Liberal activist groups are making a concerted effort to ensure that Kirstjen Nielsen’s deeds as homeland security secretary follow her out of office. Advocacy groups such as Restore Public Trust say Nielsen should be held accountable for supporting the Trump administration’s family separation policy and the president’s immigration stance in general. And Nielsen hasn’t sought to distance herself from Trump, even after being pushed out of her post. “I share the president’s goal of securing the border,” Nielsen said to reporters Monday. Liberal groups have begun pressuring companies not to hire Nielsen and other Trump officials who backed the policy of family separation. [WaPost]
Happy Thursday!
Topping the news: The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah made good on their promise to pursue legal action against a bill to ban abortions after 18 weeks. The two advocacy groups announced a federal lawsuit to strike down the legislation, declaring it to be unconstitutional at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [ABC4] [KUTV]
-> Nearly 200 students from Brigham Young University’s Idaho campus protested their school’s Honor Code enforcement yesterday. Students marched with signs in hand, calling for change and delivered 75 letters pleading their case to the Honor Code Office. University staff said they were too busy to meet with the group. [Trib] [ABC4]
-> Utah Sen. Mitt Romney is voicing reservations over President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate former presidential candidate Herman Cain to serve on the Federal Reserve Board. Romney cited doubts that Cain has the economic experience to fill such a role. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: @StephenAtHome: “It’s unfair to expect Trump to show us the Mueller Report before he’s had a chance to get spanked with it.”
-> @JimDabakis: “Legislature & Gov to spend hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) to defend a lawsuit that is going nowhere. They should pay the legal costs PERSONALLY if they lose. Watch how quick their political stunt suits would end. #utpol.”
-> @BenWinslow: “.@writerathome called the lawsuit by @ppacutah and @acluutah ‘inevitable.’ She also acknowledges it could go to SCOTUS: ‘I do think it will have to be propelled upward through the court system before it will ultimately win.’ @fox13 #utpol”
-> @jm_miller: “Hello from Rexburg, Idaho! I'm at a student march at BYU-Idaho. Protestors are seeking changes in how the Honor Code is enforced. There is a few hundred students here.”
In the news: A man named Marvin Oliveros — whose brother was shot by police — joined about 50 other people in urging the Unified Police Department’s board of directors not to discontinue the agency’s use of body cameras. [Trib]
-> A group called Envision Utah compiled a study to look into teacher deficits in the state. The review found that one of the biggest reasons college students are choosing different career paths is because the pay for teaching is just too low. Now, the group plans to look into how much teachers should be paid and where that funding could come from. [Trib]
-> WalletHub.com analyzed 501 American cities and ranked Provo as the least diverse city in the United States, with Orem ranked not far behind as third. [Trib] [KUTV]
-> An environmental activist filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against San Juan County and a rancher who detained her and her husband in a corral at Bears Ears National Monument two years ago. She alleges that she was illegally detained and that the county trumped up false charges against her. [Trib] [Dnews]
-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley skewers Provo for its lack of racial diversity. [Trib]
-> Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke writes that the Utah Legislature made a sensible decision to extend the life of the Mountainous Planning Commission by another year — but that’s not a long-term solution to issues facing Big Cottonwood Canyon. [Trib]
Nationally: Less than 48 hours before the United Kingdom was slated to leave, the European Union agreed to extend the departure deadline to Oct. 31. British Prime Minister Theresa May pitched a plan to extend the deadline to June 30, but European leaders shot the proposal down. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr told Congress that he believes the government spied on the Trump campaign and that he plans to investigate whether or not any laws were broken in the process. Barr also said he hopes to make special counsel Robert Mueller’s report available to the public next week. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
-> Both Democratic and Republican congressional representatives expressed frustration over the dramatic increase of insulin prices and said they intend to work across the political aisle to lower those costs. [NYTimes]
-> Gregory B. Craig, White House counsel during the Obama administration, could become the first person who gained prominence in Democratic Party politics to be charged under special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Craig’s lawyers said they expect he will be charged based on the work he has done with Ukraine. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> Steven Mnuchin, Treasury Department secretary, penned a letter to the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and said the department’s lawyers will not immediately release President Donald Trump’s tax returns. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
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