Russian NGOs demand explanation from Putin

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's non-governmental organizations on Thursday demanded PresidentVladimir Putin prove they received nearly $1 billion from foreign sponsors, a claim he has used to justify sweeping raids on hundreds of groups.

The crackdown has drawn strong criticism from the West as a political witch hunt, but Putin insists it is necessary to check compliance with a new law that requires NGOs that receive foreign funding to register as "foreign agents."

Leaders of top Russia's NGOs, including human rights group Memorial, election-monitoring group Golos and more than 50 others, dismissed the $1 billion figure as inflated and called on him to document it.

"The figures that you mentioned are at least dozens of times higher than what we know about the amount of foreign support for NGOs in Russia, and we would like to know what organizations receive such big money," they said in an open letter to Putin.

They urged him to order authorities to publish a list of the NGOs that received the foreign funds.

Putin highlighted the figure in a recent TV interview and his trip to Germany this week, insisting that the public has the right to know who funded them and for what purpose. He offered no detail on where the figure came from, but other officials said it came from law enforcement agencies.

Putin, who won a third presidential term in March 2012, has used the term "foreign agents" to erode NGOs credibility in Russia, where suspicion of the West runs high.

He has accused the U.S. of fomenting protests against his rule in order to weaken Russia and described NGOs as an instrument of Western pressure.

Russia's top NGOs have pledged to boycott the new law, but authorities said that those who disobey would face sanctions.

The Justice Ministry said this week that it is filing a legal case against Golos, the country's only independent elections monitoring group for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent. Golos has dismissed the claim, saying that it has not received foreign funding since the law took effect.

Under the law, failure to register carries a potential fine of up to 300,000 rubles (about $9,500) for the organization's director and 500,000 rubles ($16,000) for the organization.

Revealed: A progressive super PAC was reportedly behind the secret McConnell taping

A local Democratic official comes forward, fueling questions of potentially illegal tactics

Members of a Democratic super PAC, Progress Kentucky, made the secret recording of a strategy meeting between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his top advisers, according to a local Democratic Party official.

The secret recording — in which McConnell and his staff were caught discussing how to handle a potential campaign against actress Ashley Judd — sparked an enormous backlash from the right, prompting endless comparisons to Watergate and accusations of "Gestapo" tactics from a McConnell campaign manager.

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Jefferson County Democratic official Jacob Conway told local news outlets on Thursday that two members of Progress Kentucky had bragged to him about making the tape. According to Conway, the two said they were "just hanging around" McConnell's new campaign office when they heard the conversation and decided to record it.

From local public radio station WFPL:

"'They were in the hallway after the, I guess after the celebration and hoopla ended, apparently these people broke for lunch and had a strategy meeting, which is, in every campaign I've been affiliated with, makes perfect sense,' says Conway. 'One of them held the elevator, the other one did the recording and they left. That was what they told to me from them directly.'" [WFPL]

The station added that other unnamed sources had since corroborated the story.

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In a subsequent interview with NBC on Thursday, Conway said he came forward to dissociate the state party from the unaffiliated super PAC. He added that he did not think they had any "sinister motives," but that they were "inexperienced, and got excited."

At the same time, Progress Kentucky's former treasurer, who resigned right when the tape was published, is staying mum about why he left.

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"At this time based on advice of both friends and counsel, I will be not be making a public statement available until everything has been reviewed by an attorney at this time," the treasurer, Douglas L. Davis, told NBC News. "I have resigned my position as treasurer and did not and do not condone any allegations of illegal activity that might have taken place."

The audio recording reveals McConnell and his staff discussing whether to use Judd's past history of mental illness against her. Mother Jones published the audio earlier this week, leading McConnell to denounce "Nixonian" tactics and call for an FBI investigation to find out who'd made the recording.

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The two Progress Kentucky members linked to the recording are Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison, the group's founders. As of Thursday evening, neither had responded to multiple reporters' requests for comment. Mother Jones' David Corn, who first published the tape earlier this week, has so far also declined to comment.

"It's a confidential source, until the source comes forward, we don't comment," he told Politico.

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Launched last December, Progress Kentucky has one single mission: Unseat McConnell. Prior to the taping dustup, the group had already caught flak for a tweet attacking the senator's wife, former labor secretary Elaine Chao, an incident which the McConnell campaign spun into its first ad of the 2014 elections. When news of the tape broke, the senator seemed initially to claim that Progress Kentucky had bugged his office, though he later backtracked, saying he'd only accused "the left in general."

Some have questioned whether the recording constitutes a federal crime.

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Again, from WFPL:

Kentucky law says it is a felony "to overhear, record amplify or transmit any part of a wire or oral communication of others without the consent of at least one party thereto by means of any electric, mechanical or other device." [WFPL]

According to Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, who spoke with the Washington Post, criminal charges would depend on whether there was "a reasonable expectation of privacy during the taping and whether physical trespassing was involved." He added that as long as Mother Jones had no hand in making the recording, the liberal news outfit should be safe.

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But Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer questioned on Twitter whether Mother Jones could still face legal action for publishing the tape's contents, pointing to a misdemeanor statute prohibiting the publication of illegally obtained information. The Weekly Standards' Daniel Halper posed a similar argument, saying that if Mother Jones or Corn knew the tape had been made illegally, "then Corn's publishing of that illegally obtained information might also be a violation of the law."

The FBI has launched an investigation into the incident, sweeping McConnell's office, pulling surveillance video and, now that he's come forward, contacting Conway for more information.

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Boehner Warned Not to Break 'Hastert Rule' on New Gun Measures

Boehner Warned Not to Break Hastert Rule on New Gun Measures

Although the Senate just jumped a procedural hurdle, clearing the way for a fresh debate on gun control, two hard-right conservatives in theHouse of Representatives have worked in the past week to collect signatures on a letter to House Speaker John Boehner discouraging him from bringing any new gun measures to the floor without support from a majority of theHouse Republican Conference.

The effort is being led by Reps. Paul Broun, a Senate hopeful gunning for Georgia's open seat, and Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who gained notoriety earlier this year for inviting rocker/2nd Amendment-defender Ted Nugent to the State of the Union.

"We are writing to express our strong opposition to legislation requiring private sale background checks for firearms purchases," the letter reads. "Under the precedents and traditions of the House, we would ask that no gun legislation be brought to the floor of the House unless it has the support of a majority of our caucus."

That majority within the majority is also known around the Capitol as the Hastert Rule, after former GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois. Boehner has broken it on key votes this year, testing his speakership, such as votes on the Fiscal Cliff agreement, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, and emergency relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Boehner has long-maintained that he aspires to be the Speaker of the Whole House of Representatives, not just House Republicans, although it's a tricky high-wire act to execute and one more slip could cost Boehner his perch atop the party.

The speaker today emphasized that he does not feel beholden to the informal rule.

"It was never a rule to begin with," he said. "Certainly my prerogative or my intention is to always pass bills with strong Republican support."

Although Boehner has recently come under fire for violating the unspoken rule five times over the past three years, Nancy Pelosi broke it on seven pieces of legislation during her tenure as Speaker, while Hastert did so 12 times and Newt Gingrich needed minority majorities on six measures.

Boehner reiterated Wednesday that he will wait for the Senate to pass a gun measure before the House reviews it or potentially acts on it. In the meantime, he says, House committees will continue reviewing the issue as well.

A spokesman for Rep. Stockman says more than 45 Republicans have signed the letter, although it's doubtful a "Hastert majority" of the House GOP will endorse it.

"The so-called 'universal background check' would be a violation of a constitutionally-guaranteed right on an unprecedented scale," Broun and Stockman write in a letter seeking signatures. "The [National Rifle Association], [Gun Owners of America] and other gun groups have made available a substantial amount of research on the dangers of universal background checks, which we would be happy to pass along."

A full copy of the letter is posted here.

Severe storms hits Midwest with snow, ice, winds

Severe storms hit Midwest with snow, ice and damaging winds

Associated Press -

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Strong storms sweeping across the Midwest damaged homes and businesses in St. Louis, toppled mobile homes and ripped the roof off a Missouri church, while burying other areas in more than a foot of snow.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency after the Wednesday night storms. By Thursday morning, crews were out to determine if tornadoes were to blame for damage in St. Louis' historic Hill area and other areas in eastern Missouri, according to the National Weather Service.

More than 24,000 utility customers are still without power in Missouri, mostly in the St. Louis area. There were scattered reports of injuries but no known fatalities.

To the north, ice and snow left thousands of homes and businesses in Minnesota and South Dakota without power on Wednesday — and more heavy wet snow was expected Thursday, forecasters said. A suspected tornado also caused damage in Arkansas.

Downed trees crushed several homes in Hazelwood, a town northwest of St. Louis, and street signs lay scattered across rainy streets in the aftermath of the storm. Mayor Matthew Robinson told The Associated Press that about two dozen homes were damaged and that trees were down throughout the city. He said emergency workers checked all the homes and that no serious injuries had been reported.

Hazelwood resident Ellen Knop said her home was badly hit.

"The garage is gone and I'm pretty sure the front porch is in the family room," Knop told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

At least eight homes were damaged in the St. Louis neighborhood known as the Hill, famous for its Italian heritage and pasta restaurants. Mobile homes were blown over in parts of Franklin and Washington counties not far from St. Louis.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Fuchs said there were several reports of wind damage in eastern Missouri, including a report of 100 mph winds at the small airport in Sullivan, a town of about 7,000 residents 65 miles southwest of St. Louis. Buildings at the airport were damaged.

The roof was torn from the First Baptist Church of Sullivan just as the choir was finishing practice. The pastor told KMOV-TV that the choir took shelter in the basement until the storm passed.

Other states were hit hard, too. A tornado reportedly touched down near Botkinburg in north-central Arkansas, said John Robinson, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock. Four people were injured.

In Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton said the weather was taxing the resources of local and county governments, and he issued an executive order activating the National Guard.

The town of Worthington was using backup diesel generators to power sections of the city at a time, public utilities manager Scott Hain told Minnesota Public Radio. Roughly a quarter to a third of the city of about 13,000 people was without power at any given time, he said.

"With the generation that we have available, we are conducting rolling blackouts through the community," Hain said. "From what we're hearing from the folks that own the transmission that's down right now, is we expect that we'll be operating under this same scenario at least through the rest of today and possibly into tomorrow as well."

The National Weather Service forecast another 8 or 9 inches of snow in southeastern Minnesota on Thursday, with up to 14 inches across the south of the state, including the Twin Cities, St. Cloud, Willmar and Mankato.

Utilities in South Dakota were struggling to restore power to more than 20,000 customers still in the dark after the first wave of heavy snow hit the state early Wednesday.

Emergency crews meanwhile tried to reach isolated tribal members after deep snow blocked roads to rural communities on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Tribal official Toni Red Cloud told the Rapid City Journal that the crews were focusing on reaching those with pressing medical needs such as dialysis patients.

More snow and strong winds were forecast for Thursday.

The weather service said the challenging weather could extend into flood-prone southeastern North Dakota, where about 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected through late Thursday.

One weather service meteorologist said the snow would not change the current flood forecast.

"Any additional precipitation at this stage in the game is not necessarily a good thing," said Peter Rogers in Grand Forks. "But we're not expecting that to have an immediate impact on the rivers either."

In Wisconsin, rain, ice and snow caused minor flooding Wednesday in areas including the Rock River at Afton and Newville, Crawfish River at Milford, Sheboygan River at Sheboygan, and Manitowoc River at Manitowoc.

Wisconsin Emergency Management spokesman Tod Pritchard said another wave of freezing rain could sweep across central Wisconsin from La Crosse to Green Bay from late Wednesday into Thursday. That rain could cause more flooding in the region.

3 die in spring storm packing ice, snow, tornadoes

Charlie Higginbotham, Sr. speaks about what remains of his convenience store in Shuqualak, Miss., Thursday, April 11, 2013, after it was hit by a tornado. Higginbotham, 90, built the store in 1958 for his wife to run in the rural east Mississippi community and later it was turned into an apartment. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Aimee Greenwalt, left, and Amanda Parish survey the damage in Hazelwood, Mo. caused by a storm on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Butch Dye, a hydrometeorological technician with the National Weather Service in St. Louis, Mo., said severe weather struck the suburb of Hazelwood. "We won't be able to confirm whether it was a tornado until teams get out there tomorrow," Dye said. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, David Carson) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

SHUQUALAK, Miss. (AP) — A strong spring storm that socked the Midwest with ice and heavy, wet snow made its way east, raking the South with tornadoes Thursday, with three deaths blamed on the rough weather and thousands of people without power.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said Thursday one person died and several people were injured after a reported tornado struck Kemper County in the far-eastern part of the state.

At Contract Fabricators Inc. in Kemper County, where authorities said one person died and another was injured, bent pieces of tin hung from the heavily damaged building. A tractor trailer was twisted and overturned. Debris from the business was strewn through the woods across the street.

Tabatha Lott, a dispatcher in Noxubee County, said there were "numerous reports of injuries" in the town of Shuqualak, though it wasn't immediately clear how many. Flynn also said there are reports of damaged buildings and many power outages.

The T-shaped system first swept across the nation's midsection Wednesday night and pummeled portions of Missouri, where the National Weather Service said Thursday that an EF-2 tornado appears to have damaged dozens of homes in the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood. That category of tornado generally packs winds of 113 to 157 mph.

Derek Cody, an amateur storm chaser who works at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, just south of Shuqualak (pronounced SHUG-a-lock), told The Associated Press that he drove north to the small town to try to catch a glimpse of the tornado.

He said he got out of his car on U.S. 45 just as the twister was approaching the highway, only to be hit by a strong gust of wind moving into the storm that almost knocked him over.

"I kind of sat there and hoped it would cross right in front of me," Cody said. "It was just a black mass that moved across the road."

Cody said that the center of Shuqualak, an eastern Mississippi town of 500 people, was unaffected. But he said a gas station and about 10 or so houses west of the town center were damaged. He said one house was "completely flattened" with debris blown across the road.

As the system was moving through the Southeast, high winds knocked over trees and power lines in rural west Alabama and eastern Mississippi. About 50 school systems in central and north Alabama sent students home early, and a few government offices and businesses also closed early. By late Thursday, the weather service was receiving reports of quarter- to baseball-sized hail in northeastern Georgia and western parts of the Carolinas.

In Shuqualak, Kathy Coleman, 57, said she was outside her home signing for a delivery of her dialysis medication when the deliveryman hustled her back in to the house. Coleman said she, the deliveryman and her housekeeper huddled in the bathroom as the storm hit.

"All I could hear was trees breaking and falling and glass. He started praying and I started praying. Thank God he was here," she said.

The line of severe storms was trudging east toward Georgia, where the world's best golfers are playing in the Masters at Augusta National. The weather was warm and sunny on the first day of the four-day tournament but severe storms were forecast overnight.

Late Thursday, Tennessee authorities declared a state of emergency after a possible tornado was reported in Monroe County, in the far-eastern part of the state.

Behind it in Missouri and neighboring Illinois, crews with the weather service still were assessing whether tornadoes were to blame for other damage, meteorologist Mark Fuchs said. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency shortly after the storm swept through the eastern part of Missouri, bringing hail, up to 2 ½ inches of rain and strong winds.

Utility workers scrambled to restore power to more than 23,000 still-affected Missouri homes and businesses. One utility worker for Ameren Missouri was electrocuted while doing electrical work to repair damage, the company said. The company says he was taken to an area hospital but did not survive.

In the upper Midwest, thousands of homes and businesses also lost power because of heavy wet snow, ice and wind in the past couple of days, while rain and snow raised flooding concerns in various areas of the Midwest. A suspected tornado caused damage in Arkansas.

Authorities said Thursday that flooding from heavy rain and melting snow has sent some rivers over their banks and has closed roads in parts of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

A third death was reported in the Nebraska Pandhandle, where a woman perished Tuesday when she tried to trudge through a blinding snowstorm from her disabled car to her house a mile away.

On Wednesday, seven members of the Sullivan, Mo., municipal airport board were gathered at the airport Wednesday night for a meeting. A member noticed what looked like funnel clouds over the 7,000-resident town about 65 miles southwest of St. Louis. Then, a wind-blown pickup truck then scooted by — without a driver. The gust was clocked at 101 mph.

"The city administrator said his ears were popping, then all of a sudden the building shook and the windows shook," board member Larry Cuneio said. "I'm the street commissioner and I've seen wind do a lot of things, but never anything like this."

Across the Mississippi River in Alton, Ill., Dave Grounds was watching TV when he heard the rain suddenly intensify, followed by winds that he said had "incredible resonance."

"That's when the house started shaking violently, like it was grabbed by both sides," said Grounds, a judge for Madison County's juvenile court. "I thought it was an earthquake, and that's when things started collapsing."

Two large trees — one oak and the other ash, each a century old — toppled onto one end of his house of 43 years, caving in his bedroom and crushing two of his vehicles.

"Electricity lines came down and started sparking like it was the Fourth of July, and the whole house filled with smoke," said Grounds, 64.

At least eight homes were damaged in the St. Louis neighborhood known as the Hill, famous for its Italian heritage and restaurants. Mobile homes were blown over in parts of Franklin and Washington counties, not far from St. Louis.

Fuchs said the storm, which affected numerous states, was the result of a clash of warm and cold air — typical for spring.

A tornado with winds of 111-135 mph hit Botkinburg in north-central Arkansas on Wednesday and injured four people, National Weather Service forecasters said Thursday. It was rated as an EF-2 storm on a scale measuring tornado severity. EF-5 is the highest. Wednesday's storm was 400 yards wide at its peak.

In South Dakota, snow and ice shut down several roads, including Interstate 90 for a time.

The weather service said the system could extend into flood-prone southeastern North Dakota, where about 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected through late Thursday.

"Any additional precipitation at this stage in the game is not necessarily a good thing," said Peter Rogers in Grand Forks.

In Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton declared a state of emergency Thursday after a spring snowstorm heaped more headaches on the southwest corner of Minnesota, where communities are still struggling to restore power following an ice storm earlier in the week. Officials said it might be early next week before electricity was restored in the southwest.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Suhr and Jim Salter in St. Louis; Jeff Amy in Jackson; Blake Nicholson in Bismarck, N.D.; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; David Runk in Detroit;; and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala., contributed to this report.