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DC Daily: Tom Perez elected DNC chair

Posted at 7:42 AM, Feb 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-25 15:39:58-05

Democrats on Capitol Hill were on the offensive Saturday, over contact between the White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigations and a new Democratic Party chairperson is set to be chosen.

President Donald Trump took to Twitter once again Saturday morning as well, criticizing the media and touting a decrease in the nation's debt.

Tom Perez elected chair of DNC

-- Tom Perez, former Labor Secretary under Barack Obama, has been elected chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, according to ABC News.

Perez was elected with 235 votes. Keith Ellison received 200 votes in the second round of voting. 

"We need a chair who can not only take the fight to Donald Trump, make sure we talk about our positive message," Perez told the crowd prior to winning. "We also need a chair who can lead turnaround and change the culture of the Democratic Party and DNC."
 

National security advisor not a fan of "radical Islamic terrorism"

-- Pres. Trump's new National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster doesn't belive the term "radical Islamic terrorism" is helping the U.S., an official present at a meeting with Lt. McMaster told CNN.

Lt. McMaster reportedly said the term isn't helping the U.S. working with allies to defeat terrorist groups and that jihadist terrorists aren't true to their religion.

Democratic Chair vote heads to second round

-- Voting for a new chair of the Democratic National Committee headed into a second round of ballots Saturday, after former Labor Secretary Tom Perez fell one vote short of becoming the DNC's new chair.

Perez earned 213.5 votes, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison won 200 votes, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown received 12 votes, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg got 1 vote and Jehmu Greene won 0.5 votes. Candidates needed 214.5 votes to win.

Democrats to choose new party chair

-- The Democratic National Committee will meet Saturday at 10 a.m. ET in Atlanta, where 442 voting members will select a new chairperson from a seven-candidate field, led by former Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison.
 
Aides and vote counters expect a close race and multiple rounds of balloting. Each candidate will be allowed 10 minutes for nominating speeches. As long as all of the eligible DNC members participate, it will take 222 votes to win.

Pelosi Calls out White House over FBI contact

-- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the White House's interaction with the FBI over reports involving Russia and members of the president's 2016 campaign an "outrageous breach of the FBI's independence."

"The Trump White House has been caught trying to pressure the FBI into undermining a vital national security investigation into the explosive ties between senior Trump officials and Russian intelligence agents, an action which is in violation of Department of Justice rules and which may also be illegal," Pelosi said in a statement.
 
California Senator Kamala Harris, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the probe into the Russian ties. Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General on Feb. 8, in a near-party-line vote, 52 to 47.

President Trump's morning Tweets

-- Pres. Trump woke up and took to Twitter Saturday morning to criticize the media once again, this time claiming the press is failing to report on the national debt and Wall Street's success.

The president said the nation's debt decreased $12 billion during his first month in office.

ICYMI

White House denies wrongdoing involving FBI

-- Two senior White House officials stand by the White House's request that the FBI knock down media reports regarding Russian ties to members of Pres. Trump's 2016 campaign. 

The White House was reacting to CNN's report that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to say the reports were wrong after Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told Priebus the coverage was inaccurate.
 
The White House Friday said both McCabe and FBI Director James Comey in a separate conversation rejected that request, multiple US officials briefed on the matter told CNN.
 
 
President Trump takes stage at CPAC
 
-- President Trump continued his assault on what he calls "fake news" and touched on topics, such as his border wall proposal, immigration, and Obamacare, in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday.
 
"I called the fake news the enemy of the people and they are," Trump said. "They're very smart, they're very cunning. There are some terrible dishonest people and they do a tremendous disservice to our country."
 
Trump didn't shy away from earlier comments regarding deportations either, saying: "As we speak today, immigration officials are finding the gang members, the drug dealers and the criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out of our country. And we will not let them back in. They're not coming back in folks."
 
Watch the president's speech on 10News' Facebook page:
 
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