Donald Trumps EPA Is Now Attacking Journalists UpdatedOn Saturday, Associated Press journalists Jason Dearen and Michael Biesecker reported at least five toxic, Houston area Superfund sites in the path of Hurricane Harvey had been deluged with floodwater, potentially distributing the assorted nasty things contained within across a much larger geographical area.The AP report noted while its reporters were able to access the sites via boat, the Environmental Protection Agency was not on scene, and did not provide a timeline for when its staff would be able to visit them.Now the EPA, which is under the control of Donald Trump appointee and longtime EPA hater Scott Pruitt, has fired back with one of the administrations favorite tactics smearing the messenger.In an extraordinary statement that appeared on the agencys website on Sunday, the EPA called the AP report misleading and attacked Bieseckers audacity and credibility.Heres the truth through aerial imaging, EPA has already conducted initial assessments at 4.Superfund sites2.EPA wrote. Notably, the EPA tried to bury that its initial assessment was conducted with aerial images, not actual on site assessments, and that the agency had failed to visit at least 1.On Saturday, Associated Press journalists Jason Dearen and Michael Biesecker reported at least five toxic, Houstonarea Superfund sites in the path of Hurricane.Youve got problems, Ive got advice.This advice isnt sugarcoatedin fact, its sugarfree, and may even be a little bitter.Welcome to Tough Love.Ap Software Being Upgraded Please Try Again Later Vine' title='Ap Software Being Upgraded Please Try Again Later Vine' />Superfund sites as of Saturday.That is completely in line with the original AP report.Administrator Pruitt already visited Southeast Texas and is in constant contact with local, state and county officials, the statement continued.And EPA, has a team of experts imbedded with other local, state and federal authorities, on the ground responding to Harvey none of which Biesecker included in his story.Unfortunately, the Associated Press Michael Biesecker has a history of not letting the facts get in the way of his story, the EPA continued.Earlier this summer, he made up a meeting that Administrator Pruitt had, and then deliberately discarded information that refuted his inaccurate storyultimately prompting a nation wide correction. 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Amid the chaos of a canceled Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia attended by white supremacists, neoNazis, and other members of the socalled.Additionally, the Oklahoman took him to task for sensationalized reporting.Biesecker did not make up the story, which is that Pruitt met with Dow CEO Andrew Liveris before deciding not to ban Dows chlorpyrifos pesticide, but instead issued a correction regarding the length of said meeting.In a followup statement, EPA Associate Administrator Liz Bowman claimed the AP was once again attempting to mislead Americans by cherry picking facts, and slammed the report as yellow journalism.The statement also links to far right website Breitbart, one of the presidents favorite websites.Since the EPA did not actually contest any of the facts in the AP article, this looks an awful lot like petty retaliation against journalists for having the temerity to report on things like the EPAs response to an environmental catastropheor any number of other things, like Pruitts extremely sketchy ties to the climate change denial movement, war on environmental science or plans to eliminate huge numbers of EPA staff.Going after reporters might please the big, stupid and extremely petty man in the Oval Office.But thats precisely because responding to bad publicity by doubling down and smearing critics is the way a child would handle things.Never mind the toxic waste potentially spread all around Houstona bunch of Trump appointees egos are the real victims here.Update, 7 4. 0pm On Sunday evening, the original statement on the EPA website became inaccessible.Though the timing appeared to correlate with a temporary outage of the entire EPA website, when the website came back online minutes later, the statement still read Page Not Found Restricted.Other EPA press releases continued to load normally.Obviously, removing the statement from the websiteif indeed that is what happened, rather than a technical errorwould do nothing to mask the fact the EPA wrote it in the first place.An archived version of the statement is available here.Update, September 4th, 2 4.The statement is again visible on the EPA website.One Dead, Dozens Injured After Car Slams Counter Protesters at White Supremacist Rally in Charlottesville UpdatingAmid the chaos of a canceled Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia attended by white supremacists, neo Nazis, and other members of the so called alt right on Saturday, a man who has now been arrested drove a car directly into other vehicles and a crowd of people protesting the march.According to the AP, at least one person died, and 2.The Washington Post identified the suspect as 2.James Alex Fields of Ohio, and wrote authorities have booked him on suspicion of second degree murder, malicious wounding, failure to stop for an accident involving a death, and hit and run.He is being held without bail.Later in the evening, a police helicopter crashed, killing two other people in what authorities told the AP was a connected incident.The exact moment the car slammed into another car at high speed, sending protesters flying through the air, was captured on RebelutionaryZs Periscope livestream starting at around 7 3.Another video from a different angle posted by Twitter user Brennan Gilmore, former chief of staff to gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello, showed the vehicle driving down an entire street to ram the other car.It then backed out as people dove out of the way, dragging parts of another vehicle with it.According to the Outlines Will Turton, at least two female protesters marching with the Democratic Socialists of America were hit by the car and injured.Absolutely intentional, a person at the scene told Turton.A packed street and a car comes speeding down, at least 4.Update August 1. 3th, 1.Photos appear to show suspect James Alex Fields in formation with members of Vanguard America, a white supremacist group which the Anti Defamation League writes has shifted towards a neo Nazi ideology in recent years.One of the images depicts a man believed to be Fields holding a black shield and standing in formation with other supremacists.Vanguard America is active online, particularly on Twitter, but is best known for posting white supremacist fliers at universities across the country throughout the 2.ADL wrote. During the year, the ADL counted at least 3.VA fliers were posted on campus in Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington.According to the Toledo Blade, Fields mother Samantha Bloom said he had dropped off his cat at her apartment so he could attend an alt right rally in Virginia, though she said she had tried to stay away from his political views.The New York Daily News reported Fields Facebook page was covered with imagery common among members of the alt right set, such as Hitlers baby photo a tourist shot of the Reichstag in Berlin and a cartoon of Pepe the Frog, the anthropomorphic frog hijacked by right wing groups.Vanguard has denied Fields is affiliated with their organization.Update 9 0. 9 p. Journalist Ken Schwencke tweeted that after repeated inquiries as to whether the president would denounce white supremacists, the only response from the White House was that on background, the president condemns all acts of violence.Update 8 3. Authorities have identified a suspect, 2.James Alex Fields of Ohio.He is currently being held on suspicion of various crimes including second degree murder, malicious wounding, failure to stop for an accident involving a death, and hit and run, per the Washington Post.Update 8 1. 0 p. The president has finally acknowledged the victims of the car crash incident directlyin a tweet.Trump offered his condolences to the family of the woman killed by the collision, and in what appeared to be a stunning lack of sympathy, offered his best regards to the injured.Update 7 0. 3 p. Authorities now say two people died in the helicopter crash near Charlottesville late Saturday afternoon, and that the deaths are connected to the Unite the Right rally, but have not said how.Trump seemingly confirmed the two who died were Virginia State Police officers, tweeting his deepest condolences.In earlier remarks on Saturday, Trump did not directly mention the victims of the car crash incident or denounce white supremacists specifically, but vaguely blamed many sides for contributing to the violence.Update 6 4. 1 p. The organizer behind the Unite the Right rally, Jason Kessler, said in an interview that the driver of the vehicle did the wrong thing but also blamed law enforcement for the widespread chaos at the rally, according to the AP.A virtually unending stream of evidence on social media, however, showed white supremacists arrived at the rally today armed for a fight.Many carried improvised weapons and armor, and some charged into crowds of counter protesters to start brawls.Numerous militiamen with long arms also arrived at the rally, and there were multiple reports white supremacists who fought with counter protesters drew firearms on the crowd.Update 5 4. 9 p. The Daily Progress, a Charlottesville area newspaper, reported a Virginia State Police police helicopter in the area has crashed.It is unclear whether the incident has anything to do with police operations following Unite the Right, but neighbors told the paper the helicopter hovered low over houses before going into nearby woods.Update 4 3. According to the AP, at least one person has now been confirmed dead as a result of the collision, while 2.The exact number of deaths and injuries remains in flux at this time, and this post will be updated.Update 4 1. 9 p. In an interview with Gizmodo, white supremacist and alt right organizer Richard Spencer distanced himself and the far right movement from the perpetrator behind the wheel of the vehicle.I dont know what happened, Spencer said.I absolutely reject that kind of aggression, I simply dont know what happened.Im just not gonna make a statement until I get the facts about it, Spencer added.This was a wide open rally.I did not initiate this rally or organize it.I was invited to it.He also clarified a photo widely circulating on Twitter of a man being arrested did not show him.Spencer said much of the violence in Charlottesville was the result of a heavy police presence that suppressed the events attendees and failed to prevent street clashes.I blame Mayor Signer, Spencer said.Just a horrible person, I mean hes a total creep.And then also the governor has to take some blame because hes the person who declared the statement of emergency.Asked if he had more understanding of what Black Lives Matter protesters had experienced at demonstrations, Spencer said it was an interesting question.I dont think the cops are out hunting blacks or anything like that, but I dont think the cops themselves are to blame for this, he added.The people to blame are the authorites involved.Update 3 5. In a rambling statement on the incident, President Donald Trump condemned the egregious display of bigotry in Charlottesville, but blamed the violence on many sides.He said the violence did not start under him or his predecessor Barack Obama, but had been going on for a long time.The president then promised the swift restoration of law and order, adding No child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time.He asked the public to cherish our history, but declined to mention the rally was over the removal of a Confederate monument.Trump also touted his administrations record on job creation.Trump added his government was working to restore the sacred bonds of loyalty with citizens, but that the public needed to do the same.Trump repeatedly declined to answer questions on whether he denounced white nationalism, signed a bill, and left the stage.Update 3 3. 5 p. Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer has tweeted that at least one person was killed during the collision.Additionally, Vice reports a suspect has been arrested in relation to the incident.Update 3 2. 5 p. The Associated Press and Getty have photos of the aftermath of the incident.A number of people seem to have been seriously wounded by the crash, while others appear to have minor injuries.Conflicting reports in the Post and the New York Times suggest the number of confirmed injured has risen to at least eight to 1.
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