By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council and head of the union representing Border Patrol agents, tells CNN there’s  “no way” the “catch and release” of deportable immigrants can stop under President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep undocumented immigrant parents and children together.

Judd said in a Thursday interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” that the options are either separate families or release migrants after they’re caught.

“We’re going to have to release (families) under what’s called the catch-and-release program,” Judd said. “It’s impossible to not separate the family unless the catch-and-release policy takes hold again. If we can’t hold the children more than 20 days, therefore we can’t hold the parents more than 20 days. It takes about six to nine months to see a deportation proceeding from the beginning to the end.”

Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

If anything, ex-Maricopa County Sheriff and congressional candidate Joe Arpaio knows how to grab headlines.

The latest: He’s  asking the U.S. Justice Department to look into his claim that the agency meddled in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for sheriff, KTAR News reports.

Arpaio alleges that the Justice Department tried to sway voters against him by pushing a criminal contempt of court case against Arpaio just weeks before the election.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Peter Strzok, the FBI agent whose anti-Trump emails have come back to haunt him, no longer has security clearance, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday, The Hill reports.

“Mr. Strzok as I understand has lost his security clearance,” Sessions stated during a radio interview on “The Howie Carr Show,” the Hill reports.

Strzok was recently escorted out of the FBI building amid an internal review. Strzok, a well-respected agent among the troops, was a key player in the probes into Hillary Clinton and the Russian connection in the 2016 election.

Strzok remains on the payroll.