Vice President Biden’s family announces death of his son Beau Biden

 

FULL STORY: Beau Biden, vice president’s son, dies of brain cancer

Vice President Biden late Saturday announced the death of his son Beau Biden. Here is his statement:

It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life.

The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau’s spirit will live on in all of us—especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children, Natalie and Hunter.

Beau's life was defined by service to others. As a young lawyer, he worked to establish the rule of law in war-torn Kosovo. A major in the Delaware National Guard, he was an Iraq War veteran and was awarded the Bronze Star. As Delaware’s Attorney General, he fought for the powerless and made it his mission to protect children from abuse.

More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son and brother. His absolute honor made him a role model for our family. Beau embodied my father's saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did.

Via: Washington Post

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If Hillary becomes president, who will make her obey the law?

A President Hillary Clinton would have far more power to set up a secretive system of communications than a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Who could tell her no? (AP Photo)

Last year, before Hillary Clinton's secret email system became publicly known, Congress passed a law to keep presidents from trying the same trick. If Clinton wins the White House, the law could well be put to the test.

The statute is the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014. It recognizes that government officials sometimes (or in Clinton's case, all the time) want to use private email accounts — in the words of the law, "non-official electronic messaging accounts" — to conduct government business. Such communications are still federal records, Congress declared, and must be preserved in accordance with existing laws requiring not just the president but all federal officials to preserve their documents.

This is what the new law says about emails:

The President, the Vice President, or a covered employee may not create or send a Presidential or Vice Presidential record using a non-official electronic message account unless the President, Vice President, or covered employee (1) copies an official electronic messaging account of the President, Vice President, or covered employee in the original creation or transmission of the Presidential record or Vice Presidential record; or (2) forwards a complete copy of the Presidential or Vice Presidential record to an official electronic messaging account of the President, Vice President, or covered employee not later than 20 days after the original creation or transmission of the Presidential or Vice Presidential record.

That's pretty clear. All presidential communications must be preserved in a timely fashion.

The next paragraph of the law stipulates that federal employees who intentionally violate the Presidential Records Act are subject to "disciplinary action" as determined by the "appropriate supervisor." Such punishments can include suspensions and cuts in pay and rank.

None of that, of course, applies to the president of the United States. As far as the chief executive is concerned, there's no enforcement mechanism in the law.

"The Presidential Records Act is set up on the notion — like all of our laws — that people are going to comply," notes a lawyer who follows these issues after service in the Justice Department in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. "There isn't really a clear legal way to hold the president accountable for this stuff." 

Via: Washington Examiner

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