Monday, July 17, 2017
What changed? Scott has become one of a handful of Republican governors to oppose congressional efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“You’re not getting compliments from all your colleagues for doing this,” Welch told Scott, who flashed a sheepish grin. “But you’re getting a lot of compliments from the Vermonters you represent.”
Added Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero), whose budget Scott vetoed last month, “I want to thank the governor, as well, for speaking up, because it’s not an easy thing to speak up and go against the prevailing will of your party.”
Scott did, indeed, voice forceful opposition to repeal legislation U.S. Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote in the coming weeks, arguing that it would “leave our state with a budget deficit we could not absorb” without cutting services or raising taxes.
“The consequences for Vermonters would be severe,” the governor said of the bill.
Scott called it “imperative” that Republicans and Democrats work together to improve the ACA, but he was hazy on the details of what he sought. Asked whether there was an approach that might satisfy him and Vermont’s left-leaning congressional delegation, the governor retreated to his talking points.
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Bernie Sanders , Patrick Leahy , Peter Welch , Mitzi Johnson , Affordable Care Act , Obamacare , repeal , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) both called for further investigation Tuesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has refused Seven Days' interview requests for more than 26 months, did not respond to a request for comment.
The New York Times has reported in recent days that the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and other top advisers met with a Russian attorney in June 2016 to discuss information that could damage Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday, the Times published emails suggesting that Trump Jr. knew the information came from Russian officials and was comfortable with that.
Leahy spokesperson David Carle said Vermont's senior senator "believes that Donald Jr.'s meeting raises exceedingly serious and troubling issues." He did not go as far as Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Clinton's 2016 running mate, who called Trump Jr.'s actions "beyond obstruction of justice" and "potentially treason."
"[Leahy] continues to believe that it's crucially important to gather all the facts … so determinations can be made about whether and what crimes were committed," Carle said.
Tags: Senator , Patrick Leahy , Peter Welch , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , Donald Trump Jr. , Russia , 2016 election , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 10, 2017
The Washington Post reported Monday that a federal investigation involving Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, "has accelerated in recent months" and is "gathering steam." In what appeared to be a previously unreported development, the Post wrote that prosecutors had subpoenaed a Vermont state official "to testify before a grand jury" about the matter in April.
"That is the first public confirmation that prosecutors have sought to present evidence to a grand jury," investigative reporters Shawn Boburg and Jack Gillum wrote.
But according to the state official in question, Vermont Educational and Health Buildings Finance Agency executive director Robert Giroux, and VEHBFA general counsel James Foley, prosecutors never asked Giroux to testify before a grand jury. And the subpoena itself, which Foley provided to Seven Days, makes clear that federal officials were seeking documents from the state agency — not testimony.
"A personal appearance is not required and the subpoena may be complied with a CD/DVD or Documents by certified mail," Acting U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles wrote in an April 17 cover letter accompanying the subpoena. The federal request makes no reference to Giroux or any other state official.
The distinction is important because federal prosecutors often use grand jury subpoenas to obtain documents at an earlier stage of an investigation. They typically do not call witnesses before a grand jury until they are seeking an indictment.
After Seven Days questioned Boburg and Gillum about their reporting late Monday, the Post corrected its story and retracted the claim.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Burlington College , Washington Post , Image , Web Only
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Alexander James Lowell-Henry died late Wednesday as he was receiving medical care at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, state police said.
The toddler was in the care of a foster family at the time of his apparent drowning, state police said.
Tags: Alexander James Lowell-Henry , Vermont State Police , DCF , Ken Schatz , toddler drowning , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 30, 2017
But in an interview with Seven Days Friday, that source — Vermont House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton) — disputed Toensing's characterization of their May 2016 conversation and called into question Toensing's allegation. Turner described the information he provided Toensing as nothing more than "hearsay" — and hardly evidence of wrongdoing.
"There's no way I'd file a complaint or anything like that," said the Milton Republican, who has not previously been identified as Toensing's source.
Turner's remarks appear to undercut the most explosive charge that Toensing, a Charlotte attorney, has leveled in recent years at the senator and his wife. But they don't directly contradict another of the Republican official's allegations: that O'Meara Sanders committed federal loan fraud by overstating fundraising commitments when applying for a $6.5 million loan on behalf of Burlington College, the now-defunct school she once ran.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Burlington College , Brady Toensing , Don Turner , Jeff Weaver , federal investigation , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
The legal weed bill passed the Senate easily, as it has the past two years. But the bill hit a wall in the House, where an effort to suspend rules to bring the bill to the floor fell far short.
“It is our best chance to pass legalization of small amounts of marijuana,” Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) told fellow senators before their vote early Wednesday evening.
Tags: Cannabeat , Dick Sears , Don Turner , Jill Krowinski , Maxine Grad , Phil Scott , Vermont legislature , Vermont marijuana legalization , Vermont politics , veto session , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Auditor Doug Hoffer and his staff examined 10 construction projects led by the Department of Buildings and General Services between 2012 and 2016.
One project is ongoing and under budget, but the nine finished projects went over budget cost by a median of 31 percent and collectively cost $24.6 million more than expected. All 10 missed their completion deadlines.
Tags: Doug Hoffer , Department of Buildings and General Services , Chris Cole , Vermont , Image , Web Only
The 74-year-old Montpelier woman is closely connected to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. She’s the ship’s “sponsor” — the person chosen by the secretary of the Navy to help christen and launch the vessel. And it bears the name of her late husband, Lt. William “Bill” Fitzgerald, who was killed on August 7, 1967, while defending his compound near Co Luy, Vietnam.
The military posthumously awarded the Vermont native the Navy Cross — the branch’s highest honor. He was 29.
The collision over the weekend, again a world away, “just brings it back to day one,” Betty Ann told Seven Days on Monday.
Tags: USS Fitzgerald , William Fitzgerald , Betty Ann Fitzgerald , Bryce Benson , U.S. Navy , Image , Web Only
Thursday, June 8, 2017
"[Comey] made very clear that he was fired because of the Russia investigation," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) told Seven Days Thursday afternoon. "Today, I think a lot of questions were answered."
Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said he found Comey's testimony "stunning."
"It's very disturbing," he said. "I mean, essentially you've got the president of the United States, whose responsibility is to enforce the law, interfering with an investigation ... There's an enormous amount of smoke here and a persistent pattern that is very alarming."
Tags: Senator , James Comey , Donald Trump , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Jeff Sessions , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Justices had no shortage of questions for either side in a legal battle over how — and when — the state Public Records Act applies to personal emails, text messages or other forms of communication.
Last June, Vermont Republican Party vice chair Brady Toensing sued then-attorney general Bill Sorrell, a Democrat, after he refused to search for and turn over public records stored on his personal accounts that might be pertinent to the Charlotte attorney’s records request. Sorrell’s successor, Attorney General T.J. Donovan, is now defending the office.
Citing privacy concerns, Superior Court Judge Robert Mello sided with the Attorney General’s Office in February, but he also raised the “seriously, and, frankly, disturbing concern” that the ruling would allow public officials to circumvent the public records act by doing government business through personal accounts.
Toensing appealed the decision, and in oral arguments before the Supreme Court Wednesday, he told the justices, “This case is about ensuring an open government.” Several news organizations, including Seven Days, filed a brief in support of his case.
Less than two minutes into his argument, the justices began interrupting with questions.
Tags: Vermont Supreme Court , Bill Sorrell , Brady Toensing , Vermont Attorney General , Image , Web Only