Congressional Glance
It’s been a rough few weeks for Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA). Late in June, the first-term congressman from Virginia Beach was exposed for not having paid his local taxes — an error he blamed on being too “busy” to do so. Now, it appears his campaign may have been involved in a scheme to split the Democratic vote involving forged ballot signatures for an independent candidate.
Last week, WHRO reported that four staffers for Taylor had circulated ballot petitions for Shaun Brown, his 2016 opponent. Brown, whose fraud trial ended in a mistrial on Thursday, is attempting to run this year as an independent candidate. Eager to split the opposition, Taylor’s paid campaign staff helped collect at least 570 signatures to put her on the ballot (1,000 signatures are required for independent candidates in Virginia). Taylor told the Virginian Pilot that he did not “order” his staff to do take part in this underhanded, but not itself illegal stunt.
- Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg started testifying before Congress on Tuesday as he looks to fend off the possibility of new regulations as a result of the privacy scandal engulfing his social network.
The Justice Department will not retry Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on corruption-related charges, federal prosecutors indicated Wednesday in a court filing.
The Justice Department warned Wednesday that it "would be extraordinarily reckless" for the House intelligence Committee to release a classified memo publicly "without giving the Department and the FBI the opportunity to review the memorandum," and to "advise" on possible harm to national security and ongoing investigations from its public release.
