| Trump promise to deny New York, Seattle and Portland federal funds is an empty threat, expert says Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:48 PM PDT  The Department of Justice on Monday designated New York City, Seattle and Portland, Ore., as jurisdictions that permit "anarchy, violence and destruction," a distinction that the Trump administration hopes to use to strip those cities of federal funding.
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| Pregnant Bindi Irwin reveals baby's sex: 'You are our world' Posted: 22 Sep 2020 07:21 AM PDT  Irwin and her husband, Chandler Powell, are about to become a family of three.
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| A new startup is recruiting gig workers to help landlords evict people from their homes, calling it the fastest-growing moneymaking gig because of COVID-19 Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:34 AM PDT  The startup has been described as the Uber for evicting people.
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| Russia touts nuclear-powered icebreaker as proof "the Arctic is ours" Posted: 22 Sep 2020 08:51 AM PDT  The 570-foot-long "Arktika" is designed to smash Putin's Russia a path of "sovereignty" through ice 9 feet deep in the sensitive northern region.
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| Army gives green light to shape vehicle electrification requirements Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:56 AM PDT  The Army has been given the go-ahead to develop requirements to provide electric power to tactical and combat vehicles.
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| Ren Zhiqiang: Outspoken ex-real estate tycoon gets 18 years jail Posted: 22 Sep 2020 02:22 AM PDT  Ren Zhiqiang went missing earlier this year after writing an essay said to be critical of President Xi.
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| Arctic summer sea ice second lowest on record: US researchers Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:02 PM PDT  Arctic summer sea ice melted in 2020 to the second smallest size since records began 42 years ago, US scientists announced Monday, offering further stark evidence of the impact of global warming.
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| Snorkeler attacked by 10ft bull shark in Florida Keys Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:56 PM PDT  Victim was airlifted to Miami hospital with a serious bite wound
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| Rapid coronavirus tests can give results in 15 minutes, but they aren't a pass for partying or seeing your parents Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:34 PM PDT  It's still not time to use a rapid COVID-19 tests to get into a concert, play a sport, or visit aging parents in a carefree way.
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| Curious mountain lion seen on video watching children play in California neighborhood Posted: 22 Sep 2020 08:49 AM PDT  "I was really afraid for the kids and it was just pure adrenaline."
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| U.S. to put convicted killer to death as spate of federal executions continues Posted: 22 Sep 2020 04:04 AM PDT  The Department of Justice says it will put LeCroy, 50, to death using lethal injections of pentobarbital, a barbiturate, at its execution chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana. The execution had been scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT), but was delayed as the U.S. Supreme Court weighed a petition from LeCroy to stay his execution until his lead lawyer, who has a chronic illness, could travel safely to Terre Haute without fear of getting COVID-19.
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| What a gift: Russia offers UN staff free virus vaccines Posted: 22 Sep 2020 11:49 AM PDT  What do you do when Vladimir Putin offers you Russia's new coronavirus vaccine, for free? United Nations staff in New York and around the world are now facing that choice, after the Russian president offered Tuesday to provide them the Sputnik-V vaccine in a speech to this year's General Assembly marking the body's 75th birthday. Only results from small early studies on the Russian vaccine have been published, raising concerns among some scientists that it isn't ready yet for widespread use — and prompting worldwide memes about potential bizarre side effects.
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| Ilhan Omar says no Republicans have even privately condemned death threats against her Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:10 AM PDT  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, has faced constant threats of violence since her election in 2018. They include public threats from Republicans set to join her in the House in January — and absolutely no condemnation from congressmembers on the other side of the aisle, she tells the The New York Times Magazine.In an interview with the Times, Omar discussed "hateful" attacks against her from Fox News' Tucker Carlson, as well as the rise of Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican House candidate in a far-right Georgia district who held a gun next to a photo of Omar's "Squad" in a campaign video. Greene's video is just one of many "dangerous" people spouting "bizarre, ill-informed conspiracies" about Omar and other Democrats and "terrorizing so many of us," Omar said.But despite receiving "a few death threats that have been very publicized where people have been arrested and are incarcerated for it," Omar said she has received no support or condemnation from Republicans. "I can't remember a public statement or private comment of support," she continued.> Interesting juxtaposition here between Biden-esque cries that there are good and decent Republicans who are simply too scared to speak out publicly against Trump and the reality that Ilhan Omar describes. pic.twitter.com/hxAjTS6XSV> > — Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) September 21, 2020Despite being "discouraged" by this lack of unity "sometimes," Omar said she has "hope" that "the lived reality of what exists in American cities and towns" isn't the same as what's online. Read more at The New York Times Magazine.More stories from theweek.com Trump supporters boo Ohio's GOP lieutenant governor for encouraging mask use Democrats have a better option than court packing Vanessa Bryant sues L.A. Sheriff's Department over photos deputies reportedly shared from crash site
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| NASA plans for return to Moon to cost $28 billion Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:38 PM PDT  NASA on Monday revealed its latest plan to return astronauts to the Moon in 2024, and estimated the cost of meeting that deadline at $28 billion, $16 billion of which would be spent on the lunar landing module.
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| 28-year-old Texas doctor dies after two month battle with coronavirus Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:58 AM PDT  Young doctor fell ill after ER coronavirus rotation and suffered 'massive brain bleed
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| Fact check: Kamala Harris is a natural-born U.S. citizen and eligible to serve as president Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:01 AM PDT  A post claims Kamala Harris is not eligible to serve as president because of her parents' citizenship. That's false. Harris was born in the U.S.
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| Airbus has revealed three zero-emission plane designs that could become reality in just 15 years — take a look at the hydrogen-powered aircraft of the future Posted: 22 Sep 2020 07:08 AM PDT  Airbus announced three new hydrogen-powered concept airplanes. It plans to have a zero-emission aircraft enter service by 2035.
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| France can’t bring peace to Lebanon if it continues to ignore the Hezbollah problem | Opinion Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:38 PM PDT  Lebanon's future is at stake, and its oldest European ally, France, holds the key to making a difference. To his credit, President Emmanuel Macron has invested considerable time and effort since the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut's port left almost 200 dead and thousands injured.
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| Tucker: ‘Pathetic’ if RBG’s Dying Wish Was to Be Replaced by Next President Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:22 PM PDT  Fox News host Tucker Carlson may have reached a new low Monday night, calling the statement that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dictated just before her death "pathetic," adding that he chose not to "believe for a second" that she said it.Following the death of the iconic liberal judge, NPR reported that Ginsburg had her granddaughter Clara Spera take down a note in her final days: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."Amid the rush by Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump to ignore Ginsburg's request and nominate and confirm a new justice before the Nov. 3 election, the president floated a conspiracy theory that Washington Democrats were actually behind RBG's dying wish."I don't know if she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff or Schumer and Pelosi," Trump told Fox & Friends on Monday. "I would be more inclined to the second. That came out of the wind, it sounds so beautiful, but that sounds like a Schumer deal or maybe Pelosi or Shifty Schiff. That came out of the wind."Carlson not only doubled down on the president's comments on Monday night but also made sure to add further insult.The Fox News star, who said on Friday night that he was "going to choose not to believe" Ginsburg made that statement, began Monday night's show by mocking progressives' reaction to her death."They told us that Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death was more than sad," Carlson sneered. "They said it was a national crisis that imperiled this country's freedoms. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, they told us, single-handedly kept America from descending into fascism and tyranny. Now that she's gone, only her words can keep us safe.""She was not God," he added. "Yet according to the left, Ginsburg was all we had. We must obey her dying words as if they were a religious text. Her final wish supersedes our founding documents."After playing clips of liberals and Democrats calling on the Senate to heed Ginsburg's final wish, Carlson again sowed doubt over whether the late judge actually dictated those words. "We don't really know actually what Ruth Bader Ginsburg's final words were," he declared. "Did she really leave this world fretting about a presidential election? We don't believe that for a second."(It should be noted, again, that these weren't her final words, but a statement dictated days before her death.)"If it were true, it would be pathetic because life is bigger than politics, even this year," the conservative firebrand continued. "We wouldn't wish final words that small on anyone so we're going to again choose to believe that Ruth Bader Ginsburg didn't actually say that, that in real life she was thinking at the end about her family and where she might be going next. Human concerns, not partisan ones."Carlson smearing a deceased progressive icon just days after her death would be shocking if it weren't par for the course for the far-right Fox News host. Just months ago, Carlson launched a campaign questioning the patriotism of Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who lost her legs fighting in the Iraq War. Besides calling Duckworth "a deeply silly and unimpressive person," he labeled the Purple Heart recipient a "coward."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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| Pakistan fire: Two to hang for Karachi garment factory inferno Posted: 22 Sep 2020 06:32 AM PDT  The men were found guilty of starting Pakistan's deadliest industrial fire, killing some 260 people.
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| Secrecy envelopes will cause electoral chaos, official warns Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Philadelphia's top elections official is warning of electoral chaos in the presidential battleground state if lawmakers there do not remove a provision in Pennsylvania law that, under a days-old court decision, requires counties to throw out mail-in ballots returned without secrecy envelopes. Lisa Deeley, chairwoman of the three-member board overseeing Philadelphia's elections, wrote Monday to the state Legislature's presiding Republicans amid a partisan stalemate over fixing glitches in Pennsylvania's fledging mail-in voting law. In the letter, Deeley urged them to back legislation to remove a provision she calls unnecessary and a threat to invalidate more ballots than the margin that decided the state's 2016 presidential election.
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| Trump says aides rejected his request to adjust value of dollar Posted: 22 Sep 2020 04:52 AM PDT  President Trump on Monday said he was rebuffed when he asked officials to adjust the exchange rate of the dollar.
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| Angered by Arab-Israel ties, Palestine quits chairing Arab League sessions Posted: 22 Sep 2020 04:19 AM PDT  RAMALLAH, West Bank/GAZA (Reuters) - Palestine has quit its current chairmanship of Arab League meetings, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Tuesday, condemning as dishonourable any Arab agreement to establish formal relations with Israel. Palestinians see the accords that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed with Israel in Washington a week ago as a betrayal of their cause and a blow to their quest for an independent state in Israeli-occupied territory. Earlier this month, the Palestinians failed to persuade the Arab League to condemn member nations breaking ranks and normalising ties with Israel.
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| Chicago postal workers threaten to stop delivering mail after multiple employees shot on the job Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:26 PM PDT  It comes as shootings and murders in Chicago are up by 50 per cent compared to last year
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| Lost whale swims free from crocodile-infested river in Australia Posted: 20 Sep 2020 06:13 PM PDT  A humpback whale has found its way back to sea weeks after it got lost in a murky, crocodile-infested river in northern Australia. There have been no previous recorded sightings of whales in remote East Alligator River in the Northern Territory's World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, and no one can explain why at least three of the blue water mammals ventured so deep inland in a river with little visibility. The last of the trio managed to navigate its way through shallow channels at the broad river mouth and back into Van Diemen Gulf over the weekend, Kakadu National Park manager Feach Moyle said. "It made its way out on the high tides and we're pleased it appeared to be in good condition and not suffering any ill effects," Moyle said in a statement. Humpbacks follow the western Australian coast in their annual migration from the tropics to Antarctica. A group of recreational sailors first spotted the lost trio on Sept. 2 more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the river mouth. Two of the whales had disappeared before wildlife authorities arrived a week later. Northern Territory government whale and dolphin scientist Carol Palmer said it was a mystery why a whale would stray so far up a shallow river full of crocodiles. "It could have been chased up by some big sharks or maybe it was just a wrong turn," Palmer said. Despite the river's name, there are no alligators in Australia. It was named after the river's many crocodiles by European explorers who apparently couldn't tell the difference. Authorities thought the whale was too big to be attacked by crocodiles, unless it became weak or sick.
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| Beijing says support for Taiwan independence 'doomed to fail' Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:13 AM PDT  China ramped up its rhetoric over Taiwan on Monday, describing any support for its independence as "doomed to fail", and threatened retaliation against US diplomatic visits to the island.
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| Keith Olbermann Airs Out Ex-MSNBC Colleague Chris Matthews for Terrible Take on Trump and RBG Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:56 PM PDT  With a ratio of more than 10,000 replies to fewer than than 2,000 retweets and counting, this tweet from disgraced MSNBC host Chris Matthews is already being touted as the worst take of 2020."Trump is right to show respect for RBG," Matthews tweeted Monday morning, after President Donald Trump went on Fox & Friends and baselessly claimed that the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dying wish was some sort of left-wing hoax. "True presidential behavior," he added. "Far too rare."The most eye-popping replies, however, came from Matthews' former MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann, who tweeted: "Every day. Every day I had to go through this.""I mean, anybody else see him on 'Mission Accomplished' night? I had to, I was co-anchoring," Olbermann added, appending the facepalm emoji to punctuate his point.> I mean, anybody else see him on "Mission Accomplished" night? I had to, I was co-anchoring. ����♂️ https://t.co/dj1eA9x578> > — Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 21, 2020Olbermann, a notoriously fierce critic of President George W. Bush during his eight years as host of Countdown on MSNBC, was referring to the infamous moment the 43rd president gave a speech to troops on an aircraft carrier in front of a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner less than two months after the start of the Iraq War.On that night, May 1, 2003, Matthews gushed over Bush on his show Hardball: "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." Later that evening on Olbermann's Countdown, he added, "Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple."As the Iraq War continued to rage for years, Olbermann would end his show each night by telling viewers how many days had passed since Bush had declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq.Chris Matthews Accuser Laura Bassett Fires Back at Bill MaherRead 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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| A Georgia woman robbed Florida senior citizens of $1 million, feds say — with a phone Posted: 22 Sep 2020 10:22 AM PDT  The director and guiding voice behind a phone scam that stole $1 million from senior citizens in Broward, Palm Beach and other Florida counties has been charged in West Palm Beach federal court, prosecutors say.
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| Report: Order to shorten count wasn't made by Census Bureau Posted: 21 Sep 2020 07:37 AM PDT  The decision to shorten by a month the 2020 head count of every U.S. resident was not made by the U.S. Census Bureau, and some agency officials suspect it was made by the White House or the Department of Commerce, according to a report from the bureau's watchdog agency. The report by the Office of Inspector General did not identify who made the decision to shorten the 2020 census from the end of October to the end of September, but it said bureau officials confirm it was not made by them. The accelerated schedule "increases the risks to the accuracy of the 2020 Census," the Inspector General report said.
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| Two new studies indicate COVID-19 can spread on long airline flights, promote distancing Posted: 22 Sep 2020 11:08 AM PDT  Both studies, taking different approaches, found clusters of COVID-19 cases traced back to long airline flights.
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| Anne Webster: Australian MP and husband awarded A$875,000 in defamation case Posted: 22 Sep 2020 09:47 AM PDT  National Party MP Anne Webster sued a conspiracy theorist over a series of defamatory Facebook posts.
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| LAPD officers reportedly used facial recognition 30,000 times in the past decade, contradicting the department's previous denials Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:23 PM PDT  Despite frequent denials and refusals to respond to public records requests, the LAPD has been using the controversial technology widely since 2009.
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| Hawaii Health Department Chemist Cooked Up LSD for Air Force Members: Prosecutors Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:16 PM PDT  A government chemist in Hawaii cooked up batches of LSD for active-duty members of the U.S. military who responded to ads for the powerful hallucinogen posted on social media, prosecutors allege.Trevor Keegan, an "extract tech" in the Disease Outbreak Control Division of the state Health Department, was charged earlier this month on one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. His alleged co-conspirator, Austin White, is not known to be affiliated with any government agency. He is facing the same charges as Keegan.The case came to the attention of investigators last September, when a confidential informant tipped off the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) about "an individual [who] was utilizing...Snapchat to advertise and conduct drug sales, particularly with active duty military service members." The existence of the investigation has not been previously reported.Air Force Vet Who Shot Woman for Stealing His Nazi Flag Claims He's Actually the Victim OSI turned the investigation over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which was soon able to identify the Snapchat dealer as White, prosecutors said."White's public Snapchat account showed the public advertisement of various controlled substances for sale with listed prices," says a criminal complaint filed in Hawaii federal court. "One of the advertised controlled substances was Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ("LSD"), more commonly known as 'acid,' which is a schedule I controlled substance."LSD use within the armed forces has become an issue of late. In 2018, rampant LSD consumption by members of the Air Force's nuclear missile corps was exposed by the Associated Press. Since then, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has reportedly launched nearly 200 investigations into LSD-related offenses, with cases spiking by 70 percent in the first four months of 2020. As recently as 2006, LSD use in the Air Force was so rare it was removed entirely from the standard drug tests given to airmen.In December 2019, an undercover DEA agent contacted White on Snapchat to arrange a purchase. During that meeting, White allegedly sold the agent 20 grams of "a suspected LSD mixture in the form of ingestible gummies" for $200. The following month, White sold the same undercover agent about $1,400 worth of gummies and tabs of blotter acid, the complaint states. White's source "work[ed] in chemistry," he told the undercover agent, and said he "makes his own stuff." White then agreed to have "the cook" make another 300 blotter tabs in advance of their next meeting, according to prosecutors.That's when White got sloppy. After getting $2,500 from his customer, White pointed to a car parked nearby. White allegedly told the undercover that the vehicle's driver—and lone passenger—was his supplier, before walking over to retrieve the drugs. DEA agents were able to identify the driver as Keegan, according to court filings.Both men were arrested at the beginning of May. The blotter acid tested positive for LSD, although the gummies did not."You would think that employees at the state disease outbreak control center would be too busy these days for such extracurricular activities," Dan Grazier, an ex-Marine Corps officer who now works for the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight, told The Daily Beast. "I don't recall a single instance of anyone testing positive for LSD when I was in the Marine Corps. I have heard it is becoming more common because it is quickly passed through the system and can't be detected in a urinalysis after 2 to 3 days."Former U.S. Air Force squadron commander Cedric Leighton, who retired from the service as a colonel, said he discovered at least three of his airmen using LSD during his 26-year career."Our service members are good people, but, like anyone else, they can be one bad decision away from ruining their careers and their lives," Leighton told The Daily Beast. "I saw it as my job to help them avoid those bad decisions."Keegan and White's attorneys did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.Both men are free on $50,000 bail. Keegan is expected to plead guilty at the end of October.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| California mom in viral video alleges police harassment during son’s traffic stop Posted: 21 Sep 2020 04:17 PM PDT  The police officer was wearing a 'Blue Lives Matter' mask. A mother is going through with a formal complaint after her Black son was treated unfairly by a police officer. Sacramento's KCRA reports in a video that has now gone viral where a mother can be seen addressing a police officer who decided to harass her son after he failed to stop at a stop sign.
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| Mueller didn't investigate Trump's finances or question Ivanka Trump due to blowback fears, prosecutor recounts Posted: 22 Sep 2020 04:08 AM PDT  Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian election interference and President Trump's 2016 campaign treated Trump's family and personal finances with kid gloves, mostly out of concern that Trump would shut down the investigation, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann writes in a new book, Where Law Ends.At one critical juncture in 2017, the Mueller team issued a subpoena to Deutsch Bank for records about Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's Ukraine income, and even though the subpoenas were secret, the White House found out and demanded to know if Mueller was seeking financial information on Trump, Weissmann recounts, according to The New York Times.Mueller authorized his cautious deputy, Aaron Zebley, to assure the White House they had not subpoenaed Trump's financial records, and "at that point, any financial investigation of Trump was put on hold," Weissmann writes. "That is, we backed down — the issue was simply too incendiary; the risk, too severe." He points to other dropped leads, like "payments linked to a Russian oligarch" turning up in the same account from which Trump paid two purported paramours, and Trump's active efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.Weissmann also reveals that even though Ivanka Trump spoke with a Russian delegation that met in Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign officials about handing over Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton, Mueller's investigators did not try to question her because they "feared that hauling her in for an interview would play badly to the already antagonistic right-wing press — look how they're roughing up the president's daughter — and risk enraging Trump."Those fears might have been justified early on in the investigation, before they got up and running, Weissmann told the Times, but he and other team leaders believed they should have gotten more aggressive later on. "We would have subpoenaed the president after he refused our accommodations, even if that risked us being fired," he wrote. "It just didn't sit right. We were left feeling like we had let down the American public, who were counting on us to give it our all."More stories from theweek.com Democrats have a better option than court packing Republican advocates are concerned the party could cost them 'ticket splitters' with Supreme Court vote Trump supporters boo Ohio's GOP lieutenant governor for encouraging mask use
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| Trump suggests, without evidence, that Justice Ginsberg’s “fervent wish” about her replacement was written by Democrats Posted: 21 Sep 2020 12:09 PM PDT  During an interview on "Fox & Friends" Monday morning, President Trump theorized that a quote attributed to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was manufactured by Democrats. Trump did not offer any evidence for his suggestion. According to NPR, Justice Ginsburg told her granddaughter that her most "fervent wish" was that she would not be replaced until a new president was sworn in.
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