Sure what you mean. I went to capitol hill to give a speech to the heritage foundation, yes. Would you consider that activity to be an ancillary function of the department . Congressman, i had no other way to get to a speech that i had committed to give before the shut down. Thank you. The speech involved the topic of rifra and the comemory of rifra. When you were acting attorney general, the Attorney Generals Office did issue guidance on federal law for religious liberty, the guidance involved expansion of exemptions to rifra at a religious liberty summit held in 2018. Attorney general sessions announced the religious liberty task force. Is it fair to say theres limited Public Information on the task force and its work. The only public documentation is a twopage memorandum. Are you aware of additional documents or guidance that explain the task force mandate and processes . No, im not familiar with any additional do you know what the budget is of the task force . I dont believe as i sit here today that weve actually affectated the task force yet. Its an internal task force that would have no specific separate budget. Will you commit during the remaining time that youre acting attorney general to provide to this committee any Additional Details regarding that task force which has been in place now for i guess seven months or more . Yes, congressman. Ill be happy to follow up in writing for you or someone from the office of legislative affairs about that religious liberty task force. Recently hhs interpreted rifra to allow a christianbased Foster Care Agency that does receive federal tax dollars to discriminate against potential Foster Parent because they happen to be jewish. Do you know if the Justice Department stands behind this hhs determination that a tax payer subsidized organization can discriminate against jewish individuals . I am certain that the department of justice will defend that position of a sister agency. Thank you very much. Time of the gentleman is expired. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you, mr. Whitaker for appearing before us today. Im delighted the hear of your departments focus on the scourge of gun violence. Today you said a couple things that touched me. You said you have to set the tone of the department. You said that the job youre doing now is the honor of a lifetime. All of us here can quite imagine that. I believe that actually you do as the head of the acting a. G. Set the tone for the department. Tell me, this is not a negative question, it is just a factual question, how many positions did you interview for with this Administration Prior to you going to the department of justice . As we previously explored with one of your colleagues, i had interviewed preliminarily for the position that ultimately ty cobb obje ty cobb occupied and emmett flood occupies and then i interviewed with jeff sessions. After the election of 2016, i never intended to come into the administration. But i was happy to be asked and i explored opportunities. Those are the two that i interviewed for. In the meantime, in your private life, you became a commentator on cnn and other places and disparaged the Mueller Investigation. Is that true . I used my experience is it true . Yes or no . I would characterize it as disparagement. I tried to explain to the American People on cnn and other outlets how the process worked, how the process for appointment im not asking you about process. Im asking you about the subject and the investigation and the validity of the investigation. We know, the record is public that you said negative things in your private life and you said today youre not willing to take those back so they stand. Your thoughts on the Mueller Investigation are fully public and they stand because you did not take them back today. How did you learn of the extraordinary honor that was bestowed on you . How did you learn you got the job . You know, i cant remember if it was which preceded which. I believe i received a phone call from the president of the United States to be the acting attorney general. A moment ago you said you learned by tweet. Did i misunderstand you . I think you did. So you learned first by a phone call from the president. I believe so. They were very close in time. So i actually, as i sit here, i cant remember which preceded which. How long is that phone call . Letting you know of this or substantive conversation about your role . Im not going to discuss the private conversations ive had with the president. Its important that hes entitled to that confidentiality from a cabinet secretary, even acting like i am. I will tell you that it was not a substantive phone call. It was an honor phone call probably. No lowing that and the tweet, when did you next meet with the president about your job . During this time i dont remember. During this time in that month or more that you have to decide whether or not to recuse. How many times did you meet with the president prior to your decision not to recuse . Congresswoman, while im not going to discuss any meetings that ive had with the president , nor conversations, ill tell you that i interact with the president on a regular basis including after i was appointed acting attorney general. You said you set the tone for the entire department. You had to carefully consider whether or not to recuse yourself from any dealings with mueller i spent five weeks considering that question. And you got information from two sources that we know of. Career officials at the Justice Department recommended you recuse yourself to avoid the appearance of a conflict or bias. Is that correct . That was december 19. To avoid even the appearance of a conflict or bias based on your previous statements. Is that correct . Is that the advice you got . Congress woman yes or no. I would point you to a letter yes or no. This question is not a yes or no question. You have to understand how it was my decision to make, the career im not talking about your decision. Im talking about the guidance you received. Its not their decision to make. Im asking you factually about the guidance you received. Career officials told you should recuse to avoid the impropriety of bias. Am i correct . They told me it was a close call. Could go either way. To set the tone, you think on a close call you go the other way . As the attorney general and not to bind my successors, yes, i believe on a close call as the attorney general of the United States that i made the right decision and it was my decision to make. Yet you had have i lost my time . Get this question out. Ill let him answer it. Would you be able to provide us the written guidance that you got from the career professionals in terms of recusal . They recommended recusal. Would you please provide this committee that written document . That would require me to provide internal deliberations that are not provided in this relationship. As we sit here today, i didnt receive any written advice from the career ethics initials. Time of the gentle lady has expired. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Youre welcome. Mrs. Powell. Thank you, mr. Chairman, mr. Whitaker. I want to go back to your time when you worked for the foundation of accountability and civil trust. I worked for many years for various 501 c 3s. Its interesting. When i look at the board is this a private for Public Foundation . Was that the 501 c 3 . Is it private our public . Congresswoman, i dont have the 990 filings but you worked there from 2014 to 2017. I was. And you were the executive director. Yes. You dont know if its private or public . I havent worked for fact in 16 months. In my preparation thank you. I didnt review were there only thank you, mr. Whitaker. Were there only three Board Members in this 501 c 3 . I believe there yes, three Board Members. William, neil and matthew. Yes. Okay. So its also my understanding that you filed numerous sec complaints while working there . All of our complaints were posted online. Were they sec complaints, mr. Whitaker . We filed many different types of complaints. Did you feel some you worked as the executive director of this 501 c 3. Did you file yes. Okay. We filed complaints in addition to others. Who made the decision to file these complaints . I was the executive director. I believe i signed all did you make the sole decision to file the complaints or were you directed no, i was not directed. You did that on your own . Yes. We were an independent nonpartisan 501 c 3. Ethicing watch dog. Its a nonpartisan. Did you file any sec complaints about any republicans . As i sit here today. I dont recall. All of okay. Thank you, mr. Whitaker. Id like to ask for unanimous consent to make part of the restriction of Political Campaign entintervention and it reads all section 501 c 3 organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in or intervening in any Political Campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate or for elected public office. Without objection. Thank you. I have some other questions here. All this time im waiting and i cant find the question. This pertains to an issue that is close and dear to my heart, lgbtq issues. In october 2017, the department of justice with drew a 2014 memo that stated that the best reading of the title 7 prohibition on sex discrimination in the workplace encompasses antitransgender discrimination. The new memo instructs the department of justice attorneys to argue that federal law does not protect transgender workers from discrimination. Are you familiar with both memos . Yes, i am familiar with those memos that dont not extend title 7 to lgbtq thank you. At the time of the reversal, were you serving as the chief of the staff for attorney general sessions . Correct . I served as chief of staff from october 4 of 2017 until i was appointed acting attorney general in 2018. So who ordered the reversal of this policy . Im certain it was attorney general sessions who sets the entire policy for the department of justice. Who drafted the new memo . As i sit here today, i dont have any idea. That would be work done by im sure many people. Any outside groups that were involved in the process . Not that im aware of. Again do you stand by the departments decision to reverse its position that title 7 protects transgender people from discrimination . Congress woman please answer the question. Do you stand by the departments decision to reverse its position that title 7 protects transgender from discrimination . You can change the law. We cannot read into something that is not so i take that yes. Okay. So do you believe that members of the Lgbtq Community should not be protected under federal Discrimination Laws . Again, congress woman, i believe that mr. Whitaker i shouldnt have yes or no please. I dont have much time. Do you believe that members of the Lgbtq Community should not be protected under federal Discrimination Laws . Plain yes or no. Plane reading yes or no. Does not extend to transgender and you uniquely control what is the law. We merely enforce the law. I still have time, mr. Chairman. Your time has expired. Mrs. Escobar. Thank you. Mr. Whitaker, this hearing began this morning at 9 30. Ive been waiting almost six hours, nearly 3 30 in the afternoon. Ive been waiting nearly six hours to ask my questions. Im going to ask you for a favor. Out of respect for this committee, out of respect for me as a member of congress, im going to ask that you try not to run out the clock and that you please answer my questions with a yes or a no. If i have a follow up that you please answer the follow up as succinctly as possible. Congress woman excuse me. If i could with all due respect, im going to answer your questions ive watched you do that to every member on this committee a lot of questions dont have yes or no questions. Time belongs to the member. I represent el paso, texas. I live on the safe security vibrant u. S. Mexico border. Unfortunately, my community, one of tremendous good will and generosity, has been ground zero for many of this administrations cruel antiimmigrant, antiamerican policies including family separation, child detention in tents, the ongoing prevention hoff Asylum Seekers from letting them in at our ports of entry and in december the death of two immigrant children in u. S. Custody. Earlier you said you believed every life is valuable and i would hope and assume that that includes the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Theres a new policy that is about to unfortunately be rolled out in my Community Called the migrant protection protocol. Which i believe is a misnomer for a dangerous and in some cases deadly and i believe also an illegal policy that allows our government to return migrants and Asylum Seekers back to mexico while they await their hearing. Heres my question. Because the department of justice oversees the office for immigration review, will the department of justice ensure that asylum speakers have access to counsel in mexico in order to allow them to prepare for their hearing . Yes or no. Were going to continue to follow the policies that are currently in place. Will you facilitate, assist, help and ensure that Asylum Seekers have access to Legal Counsel in mexico. Yes or no. Congresswoman, theres a welldefined process for Asylum Seekers to obtain counsel and were going to continue to follow that. Mr. Whitaker, even while theyre in mexico . As the acting attorney general, i cannot make assurance what happens in a foreign country. You understand that. This is part of the reason this is a terrible policy. Another question. About a week after the policy was announced, reports surfaced that immigrant rights advocates and attorneys were denied entry into mexico. The attorneys said their passports had been flagged and reports also indicated that this was not an issue on the mexican side, but it was on the u. S. Side. Did the department of justice have anything to do with flagging these passports . Congresswoman, im not familiar with the situation youre describing. Im happy to look into it and get back to you. Thank you. Another question related to this issue. Does the department of justice have an immigrant advocate watch list . Congresswoman, i am not aware of the question youre asking me. The answer to it. Im happy to look into it and get back to you. Thank you. Thats not something that sounds familiar and i prepared for today. I look forward to the answers to those questions. Switching gears a little bit. At the president s state of the union address, he claims that my community, el paso, texas used to have extremely high rates of violent crime, one of the highest in the entire country. And he claims that we game one of the safest communities in america because of a wall. Data from the Fbis Uniform Crime Reporting Program shows that his el paso has historically has been one of the safest communities in the nation and that we were such long before a wall was constructed. Do you have any reason to disagree with the fbis uniform Crime Reporting data . Congress woman, we use the ucr on a regular on going basis to not only know where our crime hot spots are but to also put our resources at the department of justice. Sir, thats not my question. Let me repeat it. Do you have any reason to disagree with the fbis uniform Crime Reporting data . Congresswoman, the ucr do you have any reason, sir, to disagree with your fbis data . As i sit here today, i do not have any reason to okay. Thank you very much. Switching gears again. Did you ever create the gentle ladys time has expired. Ill let her finish this one question. Did you ever create, direct the creation of or become aware of the existence of any documents related to pardon of any individual . I am aware of documents relating to pardons of individuals, yes. The gentle ladys time is expired. Im going to ask one question to follow up on the gentle lady. Sir, since its black letter law that someone in the United States may apply for asylum that any person who applies for asylum states a reason therefore is entitled to have that claim adjudicated, that that person is entitled to Legal Assistance as that claim is adjudicated. Doesnt it strike you that a policy that says that people that set foot on american soil and claim asylum and sent to a foreign country where they may not have access to legal health, which theyre constitutionally guaranteed for their asylum adjudication may have a constitutional problem . Congressman, im sure youre aware that federal law allows Asylum Seekers to be returned to a safe third country. Im not aware though that it allows people not to that allows the government to do something that effectively eliminates their right to counsel for their asylum claim. This concludes todays hearing. I want to thank all of the members that are still here for their patience and their fortitude. I want to thank attorney general whitaker for appearing today. Mrs. Jackson lee. I thank you. Im not asking. Im putting these questions on the record. One submit them for the record. Without objection, the questions are admitted. And two articles. Three articleses for the record. Gq washington, New York Times and also an article by sean without objections the articles are admitted. Before we adjourn, i want to note for the record that you owe us responses on a number of issues raiseded too. Responses that we intend to secure and including but not limited to the times and dates that you were briefed on the special counsels investigation, your communications with the president after you received those briefings, the basis for your statement that the special counsels investigation is reaching its conclusion and whether you told the special counsel not to take any specific investigative or prosecutorial steps. I would note that your testimony was at best inconsistent with your conversations with the white house prior your tenure to the department. And you never conveyed your opinions about the investigation to the white house. We require answers to these questions. I ask the department to work with the committee to provide them. As part of that work, i intent to call you back for an interview under subpoena, if necessary and i expect more answers at that time. Without objection, all members may submit written questions for the witness or additional materials. The hearing is adjourned. Shepard Shepard Smith in new york. Remember, the matter of subpoena was a matter of contention and was breaking news through much of the day yesterday. Initially acting attorney general whitaker had said if the possibility of subpoena exists, i dont want to testify. And then it was reported that he softened his language, the chairman did, by saying if we get all the answers, what we want from you is the answers. We expect you to give answers. Leaving the subpoena part out. Well, we just have been notified now as has the acting attorney general by chairman nadler there that a subpoena is possible if necessary on a number of questions which the acting attorney general obviously did not answer and would not answer. Of course, the question of executive privilege remains. On other matters, chairman nadler seems to believe the committee is entitled to answers to those questions. He says he expects them and will give members of the committee five days to submit questions. To say this is not over seems to be what congressman Gerald Nadler was just informing us. The acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker did state a couple of matters of note. He says he has not talked to President Trump about the special counsels russia investigation and he has not interfered with the investigation at all. Acting attorney general whitaker testified before the house judiciary committee. Remember, he had criticized the scope of Robert Muellers investigation before joining the Justice Department. At no time has the white house asked for, nor have i provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsels investigation or any other investigation. During my time as the leader of the department of justice, the department has complied with the special counsel regulations and theres been no change in how the department has worked with the special counsels office. Of course, they spent a lot of time bringing up his tweets and utterances and attempts to get a job. Jerry nadler drilled down on a briefing that he says the acting attorney general whitaker got on the investigation late last year. At any point since that briefing, have you communicated any information you learned to President Trump . I know theres a unique yes or no question. Im sorry . Have you communicated anything you learned in the briefing about the investigation to President Trump . Yes or no. Mr. Chairman, as i have said earlier today in my opening remarks, i do not intend today to talk about my private conversations with the president of the United States. To answer your question, i have not talked to the president of the United States about the special counsels investigation. Got him on the record on that matter. Another democrat, steve cohen of tennessee tried unsuccessfully to get the acting attorney general to say the russia investigation is not a witch hunt. Theres been conviction of the special counsel, mr. Manafort, theres been guilty pleas from flynn, papadopoulos, cohen and dozens of indictments, three Rush Companies and 13 russian nationals and roger stone. Would you say this is a witch hunt . Are you overseeing the witch hunt . Congressman, as i mentioned previously, the special counsels investigation is you wont oversee a witch hunt, wouldnt you . Youd stop its inappropriate for me to talk about an on going investigation. Shepard two weeks action he did talk about the investigation. He said he believed mueller is close to wrapping up, a new poll for cnn said that when the that happens, when its complete, when the Mueller Report is finished, nearly nine out of ten americans say they want to see the full report public. The chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reporting live on capitol hill. High, catherine. Shep, this is one of these situations that you want to do a little rewind. I think we may have had a significant piece of news in the final few minutes of that hearing. You remember earlier in the hearing, the acting attorney general Matt Whitaker said he wasnt involved with pardons. In the last line of questioning, he was asked if he was aware, as i heard it, of a pardon document. I believe he answered in the affirmative. This may be sort of a distinction without a lot of difference. I think this could very well be an important piece of news. Secondly i want to point out why the witch hunt exchange is also newsworthy. What we heard from the nominee to be attorney general william barr and Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein when they testified, they went much further than the acting attorney general and they said in their view, the mueller case was not a whip hunt, shep. Shepard a big issue has been why he did not recuse himself from the russia investigation. We all know that he was given counsel to recuse himself, but that it was his own decision. He wouldnt say that today. Well, just to sort of recap at home, the issue had to do theres a number of issues. One of the most prominent issue is statements that he made to the Mueller Investigation including one in 2017 when he talked about a way to shut down the investigation as a backdoorway to drain or cut off the funding. He took a number of questions today about why he did not recuse himself because there had been a recommendation to do so based on the appearance. Thats a fine detail. But its sort of a difference between appearance versus hard evidence. Heres that exchange. There were career doj officials who advised you that you should not touch that investigation. Isnt that correct . Congressman yes or no. I consulted with career ethics officials, i consulted with my senior staff, i consulted with the office of Legal Counsel. It was my decision to make. I decided not to recuse. The other thing that we learned in the last hour, shep, is that whitaker only expects to be in this job he said another six days and thats a clear sort of tipping of the hat to the confirmation of the nominee for attorney general, william barr that is expected mid week, shep. Shepard thanks so much. The other big news today may have legs. Today the billionaire, the blackmail accusation and the pictures meant for the mistress. Amazons ceo opens up about his fight with the National Inquirer. Now we know the feds are looking to all of this. The fact is, americans move more than anyone else in the world. On average, well live in eleven homes. And every time we move, things change. Apartments become houses, cars become mini vans. As we upgrade and downsize, an allstate agent will do the same for our protection. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . Whei just put in the namey, of my parents and my grandparents. And as soon as i did that, literally it was like youre getting 7, 9, 10, 15 leaves that are just popping up all over the place. Yeah, it was amazing. Just with a little bit of information, you can take leaps and bounds. Its an awesome experience. Shepard extortion, blackmail and a selfie and the richest man in the worked. Jeff bezos said the National Inquirer threatened to release pictures of his mistress. The tabloid said they would hold off on the publishing of the pictures if they would hold off on the texts and also make a Public Statement that the inqui inquirers statements are not politically motivated. The head of amazon says he wanted to figure out why and how. So he started his own investigation into the tabloid. Remember, the publisher of the inquirer, ami, david pecker, friend of the president , made a deal with the feds over the tabloids involvement of hush money payments made in the 2016 election. The feds said Karen Mcdougal was paid 150,000 for her story on how she had an affair with the now president before he took office but they never published it. Its a strategy called catch and kill. The president denies the affair. No charges against pecker or the National Inquirer or ami. They struck a deal. The deal was this. The fed said for you cooperation, david pecker and ami and the National Inquirer, you wont be prosecuted for your part in this crime. But as part of the deal, if ami commits a crime within three years, the whole deal is off. Everything about what the nation National Inquirers company did could be used against the company. Breaking this afternoon, bloomberg is reporting and others including a. P. Have matched that federal prosecutors here in manhattan are reviewing whether the National Inquirers Parent Company violated that nonprosecution agreement. If there was blackmail for extortion and its proved, the nonprosecution agreement is dead. Today the Company Released a statement writing that it believes it acted lawfully in regards to bezos. And that the board, which david pecker is in charge of, will thoroughly look into what happened. Not an outside investigation. Theyll look at themselves. Dan springer reporting. Hes live in our Pacific Northwest bureau in seattle. Shep, its a stunning battle between media moguls especially considering one likes to fly under the radar. Jeff bezos is accused of blackmail and extortion. Bezos launched his own investigation the same day he announced he was getting a divorce. He wanted to know how they got texts between Laura Sanchez and him and if the story was politically motivated. David pecker is a an ally of President Trump and investigated by the department of justice for paying to kill a story of an alleged trump affair to help him collected. Now the Justice Department is looked into whether ami might have committed a crime in violation of its agreement. Bezos owns the Washington Post who has come under attack of President Trump. The big bomb shell came out last night when bezos released emails between his camp and a lawyer for ami. In them, ami says they have ten compromising photos of bezos and sanchez and one of them is a belowthebelt selfie. Ami says the only way the pictures wont get published is if bezos makes a Public Statement clearing their coverage of him and saying it was not motivated by politics. Bezos yes on a blog, rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, i decided to tell what they did. Shepard his entire interview is online. Theres more from the Parent Company from the National Inquirers, right . It was interesting. Ami put out a statement saying they believe the inquirers reporting was lawful and also admits to sending the emails claiming they were good faith negotiations. The statement says in light of the nature of the allegations published by mr. Bezos, the board has convened and determined that they should thoroughly investigate the claims. Amazons stock price is triadin lower. Lets go to a lawyer. Kate is a former prosecutor who is now a defense attorney specializing in criminal law. I know this is a gray area. But unless they said if you do the following, then we wont release the bad stuff on you. Is that blackmail or bribery . Yeah, i think it absolutely is. Ami messed with the wrong guy here. The emails, weve seen them in black and white. Its textbook extortion. Its very simple to look at the law. The law requires that the defendant in this case, ami, knowingly sent a threat to ruin the reputation of another person and that they did so to gain some sort of benefit for themselves. Here the benefit is that they wanted jeff bezos to pro claim that amis reporting was not politically motivated and develop their investigation into anything that they did to obtain the texts. So its cult and dry here. Ami has some defenses. By acknowledging that they knew these emails were sent that will limit them more. Shepard then theres this nonprosecution agreement. The federal government said to ami and david pecker, friend of the president , come clean or all that you did regarding these catch and kill stories, the patchy frosts that they admitted test were a Campaign Finance violation. As part of the agreement they made the admissions but werent prosecuted for it. According to that document and agreement, if they commit a crime within three years, the whole nonprosecution agreement is off and everything can become public. Would that hold up in this case . Would all of that become public and might they be pros cuted if theyre found to commit a crime here . Absolutely. These types of clauses in the federal plea agreements have very common. The agreement is that the person entering into it or the entity entering into it will not commit any further criminal misconduct. Theyre saying in exchange for this benefit, im going to be a lawabiding citizen. So everything you do will be looked at more closely. So yes, absolutely theres going to be a question about whether or not these emails constituted extortion. If thats the case, the deal is off. Shepard others have come forward since. Terry cruz for once saying that ami tried to silence him. The journalist, ronan pharaoh has said that theres misdeeds on the part of ami as well. Could this become something that could really roll over ami here or is that getting ahead of things . I think thats going to be something that the federal prosecutors are growing to look into. Theyre going to look into all of these potentials that there was criminal misconduct on the part of ami. Think ami severely miscalculated jeff bezos. They thought they had something on him that he would have to hide and he just didnt fall for it. So theyre in a lot of trouble right now. Thanks, katie. Thank you. Shepard coming up, the threat of the crown prince of saudi arabia that the crown prince reportedly made against the Washington Post columnist, jamal khaishoggi a year before he said to have ordered his murder at the consulate in turkey. Also, democrats in virginia on capitol hill joining together and calling for democratic governor of the state to resign at last. Thats next as our reporting continues on a friday afternoon. State of the art technologyt makes it brilliant. The visionary lexus nx. Lease the 2019 nx 300 for 359 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Shepard the saudi crown prince, the daytoday rule irof the saudi kingdom threatened to use a bullet on the washington columnist jamal khaishoggi a year before he allegedly ordered his murder at the consulate in turkey. Thats according to the recording of the New York Times citing foreign officials with direct knowledge of intelligence reports. They said u. S. Intelligence officials have been pouring over conversations they intercepted between that very crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman and others. This comes just one day after a United Nations investigation said saudi officials seriously undermined and delayed turkeys investigation in jamal khaishoggis murder. As lawmakers renew their push for a stronger punishment against the saudi kingdom. U. S. Intelligence officials have recordedly concluded that the saudi crowns Prince Mohammed bun salman, this man, ordered the killing and his goons carried it out. Saudi officials deny he was involved. Rich edson reporting live from the state department. Rich, the white house is facing a congressional deadline related to this today. They are. Senators requested that the administration determine who was responsible for this an whether or not the administration would sanction them. Specifically whether crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman was responsible. So the deadline was today and the response from the administration is theyre not complying. This is from a Senior Administration official telling us consistent with the previous administrations position on the congressional separation of powers, the president maintains his discretion to decline to act on Congressional Committee requests when appropriate. State department points out the sanctions that the administration has put on 17 saudis for what was described as their roles in the killing of jamal khaishoggi, the Trump Administration has stressed with the secretary of state has called the vital relationship between the u. S. And saudi government, shep. Shepard now some lawmakers pushing to punish the saudi government. Any progress there . Theres democrats and republicans that say they are not happy with the way the administration has handled this. They say that Intelligence Briefings show the crown prince was response. So they reduced this bill that bans the u. S. From selling certain weapons and refuelling the saudi planes in yemen. The senators framed this legislation as a way to punish saudi arabia for the khaishoggi murder and the war in yemen. Rich edson reporting live. Democrats in virginia on capitol hill coming forward as a group now to say they are devastated by the political scandals rocking the commonwealth than that the governor should resign now. In a joint statement, virginias entire democratic delegation, congressional delegation, stopped short of calling for the states Lieutenant Governor to step down. The top three democrats are all fighting to keep their jobs, the governor, the attorney general facing black face scandals over photos that surfaced from the 80s and the Lieutenant Governor on the right there is fighting a Sexual Assault accusation which he says is fabricated. Ellison barber reporting live from richmond. Were learning the woman this accused the Lieutenant Governor of Sexual Assault does not intent to pursue criminal charges, this is according to a source close to dr. Vanessa tysons legal team. She wanted to make her statement about what happened and get back to her life. This allegedly occurred in a boston hotel room in the 2004 Dnc Convention in massachusetts, the statute of limitations for pursuing a crime like this one would expire this summer. This news occurs as a number of democratic lawmakers have called for an investigation into the allegations against a Lieutenant Governor. The virginia legislative black caucus released a Statement Last night saying in part that they recognize a need to address the allegations against the Lieutenant Governor adding Sexual Assault is a serious offense and we believe all allegations of Sexual Assault must be fully and thoroughly investigated by the appropriate agencies. The Lieutenant Governor says the encounter was consensual. Heres what he had to say to reporters this morning as he headed inside for a session. Good morning. Any message for the citizens of virginia . I reached out to a number of lawmakers in richmond to see what happens next, especially when it seems like the victim in this case does not want to be involved in any sort of investigation. Will they pursue something internally here or just let this all go . So far, shepard, weve not heard back. Shepard ellison barber reporting live from richmond. Thank you. Marijuana to treat autism. Today one states plan to make it legal for children. I dont keep track of regrets. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on. Is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. Boost® high protein. Be up for life. Has been excellent. They really appreciate the military family and it really shows. With all that usaa offers why go with anybody else . We know their rates are good, we know that theyre always going to take care of us. It was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. 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Theres no word on whether he is still married. Kids in colorado could soon be able to use medical marijuana to treat autism. The bill is halfway through the state legislature and the governor says he will sign it. Alicia acuna reporting live from denver. Parents would need a doctors recommendation. The way kids take it, their parents give them most of the time through an oil. They can also, according to a doctor that testified before the legislature, give them an edible and she told us sometimes that parents will have their kids smoke it. They say thats the only way they can get it to work. Parents of children on the spectrum say when all hope has been lost in helping severe symptoms like rage and selfharm, medical marijuana works. The department of defense is funding the u. S. first ever large scale double blind Clinical Trial on a cannabis based substance and efficacy and safety for use on autism. It runs this summer to 2021. Heres the cosponsor in january. If you were in the middle of a crisis, would you want to wait two years . I wouldnt. And i dont want to force these parents to wait two years for the double blind studies in this country to come out. There have been studies done in other countries that we already have available to us. We have a statement from the American Academy of pediatrics on this. It says while aap opposes the use because of the effects on the developing brain, we recognize some families may choose to use marijuana to treat children with debilitating or lifelimiting conditions. The bottom line, shep, if this does pass and becomes law, theyll need a doctors diagnose on not only autism but recommendation on whether or not medical marijuana can help, shep. Shepard alicia acuna reporting live from our denver bureau. Thanks. The final bell is ringing right now on wall street. As it does 15 seconds before the close of trading every day. Were off a little bit. But well better than the session lows. Your world with neil cavuto is the best in business and hes next on fox news channel. It is the worlds richest man versus the tabloid with ties to the worlds most powerful one and the battle is on. Welcome. Im neil cavuto. You know him an jeff bezos, the guy that runs amazon, the onestop retail shop that is now raising a battle he is raising a battle that is the mark of the entire world. Every corporation focused on what hes doing now going after the publisher of the National Inquirer for holding embarrasses texts and photos over his head and threatening to expose them unless he was stopping the investigation that he said the private exchange h