportation and get cars off the road is being questioned by business groups. County Executive Marc Elrich is pressing for updated regulations that would require building owners countywide to have a “traffic mitigation plan” designed to get more people onto public transit or carpools by cutting the number of parking spaces for commuters.  At present, five areas in the county – Bethesda, North Bethesda, Friendship Heights, Silver Spring and Shady Grove – require businesses with 25 or more employees to have the plans, which also mandate designated parking spots for carpoolers and van services. Each of the areas also sets a goal for the number of employees not driving to work, which ranges between 18 percent in Shady Grove to 46 percent for Silver Spring. A separate component of the bill that would levy additional fees on all existing non-multi-family residential and commercial development was recommended by council staff. Council member Andrew Friedson, who is not on the committee but represents an area that includes Bethesda’s central business district, wrote in a memo that he was “alarmed” by the recommendation. “This is a dramatic policy change being proposed after the public hearing on this Bill and with extremely limited, if any, opportunity for the public to consider or comment. I am especially concerned that this would amount to a new tax on residents of multi-family buildings throughout the County,” he wrote. “Dramatic policy changes such as this one should be debated publicly, transparently, and openly. In this case, I do not believe those who will be impacted by this new tax have been provided sufficient opportunity.”

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – DOUG LLOYD – Spokesperson, Maryland Lottery – discussed Powerball’s Wednesday drawing at $750M.

• Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing has a jackpot of $750 million — it’s the the third-largest in Powerball history and fourth-largest in U.S. lottery history. But almost as exciting is the fact that Marylanders are already winning. The jackpot has been rolling since the last week of December 2018 and here in Maryland, that jackpot roll has produced lots of winners:

• Two winners of $1 million / ·  19 winners of $50,000 (Five in the last week alone!) / ·  More than 581,000 winning tickets sold in Maryland during the roll.

8am – D/E     Jussie Smollett’s Charges Are Dropped, Angering Mayor and Police. (NY Times) — CHICAGO — In a startling about-face on Tuesday that drove a rift between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and local prosecutors, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped all charges against the “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who had been accused of staging a hate crime attack in the city’s downtown in January.