Obama presses for student loan fix, Holder hears journalist concerns, and an Army veteran is questioned over suspicious letters sent to the White House.
Class is in. “President Obama will surround himself with college students at the White House on Friday and warn that the cost of student loans is about to go up,” NPR reports. “Interest rates on government-backed college loans are set to double July 1 — unless Congress agrees on a fix before then. Obama has threatened to veto a House-passed bill that would let the cost of student loans go up and down with the market.”
Holder help? Attorney General Eric Holder “pledged Thursday to take concrete steps to address concerns that the Justice Department has overreached in its leak investigations and said officials would seek procedural and possibly legislative changes to protect journalists’ First Amendment rights,” the reports. “Holder’s commitment came at a private meeting with news executives after criticism that the Justice Department had infringed on the news media in several high-profile leak investigations. Participants said he told them officials would revise guidelines for issuing subpoenas to obtain reporters’ phone records.”
Army vet questioned in Ricin letters. A Texas Army veteran described as a “person of interest” is being questioned by the FBI in connection to threatening letters sent to the White House addressed to President Obama. It’s the third letter that the bureau has found containing a form of the deadly poison ricin – two previous letters were addressed to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his gun control group.
Obama: GOP’s 2014 secret weapon? “ His name won’t be on any ballot in 2014. Or ever again, for that matter,” the New York Times reports. “But plenty of Republicans are still eager to wage a midterm campaign against President Obama convinced that the spate of recent troubles dogging his second term will drive voters into their arms next year.”
