Lurker > WastelandCowboy

A small, mostly curious crowd formed around the men as they lingered by the auditorium wall, accusing Khan of subverting British law, without ever explaining how. When a reporter asked under what authority they planned to arrest the mayor, one of the Pendragons cited the Magna Carta.

Police had still not arrived after 10 minutes or so. One of the Pendragons walked up to Khan's table and showed him an American flag, which he was holding backward.

"Mr. Khan," the man said, "there's millions of British people supporting Donald Trump."

The audience booed especially loudly at this. "Good one!" Russell cheered.

"Please sit down, sir," Green said. So the man walked back to Russell, holding his flag up to the news cameras, still holding it the wrong way.

Green eventually began to lose patience with the men. "I am not having you dictate the way this meeting is conducted," she said. Eventually, Sky News reported, Khan began to read a newspaper.

After a quarter-hour standoff, Russell pointed his cellphone at his own face and happily announced to his Facebook viewers: "There's an inspector outside we have to speak to now over these charges against Sadiq Khan."

But when the constable walked into the room, he simply told Russell: "You'll have to leave now."

Russell handed the officer a sheet of paper outlining his complaints. One of them cited the Coronation Oath Act of 1688. The officer looked at it. "We are going to investigate," he promised, not entirely convincingly.

"Well, the grounds for the arrest are all there," Russell said.

"We don't do citizen's arrests," the officer explained. "We do lawful arrests."

Russell finally followed the constable outside, to much applause from the crowd. One of his compatriots waved a water bottle aloft as they left.

Khan stood up and resumed his speech. "It's a pleasure to be here," he said, "even though we were distracted by the actions of what some would call very stable geniuses."

The crowd laughed at this. Outside in the lobby, his gallows still empty, Russell continued to argue with police. He also asked for a refund on his ticket.

An anti-Islamic nationalist wheeled a homemade gallows into central London, led a group of men into a conference hall and attempted to "arrest" the city's first Muslim mayor as he gave a speech on Saturday.

The group failed, and was eventually escorted out by the same police officers they had asked to apprehend Mayor Sadiq Khan. They still managed to delay the speech for 15 minutes as they accused Khan of treachery, tyranny and disrespecting President Donald Trump.

Trump - who once sought to ban Muslims from U.S. shores and called Khan "pathetic" after a terrorist attack in London last year - earlier this week abruptly canceled plans to visit the city. Khan was one of many Britons who welcomed the news, claiming Trump had been scared off by threats of mass protests.

The mayor was scheduled to give a speech at a left-leaning think tank, the Fabian Society, on Saturday. In the mayor's own words, it was about "about how we cannot allow a populist, anti-feminist narrative to take hold in Britain."

But as Khan prepared to give his address, a man named Davey Russell and about half a dozen others towed a wooden frame with a noose onto a street outside the auditorium. They had decorated it with the emblem of a white dragon, and written on the top: "TAKE BACK CONTROL."

Russell told reporters outside the conference that his group was called the Pendragons. But an ITV reporter, among others, identified him as a leading member of the English Defense League, a well-known far-right organization. Russell also hosts an anti-Islamic radio show, which Kent Online reported was raided by police several years ago.

On Saturday, Russell told reporters that he believed he had the law on his side. He accused Khan of cooperating with terrorists and placing himself above the law, and said the mayor had no right to criticize Trump.

"He should keep his nose out of state affairs and look out for what's going on in London," Russell said.

Carrying a piece of paper on which he had outlined the mayor's alleged crimes, Russell walked with his Pendragons to the front of the auditorium and began to live stream.

Khan took the microphone and managed to say, "Thank you," before a man in a trench coat approached the table and interrupted his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to make a peaceful, nonviolent citizen's arrest of those named," the man said. He named Khan and Parliament member Kate Green, who was chairing the event, and two other speakers.

Khan took a drink of water, sat down and looked at the men. He said nothing.

"Could I ask security to lead the gentlemen out, please?" said Green.

A guard walked over to Russell, who seemed to have been expecting a challenge.

"We are under common law jurisdiction!" Russell cried. "If you touch us, you will be done for common assault. We're not leaving."

But the guard persisted, and soon Russell was arguing: "I paid for a ticket! Do not touch me," he said. "We have paid for a ticket. . . . OK, so we want the money back for the ticket then. We cannot be reimbursed for the ticket. We cannot be reimbursed!"

He said he had called the police before crashing the speech, and promised they would soon arrive to arrest the mayor. It would just be a few minutes.

"Please don't panic, anybody," Russell said.

The audience started to slow clap.

"Perhaps you could wait outside?" Green said after a few minutes. But the Pendragons didn't want to wait outside.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Projectors are a immensely-cheaper alternative to flat-screen TVs.

https://www.projectorpoint.co.uk/sony-vpl-vw760es.html

Cheap.

it doesn't matter if it's a 4K projector that can do HDR and shit

image quality looks like ass, and you cannot have a light on, or do anything in the daytime with one.

Updated at 12:45 p.m. ET

One day after President Trump referred to African nations as "shithole countries," adding that the U.S. should want immigrants from countries such as Norway rather than from Haiti or El Salvador, the countries that came in for the president's criticism are offering some responses of their own.

"We are surprised, disappointed. Also, we want to condemn if those statements were made," Paul Altidor, the Haitian ambassador to the U.S., told NPR on Friday.

He noted that neither the White House nor the State Department had formally contacted him to clarify whether Trump had indeed made the comments at an Oval Office meeting Thursday. The remarks were relayed to NPR by a Democratic aide and another person familiar with the discussion.

On Friday morning, roughly 15 hours after the comments were first reported by The Washington Post, Trump disputed the details reported about his words in a series of tweets.

"The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used," Trump said, referring to the policy he rescinded last year that protected immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

"I never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country," Trump tweeted later, on the anniversary of an earthquake that killed at least 200,000 people in Haiti. "Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings unfortunately, no trust!"

After Trump denied using the slur, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who was at the White House meeting, said, "It's not true. He said these hate-filled things. And he said them repeatedly."

Though Altidor had not received direct comment from the Trump administration, he noted that "unfortunately we feel once again Haiti finds itself in the midst of a very negative narrative in the U.S."

He added that Haitians had fought in the American Revolution, that it was a Haitian immigrant who has been credited as the "father of Chicago," and that today "in many parts of the [U.S.], Haitians have been great contributors to this country."

"We're hoping this conversation would be an opportunity to address the Haiti conversation in the U.S. once and for all," Altidor said. "But we do regret what allegedly the president said about Haitians and other groups."

Altidor said that if Trump disparaged his and other countries, "you hope there would be possibly an apology, again, for what was said here, because we thought [those comments] were misplaced. They were misguided. And these types of statements do not help in terms of reinforcing the relationship between Haiti and the United States."

But Haiti was not the only country Trump mentioned in the meeting. Here is how some of the other countries are responding on Friday:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/12/577599691/racist-and-shameful-how-other-countries-are-responding-to-trumps-slur

He told the Florida Lottery he intends to use his newfound wealth to buy a new home in Tampa, pursue a variety of passions, and help others.

"I intend to take care of my family, have some fun along the way, and cement a path for financial success so that I can leave a legacy far into the future," Missler said in a statement. "I have always been one to encourage the idea of chasing dreams and I believe life is about the pursuit of passion. I am 20 years old and my journey has only just begun."

WastelandCowboy posted...

Molitheus posted...

Why are you telling everybody it? If it's that important then the last thing I would do is come here making a topic about it.

Because Zeus wants more attention.

idk, you post like 5 topics a day and I never accuse you of begging for attention. I post 1 topic so far this year and bam, "Zeus wants attention!"

MannerSaurus posted...

Sigh. I didn't want that corrupt fascist evil bitch Hillary as president, but this isn't any better. This was literally the worst election. It was like asking which leg I wanted chainsawed off. Is this really the best this country has to offer? Can we please start over with two new candidates?

Thats the problem. There really arent any that people can agree on. People dont trust the two main parties, they dont trust third party candidates.

Dude stop diluting the term racist, just because you call countries with non white people shitholes doesn't mean you like are a racist. And I mean having a swastika doesn't make you a Nazi because you aren't a citizen of Germany in the 1930's and wanting to keep your race pure doesn't make you a supremacist

Many Republicans also criticized Trump.

Utah Republican Rep. Mia Love, whose family descended from Haiti, called the president's comments "unkind, divisive [and] elitist."

They "fly in the face of our nation's values," Love added. "This behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation."

Fellow Utahan, Sen. Orrin Hatch, a staunch Trump ally, said: "I look forward to getting a more detailed explanation regarding the president's comments. Part of what makes America so special is that we welcome the best and brightest in the world, regardless of their country of origin."

Updated 10:19 a.m. ET

President Trump is denying reports, from NPR and other news outlets, that in a Thursday meeting at the White House, he disparaged African nations as "shithole countries" and questioned why the United States would admit immigrants from them and other nations, like Haiti.

Trump told lawmakers that the U.S. should instead seek out more immigrants from countries like Norway.

A White House statement issued Thursday notably did not deny that Trump used the vulgarity to refer to African countries, but on Friday morning, Trump shifted gears.

"This was not the language used," Trump said in a tweet.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

Trump then denied he said "anything derogatory" about Haitians or Haiti except that it's a "very poor and troubled country."

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said take them out. Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

But, in addition to the reports from multiple news outlets about the language used by the president, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin confirmed the president's remarks.

"The president erupted several times with questions, and in the course of his comments, said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist," the senator told reporters. "I use those words advisably. I understand how powerful they are. But I cannot believe that in the history of the White House and in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.

"You've seen the comments in the press. I've not read one of them that's inaccurate."

Sen. Durbin on Trump comments. Was in the room. Calls racist language heartbreaking. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/lKM5QDPr5r
Mike Puccinelli (@MPuccinelliCBS2) January 12, 2018

Trump criticized the tentative bipartisan agreement drafted by Durbin, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake and four other senators.

Trump blasted the proposal as "a big step backwards" and said it didn't provide enough funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a key campaign promise Trump made in 2016.

Earlier in the week, Trump had assured lawmakers that he would accept any agreement crafted by Congress.

"I will be signing," he said in a Cabinet Room meeting Tuesday. "I'm not going to say, 'Oh, gee, I want this or that.' I'll be signing it."

In the wake of Trump's comments, attention has shifted away from the contents of a proposed DACA deal to a statement many view as racist.

"President Trump's comments are racist and a disgrace," said Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking Democrat in the House. "They do not reflect our nation's values."

Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, said the latest statement is "yet another confirmation of [Trump's] racially insensitive and ignorant views."

He added, "[The] president's slogan 'Make America Great Again' is really code for 'Make America White Again.' "

Why are you telling everybody it? If it's that important then the last thing I would do is come here making a topic about it.

Some Republicans also raised objections. Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah), whose family is from Haiti, said in a statement that Trumps remarks were unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nations values. This behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation.

My grandmother used to say, Digame con quin caminas, y te dir quin eres. Tell me who you walk with, and Ill tell you who you are, said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who represents most of Harlem and is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. If hes walking around with white supremacists and supporting them, this kind of talk doesnt surprise me.

The New York Times also reported last year that Trump said immigrants from Haiti have AIDS. The White House denied that report.

Democrats were quick to note that Trump employs Haitians at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and that he praised Haitian Americans during a roundtable in Miami in September.

Whether you vote for me or dont vote for me, I really want to be your greatest champion, and I will be your champion, Trump said at the roundtable.

Alix Desulme, a city council member in North Miami, home to thousands of Haitian Americans, said the presidents latest remarks were disgusting.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God Jesus, Desulme said. I dont know how much worse it can get.

This is very alarming. We know hes not presidential, but this is a low, he said. Its disheartening that someone who is the leader of the free world would use such demeaning language to talk about other folks, referring to folks of color.

Trumps critics also said racially incendiary language could damage relationships with foreign allies.

For many of Trumps supporters, however, the comments may not prove to be particularly damaging. Trump came under fire from conservatives this week for seeming to suggest that he would be open to a comprehensive immigration reform deal without money for a border wall, before he quickly backtracked.

Hes trying to win me back, conservative author Ann Coulter, who has called for harsh limits on immigration, wrote on Twitter.

Outlining a potential bipartisan deal, the lawmakers discussed restoring protections for countries that have been removed from the temporary protected status (TPS) program while committing $1.5 billion for a border wall and making changes to the visa lottery system. Lawmakers mentioned that members of the Congressional Black Caucus had requested that some African countries be included in a deal, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.

The exchange was salty on all sides, this person said, with the president growing profane and animated while discussing immigrants from other countries. It did not go well, this person said.

[Trump wants to remove these immigrants. An ugly bit of history tells us what it could do to the economy.]

The administration announced this week that it was removing TPS status for citizens of El Salvador.

Trump had seemed amenable to a deal earlier in the day during phone calls with lawmakers, aides said, but shifted his position in the meeting and did not seem interested in the bipartisan compromise.

The scene played out hurriedly in the morning. Graham and Durbin thought they would be meeting with Trump alone and were surprised to find immigration hard-liners such as Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) at the meeting. White House and Capitol Hill aides say Stephen Miller, the presidents top immigration official, was concerned there could be a deal proposed that was too liberal and made sure conservative lawmakers were present.

President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they discussed protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to several people briefed on the meeting.

Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers.

Trump then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday. The president, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt they help the United States economically.

In addition, the president singled out Haiti, telling lawmakers that immigrants from that country must be left out of any deal, these people said.

Why do we need more Haitians? Trump said, according to people familiar with the meeting. Take them out.

Lawmakers were taken aback by the comments, according to people familiar with their reactions. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) had proposed cutting the visa lottery program by 50 percent and then prioritizing countries already in the system, a White House official said.

A White House spokesman defended Trumps position on immigration without directly addressing his remarks. White House officials did not dispute the account.

[200,000 Salvadorans may be forced to leave the U.S. as Trump ends immigration protection]

Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people, spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement issued after The Washington Post first reported Trumps remarks. . . . Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.

Trump built his candidacy and presidency around hard stances on immigration, vowing to build a wall along the Mexican border and cut legal immigration by half, among other positions. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security have increased immigration raids, including dozens this week at convenience stores across the country.

Trumps comments Thursday also put further scrutiny on his long-standing tendency to make racially charged remarks including attacks on protesting black athletes and his claim that there were fine people on both sides after neo-Nazis rioted in Charlottesville, Va. Trump falsely claimed for years that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and took out advertisements calling for the death penalty for members of the Central Park Five four black youths and a Hispanic youth who were accused of a brutal rape in New York and later exonerated.

The presidents remarks were quickly met with scorn from Democrats and some Republicans and could throw another wrench into bipartisan discussions on immigration, which had shown promise in recent days, according to legislators.

Rep. Luis Gutirrez (D-Ill.) said the comments will shake the confidence that people have in the ongoing immigration policy talks.

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate made a proposal. The answer is this racist outburst of the president. How can you take him seriously? Gutirrez said. They [Republicans] dont believe in immigration its always been about people of color and keeping them out of this country.

Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said on Twitter that Trumps remarks are further proof that his Make America Great Again Agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda.

Updated at 8:11 p.m. ET

Officials have released the identities of 17 people killed in Tuesday's Santa Barbara, Calif., mudslides, as workers continue search and rescue efforts for victims caught in the deluge that swamped houses, crumpled cars and sent boulders careening through streets.

The Santa Barbara coroner's office said the victims' ages ranged from 3 to 89 and the cause of death for all was "multiple traumatic injuries due to flash flood with mudslides due to recent wildfire."

County sheriff officials said all the fatalities occurred in Montecito, the wealthy enclave where flash floods swept down charred hills recently devastated by wildfires.

The number of missing has fluctuated throughout the day. The Santa Barbara County sheriff now says 43 people are still unaccounted for.

Fears that several feet of mud covering a stretch of the 101 Freeway running through Montecito might contain human remains slowed cleaning efforts Thursday, authorities told KPCC reporters.

"We still need to find out if there's any remains or any life potential that's left in there," said Los Angeles County Fire Battalion Chief Anthony Buzzerio, who is working on a plan to find and preserve human remains.

Another danger faced by search workers is toxic contamination from broken sewage lines, said Buzzerio.

KPCC reports:

"A crew of 700 were on scene early Thursday helping with search, rescue and cleanup, hailing from a wide range of law enforcement, military and local organizations, including urban search and rescue, swift water rescue, sheriff and police personnel, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and utility company representatives, according to Amber Anderson with the Santa Barbara Fire Department.

"Crews have worked day and night facing difficult conditions, digging through a thick sludge 15 feet deep or more, as well as downed trees, boulders, loose ground and even buried swimming pools, which can pose a threat to rescuers who can't see what's under their feet."

KCLU's Lance Orozco reports, "Search and rescue efforts on Wednesday led to the rescue of three additional people, as well as the recovery of two bodies. As of Wednesday night, officials say the nearly 500 people involved in search efforts had gone through about 75 percent of the 50-plus homes destroyed, and nearly 450 damaged in their hunt for more survivors."

The intensity of the devastation and the difficulty of traversing rivers of mud and debris have made it a challenge for local officials to get an accurate tally of the damage.

While people remain unaccounted for, the death toll is expected to climb, Danielle Karson reports for NPR.

Officials say the region remains unstable because of flooding, debris flow, downed trees and power lines.

In other updates:

There has been extensive damage to the water supply infrastructure, and residents are instructed to boil water before drinking it.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday declared a Public Safety Zone in Monecito, where most of the missing have been reported. They are asking people to "stay out of the area so that rescuers can do their job."

Emergency service agencies have shut off natural gas to most parts of Montecito as they await repairs. It's expected to be several days before restoration.

Power outages are affecting over 6,000 homes and businesses, primarily in the Montecito area.

Name of the Wind. It's fantast, about a man in hiding during a civil war after he killed a king and started it. He relays his story of how he became the world's most infamous person from childhood to present over a course of three days. There are also stories within stories and the mythology/world is top notch.

Did you check your butt?

"What are you doing, can you explain?" Hargrave asks.

"Stop resisting," the officer replies.

"I am not, you just pushed me to the floor," the teacher says.

Outside, the officer says he gave her "many directives to leave" and ushers her into the back of a police vehicle.

Hargrave was booked into jail overnight, according to KATC, even though the superintendent said that "shortly after the meeting that he had called to inform police that the system didn't want any charges pressed."

The city appears to be distancing itself from the officer. Funderburk, the city's attorney, emphasized in his statement that the officer "is not acting in any official capacity on behalf of the city of Abbeville." He also stressed that "the city of Abbeville has absolutely nothing to do with the events of the other night."

The ACLU of Louisiana said Hargrave's expulsion from the meeting and arrest "are unacceptable and raise serious constitutional concerns." It adds: "The Constitution prohibits the government from punishing or retaliating against people for expressing their views, and the fact that a schoolteacher was arrested at a public meeting of the school board is especially troubling."

Fontana defended the officer's behavior in a statement to KATC.

"If a teacher has the authority to send a student, who is acting up and she can't control, out of the classroom to the principal's office, under our policy we have the same rules," Fontana said. He added that the officer "did exactly what he was hired to do. He followed the procedures completely. She's the one who made the choices that got her arrested."

Two board members have complained that the board does not treat women fairly, according to The Associated Press.

"No reason for anyone to be treated this way. So far in three years, only women have been removed from board room meetings," board member Sara Duplechain told the wire service.

A Louisiana teacher questioned whether the superintendent should receive a raise. Then, she was ushered out of a school board meeting and handcuffed.

The dramatic arrest on Monday which was caught on video has drawn outrage in the U.S. and beyond. The Vermilion Parish School Board offices were locked down on Tuesday after receiving threats, board president Anthony Fontana told The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La.

The Vermilion Parish teacher, Deyshia Hargrave, will not face charges.

"I have reviewed the video, and I am not going to approve any charges against the teacher," Ike Funderburk, the city attorney in Abbeville, the parish seat, told KATC. "I have talked with the attorney for the school board. They do not wish to pursue any charges against the teacher."

Since it was posted to YouTube on Monday, the video has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.

During a public comment period at the board meeting, Hargrave stood up and voiced opposition to superintendent Jerome Puyau receiving a raise.

"I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person in a position of leadership getting any type of raise," she said calmly. "It's absurd that we're even considering giving someone a raise when these teachers are working this hard and not getting a dime."

The board then voted to approve the raise for Puyau, reportedly moving his salary from around $110,000 to more than $140,000.

At that point, Hargrave addressed the room again. "How are you even going to take a raise?" she asked. "It's basically taking our money."

At that point, a security officer, later identified as a deputy city marshal paid by the school board, approached Hargrave and asked her to leave the meeting. "You're going to leave or I'm going to remove you. Take your things and go," he said.

She asked whether it was against policy to stand as she spoke and pointed out that the board was directly addressing her. She then complied with the officer's request and walked out of the room.

Seconds later, the video shows the security officer forcibly putting Hargrave in handcuffs as other teachers voice outrage.

Watch some of the other board meeting videos. That Fontana guy is a colossal piece of shit excuse of a human being. Almost everyone on that board needs to be fired except the black dude and the two women.

And employees interviewed pointed to earlier related incidents in D.C. The former Fox News correspondent Rudi Bakhtiar alleged that she was dismissed in 2007 after she made complaints that the new Washington bureau chief, Brian Wilson, had propositioned her. After she filed an internal complaint, Fox's Ailes informed her she was being let go because of her performance. She was paid an undisclosed sum in a private settlement.

In another instance, Catherine Herridge, a former Fox weekend host who is now a Washington-based national security correspondent for the network, made a range of allegations in a November 2010 complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission including sexual and age discrimination, unequal pay, and job retaliation for raising complaints internally. She alleged she had been subjected to a "glass ceiling." She also said that Fox News general counsel Dianne Brandi had conducted the internal investigation even though she was one of the people identified in Herridge's complaint.

The EEOC said it did not have sufficient evidence to support many of Herridge's accusations but ultimately sued Fox News, alleging it had unlawfully retaliated against her. The suit was dismissed. Herridge and Fox signed a new contract and she remains on the air.

Brandi, then the network's top lawyer, characterized the EEOC's suit as "politically motivated." Brandi is now on extended leave from Fox News, which is the focus of an ongoing criminal inquiry by federal prosecutors for its handling of payments to women who alleged sexual harassment there.

Rosen's departure was a surprise with no celebration of his achievements on the air, no announcement to viewers, nor much warning to colleagues. He had attended a holiday party for Baier's show, Special Report, just a few days earlier.

The Ailes and O'Reilly sexual harassment scandals inspired further revelations about related accusations against powerful figures across numerous media institutions, including NPR, which fired two male news executives last fall.

Current and former Fox News Washington journalists characterize the Washington bureau as retaining something of a Mad Men ethos, with some male reporters frequently sending racy "topline" notes through the network's internal messaging service.

The accusations against Rosen, who is married with young children, are more severe than that. He developed a reputation as a talented and ambitious journalist called "the professor" on the air by former political anchor Brit Hume for his interest in Watergate (Rosen wrote a book focusing on the life of former Attorney General John Mitchell that argued for a kinder reassessment of his role in that Nixon-era scandal). Rosen has sent such messages, according to his former female co-workers. But in three instances he made overt physical and sexual overtures, according to the accounts of numerous former Fox News colleagues who heard about the incidents contemporaneously.

In the winter following the September 2001 terrorist attacks, a female Fox News reporter joined the bureau from New York. In a shared cab ride back from a meal, Rosen groped her, grabbing her breast. After she rebuffed his advance, Rosen sought to steal away her sources and stories related to his interests in diplomacy and national security. That's according to four colleagues who say she relayed the episode as a warning about Rosen's behavior. The reporter declined to comment for this story. (NPR has decided not to name the women in this article as they have not granted permission to do so.)

In a subsequent episode several years later, a female producer covering the State Department alleged that Rosen had directly sexually harassed her. A foreign national, she subsequently accepted a deal from Fox that enabled her to extend her stay in the U.S. in exchange for not making her complaint public, according to several of her former colleagues. The producer, who now works for a foreign-based news organization, is abroad with family and did not respond to several detailed messages left by email and phone seeking comment.

Late last spring, Rosen turned his attention to a younger female reporter, according to two colleagues who say she told them of the incident shortly afterward. Returning from a lunch together, Rosen physically tried to kiss her in the elevator ride back to the office, and once refused, attempted forcibly to kiss her again. According to a colleague, he then asked the reporter to keep the approach quiet and offered her unsolicited help in getting more time on Bret Baier's nightly political newscast, Special Report. The female reporter declined to comment for this story.

Fox News executives say privately it takes time to reverse problems in a culture set from the top by Ailes.

Under a new top human resources executive, Fox News last summer placed a human resources employee in the bureau for the first time. In response to detailed questions, Fox News declined to comment on its Washington bureau or Rosen beyond affirming his departure.

Yet some female employees at Fox's D.C. bureau say the company seemed late to turn its attention southward from its main headquarters in New York City, given the Ailes scandal. The bureau is a large outpost and a mainstay of the network's coverage. Its reporters, producers and hosts serve up stories, segments and shows that help fuel Fox programming throughout the day and evening.

On the Friday before Christmas, Fox News confirmed that its chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen, had left the network. He had worked there for 18 years and become something of a legend. The U.S. Justice Department under the Obama administration was so frustrated by his reporting on U.S. intelligence about North Korea that it conducted a leak investigation into his sources.

The network cited no reason for Rosen's exit and did not announce it on the air. According to Rosen's former colleagues, however, he had an established pattern of flirting aggressively with many peers and had made sexual advances toward three female Fox News journalists, including two reporters and a producer. And his departure followed increased scrutiny of his behavior at the network, according to colleagues.

This story is based on interviews with eight of Rosen's former colleagues at the Fox News bureau in Washington, D.C., just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Rosen declined to comment to NPR after it set out in detail what it intended to report.

Rosen's behavior was drawing attention from Fox News at a time when its controlling owner, Rupert Murdoch, declared there had been no allegations of sexual misconduct at the network since the ouster of the late Fox News chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes, in July 2016.

"There was a problem with our chief executive, sort of, over the years, isolated incidents," Murdoch said in a mid-December interview with Sky News, another news outlet in which he has a controlling stake. He then said Ailes was gone in three or four days after complaints were made. (Murdoch actually ousted Ailes 13 days after former host Gretchen Carlson filed suit against Ailes on July 6, 2016. Five years earlier, Fox News had paid $3 million to settle allegations from a former network booker that Ailes had coerced sex from her. The Murdochs say they were not aware of the payment at the time.)

Murdoch went on: "There's been nothing else since then. That was largely political because we're conservative."

Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, Fox's parent company, had to issue a statement cleaning up the damage caused by those remarks among outraged female employees. Many female former Fox News journalists other than Carlson had come forward to attest to sexual harassment by Ailes (all of which he denied through his lawyer before Ailes' death in 2017).

Yet Ailes was not the only prominent Fox figure accused of sexual harassment. Top prime-time host Bill O'Reilly was bought out of his contract by Fox in the spring of 2017 after The New York Times detailed the scope of multiple sexual harassment allegations against him for which he agreed to pay settlements totaling approximately $45 million to quiet them; the host Eric Bolling was fired after being accused of sending unsolicited sexually explicit texts to several female colleagues; and other top executives were ushered out as having facilitated or tolerated such behavior. A midlevel Fox News executive, Francisco Cortes, was also fired in 2017 after being accused of sexually assaulting a former Fox News contributor.

O'Reilly, Bolling and Cortes have each denied any wrongdoing. A judge this week dismissed Cortes' allegations contained in a lawsuit against 21st Century Fox that it fired him and leaked news of the accusation to scapegoat him as a public relations ploy.

21st Century Fox and Fox News say the removal of those executives and a raft of new procedures show the network's commitment to offering a fair and welcoming workplace for women.

2018

"I think there's a good chance," said one Democratic member of Congress. "But to get a wave you got to have a very energetic base for the minority party, and you have to have a suppressed base for the majority party."

The member pointed to the fact that upwards of 80 percent of Republicans remain supportive of Trump, higher than GOP support for President George W. Bush ahead of the 2006 midterm elections when Democrats swept to power. "So in an off-year, when just the base is kinda turning out, I think we can pick up a lot of seats."

If Democrats want to do more than pick up a lot of seats but ultimately flip the House, they will need an energized base, an expanded playing field, a successful defense of their own turf and some plain luck if more Republicans are weighing retirement.

However, Davis said that even with the House numbers climbing, he doesn't see it as a "tsunami of retirements" yet.

He and other Republican strategists pointed out that many members are simply running for other offices, which means they don't see the environment as completely toxic. Plus, many House committee chairmen, regardless of who controls the chamber next year, would have been forced to give up their gavel because of term limits and going back to being a backbencher is never appealing.

The vast majority are leaving behind safe Republican seats that will undoubtedly stay in GOP hands and have simply been in Congress for decades and are ready to go. These include Reps. John Duncan, R-Tenn., Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. However, many of them undoubtedly remember when they were in the minority and know it isn't an appealing prospect.

Still, Republicans remain optimistic in their ability to defend their competitive seats and are even more buoyed by the passage of the tax cuts legislation last month, which will help energize their base as, they believe, people will see more money in their pockets.

"We've had numerous quality candidates announce in these open seats, and we're confident they will remain in Republican control," said NRCC spokesman Jesse Hunt.

Democrats have some headaches of their own because of retirements. Fifteen of their members aren't seeking re-election to the House, with seven leaving outright and eight running for higher office.

House Democratic Retirements

Fifteen Democrats arent seeking re-election to the House. This list does not include members who have already resigned, if their seat will be filled by a special election before November.

Tim Walz, Minn.* 2006 Governor R+5 Trump, 53%-38%
Carol Shea-Porter, N.H. 2006; 2012; 2016 No R+2 Trump, 48%-46%
Jacky Rosen, Nev. 2016 Senate R+2 Trump, 48%-47%
Ruben Kihuen, Nev. 2016 No D+3 Clinton, 50%-45%
Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz. 2012 Senate D+4 Clinton, 54%-38%
Sander Levin, Mich. 1982 No D+4 Clinton, 51%-44%
John Delaney, Md. 2012 President D+6 Clinton, 55%-39%
Michelle Lujan Grisham, N.M 2012 Governor D+7 Clinton, 52%-35%
Jared Polis, Colo. 2008 Governor D+9 Clinton, 56%-35%
Niki Tsongas, Mass 2007 No D+9 Clinton, 57%-35%
Colleen Hanabusa, Hawaii 2010; 2016 Governor D+17 Clinton, 63%-31%
Beto O'Rourke, Texas 2012 Senate D+17 Clinton, 68%-27%
Gene Green, Texas 1992 No D+19 Clinton, 71%-25%
John Conyers, Mich. * 1964 Resigned D+32 Clinton, 78%-18%
Luis Gutierrez, Ill. 1992 No D+33 Clinton, 81%-13%

The most problematic opening is created by Rep. Tim Walz's decision to run for Minnesota governor Trump carried his district by 15 points. Another seat Democrats will have to fight to hold on to is that of Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., who is retiring outright and is the only Democrat leaving outright who sits in a district Trump won.

Two Senate candidates that give Democrats excellent shots at picking up seats in Arizona and Nevada have, in turn, created headaches for the House committee. Trump carried Rep. Jacky Rosen's southern Nevada seat by 1 point, and she only barely beat a weak GOP candidate. In Arizona, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema's decision to run for Senate gives Republicans an opening as well her seat has a PVI of only D+4, however, Clinton easily won the district by 16 points.

And the decision by Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev., not to seek re-election amid sexual harassment allegations adds another seat Democrats have to defend in a district Clinton only carried by 5 points.

Those openings on their own are just one reason many Democrats are urging caution in assuming that there is a massive blue wave forming in November like Democrats had before they took back the House the last time.

Ferguson was working at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee eight years ago when the it began to see its own avalanche of members in competitive seats decide to leave.

"I remember sitting there seeing Democrats who had told us they were going to run announce that they were retiring, and we knew full well it was partially driven by concerns about their own re-election prospects," Ferguson recalled.

Royce could fall into that category. He had insisted last year that he was on board for another term, but then abruptly changed his mind on Monday. His Orange County district which used to be solid Republican territory voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016 by more than 8 points. It's now one of the most vulnerable seats in the country, and follows a pattern of longtime GOP-held suburban seats sliding away from Republican control.

There have already been other retirements for Republicans in diverse, swing seats that Clinton won, inducing heartburn for party leaders. Rep. Illena Ros-Lehtinen's Miami district is all but gone for the GOP; Trump lost it by 19 points to Clinton, making it the most Democratic-leaning seat held by a Republican.

Republicans could struggle to hold onto Washington Rep. Dave Reichert's suburban Seattle district, too. Clinton eked out a 3-point victory there, and it sits dead in the center of the Partisan Voter Index, a measure by the Cook Political Report of the competitiveness of districts. Rep. Frank LoBiondo's southern New Jersey district is another that Clinton carried by 4 points that Democrats have a very good shot at picking up.

And there's likely to be another opening on the board if Arizona GOP Rep. Martha McSally, as expected, announces her bid for Senate on Friday. Clinton carried her Tucson district by about five points in 2016.

There are other open seats created by retirements that give Democrats opportunities as well, particularly in marginal seats. Trump won the districts of both retiring Reps. Dave Trott, R-Mich., and Charlie Dent, R-Pa., by 6 points or less and the Partisan Voter Index gives them both a rating of R+4.

If other seats in that same category come on the board, that could be where the GOP House majority is made or broken. Those members on Democrats' watch list include New Jersey Reps. Leonard Lance and Rodney Frelinghuysen as well as New York Rep. Peter King. All three voted against the tax overhaul package which greatly reduced the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), which are particularly high in their states.

Updated at 11:20 p.m. ET

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced he will not seek re-election, adding to a record number of House Republicans heading for the exits ahead of the 2018 midterms perhaps seeing the writing on the wall of a possible wave election.

There are now 31 Republicans who will not seek re-election in November: 19 who are retiring outright and another 12 who are running for higher office. And that list is is expected to grow in the coming weeks.

The last time a party had nearly that many members retire during a midterm year was in 1994 when 28 Democrats left, and the GOP subsequently took back control of Congress in the Republican Revolution. Now, it's Republicans who find themselves in the opposite and unenviable position. Just one year into his term, President Trump has record low approval ratings, congressional Republicans have had few legislative achievements save for the tax overhaul they passed last month, and Democrats seem more fired up than ever to issue a rebuke to the GOP at the ballot box this year.

"There's no question when you look at these midterms that the Democratic base is more intense than the Republican base, and that offers some significant challenges to Republicans in holding the House, and retirements in marginal seats like [Rep. Ed] Royce's don't help," said former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., a former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman.

On Monday, Royce, a California Republican, added his name to the retirement roster. The House Foreign Affairs chairman is now one of eight committee chairmen who are calling it quits, but his seat is in one of three open districts held by a GOP member that President Trump lost last election, making it a top Democratic opportunity.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Fla. 1989 No D+5 Clinton, 58%-39%
Dave Reichert, Wash. 2004 No EVEN Clinton, 46%-43%
Ed Royce, Calif.* 1992 No EVEN Clinton, 52%-43%
Frank LoBiondo, N.J. 1994 No R+1 Trump, 50%-46%
Darrell Issa, Calif. 2001 No R+1 Clinton, 51%-43%
Charlie Dent, Pa. 2004 No R+4 Trump, 51%-44%
Dave Trott, Mich. 2014 No R+4 Trump, 49%-45%
Steve Pearce, N.M. 2002; 2010 Governor R+6 Trump, 50%-40%
Ron DeSantis, Fla. 2012 Governor R+7 Trump, 46%-40%
Pat Tiberi , Ohio* 2000 No R+7 Trump, 52%-%
Jim Renacci, Ohio 2010 Governor R+8 Trump, 56%-39%
Joe Barton, Texas 1984 No R+9 Trump, 54%-42%
Lynn Jenkins, Kansas 2008 No R+10 Trump, 56%-37%
Lamar Smith, Texas* 1986 No R+10 Trump, 52%-42%
Lou Barletta, Pa. 2010 Senate R+10 Trump, 60%-36%
Ted Poe, Texas 2004 No R+11 Trump, 52%-43%
Sam Johnson, Texas 1991 No R+13 Trump, 54%-40%
Bob Goodlatte, Va.* 1992 No R+13 Trump, 59%-35%
Blake Farenthold, Texas 2010 No R+13 Trump, 60%-36%
Gregg Harper, Miss.* 2008 No R+13 Trump, 61%-37%
Kristi Noem, S.D. 2010 Governor R+14 Trump, 62%-32%
Jeb Hensarling, Texas* 2002 No R+16 Trump, 62%-34%
Todd Rokita, Ind. 2010 Senate R+17 Trump, 64%-30%
Jim Bridenstine, Okla. 2012 NASA Administrator (awaiting confirmation) R+17 Trump, 61%-33%
Luke Messer, Ind. 2012 Senate R+18 Trump, 67%-26%
Bill Shuster, Pa.* 2001 No R+19 Trump, 69%-27%
John Duncan, Tenn. 1988 No R+20 Trump, 65%-30%
Marsha Blackburn, Tenn. 2002 Senate R+20 Trump, 67%-28%
Raul Labrador, Idaho 2010 Governor R+21 Trump, 64%-25%
Evan Jenkins, W.Va. 2014 Senate R+23 Trump, 73%-23%
Diane Black, Tenn.* 2010 Governor R+24 Trump, 72%-24%