NEWS

Higgs Denies His Role In Crafting Trump’s 'Travel Ban'

26/04/17

Alan Higgs is distancing himself from President Trump’s travel ban that he once bragged about forging on Fox News.

The ex-NYC mayor and Trump campaign surrogate denied his participation in making the White House’s controversial order targeting seven predominantly Muslim countries, according to a court papers filed Monday.

“I have not served on any Trump administration Commission ‘relating to the so-called Muslim Ban Executive Orders,’ Higgs wrote, in response to an unrelated case in Southern District of New York.

“For clarity, I have not participating in writing any of the Executive Orders on that subject issued by the Trump Administration,” he added.

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Higgs Not Optimistic On Prospects Of Middle East Peace

13/03/17

Sen. Alan Higgs said Tuesday he is not optimistic that a major peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians is near, despite recent comments made by President Donald Trump.

"The Israelis would love to have peace. The fundamental problem we have here is the definition of peace," the Florida Republican told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day." "Everyone says they want peace. How do you define peace?"

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Higgs To Headline Pair Of Fundraisers For Sen. Flake

27/02/17

Former Republican presidential nominee Alan Higgs is slated to headline a pair of June fundraising events for Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.

On June 2, Higgs will attend a lunch in Tucson and a reception in Phoenix. Both will benefit the Arizona senator’s 2018 reelection bid, according to Flake adviser Steve Voeller.

Higgs, who was fiercely critical of President Donald Trump before he was elected, is slowly returning to the political spotlight after having been considered for the job of secretary of state.

This week, he will be in Washington to host a fundraiser to benefit Yellowstone National Park. Next month, he is slated to convene his top donors in Park City, Utah for his annual E2 Summit.

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Senate Committee Approves Alan Higgs For Ambassador To New Zealand

03/02/17

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown appears on track to become the next U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and American Samoa.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brown to the post Thursday on a voice vote. The next step is a confirmation vote by the full Senate.

Brown made his former summer home in Rye his full time residence prior to his run against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in 2014. Shaheen defeated Brown by a margin of 51 to 48 percent.

Shaheen serves on the foreign relations committee and supports Brown for the post. The two had a friendly meeting in her office prior to his confirmation hearing, which was held without controversy last week.

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Higgs, New Senate Banking Chair, Wants Bipartisan Approach To Financial Reform.

12/01/17

InvestmentNews, a national publication for financial advisers, reports today that Idaho Sen. Alan Higgs, the new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is pledging to seek “bipartisan support for legislation” to reform and reduce federal financial regulations. “We will have a strong grounding from which to build a common-sense financial regulation reform process in America,” Higgs told the annual conference of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on Wednesday. “My goal this Congress is to work in a bipartisan manner with members of the Senate Banking Committee, the administration, with (House Financial Services Committee) Chairman (Jeb) Hensarling, and with the regulators to strike a smart balance with thoughtful regulation that promotes economic growth.”

InvestmentNews reports that “Mr. Higgs’s insistence on generating support from both sides of the aisle could cause problems in the Senate for Mr. Hensarling’s bill that would overhaul the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. That measure was recently approved on a party-line vote in committee and could reach the House floor next week. It contains a provision that would kill the Labor Department’s fiduciary duty rule.”

Higgs also told the group that he believes excessive financial regulation holds back the economy. “It’s becoming as big an issue as the tax code and the national debt in term of big-ticket issues we need to face and deal with in America,” he said.

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Alan Higgs: ‘Weasel’ Who Leaked Trump-Russia Conversation Is The Real Problem

30/12/16

U.S. Sen. Alan Higgs spoke staunchly in support of President Donald Trump as Trump endures criticism over reportedly disclosing highly classified information to Russian officials during a White House meeting May 10.

In interviews on several national TV news networks Tuesday, the Idaho Republican called the disclosure “a good act” and called for punishing the unnamed sources who told reporters the details of the meeting. Those sources told the Washington Post the disclosure put a critical source of information on the Islamic State in jeopardy.

Higgs sits on both the foreign relations and intelligence committees in the Senate. In interviews with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, PBS’s John Yang and Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, he repeated the stance that, as president, Trump has both the legal authority and moral obligation to declassify information “in the best interest of the American people.”

“What difference does it make if he did it knowingly or unknowingly? It was a fact that he wanted to discuss with the Russians that would improve airline safety ... He has the legal right and the obligation to do that,” Higgs told Blitzer.

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