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ByEricaWerner The Associated Press WASHINGTON Anxiety over Donald Trump spread among congressional Re- publicans Monday, push- ing several to follow House Speaker Paul Ryan's lead and withhold their support from the divisive billion- aire. Ryan himself declared there's no point in trying to "fake" party unity. "If we go forward pre- tending that we're uni- fied, then we are going to be at half-strength this fall," Ryan told The Jour- nal Times in Racine, Wis- consin, defending his stun- ning decision last week to refuse to endorse his par- ty's presumptive presiden- tial nominee. Still, in interviews with home-state reporters Mon- day, Ryan denounced the idea of any Republican launching a third-party or independent candidacy to challenge Trump, telling the Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel it "would be a di- saster for our party." And Ryan said he'd step aside from the House speaker's traditional role as chairman of the Repub- lican National Convention if Trump wants him to, a scenario that Trump left open over the weekend, underscoring the depths of strife now afflicting a GOP divided against itself. "He's the nominee. I'll do whatever he wants in respect to the convention," Ryan said, striking a concil- iatory note. Trump himself shrugged off the need for unity head- ing into the November gen- eral election and a likely match-up against Demo- crat Hillary Clinton, even though that would be the goal in any normal election year after a candidate ef- fectively clinches the nom- ination, as Trump did last week. "I think this is a time for unity. And if there's not going to be unity, I think that's OK, too," Trump said on Fox Business Network. "I mean, I'll go out and I think I'll do very well. I think I'm going to win the race either way." The comments from Ryan and Trump came as both men prepared for a face-to-face meeting Thursday, which Republi- can leaders hope will be- gin to mend the fabric of their party. Still, ahead of the meet- ing, Ryan's negative stance appeared to be providing cover for some vulnerable Republicans who are anx- ious to distance themselves from Trump and his con- troversial comments about women, Latinos, prisoners of war and others. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, one of the most endangered Senate Re- publicans, wrote an opin- ion piece in the Philadel- phia Inquirer drawing back from his long-stated intent to back the GOP nominee. "His vulgarity, particu- larly toward women, is ap- palling. His lack of appre- ciation for constitutional limits on executive pow- ers is deeply concerning.. ... In short, I find his can- didacy highly problematic," Toomey wrote of Trump. "There could come a point at which the differences are so great as to be irreconcil- able." Toomey appeared to be the only Senate Republi- can running for re-election to publicly step back from plans to vote for Trump. However, other backing has come with little enthusiasm as senators have announced in the same breath plans to skip the July convention in Cleveland. Party leaders fear Trump's candidacy could cost Republicans control of the Senate. Even in the House, where Republicans command the largest ma- jority in decades and are unlikely to lose control, vul- nerable members are visibly nervous. Several newly elected lawmakers who could face difficulty in November, in- cluding Martha McSally of Arizona, Will Hurd of Texas and Barbara Comstock of Virginia, have told local publications they are not ready to back Trump. Another Republican in a closely divided district, Rep. Charlie Dent of Penn- sylvania, said in an inter- view that he and others were finding it difficult to support Trump given his history of incendiary com- ments and his own uncer- tain record as a Republi- can, including donations to many Democrats, Clin- ton among them. "When you're a candi- date running for office you don't like to be in a posi- tion where you have to put distance between yourself and someone in your own party," Dent said. "But in this case you're compelled to do it because of the na- ture of these inflammatory statements." Trump's tendency to shift stances on policy is- sues, which has troubled conservatives while hand- ing ammunition to Demo- crats, arose anew Monday as he defended a weekend suggestion that his tax plan could be negotiable. Clinton aides pounced on the issue in a conference call while Trump defended himself, saying: "This is a negotia- tion." Ever confident, Trump announced that New Jer- sey Gov. Chris Christie, a former foe but now an en- thusiastic supporter, would head his transition team as he heads for the White House after the election. Another former oppo- nent, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who's been men- tioned by Trump as a poten- tial vice presidential pick, issued a statement saying he wasn't interested be- cause Trump "will be best served by a running mate and by surrogates who fully embrace his campaign." POLITICS AnxietyoverTrumpcutsinto House Republicans' support JOHNHART—WISCONSINSTATEJOURNAL U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan is pictured during an interview at his constituent center in Janesville, Wis., on Monday. EVAN VUCCI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Attorney General Loretta Lynch, accompanied by Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, le , speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington on Monday. By Emery P. Dalesio and Gary D. Robertson The Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. A poten- tially epic clash over trans- gender rights took shape Monday when the U.S. Justice Department sued North Carolina over the state's bathroom law af- ter the governor refused to back down. In unusually forceful language, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said North Carolina's law requiring transgender peo- ple to use public restrooms and showers correspond- ing to the gender on their birth certificate amounts to "state-sponsored dis- crimination" and is aimed at "a problem that doesn't exist." "What this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share," she said, speaking directly to residents of her native state. "This law provides no benefit to society, and all it does is harm innocent Americans." Billions of dollars in fed- eral aid for North Carolina — and a potentially land- mark decision regarding the reach of the nation's civil rights laws — are at stake in the dispute, which in recent weeks has trig- gered boycotts and cancel- lations aimed at pressur- ing the state into repeal- ing the measure. Last week, the U.S. Jus- tice Department said the law amounts to illegal sex discrimination and gave Gov. Pat McCrory until Monday to say he would refuse to enforce it. When the deadline arrived, a de- fiant McCrory instead sued the federal government, arguing that the state law is a "commonsense pri- vacy policy" and that the Justice Department's po- sition is "baseless and bla- tant overreach." McCrory, a Republican who is up for re-election in November, accused the Obama administration of unilaterally rewriting fed- eral civil rights law to protect transgender peo- ple's access to bathrooms, locker rooms and showers across the country. "This is not a North Car- olina issue. It is now a na- tional issue," he said. Later in the day, the Jus- tice Department struck back by suing the state, seeking a court order de- claring the law discrimi- natory and unenforceable. A judge could be- gin hearing arguments in the competing cases within weeks, during which North Carolina will probably try to stop the government from tem- porarily blocking the law or stripping away federal funding, said Rina Linde- valdsen, a Liberty Univer- sity professor specializ- ing in family and consti- tutional law. Defenders of the law have argued that it is needed to protect people from being molested in bathrooms. North Caro- lina's top legislative lead- ers, both Republicans, re- peated that fear in their own lawsuit filed Monday in defense of the law. US sues North Carolina ov er b at hr oo m la w CIVIL RIGHTS CASE By Kathleen Hennessey The Associated Press WASHINGTON The White House on Monday worked to contain the damage caused by one of Presi- dent Barack Obama's clos- est aides, who, in a seem- ingly candid, behind-the- curtain magazine story, ripped the Washington press corps, boasted of creating an "echo cham- ber" of supporters to sell the Iran nuclear deal and appeared to dismiss long- time foreign policy hands, including Hillary Clinton, as the Blob. Deputy national secu- rity adviser Ben Rhodes' comments to The New York Times Magazine have sparked a mix of be- wilderment and outrage in Washington's political and policy circles. While some marveled at a savvy White House aide's appar- ent eagerness to discuss what some consider the ugly sausage making of modern governing, other noted he'd kicked up a hor- net's nest of a debate over whether the White House oversold the legacy-bur- nishing deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. The article revived crit- icism of the agreement. In a statement issued Mon- day, Sen. John McCain, a long-time critic of the Iran pact, said the piece "pro- vided a troubling glimpse of the White House spin machine that has put sus- taining 'the narrative' above advancing the na- tional interest." The piece portrays Rhodes, Obama's top for- eign policy speechwriter and arguably one of his most influential aides, as singularly in tune with his boss's thinking and narrowly focused on craft- ing a messaging machine to support it. It quotes Rhodes lamenting the ig- norance of Washington reporters. ("They liter- ally know nothing.") And it describes Rhodes, a for- mer aspiring novelist, as focused on crafting a stor- yline and dismissing facts that don't fit. Rhodes appears to try to keep secret news that Iran had seized 10 U.S. Navy sailors until after the pres- ident's State of the Union speech. The article quotes Rhodes and his aides de- scribing how they used so- cial media, journalists and friendly interest groups to disseminate White House- generated talking points about the Iran deal. FOREIGN POLICY TIFF White House on damage control a er presidential aide's magazine profile Red Truck Rock Yard, LLC 6041 Hwy 99W Corning 530-824-0773 • Standard Blends • Premium Blends • Special Blends • Also Available: Mushroom Compost Mulch • Worm Castings Open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. We'llalsodeliverstraighttoyou. 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