| Barbara Lagoa: 5 things to know about Trump's potential Supreme Court nominee Posted: 25 Sep 2020 09:58 AM PDT  The president, who is set to unveil his pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday, is reportedly considering five finalists, including the 52-year-old federal judge from Miami.
|
| Creator of bogus BLM charity used $200,000 in donations to buy home, suits, FBI says Posted: 27 Sep 2020 08:19 AM PDT  Officials say he also spent the money on other clothing, entertainment and guns.
|
| Kyle Rittenhouse's mom reportedly received a 'standing ovation' from the crowd at a Republican event in Wisconsin Posted: 26 Sep 2020 11:09 AM PDT  Kyle Rittenhouse faces multiple felony charges, including homicide, after shooting three people at a Jacob Blake demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
|
| Louisville cop injured in Breonna Taylor shooting threatens lawsuits over being called 'murderer' Posted: 25 Sep 2020 12:59 PM PDT  Jonathan Mattingly was the Louisville police officer who was injured during the Breonna Taylor shooting. He has hired a civil attorney.
|
| American faces two years in prison for posting unflattering TripAdvisor review of Thailand island resort Posted: 26 Sep 2020 06:14 AM PDT  An American could face up to two years in prison after leaving a negative review for a hotel in Thailand on TripAdvisor. The Sea View Resort on Koh Chang island claims Wesley Barnes launched a barrage of complaints against them after his stay, forcing them to take legal action. "The Sea View Resort owner filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the Tripadvisor website," Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of Koh Chang police told AFP. Mr Barnes is accused of causing "damage to the reputation of the hotel", as well as arguing with them during his stay about a corkage fee for alcohol brought to the hotel. He was arrested by immigration police and returned to Koh Chang for a brief detention, but is now out on bail. Mr Barnes, who works in Thailand, had penned multiple reviews on different sites over the past few weeks, the hotel alleges. In one posted in July, he claimed to have encountered "unfriendly staff" who "act like they don't want anyone here". Another post, which accused the hotel of "modern day slavery", was removed by TripAdvisor for violating its guidelines. The Sea View Hotel said they only took legal action to discourage further reviews from being posted, and had attempted to contact Mr Barnes beforehand. "We chose to file a complaint to serve as a deterrent, as we understood he may continue to write negative reviews week after week for the foreseeable future," the hotel said. Thailand has notorious anti-defamation laws that have faced condemnation from human rights organisations in the past. They argue the laws can be used to stifle free expression. If found guilty for defamation, offenders can face two years imprisonment and a 200,000 baht (£4,965) fine. In December 2019, a Thai journalist was handed a two year sentence for libelling a chicken farm on Twitter. Suchanee Cloitre was convicted for a post she made about a legal dispute over working conditions at the Thammakaset farm. "I'm shocked and did not think the sentence would be so harsh," Ms Suchanee told Reuters after the sentencing.
|
| UAE: Iran's aggressive policies made Arabs look at Israel Posted: 25 Sep 2020 03:27 PM PDT  The United Arab Emirates didn't need peace with Israel to counter Iran, a top UAE official said Friday, but he said Iran's aggressive policies over three decades alarmed many Arab countries and made them look at their relationship with Israel "with fresh eyes." Anwar Gargash, the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, acknowledged at a virtual briefing on the sidelines of the equally virtual U.N. General Assembly's annual meeting of world leaders that this may not have been Iran's intention.
|
| Army Leaders Want to Keep Pace with Diversity in Changing US Population Posted: 27 Sep 2020 07:44 AM PDT  The plan promotes diversity through 2025 in an attempt to adapt to the country's shifting demographics.
|
| Texas man charged with capital murder in deaths of Houston friends missing since 2016 Posted: 26 Sep 2020 11:50 AM PDT  Harvey Lester Cyphers, 53, of Austin, Texas, was arrested and charged with capital murder in the 2016 deaths of friends Sidney Taylor and Krislyn Gibson, both 35, who were visiting Houston for the 2016 Urban Music Festival. They were last seen alive on April 2, 2016. Cyphers was taken to the Travis County Jail where his bond was set at $1.5 million. The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and the Austin Police Department are investigating.
|
| Democrat says Republican ad claiming he protects pedophiles is aimed at QAnon followers Posted: 25 Sep 2020 05:33 PM PDT  Rep. Tom Malinowski, locked in a tight reelection race, says an attack ad meant to appeal to QAnon sympathizers has been unleashed on him by Republicans.
|
| House Republicans Call on Attorney General Barr to Investigate Recent Spike in Anti-Catholic Hate Crimes Posted: 25 Sep 2020 10:31 AM PDT  A group of House Republicans led by Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) on Friday called on attorney general William Barr to investigate a recent rise in anti-Catholic hate crimes.There have been 70 instances of anti-Catholic violence in North America this year — with 57 crimes being reported since May alone — according to a letter sent to the attorney general by Banks and 15 other House Republicans.By contrast, in all of 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, the FBI reported 53 incidents of anti-Catholic hate crimes in the U.S."Bigoted criminals are threatening Catholics and undermining America's core ideal of religious liberty," Banks said in a statement. "The DOJ's Civil Rights Division exists to combat spikes in targeted violence. It needs to fulfill its duty, determine who is behind this pattern of attacks and bring them to justice."Beginning in early July, reports of "horrific and brutal attacks on Catholic and Church properties" spiked, the letter says, including in Boston where a statue of the Virgin Mary at Saint Peters Parish Church was set ablaze. One day earlier, the letter says, a man in Florida allegedly drove a van into a church with parishioners inside before spilling gasoline in the church's foyer and attempting to set it on fire.That same day, San Gabriel Mission in California was burned down. The letter calls the issue "ongoing," citing an incident in September where a man was videotaped toppling an Our Lady of Guadalupe statue in Coney Island, N.Y."As in any other instance of a rapid spike in hate crimes targeted at a specific group, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has an obligation to investigate the perpetrators of this violence and any organizational or ideological connections between them," the letter states."Crimes like these aren't just targeted at individuals and their property; they are targeted at American society as a whole," it continues. "They are motivated by a destructive impulse to harm property and persons, but also the equally warped desire to undermine America's constitutionally guaranteed rights and social trust within our communities."The Republicans' call to investigate concludes in saying the attacks threaten the physical safety of Catholics as well as the integrity of the American system, and saying the Department of Justice has an obligation to uphold both. The letter was co-signed by Representatives Andy Harris (R., Md.), Greg Steube (R., Fl.), Ted Yoho (R., Fl.), Jackie Walorski (R., Ind.), Doug Collins (R., Ga.), Jeff Duncan (R., S.C.), Rick Allen (R., Ga.), Pete Olson (R., Texas), Glenn Grothman (R., Wisc.), Chuck Fleischmann (R., Tenn.), Ron Wright (R., Texas), Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.), Mike Kelly (R., Pa.), Ken Buck (R., Colo.), and Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas).
|
| A Miami-Dade teacher gave her $425K life savings to a pilot. Here’s where he is today Posted: 27 Sep 2020 07:38 AM PDT  A Miami-Dade County Public Schools teacher spent a career building a $425,447 retirement nest egg. Licensed pilot Michael Atkins spent three years convincing her to loan it to him.
|
| China's Xi says 'happiness' in Xinjiang on the rise, will keep teaching 'correct' outlook Posted: 27 Sep 2020 05:56 AM PDT  Chinese President Xi Jinping said levels of happiness among all ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang are rising and that China plans to keep teaching its residents a "correct" outlook on China, Xinhua news agency reported late on Saturday. China has come under scrutiny over its treatment of Uighur Muslims and claims of alleged forced-labour abuses in Xinjiang, where the United Nations cites credible reports as saying one million Muslims held in camps have been put to work.
|
| Brain-eating microbe: US city warned over water supply Posted: 26 Sep 2020 10:08 PM PDT  People in Lake Jackson, Texas, are urged to take precautionary measures amid contamination concerns.
|
| Remains of 117 Chinese soldiers killed in Korean War returned Posted: 26 Sep 2020 11:19 PM PDT  The remains of 117 Chinese soldiers who died in the 1950-53 Korean War were returned to China on Sunday in an annual repatriation delayed this year by the coronavirus outbreak. South Korea handed over the remains at a ceremony at Incheon airport outside Seoul, and a Chinese military transport plane flew them to Shenyang, a northeastern Chinese city near the North Korean border. Chinese soldiers fought on the North Korean side against US-led forces in the South during the war on the Korean Peninsula. Most of the 117 remains were found in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. It was the seventh annual repatriation, and the largest since the 437 returned in the first one in 2014. In all, the remains of 716 Chinese soldiers have been sent back. This year's return, originally planned for the spring, was postponed for several months because of the spread of Covid-19.
|
| CDC Calls Off Minnesota COVID-19 Study After Reports of Racism and Intimidation Against Surveyors of Color Posted: 26 Sep 2020 10:08 AM PDT  The voluntary and in-person survey was developed by the CDC to examine the impact of public health emergencies
|
| Amy Coney Barrett: 5 things to know about the Supreme Court nominee Posted: 26 Sep 2020 02:33 PM PDT  President Trump announced Saturday that he is nominating Amy Coney Barrett, a respected jurist and conservative darling, to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
|
| Tucker Carlson says 'every story' about Jacob Blake and George Floyd is a lie, the same day a federal judge wrote that viewers don't take Carlson's statements seriously Posted: 26 Sep 2020 08:05 PM PDT  Carlson's allegations of dishonesty came after Fox News argued in court that he's prone to hyperbole, exaggeration, and "loose, figurative" language.
|
| An Irish tourist in Rome defaced the Colosseum by carving his initials into the walls of the ancient structure, according to a report Posted: 26 Sep 2020 07:34 AM PDT  The tourist was reported by security guards on Monday for defacing the inside of the historic site using a metal point, CNN reported.
|
| Sole Witness Who Heard Cops Announce Themselves in Breonna Taylor Raid Changed His Story Posted: 26 Sep 2020 02:53 PM PDT  This week, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron made the bombshell announcement that the cops who fatally shot Breonna Taylor would not be charged with killing her, calling their use of force in the March raid "justified to protect themselves."In that justification, he said that one witness corroborated the three officers' insistence that they knocked and identified themselves at Taylor's Louisville home while executing a search warrant in connection with a narcotics investigation. It contradicted claims from Taylor's boyfriend, Kenny Walker, and 11 other residents, who said they didn't hear the cops announce themselves. Instead, Walker thought he was being burglarized and fired a warning shot that triggered a tragic chain of events.But, according to documents and audio obtained by VICE News on Saturday, that sole witness initially told investigators days after the March 13 raid that he didn't actually hear officers Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove announce themselves.The witness—identified by VICE as Aarin Sarpee but by other outlets and public records as Aaron Julue Sarpee—was picking up his daughter from a unit above Taylor's when the raid took place.It wasn't until he was interviewed a second time, about two months after the raid by a sergeant in LMPD's Public Integrity Unit, that Sarpee said he heard police say, "This is the cops."Sarpee's flip-flop, the latest twist in a case that has made Taylor an icon in the Black Lives Matter movement, calls into question the strength of Cameron's case and the grand jury report, which state officials are demanding be made public."I never had faith in Daniel Cameron to begin with, I knew he was too inexperienced with a job of this caliber. I knew he chose to be at the wrong side of the law," Tamika Palmer, Taylor's mother, said in a Friday statement. "My hope was that he knew he had the power to do the right thing, that he had the power to start the healing of this city, that he had the power to help mend over 400 years of oppression. What he helped me realize is that it will always be us against them. That we are never safe."On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted only Hankison, though only for recklessly firing shots that endangered people in other units. Mattingly and Cosgrove—the cop who fired the shot that killed Taylor—weren't charged.Cameron's charging recommendations were at least partly based on Sarpee's testimony, since the attorney general said Wednesday that investigators had "an independent witness" corroborate the officer's account.No Cops Charged With Killing Breonna Taylor"My office was not tasked with determining if this was a tragedy, as it was," Cameron said Wednesday, admitting that it was unlikely more charges would be laid. "My job was to put emotions aside and investigate facts to see if state law was violated."Wednesday's charges came more than six months after a "no-knock" warrant was issued for Taylor's apartment as part of a controversial narcotics investigation into the 26-year-old's ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover.According to VICE, LMPD's Public Integrity Unit first contacted Sarpee a week after the shooting. The officers involved in Taylor's warrant had previously said Sarpee was outside the apartment upstairs and got in an argument with Hankison as they were banging on Taylor's door.When Sgt. Jason Vance asked Sarpee if he heard anyone identify themselves as law enforcement, he answered: "No, nobody identified themselves."At the end of the March 21 conversation, Vance told Sarpee investigators would be calling him again to conduct a formal interview. Investigation notes suggest attempts were made to contact Sarpee but he didn't speak to the Public Integrity Unity again until May 15.In a seven minute call, Sgt. Amanda Seelye pressed Sarpee on whether he knew the individuals entering Taylor's home were officers and if he heard them announce themselves.This time, Sarpee said he heard police identify themselves, a change that suddenly corroborated the testimonies of the officers at the scene."It's been so long now," Sarpee told Seelye on the call. "I recall some of it."Sarpee also told The New York Times that he saw the officers as he stepped out onto the exterior staircase of Taylor's apartment unit with his 2-year-old. He said that before the officers ordered him to go back inside the apartment, he heard at least three loud knocks on Taylor's door and heard at least one of the officers scream "Police!" Sarpee, however, insisted to the Times he only heard them say the statement once.Despite Sarpee's changing story, his claim to have heard police from the front of an apartment doesn't offer complete clarity on whether Taylor and her boyfriend would have heard it from their bedroom towards the back of their unit.Sarpee did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment. VICE reported that the witness declined to speak with them, saying he had to speak with his lawyer first. The LMPD and Attorney General's office also did not immediately respond to request for comment.Hankison was fired in June for "extreme violations" of police protocol after "wantonly and blindly" firing 10 shots into Taylor's apartment–including several shots through the patio door and window, and into a neighbor's apartment—after Walker fired an initial shot. Mattingly, Cosgrove, and the detective who requested the warrant were put on administrative leave. Six more officers are reportedly under investigation for their role in the raid.Earlier this month, the city of Louisville reached a $12 million settlement with Taylor's family in their wrongful death lawsuit.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.
|
| Canadian police arrest man over 'hoax' Islamic State activity Posted: 26 Sep 2020 06:16 AM PDT |
| 'Two-headed beast': China's coal addiction erodes climate goals Posted: 26 Sep 2020 11:55 PM PDT  China's surprise pledge to slash its carbon footprint to zero by 2060 was met with cautious applause, but fresh spending on coal to rev up a virus-hit economy threatens to nullify its audacious bid to lead the world into a low carbon future.
|
| Thousands of protesters gather to call for Netanyahu's resignation, despite a strict second lockdown Posted: 27 Sep 2020 06:43 AM PDT  Thousands of Israelis protested outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, demanding his resignation over how the government has handled the coronavirus pandemic. The protests continue weeks of anti-Netanyahu demonstrations despite a strict lockdown order and one of the worst infection rates in the world. Draconian new lockdown measures came into force on Friday that closed many businesses, banned large gatherings and ordered people to stay close to their homes. Protesters say Mr Netanyahu's government is bungling the response to the pandemic. The Knesset, Israel's parliament, failed to pass a measure that would ban the right to protest more than a kilometre away from home which would have seen an end to the weekly demonstrations outside Mr Netanyahu's official residence. Mr Netanyahu rejected allegations that tougher lockdown rules were in part intended to quash the protests, which he has often called "anarchist" and "ludicrous".
|
| Don't worry: The military dislikes Trump too much to help him steal the election Posted: 25 Sep 2020 12:06 PM PDT  President Trump's Wednesday refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he lose the election has exacerbated all the worries raised by his trolling about serving an unconstitutional third term. No American president should dally with declining to cede power rightfully lost, and anger over the president's comments is justified. But panic, fortunately, is not.I understand fears about dissolution of democratic norms and the apparently nonexistent floor in the cravenness of Republican officials in Trump's thrall. But Trump lacks two necessary things for the coup attempt some of his critics anticipate, and those deficiencies reassure me greatly.The first is competence. As my colleague Damon Linker has ably argued, the president is very good at exercising rhetorical power, but he is very bad at actually doing things, because he is deeply incompetent. He cannot plan. He certainly cannot keep a secret or keep his story straight.The second is the absolute loyalty of the military Trump would need to retain the physical seat of power. If he had strong support among active-duty service members, it would still be quite a leap to say they'd help make him a dictator. But Trump doesn't even net a positive approval rating from U.S. forces anymore. An August survey by Military Times found half of active-duty troops disapprove of Trump, while just 38 percent support him. A plurality of current service members said they plan to vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, a marked divergence from military voting habits in elections past.For all he speaks of "my generals," Trump is even less popular among the officer corps, whom he'd need to organize the military behind his cause. Indeed, as The New York Times reported Friday, Pentagon leaders have already publicly and privately considered the prospect of Trump attempting to involve them deciding the election. "In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law, U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military," Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last month. "I foresee no role for the U.S. armed forces in this process."Trump is, in short, no Napoleon, and the American military is not going to give him a coup.More stories from theweek.com 5 outrageously funny cartoons about Trump's election scheming America is the Holy Roman Empire of the 21st century Democrats need to bring retirement back to politics
|
| Trump's SCOTUS nomination will 'motivate voters on the left in a way we haven't seen:' Laura Fink Posted: 26 Sep 2020 10:56 AM PDT  Rebelle Communications CEO Laura Fink joins 'America's News HQ' to discuss President Trump's nomination for the Supreme Court.
|
| New Fort Hood Commander Orders Training Pause to Rebuild Soldiers' Trust Posted: 26 Sep 2020 04:39 AM PDT  Maj. Gen. John Richardson IV has launched a yearlong effort to heal the base's deeply scarred image.
|
| Firefighters battling a Brooklyn blaze discovered up to $1 million cash when bundles started falling on their heads Posted: 26 Sep 2020 06:46 PM PDT  According to local news, firefighters had to cut through a ceiling to extinguish the fire when cash started falling out.
|
| 'Taiwan is Taiwan': China name dispute moves from birds to climate change Posted: 27 Sep 2020 12:53 AM PDT  The dispute over international organisations referring to Taiwan as Chinese has moved from wild bird conservation to climate change, after a global alliance of mayors began listing Taiwanese cities as belonging to China on its website. China has ramped up pressure on international groups and companies to refer to democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as being part of China, to the anger of Taiwan's government and many of its people. This month a Taiwan bird conservation body said it had been expelled from a partnership with a British-based wildlife charity after it demanded the Taiwan group change its name and sign documents stating it did not support Taiwan's independence.
|
| Greece warms to EU asylum pact but refugee groups rage Posted: 26 Sep 2020 07:51 PM PDT  Greece's government has cautiously welcomed a plan from Brussels to reform the EU's shaky asylum system, but charity groups working with refugees on the ground have blasted a continued "outrageous containment policy".
|
| Salt Lake City airport just opened a massive new terminal with canyon-themed art as Delta relies on the hub as a gateway to the west – see inside Posted: 27 Sep 2020 05:43 AM PDT  The brand-new terminal comes at a $4.1 billion cost and uses immersive artwork to welcome passengers to Salt Lake City and the Mountain West.
|
| What to expect at Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate: Yahoo News Explains Posted: 26 Sep 2020 01:06 PM PDT  On Tuesday, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will face off in the first of three scheduled presidential debates. While the two candidates have been trading jabs via the media for years, this will be the first time either has had the opportunity to confront their opponent in person. The debate, which will be moderated by Fox News' Chris Wallace, is expected to be divided into six 15-minute blocks with questions focusing on specific topics selected by the moderator: "The Trump and Biden Records," "The Supreme Court," "COVID-19," "The Economy," "Race and Violence in our Cities," and "The Integrity of the Election." Yahoo News National Politics Reporter Brittany Shepherd explains what we can expect from the candidates on each topic based on recent statements.
|
| Niagara Falls: Free admission and other things you may not know about this tourist spot Posted: 27 Sep 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Did you know that Niagara Falls actually consists of three falls and that it's a state park that doesn't charge an admission fee?
|
| Former congressman Ron Paul hospitalized, says he's OK Posted: 25 Sep 2020 12:41 PM PDT  Former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul posted a picture of himself in a hospital Friday but said he was OK after video circulated online of him struggling to speak during an interview. The 85-year-old former Texas congressman, who ran for president three times, posted a picture on Facebook showing him smiling in a hospital gown and giving a thumbs-up. The post came after a video took off on social media showing Paul having trouble speaking during an appearance on his livestreamed show "Ron Paul Liberty Report."
|
| A pregnant woman jumped into the ocean to save her husband from a shark attack 'without hesitation' after she saw blood in the water Posted: 26 Sep 2020 02:56 AM PDT  Margot Dukes-Eddy sprang into action after seeing the shark's dorsal fin and blood spilling into the water next to where her husband had gotten in.
|
| Ethiopia tells U.N. 'no intention' of using dam to harm Egypt, Sudan Posted: 25 Sep 2020 01:48 PM PDT  Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the United Nations on Friday that his country has "no intention" of harming Sudan and Egypt with a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile that has caused a bitter water dispute between the three countries. Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan failed to strike a deal on the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam before Ethiopia began filling the reservoir behind the dam in July.
|
| Momentum drains from West African common currency plans Posted: 26 Sep 2020 08:44 PM PDT  Hopes raised by West African leaders of finally launching this year their "Eco" common currency, in the pipeline for three decades, have faded as the coronavirus crisis and squabbling over severing the remaining monetary ties to former colonial ruler France snarl progress.
|
| As Facebook prepares to outsource tough content decisions to its new 'Supreme Court,' experts warn it still operates within a dictatorship and can't legislate a better government Posted: 26 Sep 2020 04:22 AM PDT  Facebook's independent oversight board lets the company off the hook on controversial decisions while letting it keep the power to make the rules.
|
| Italian family fosters Gambian migrant: 'The son we never had' Posted: 26 Sep 2020 04:56 PM PDT  When Gambian orphan Muhammed Sanneh arrived in Sicily aged 16, his life took an unexpected turn.
|
| Where Law Ends review: why Mueller failed to hold Trump to account Posted: 26 Sep 2020 10:00 PM PDT  Andrew Weissmann, a senior member of the special counsel's team, has written an alarming and necessary bookThe Mueller investigation ended a year and a half ago, but the aftershocks never stopped. A passel of books highlight the omissions and missteps of the special counsel's office. The Senate intelligence committee report fills in some of the gaps on Russian interference in the 2016 election.Although Robert Mueller found no basis for conspiracy charges, collusion remains a partisan buzzword, obstruction of justice a live concern. The harshest criticism leveled at Mueller is that he blinked.Specifically, the special counsel failed to issue a grand jury subpoena to Donald Trump, needlessly ceding the advantage to the White House. Then, his report went silent on whether grounds existed for charging the president with obstruction of justice, despite analysis that revealed such grounds. The weight of the presidency and fear of its occupant triumphed."Had we used all available tools to uncover the truth, undeterred by the onslaught of the president's unique powers to undermine our efforts?" asks Andrew Weissmann. "I know the hard answer to that simple question: we could have done more."That makes Where Law Ends unique among Trump-themed books. The author was a member of Mueller's team, supervisor of the prosecution of Paul Manafort. He is both admiring and critical of his former boss, which lends credibility and originality. Pathos is part of the package too.Weissman is a former federal prosecutor whose career intersected with Mueller's, FBI general counsel when Mueller was director. Before the FBI, Weissmann had a reputation for zealousness. In the Enron case, he successfully prosecuted Arthur Andersen, only to see the supreme court overturn the conviction and to watch the accounting firm close.As a younger government lawyer, Weissmann prosecuted Felix Sater. In 2015, according to the Mueller Report, Sater explored the "possibility of a Trump Tower project in Moscow while working with the Trump Organization".Under an apt subtitle, "Inside the Mueller Investigation", Weissmann offers a detailed look at why the special counsel reached the conclusions he did, and expands on how Bill Barr ambushed Mueller with his four-page summary of a 400-plus-page report."We had just been played by the attorney general," Weissmann writes.Weissman expresses anger toward Barr but points the finger at Mueller: "Part of the reason the president and his enablers were able to spin the report was that we had left the playing field open for them to do so."He is convinced of the substantive basis of an obstruction claim, even if justice department guidelines precluded the indictment of a sitting president. The "facts of the [James] Comey firing appeared to satisfy all the elements of … obstruction of justice", Weissmann writes. "There was simply no other credible conclusion one could reach."Where Law Ends also worries about the future of the US body politic."I now know that the death of our democracy is possible," Weissmann writes. "Fixing it is possible too."That is the book's last line. Weissmann's rhetoric is hot – but not overblown.Trump has publicly refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power. Take him literally and seriously, especially when polls show Biden up in Ohio, with Iowa and Georgia close."We're going to have to see what happens, you know that" is one for the ages. Whether it is a historic blip or a harbinger remains to be determined.Where Law Ends is also a guide to how the Mueller investigation divvied up its work. Sections on the case of Michael Cohen are particularly instructive. Trump's fixer was charged by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York – a strategic decision.Weissmann explains that the investigation of potential campaign finance violations fell outside Mueller's purview. He could have sought permission to charge Cohen from Rod Rosenstein, then deputy attorney general. Or he could hand the case to SDNY, where in Weissmann's words, "prosecutors have free rein to examine all potential federal crimes".Contrary to the hype surrounding the early days of the Mueller investigation, this was no "dream team". In Weissmann's telling, senior members did not possess supervisory experience, and in one instance a lawyer was hired simply because he had been a supreme court clerk. Those looking to work for Mueller were prone to both cockiness and hand-wringing, traits Mueller himself found distasteful.At one point, Mueller turned to Jeannie Rhee, a veteran prosecutor, and said she embodied the "pizazz" he wanted, but which appeared lacking in the applicant pool. Rhee, Weissmann writes, possessed "a kind of can-do, combustible energy" which is always in high demand and short supply.Weissmann upbraids Aaron Zebley, another Mueller deputy, for being overly cautious. Weissmann and Rhee concluded that the broad issue of Russian election interference was within their purview. For Zebley, the focus was limited to possible "links and coordination" between Russia and the Trump campaign.Weissmann hearkens back to the generals who served Abraham Lincoln, comparing Zebley to the "timorous" George McClellan, reluctant to fight the Confederates, and presenting himself and Rhee as approximations of Philip Sheridan and Ulysses S Grant. Sheridan helped defeat Robert E Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. Grant, who accepted Lee's surrender, would be elected president.Perhaps Weissmann overstates. William Barnett, the FBI agent assigned to the case, contends that the lawyers, not his bureau's investigators, drove most of the decisions. In a recent filing by the government in the Michael Flynn case, Barnett also says the special counsel's office was both permeated by groupthink and out to "get" the president. Either way, Where Law Ends is a dispiriting work. It is not simply about the Mueller investigation, or Trump. It is also an examination of where America stands.Weissmann contrasts Trump's inauguration with protest marches held the day after, and observes the country's changing demographics. Mindful of history, he ponders whether the civil war ever ended. Looking at the coming election, that is an open question. America's fissures are once again on display.
|
| Cars have hit Black Lives Matter demonstrators 104 times since George Floyd protests began Posted: 27 Sep 2020 07:05 AM PDT  Amid thousands of racial justice protests nationwide since George Floyd's death, dozens of drivers have plowed into crowds marching in roadways.
|
| The U.S. could see a second wave soon. Hospitals already on the brink fear 'disaster.' Posted: 26 Sep 2020 01:45 AM PDT  A second surge of the coronavirus in the fall and winter could be catastrophic for the U.S. It's not just more sick people that doctors worry about.
|
| An undocumented teen who's called the US home since she was an infant is facing deportation after hospital arrest Posted: 26 Sep 2020 01:10 PM PDT  The 15-year-old woke up from her surgery, separated from her family, placed in a government shelter, and now faces deportation.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment