| 'Difficult to attack vanilla': Trump's throwing everything at Biden, but nothing is sticking Posted: 14 Jul 2020 04:21 PM PDT  It's different from four years ago, when the president was "helped by the fact that Hillary had 20 years of built-in negatives," one Republican said.
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| Ex-officer in Hawaii sentenced for making man lick urinal Posted: 15 Jul 2020 03:38 PM PDT  A U.S. judge sentenced a former Honolulu police officer Wednesday to four years in prison for forcing a homeless man to lick a public urinal, telling him to imagine someone doing that to his two young daughters. The homeless man was just as defenseless and powerless as the children of defendant John Rabago, U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi said. "You took from him his only possession: his dignity as a human being," Kobayashi said.
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| Ghislaine Maxwell secretly married but won't reveal husband's identity say NY prosecutors Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:21 AM PDT  Ghislaine Maxwell has secretly married but refused to disclose her husband's identity to FBI investigators, it was claimed in court. Federal prosecutors told a judge hearing Maxwell's application for bail that she had a spouse although his name has been withheld. The existence of a husband might explain why Maxwell chose to remain in the US while being hunted down by the FBI over child sex trafficking allegations rather than fleeing abroad. She was last year romantically linked to Scott Borgerson, the wealthy chief executive of a tech company based in Boston, but there is no suggestion or evidence the couple ever married. Mr Borgerson has insisted the pair were only friends. Maxwell used the alias 'Jen Marshall' when inspecting the house she bought while in hiding from the FBI and was accompanied by a man she identified as her husband and using the name 'Scott Marshall'. But while 'Scott Marshall' spoke with a British accent, Scott Borgerson was born in the US and speaks with an American accent.
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| Flight delay melee: Spirit passengers arrested after kicking and punching employees and tossing phones, food and shoes at them Posted: 15 Jul 2020 01:27 PM PDT  Three Philadelphia women who were mad about a flight delay were arrested at Fort Lauderdale Airport after kicking and throwing items at Spirit staff.
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| The California woman who refused to wear a face mask in Starbucks is considering suing to get half of the barista's $100,000 in GoFundMe tips Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:58 AM PDT  People raised more than $100,000 for Lenin Gutierrez, a Starbucks barista who was shamed by Amber Gilles for trying to enforce a face-mask rule.
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| Zambia health minister denies corruption charges in court Posted: 16 Jul 2020 04:40 AM PDT |
| UN official: Catastrophe looming from oil tanker off Yemen Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:51 PM PDT  The U.N. environment chief said Wednesday that "time is running out" to avert an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe from a deteriorating oil tanker loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil that is moored off the coast of Yemen. Inger Andersen told the U.N. Security Council that an oil spill from the FSO Safer, which hasn't been maintained for over five years, would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades. Houthi rebels, who control the area where the ship is moored, have denied U.N. inspectors access to the vessel so they could assess the damage and look for ways to secure the tanker by unloading the oil and pulling the ship to safety.
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| Trump touts 'silent majority' as he insists polls showing him losing to Joe Biden are 'fake' Posted: 14 Jul 2020 06:09 PM PDT  Despite poll numbers that show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden by wide margins, President Trump said at the White House on Tuesday that he's doing better than anyone realizes in his quest for reelection.
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| Trump's Mount Rushmore speech laid 'groundwork' for contrast election: Pete Hegseth Posted: 16 Jul 2020 09:14 AM PDT  Fox & Friends weekend co-host Pete Hegseth on President Trump's approval ratings and re-educating Americans on historical events to end violence and protests.
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| Investigators: Texas couple defrauded Army out of millions Posted: 16 Jul 2020 09:43 AM PDT |
| It started like any other Kremlin crackdown. This time anti-Putin protests followed. Posted: 16 Jul 2020 03:45 AM PDT  Demonstrators have held banners saying "Free Sergei Furgal," while others have called on President Vladimir Putin to resign.
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| A Michigan jeweler is retiring and burying $1 million worth of treasure for a 'quest' Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:25 AM PDT  Johnny Perri buried his entire jewelry store — and "thousands upon thousands" of precious metals and antiques — throughout the state.
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| River Nile dam: Sudan blasts 'unilateral' move as Ethiopia dam fills Posted: 16 Jul 2020 09:34 AM PDT  As talks fail with Ethiopia, Sudan says water levels drop downstream and Egypt demands "clarification".
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| 21 Best Wall-Mounted Planters to Infuse Your Space With Greenery Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:02 AM PDT |
| Turkish court sentences Germany-based journalist to jail on terrorism charges Posted: 16 Jul 2020 05:15 AM PDT |
| Airbnb told employees it's resuming plans to go public as business slowly bounces back Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:15 PM PDT  "When the market is ready, we will be ready, because Airbnb was down but we were not out," CEO Brian Chesky told employees.
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| Mary Trump slams Ivanka in new interview: 'She doesn't do anything' Posted: 16 Jul 2020 07:12 AM PDT  "She spouts bromides on social media, but either she tries to have an impact and fails, or just isn't interested in having an impact."
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| Kamala Harris made her mark confronting Joe Biden. Could they end up as running mates? Posted: 16 Jul 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' debate confrontation over race still echoes a year later as Biden weighs his vice presidential pick.
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| Georgia murder case tests whether a Black man can stand his ground against whites Posted: 14 Jul 2020 01:47 PM PDT  William Marcus Wilson believed he was standing his ground when he fired at a pickup truck he says was trying to run his car off the road as he drove home with his girlfriend one night last month.
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| Thousands of protesting Israelis call on Netanyahu to resign Posted: 14 Jul 2020 11:23 AM PDT  Thousands of Israelis on Tuesday demonstrated outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on the embattled leader to resign as he faces a trial on corruption charges and grapples with a deepening coronavirus crisis. Netanyahu has seen his popularity drop in recent weeks as he comes under criticism from a series of directions. A loose-knit movement has held a number of demonstrations saying that Netanyahu is unfit to lead at a time when he is on trial.
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| Recent Siberian heat wave 'almost impossible' without climate change, study says Posted: 16 Jul 2020 08:57 AM PDT  The recent extreme heat in the Siberian Arctic from January to June 2020 would have been "almost impossible" without the influence of climate change.
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| National Association of Police Organizations president explains decision to endorse President Trump Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:26 PM PDT  Major law enforcement lobbying group throws weight behind President Trump.
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| Second group of U.S. diplomats fly back to China amid frayed ties Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:52 PM PDT  A chartered commercial aircraft left Dulles airport outside Washington for the South Korean capital, Seoul, where passengers would transfer to another aircraft outfitted for medical operations before flying to the Chinese city of Guangzhou. The flight, only the second of many required to return more than 1,200 U.S. diplomats with their families, was the first since negotiations hit an impasse two weeks ago over conditions China wanted to impose on the Americans, prompting the State Department to postpone flights tentatively scheduled for the first 10 days of July. The U.S. is working to fully restaff its mission in China, one of its largest in the world, which was evacuated in February because of COVID-19.
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| Hospitals told to send coronavirus data to Washington, not CDC Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:03 AM PDT  "The new faster and complete data system is what our nation needs to defeat the coronavirus," Department of Health and Human Services official says.
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| Photo shows Arizona's governor without a mask at party with no social distancing days before telling constituents to 'arm yourself with a mask' Posted: 14 Jul 2020 12:43 PM PDT  Cases have skyrocketed in Arizona recently, with record high hospitalizations and deaths climbing over 2,000 as the state rolls back its reopening.
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| Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty in trafficking case Posted: 14 Jul 2020 12:40 PM PDT  Maxwell, who faces up to 35 years in federal prison, was denied bail and will remain in custody Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in Manhattan federal court via video feed on Tuesday, to plead not guilty regarding her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking of minor girls.She was denied bail and will remain in custody, following lengthy arguments in which prosecutors painted her as a flight risk. The court also heard testimony from accusers. One, in an anonymous statement read to the court, described "the sociopathic manner in which [Maxwell] nurtured our [relationships]" and said that "she would have done anything to get what she wanted, to satisfy Mr Epstein".Long out of the public eye, Maxwell, 58, appeared unsettled, a far cry from the glamorous, jet-setting image she once cultivated. She removed her glasses and mostly looked at the screen. At times, she shook her head.Maxwell was arrested on 2 July at a Bradford, New Hampshire, estate. She is charged in a 17-page indictment with conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and perjury.If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years in federal prison."Ms Maxwell," Judge Alison Nathan asked, "have you had an opportunity to discuss the indictment in this case with your attorney?"Maxwell said she had and waived a public reading of the indictment. Asked how she pleaded, she said: "Not guilty, your honor."Born in Maisons-Laffitte, Île-de-France, in 1961, Ghislaine Maxwell is the youngest of the nine children of Betty and Robert Maxwell, the media tycoon owner of the Mirror GroupGhislaine was rumoured to be his favourite child, and the former Labour MP named his £15m ($18.6m) yacht Lady Ghislaine after her. He put his daughter in charge of his football club he owned, Oxford United, and when he acquired the New York Daily News, he reportedly sent Ghislaine to warm up Manhattan society for his arrival.Following her father's death in 1991 – after apparently falling overboard from Lady Ghislaine near the Canary Islands – Ghislaine Maxwell flew to New York onboard a Concorde. She left behind a huge uproar over $460m found to be missing from her father's companies' pensions funds.Her family's wealth, status and influence considerably depleted, Maxwell found something of a replacement in her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Their relationship was initially romantic, but it evolved into something more akin to that of a close friend, confidante and personal assistant. Epstein was later convicted of sex offences, and subsequently died in prison in 2019.In 2015, Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers, sued Maxwell, alleging Epstein's confidante defamed her by claiming she was a liar in her accusations against the pair. Giuffre has accused Maxwell of recruiting her to work as Epstein's masseuse at the age 15, when she was a locker-room attendant at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida. Documents released as part of the lawsuit contain lurid claims about the alleged sex trafficking.In July 2020, after having been in hiding, Maxwell was arrested by the FBI on charges related to Jeffrey Epstein. She has pleaded not guilty, was refused bail, and will remain in custody.She is charged in a 17-page indictment with conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and perjury. If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years in federal prison.The court video feed featured four panels, one showing Maxwell, one her defense team, one the judge and one prosecutors. Audio cut out continually and the judge told Maxwell to inform her if the audio feed didn't work."Thank you, your honor, I will do that," Maxwell said.Prosecutors read a statement from one of Maxwell's accusers, identified as Jane Doe. Maxwell, the statement said, "enjoyed drawing her victims in with perceived caring". The same accuser also described Maxwell's "sociopathic manner".Another accuser, Annie Farmer, spoke to the court by phone. Maxwell "tormented her survivors", she said.Maxwell has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Her lawyers have said she "vigorously denies the charges" and is "entitled to the presumption of innocence".But in court papers, prosecutors insisted she posed an "extreme risk of flight" owing to her vast wealth and background. Maxwell is a citizen of France, the UK and the US, possessing passports for all three countries. France, prosecutors noted, "does not extradite its citizens to the United States pursuant to French law".Maxwell, they further claimed, "appears to be skilled at living in hiding". When FBI agents arrived at the "remote" 156-acre property, she "tried to flee" and agents discovered a "cellphone wrapped in tin foil" which they maintain was "a seemingly misguided effort to evade detection … by law enforcement".Prosecutors also said they learned Maxwell "had hired a security company staffed with former members of the British military to guard [her] at the New Hampshire property, in rotations"."There are no conditions of bail that would assure the defendant's presence in court proceedings in this case," they wrote. "Accordingly, any application for bail should be denied."In court, pointing to such "serious red flags", the US attorney Alison Moe claimed Maxwell was not being forthright about her finances, having claimed a "monthly income of nothing, zero dollars per month of income"."It is simply implausible," Moe said, "especially given the lifestyle she's been living. It just doesn't make sense."Maxwell also told pre-trial services she "does not know the name of the corporation" that purchased the New Hampshire property, "but … was just permitted to stay in the house".A real estate agent involved in the property's sale in November 2019, meanwhile, told an FBI agent two people seeking to buy it, who apparently introduced themselves as Scott and Janet Marshall, "both had British accents". The man said he was "retired from the British military and currently working on a book". The woman said she was a journalist.The court audio was unclear, and the authorities later clarified that the pseudonym was Jen Marshall. The woman who introduced herself as Jen Marshall was in fact Ghislaine Maxwell, Moe said.Born in Brooklyn in 1953, Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender and financier who died in jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He had previously served 13 months in jail after being convicted in 2008 of procuring an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. A medical examiner declared Epstein's death a suicide.His death came after unsealed documents in New York revealed the extent of his abuse of young women at his home in Palm Beach, New York and the Virgin Islands. An earlier attempt to prosecute him on similar charges had collapsed when authorities granted him an unusually generous deal to plead guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida. Epstein made his name at the investment bank Bear Stearns before opening his own firm in 1982, managing money for clients with wealth in excess of $1bn. The business came with an intensive social schedule. Epstein positioned himself as a party figure in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, and courted the rich, famous and powerful across America and the world. Epstein's circle of friends and acquaintances has included Donald Trump; Bill Clinton; Prince Andrew; Leslie Wexner, founder of the company that owns the Victoria's Secret lingerie brand; and many other prominent names in law, entertainment and politics.In July 2020, his long-term confidante and personal assistant Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested by the FBI on charges related to Epstein's sex crimes.Maxwell's lawyers had contended that Covid-19 presented a danger to Maxwell and limits her legal defense. They insisted that she was not a flight risk, and said she had remained out of public view to avoid the media following Epstein's arrest last July. Epstein killed himself in federal jail last August.In court, one of Maxwell's lawyers, Marc Cohen, repeated his argument that she should be released – claiming prosecutors had overplayed the circumstances surrounding Maxwell's arrest.When the FBI came to Maxwell's home, he said, she was wearing pyjamas. There was one security guard at the house."The front door was unlocked," Cohen said. "The windows were open."They were asking the judge to release Maxwell on a $5m personal recognizance bond co-signed by six financially responsible individuals, backed by property in the UK worth more than $3.75m.Maxwell's legal team also proposed limiting her travel to the New York City region, turning in all her passports and requiring home confinement in New York City with GPS monitoring.It was revealed in court that Maxwell had asked to be on house arrest in a "luxury hotel" in Manhattan.Denying bail, the judge ruled Maxwell "a risk of flight" and said "no combination of conditions could reasonably assure" her return to court.Maxwell's trial was scheduled for 12 July 2021. It is expected to take about two weeks.
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| Young activists, localists top Hong Kong pro-democracy polls Posted: 14 Jul 2020 08:58 PM PDT  Young activists and localist candidates dominated Hong Kong's unofficial pro-democracy primaries over the weekend, with hundreds of thousands of people voting despite warnings the election could violate the territory's new security law imposed by Beijing. Candidates who topped the polls were in their 40s or younger in every constituency and included prominent pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Jimmy Sham, who helped organize many of last year's anti-government protests that had alarmed the central government in Beijing. The polls were held to whittle the pro-democracy camp's candidates to field a unified slate in a legislative election in September in hopes of achieving a "35-plus" majority in the 70-seat legislature.
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| Florida reported 100% positive COVID-19 tests from some labs. That's wrong, hospital system says. Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:32 PM PDT  The Lee Health hospital system says that its lab testing of potential COVID-19 cases has shown an overall positivity rate of about 18%.
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| India coronavirus: Kuwait's new expat bill has Indians worried Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:10 PM PDT  Kuwait's expat quota bill, if approved, will force nearly 800,000 Indians to return home.
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| Farrakhan’s Influence Remains a Problem Posted: 14 Jul 2020 02:32 PM PDT  At a moment in American cultural history when even a hint of opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement can result in jobs being lost and people hounded out of the public square, the muted reaction to open expressions of anti-Semitism is striking.When Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson posted fake Adolf Hitler quotes about Jewish perfidy and praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan last week, he was criticized and eventually apologized. But the outrage was nothing compared with that encountered by Drew Brees, the star quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, when he spoke last month of his opposition to fellow National Football League players kneeling during the national anthem. While many NFL players condemned Brees for preaching respect for the flag, few of Jackson's fellow players responded to his calumnies, and, among those who did, expressions of support outnumbered criticisms.A week later, another Farrakhan-related flap has hit the news, and the public reaction has been strikingly similar. Over the weekend, it was revealed that television personality Nick Cannon, the host of Fox's The Masked Singer, had spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and praised the Nation of Islam leader on his YouTube channel. Like Jackson, Cannon was caught repeating a popular NOI claim that African Americans are the "true Hebrews" and the real "Jewish people." He also ranted about the power supposedly held by "the Illuminati, the Zionists, the Rothschilds." Yet Fox was silent in the face of the news about his anti-Semitic diatribes, and there's been no indication that it's reconsidering its relationship with him.The proper response to such controversies is not necessarily to demand that the offending party be "canceled," of course. But it is notable that documented anti-Semitism doesn't result in the sort of widespread news coverage and instant cancellation that racism toward African Americans does. And it is telling that Farrakhan still seems to be able to fly below the radar of mainstream media that are otherwise quick to blame "influencers" for the actions of their adherents.It is unquestionable that Farrakhan has played a big part in legitimizing hateful attitudes toward Jews within the African-American community, as even the liberal writer and former ESPN personality Jemele Hill concedes:> In other posts around the same time, Jackson shared quotes from a speech made by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan during the Fourth of July weekend. The speech mostly centered on police brutality, the coronavirus, Black empowerment, and self-reliance. But with Farrakhan's long, vile record of anti-Semitism, Jackson — who is far from alone among Black Americans in his support for Farrakhan — can't be surprised that people now question his true feelings toward Jews.Yet Farrakhan continues to be treated as a respected figure in much of the black community. Indeed, few complained when he was given a place of honor at singer Aretha Franklin's televised funeral in 2018. Former president Bill Clinton was not criticized in mainstream outlets for appearing with Farrakhan and publicly shaking his hand at the funeral.Farrakhan's views are as hateful as those of, say, Klan leader David Duke, and he has many more followers and a much wider sphere of influence than Duke. Yet Duke is rightly ostracized across the political spectrum, while Farrakhan remains welcome on the left.Whether or not Jackson or Cannon are judged by a more generous standard than others who show prejudice is much less important than Farrakhan's continued influence. So long as his anti-Semitism is dismissed rather than addressed head-on by African-American faith and political leaders as well as by their white friends and allies, we should not be surprised when statements such as Jackson's or outbreaks of hateful violence against Jews occur. The willingness to downplay the anti-Semitism inspired by Farrakhan and his movement is a problem that must not be ignored.
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| U.S. to back nations that say China violated their South China Sea claims Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:00 AM PDT  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States will support countries that believe China has violated their maritime claims in the South China Sea but suggested it would do so through diplomatic rather than military means. "We will support countries all across the world who recognize that China has violated their legal territorial claims as well – or maritime claims as well," Pompeo told reporters. "We will go provide them the assistance we can, whether that's in multilateral bodies, whether that's in ASEAN, whether that's through legal responses, we will use all the tools we can," he said at a news conference, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
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| 'Ink Master's' Daniel Silva charged with murder of Corey La Barrie Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:13 PM PDT  Tattoo artist Daniel Joseph Silva has been charged with the murder of Corey La Barrie, the 25-year-old YouTube star who was killed in a car crash in Valley Village.
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| Trump aides warn president: Mental fitness attacks on Biden could be used against you Posted: 15 Jul 2020 12:13 PM PDT  The fresh push comes despite increasing warnings from Republican strategists that the message stands to backfire in several ways.
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| Kerry Kennedy: My Father and Uncle Were Both Murdered on National TV. I Still Have Always Opposed the Death Penalty Posted: 15 Jul 2020 11:53 AM PDT  Kerry Kennedy's father was killed when she was just a child and she opposed the death penalty even then. Now she says the Supreme Court has moved to further embed state-sponsored killing in our society.
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| Afghan official: Pakistani mortars kill 4 Afghan civilians Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:01 AM PDT |
| An international student said the Trump administration rescinding its deportation threat is a relief, but the whiplash is unsettling Posted: 14 Jul 2020 03:26 PM PDT  ICE rescinded its position that international students who were taking courses entirely online couldn't stay in the US after colleges and states sued.
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| In pictures: Severe floods engulf eastern China Posted: 16 Jul 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Water levels at Poyang lake, in China's eastern Jiangxi province, are at a record high.
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| US Navy carries out second 'freedom of navigation' op off Venezuela coast Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:11 PM PDT  The US Navy on Wednesday deployed a warship off the coast of Venezuela to challenge what it called Caracas' "excessive maritime claim in international waters." It was the second time in three weeks that the US Navy has carried out such a "freedom of navigation" operation, a move that Venezuela previously called a "provocation." "Today, the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) challenged Venezuela's excessive maritime claim in international waters during a successful freedom of navigation operation in the Caribbean Sea," US Southern Command said in a statement.
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| Returned of tainted Pemex boss spells trouble for Mexico's old elite Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:58 PM PDT  Once a rising star of Mexican politics, Emilio Lozoya could trigger a precipitous fall from grace of former colleagues if he returns to spill the beans on alleged corruption inside the government of the country's last president, Enrique Pena Nieto. Lozoya, who is being extradited from Spain to Mexico, is expected home this week to face a series of corruption charges dating back to his 2012-16 tenure at the helm of struggling Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex. Once vaunted as a possible foreign minister, the 45-year-old Lozoya has become a key piece in President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's plan to expose corruption in and around the government he took over from Pena Nieto in December 2018.
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| Indianapolis protesters seek autopsy results, accountability in officer-involved shootings Posted: 16 Jul 2020 04:02 AM PDT  Indiana demonstrators demand authorities release the autopsy results of 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed and 19-year-old McHale Rose.
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| Donald Trump Jr., Ted Cruz, and other top Republicans praise New York Times editor Bari Weiss' resignation letter slamming the paper Posted: 14 Jul 2020 02:31 PM PDT  Donald Trump Jr. claimed Weiss' resignation exposed the "rampant attacks on anyone who breaks from the far-left narrative."
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| Japan highlights F-35 acquisition, military ops amid pandemic in new whitepaper Posted: 15 Jul 2020 07:37 AM PDT  In its latest whitepaper, Japan has discussed its impending acquisition of F-35B fighter jets and highlighted efforts by regional militaries to expand their influence and activities despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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| NYPD chief, protesters roughed up in Brooklyn Bridge clash Posted: 15 Jul 2020 11:59 AM PDT  Several New York City police officers were attacked and injured Wednesday as pro-police and anti-police protesters clashed on the Brooklyn Bridge, police said. The confrontation happened hours before Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a series of police accountability measures inspired by the killings of George Floyd, Eric Garner and other Black people. At least four officers were hurt, including Chief of Department Terence Monahan, and 37 people were arrested, police said.
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| Dems in the Country’s Hottest Senate Contests Are Crushing the Opposition in Fundraising Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:47 PM PDT  With fewer than four months to Election Day, Democrats in the nation's most competitive Senate contests are crushing their Republican opposition in the money race.Quarterly financial reports filed on Wednesday show that in the most competitive Senate contests in the country, Democratic candidates outraised Republicans in all but two. Two candidates, Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Texas Democrat MJ Hegar, had not filed their reports shortly before midnight on Thursday.In the 13 races where The Daily Beast was able to examine finances for both parties' candidates—contests in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Iowa, Montana, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Alaska, and two in Georgia—the Democratic candidates raised a combined $83.6 million to Republicans' $64.8 million.In 11 of those 13 Senate races, the Democratic candidate outraised the Republican in the second quarter.Republicans still collectively enjoy a not insignificant cash advantage in those races—$114 million to Democrats' $87 million—but the second-quarter fundraising numbers suggest momentum, at least on the fundraising front, is fully on Democrats' side at the moment.Money alone doesn't win elections, and some of the Democrats in those races face stiff opposition in a number of states generally considered GOP strongholds. But with polling data trending in Democrats' direction—from the top of the 2020 ticket on down—the financial figures released this week represent a major red flag for Republicans hoping to maintain their hold on Congress' upper chamber.The senators who were handily outraised by their Democratic challengers include some of the GOP's most vulnerable incumbents in must-win states for Democrats, such as Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado. But some of Democrats' top fundraisers in the second quarter came in states that, if they flipped from Republican control, would portend a wave election. In Kentucky, former Marine pilot Amy McGrath raised a staggering $17.4 million in the second quarter for her bid to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The state is considered a likely Republican hold, and McConnell posted huge numbers of his own, with $12.2 million raised. But going into the final stretch, McGrath has virtually eliminated McConnell's cash advantage; she's now sitting on $16.2 million to his $16.6 million.In South Carolina, Democrat Jaime Harrison also reported eyebrow-raising numbers in his bid to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham, long considered a total long shot in the deep red state. Harrison brought in $14 million to Graham's $8.3 million, closing the gap considerably with the latter's previously sizable cash advantage.Even in Alaska—a traditional GOP stronghold only marginally on Democrats' map—incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan was bested in the fundraising race by first time candidate Al Gross. Michigan provided perhaps the only bright spot for Republicans in second-quarter fundraising numbers. Democratic Sen. Gary Peters reported raising a respectable $5.2 million, but Republican challenger John James bested him with a haul of nearly $6.5 million. Peters still enjoys a slight advantage in cash on hand, but James' fundraising may suggest momentum in that contest.The Michigan race was one of just two among the dozen The Daily Beast examined in which the Republican candidate is outraising the Democrat. The other was one of Georgia's two Senate contests this cycle, where incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler reported bringing in about $5.9 million to Democrat Raphael Warnock's $2.9 million. But $5 million of Loeffler's haul was provided by the candidate herself in the form of a loan to the campaign. Excluding that loan, Loeffler was one of just two candidates examined who raised less than $1 million in the second quarter.Other GOP stalwarts, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and David Perdue of Georgia, were unable to clear $3 million while their opponents outraised them—in Tillis' case, by nearly $5 million. Bloomberg Pledged Hundreds of Millions to Defeat Trump. Where Is It?Taken together, the second-quarter numbers provide a fitting punctuation mark to a spring 2020 during which there were few bright spots for Senate Republicans. In the last three months, the country has been roiled by the coronavirus pandemic and widespread protests over racial justice, both of which have dragged approval ratings for President Trump into some of the lowest points of his presidency. On Capitol Hill, GOP lawmakers frequently found themselves answering for Trump's incendiary tweets and combative moves, like his order to tear gas protesters outside the White House and his insistence on overturning the Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court, both politically unpopular moves. Privately, some Republicans concede that there's little daylight between Trump's political ceiling and theirs in November—giving them anxiety about their chances as he barrels into the general election. Meanwhile, in the last quarter, Joe Biden clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, giving what many in the party see as a boost to congressional candidates, especially in battlegrounds like North Carolina and Michigan. With some exceptions, Democratic Senate primaries that appeared to be competitive largely didn't bear out that way, with establishment picks moving onto the general election—consolidating enthusiasm and fundraising dollars.A Senate map that, at the beginning of the year, gave the GOP an edge to retain their majority now looks to be evenly matched. Given Republicans' six-seat advantage in the chamber, Democrats need to flip four seats to win the majority, if Sens. Peters and Doug Jones (D-AL) prevail in their races, which are the GOP's top offensive targets. Republicans have sounded the alarm that their fundraising must improve if their most endangered incumbents are to survive November 2020 with their jobs intact. Though the party has built up WinRed, a challenger to Democrats' online fundraising juggernaut ActBlue, Senate Democrats continue to benefit enormously from the kinds of small-dollar contributions those platforms typically raise. In the second quarter, Harrison and McGrath, Democrats' top two Senate fundraising performers, drew 57 percent and 60 percent of their fundraising hauls, respectively, from donations of under $200.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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