Saturday, 9 May 2020

Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here's what the genetic evidence shows

Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here's what the genetic evidence showsDespite President Trump's statements that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory in Wuhan, scientist say the evidence points to a natural origin.




Almost 12,000 meatpacking and food plant workers have reportedly contracted COVID-19. At least 48 have died.

Almost 12,000 meatpacking and food plant workers have reportedly contracted COVID-19. At least 48 have died.The infections and deaths are spread across roughly two farms and 189 meat and processed food factories.




US accuses China, Russia of coordinating on virus conspiracies

US accuses China, Russia of coordinating on virus conspiraciesThe United States on Friday accused China and Russia of stepping up cooperation to spread false narratives over the coronavirus pandemic, saying Beijing was increasingly adopting techniques honed by Moscow. "Even before the COVID-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the PRC in the realm of propaganda," said Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the State Department's Global Engagement Center, which tracks foreign propaganda. The Global Engagement Center earlier said thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts were spreading conspiracies about the pandemic, including charging that the virus first detected last year in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan was created by the United States.




New Car Incentives Offered for Healthcare Workers During the Pandemic

New Car Incentives Offered for Healthcare Workers During the PandemicAutomakers and dealerships across the nation are offering healthcare workers special discounts on car purchases during the coronavirus pandemic. The discount programs might take an extra $500 or ...




Coronavirus: WHO warns 190,000 could die in Africa in one year

Coronavirus: WHO warns 190,000 could die in Africa in one yearCovid-19 could linger for years and "smoulder in transmission hot spots", the WHO warns.




Off-duty officer body slams Walmart shopper irate over face mask rule

Off-duty officer body slams Walmart shopper irate over face mask ruleThe officer used a “takedown measure” to gain control of the woman because of “other threat factors in the store,” a police official said.




Trump calls Ahmaud Arbery killing 'very disturbing' but says he trusts Georgia justice

Trump calls Ahmaud Arbery killing 'very disturbing' but says he trusts Georgia justicePresident Trump said he had watched the video of Ahmaud Arbery being shot and found it “heartbreaking,” but he has confidence in the Georgia legal system.




Teenager, an Aspiring Detective, Returns $135,000 He Found


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China 'shocked' by U.S. reversal on U.N. coronavirus action: diplomat 

China 'shocked' by U.S. reversal on U.N. coronavirus action: diplomat China and the United States both supported a draft United Nations Security Council resolution confronting the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday and it was "shocking and regretful" that Washington changed its mind on Friday, a Chinese diplomat said. A U.S. diplomat refuted the Chinese comment, saying there was no U.S. agreement on the text. For more than six weeks the 15-member council has been trying to agree on a text that ultimately aims to back a March 23 call by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres for a ceasefire in global conflicts so the world can focus on the pandemic.




‘Not a Bonafide Counterintelligence Investigation’: Barr Slams Comey’s Handling of Flynn Probe

‘Not a Bonafide Counterintelligence Investigation’: Barr Slams Comey’s Handling of Flynn ProbeAttorney General Bill Barr explained that the FBI did not conduct “a bonafide counterintelligence investigation” in the case that led former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn to plead guilty to federal investigators in 2017.Barr, speaking in an exclusive interview with CBS News after the Justice Department dropped its case against Flynn on Thursday, said that his review of the case found Bureau investigators laid “a perjury trap” for Flynn in a January 2017 White House interview.“They didn’t warn him, the way that would usually be required by the Department, they bypassed the Justice Department, they bypassed the protocols at the White House, and so forth,” Barr stated. “These were things that persuaded me that there was not a legitimate counterintelligence investigation.”Former FBI director James Comey admitted in a December 2018 interview that he “sent” the agents to interview Flynn, adding that it was “something I probably wouldn’t have done or maybe gotten away with in a more organized administration.”In its Thursday court filing, the Justice Department explained that it was “not persuaded” that Flynn’s interview, which led to his guilty plea for lying to FBI agents Peter Strzok and Joe Pientka, had proper predication and was materially relevant.Comey tweeted his disappointment, following the decision, saying "the DOJ has lost its way."> The DOJ has lost its way. But, career people: please stay because America needs you. The country is hungry for honest, competent leadership.> > -- James Comey (@Comey) May 7, 2020Barr pointed to recently-released information that showed the FBI moved to close its surveillance of Flynn after finding “no derogatory information” about the retired general’s contacts with Russians, only for Strzok to keep the case open, leading to the eventual interview.“They were closing the investigation, in December [2016], they started that process and on January 4, they were closing it. When they heard about the phone call, which the FBI had the transcripts to — there was no question as to what was discussed, the FBI knew exactly what was discussed — and General Flynn, being the former director of the DIA, said to them, ‘you listen to everything, you know what was said,’” Barr explained.“So there’s no mystery about the call, but they initially tried some theories of how could open another investigation, which didn’t fly, and then they found out that they had not technically closed the earlier investigation, and they kept it open for the expressed purpose of trying to catch — lay a perjury trap — for General Flynn,” he added. A different filing released last week showed handwritten notes from an FBI official that questioned if the goal of Flynn’s White House interview was “to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.”Barr also did not comment on whether those that sought to entrap Flynn would face criminal charges, pointing to U.S. Attorney John Durham’s probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and saying his team was “in the middle” of “looking at the whole pattern of conduct.”“I’m going to wait until all the evidence is [in], and I get their recommendations as to what they found and how serious it is. But, if we were to find wrongdoing, in the sense of any criminal act, obviously we would follow through on that,” Barr said. “But again, just because something may even stink to high heaven, and appear to everyone to be bad, we still have to apply the right standard and be convinced that there is a violation of a criminal statute and that we can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. The same standard applies to everybody.”




‘Truly Disturbing’: Third NY Child Dies From Rare Syndrome Linked to COVID-19

‘Truly Disturbing’: Third NY Child Dies From Rare Syndrome Linked to COVID-19Three New York children have died from pediatric multi-symptom inflammatory syndrome tied to COVID-19 since the pandemic began, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.A 7-year-old boy from Westchester County died late last week, the county confirmed on Friday. A 5-year-old boy died earlier in the week from the same syndrome at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in New York City. Cuomo did not give any details about the third New York child on Saturday.“We still have a lot to learn about this virus and every day is another eye-opening situation,” he said, adding that the emergence of the illness was “truly disturbing.”The childhood ailment has affected at least 73 children in New York state and authorities are now looking for other potential cases across the country. Cases have also been reported in Washington, D.C., California, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington state and New Jersey, where a 4-year-old died with symptoms last month. Is the Key to Beating COVID-19 in Survivors’ Blood?It had been previously been thought that children were less likely to suffer any serious complications from the coronavirus. “We’re not so sure that is the fact anymore,” Cuomo said. Children affected with the COVID-19 virus can become ill with symptoms “similar to the Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like syndrome that literally causes inflammation in their blood vessels,” he said. It’s possible the syndrome has been “going on for weeks” and hasn’t been diagnosed, he added.New York is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop national criteria for identifying and responding to the illness.Dr. Dial Hewlett, from the Westchester County Department of Health, said at Cuomo’s news conference on Friday that the disease has been most common in households where parents or grandparents tested positive for COVID-19 but the children did not show symptoms initially before becoming seriously ill. “We must emphasize that based on what we know thus far, it appears to be a very rare condition,” Hewlett said.Affected children have had COVID-19 antibodies or have tested positive for COVID-19 but didn’t show typical COVID-19 symptoms, Cuomo said.“This is very serious,” County Executive George Latimer said at the Friday news conference. “The disease can be fatal, and we want to make sure everyone in Westchester County is aware to be on the lookout for symptoms that may lead to this.”The symptoms include a prolonged fever of more than five days and difficulty in feeding for infants or drinking fluids in older children. Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, or vomiting and a change in skin color—either becoming pale and patchy or blue—is also common in most young patients. Children also exhibit trouble breathing or a racing heart beat in addition to mood changes, lethargy and confusion. Cuomo urged parents to seek medical attention if their children exhibits any symptoms whether they are living in a house with COVID-19 patients or not. “So this is every parent’s nightmare, right?” Cuomo said. “That your child may actually be affected by this virus. But it’s something we have to consider seriously now.”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.




Coronavirus pandemic may have started in October, says UK-French study

Coronavirus pandemic may have started in October, says UK-French studyThe Covid-19 pandemic may have started as early as October, according to a new joint study of its genetic make-up by researchers at University College London and the University of Reunion Island. The pathogen wreaking havoc on the world, known scientifically as SARS-CoV-2, is thought to have made the jump from its initial host to humans at some point between October 6 and December 11. The findings – based on analysis of more than 7,000 genome sequence assemblies collected from around the world since January – will be published in a forthcoming edition of scientific journal Infection Genetics and Evolution. Researchers studied the evolution of the mutations since they jumped to humans in order to work back their molecular clocks to a common starting point. Separately, Chinese government information, seen previously by the South China Morning Post, suggests one of the first patients to emerge was a 55-year-old resident of Hubei province on November 17. "Patient zero" has not yet been confirmed.




Indian migrant deaths: 16 sleeping workers run over by train

Indian migrant deaths: 16 sleeping workers run over by trainThe workers fell asleep on the tracks while trying to make their way home during India's lockdown.




Putin pays a somber tribute to WWII dead as Russian coronavirus cases skyrocket

Putin pays a somber tribute to WWII dead as Russian coronavirus cases skyrocketCancellation of the ceremony was the second blow to Putin, who was forced to call off a referendum extending his time in power.




Reopened restaurant tells workers: Don't wear face masks — or don't work

Reopened restaurant tells workers: Don't wear face masks — or don't workRestaurant workers in a reopened Dallas eatery say they are being asked to weigh their safety against their jobs.




A person was struck and killed by a Southwest plane as it landed on the runway at Austin international airport

A person was struck and killed by a Southwest plane as it landed on the runway at Austin international airportAustin-Bergstrom International Airport said it was "aware of an individual that was struck and killed on runway 17-R by a landing aircraft."




Gavin Newsom endorses Joe Biden for president during high-dollar fundraiser

Gavin Newsom endorses Joe Biden for president during high-dollar fundraiserGavin Newsom endorses Joe Biden for president




Despite lockdown, no letup in Chicago's murder rate

Despite lockdown, no letup in Chicago's murder rateThe streets of Chicago may be largely empty as residents hunker down from coronavirus but some of the city's most deprived neighborhoods are still echoing to the sound of deadly gunfire and raucous partying. While significant falls in crime have been one of the few positive side effects of lockdowns in much of the United States and elsewhere, they have barely made a dent in the homicide rate in Chicago, a city that has long recorded the most murders in the country. Chicago police say 56 murders were committed in April despite statewide stay-at-home orders -- only a fraction lower than the 61 for the same month in 2019 -- while last weekend, the first of the new month, four people were killed and 46 others shot and wounded.




Court halts ban on mass gatherings at Kentucky churches

Court halts ban on mass gatherings at Kentucky churchesA federal court halted the Kentucky governor's temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to in-person religious services, clearing the way for Sunday church services. U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove on Friday issued a temporary restraining order enjoining Gov. Andy Beshear's administration from enforcing the ban on mass gatherings at “any in-person religious service which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines.”




Immigrant in ICE custody dies after testing positive for COVID-19

Immigrant in ICE custody dies after testing positive for COVID-19At least 788 immigrants in ICE custody have tested positive for coronavirus across the country.




Barr says it was 'an easy decision' to drop case against Michael Flynn

Barr says it was 'an easy decision' to drop case against Michael FlynnAttorney General William Barr on Thursday defended the Justice Department's decision to drop the Michael Flynn case, claiming this "sends the message that there is one standard of justice in this country."In December 2017, Flynn, President Trump's first national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Earlier this year, Flynn's new attorneys asked to have his guilty plea withdrawn, claiming he was pressured into it by the FBI. On Thursday, federal prosecutors filed a motion saying they had determined the FBI's interview of Flynn was "untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI's counterintelligence investigation."During an interview with CBS News' Catherine Herridge, Barr said the Justice Department had been investigating Flynn's accusation of misconduct by the government, and after finding additional material, he agreed the case should be dismissed. It was "an easy decision" to file the motion, Barr said, and claimed he was not influenced by Trump's numerous tweets about Flynn and never discussed the matter with him.Herridge asked about Flynn admitting in court that his "false statements and omissions impeded and otherwise had a material impact" on the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. On the question of materiality, Barr responded, "we feel really that a crime cannot be established here because because there was not, in our view, a legitimate investigation going on." There was "nothing wrong" with Flynn's contacts with Kislyak, he said, calling one conversation "laudable."Barr served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 during the George H.W. Bush administration, and he told Herridge he felt he needed to step back into the role because the country was feeling as if "there were two standards of justice in this country." The Flynn case, he continued, "sends the message that there is one standard of justice in this country. And that's the way it will be. It doesn't matter what political party you're in, or, you know, whether you're rich or poor. We will follow the same standard for everybody."More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about America's rush to reopen The U.S. reportedly didn't take up a January offer that would have led to the production of 1.7 million masks per week Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is running for Congress, and her launch video looks like a spy movie trailer




In Chicago and Los Angeles, Virus Spread Is Slower, but Persistent


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Angelina Jolie: A Mother’s Strength


By BY ANGELINA JOLIE from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2WCHKQC

Friday, 8 May 2020

What Colombia Did With American Spy Tools


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Neighbor of father and son arrested in Ahmaud Arbery killing is also under investigation

Neighbor of father and son arrested in Ahmaud Arbery killing is also under investigationThe ongoing investigation of the fatal shooting in Brunswick, Georgia, will also look at a neighbor of suspects Gregory and Travis McMichael who recorded video of the incident, authorities said.




CNN legal analysts say Barr dropping the Flynn case shows 'the fix was in.' Barr says winners write history.

CNN legal analysts say Barr dropping the Flynn case shows 'the fix was in.' Barr says winners write history.The Justice Department announced Thursday that it is dropping its criminal case against President Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn twice admitted in court he lied to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's U.S. ambassador, and then cooperated in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. It was an unusual move by the Justice Department, and CNN's legal and political analysts smelled a rat."Attorney General [William] Barr is already being accused of creating a special justice system just for President Trump's friends," and this will only feed that perception, CNN's Jake Tapper suggested. Political correspondent Sara Murray agreed, noting that the prosecutor in the case, Brandon Van Grack, withdrew right before the Justice Department submitted its filing, just like when Barr intervened to request a reduced sentence for Roger Stone.National security correspondent Jim Sciutto laid out several reason why the substance of Flynn's admitted lie was a big deal, and chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was appalled. "It is one of the most incredible legal documents I have read, and certainly something that I never expected to see from the United States Department of Justice," Toobin said. "The idea that the Justice Department would invent an argument -- an argument that the judge in this case has already rejected -- and say that's a basis for dropping a case where a defendant admitted his guilt shows that this is a case where the fix was in."Barr told CBS News' Cathrine Herridge on Thursday that dropping Flynn's case actually "sends the message that there is one standard of justice in this country." Herridge told Barr he would take flak for this, asking: "When history looks back on this decision, how do you think it will be written?" Barr laughed: "Well, history's written by the winners. So it largely depends on who's writing the history." Watch below. More stories from theweek.com Trump says he couldn't have exposed WWII vets to COVID-19 because the wind was blowing the wrong way Trump cryptically tells reporters 'a lot of things' might happen soon following call with Putin Trump reportedly got 'lava level mad' over potential exposure to coronavirus




88,300 truck drivers lost their jobs in April, and it's the biggest trucking job loss on record

88,300 truck drivers lost their jobs in April, and it's the biggest trucking job loss on recordThe April jobs report revealed that the US lost a record 20.5 million jobs. Truck drivers saw record losses, too.




Democrats press Trump for answers on foiled Venezuela raid

Democrats press Trump for answers on foiled Venezuela raidThree Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are demanding answers from the Trump administration about how much it knew about an attempted raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an operation they said potentially violated U.S. law and ran counter to American support for negotiations to end the South American country's political standoff. In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William Barr and Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, the lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut expressed “alarm” about the raid led by a former Green Beret and which has resulted in the detention in Venezuela of two American citizens.




Kuwait imposes 20-day 'total curfew' from May 10 to curb coronavirus

Kuwait imposes 20-day 'total curfew' from May 10 to curb coronavirusKuwait will enact a "total curfew" from 4pm (1300 GMT) on Sunday through to May 30 to help to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, its cabinet said in a statement on Friday. During the curfew, public sectors will work remotely and private sector activities, excluding vital ones, will be suspended, the statement said. Essential sectors like health, security, electricity, oil and municipal services, as well as private sector companies providing vital services like maintenance will be exempt from the curfew, interior minister Anas al-Saleh said in a televised news conference later on Friday.




Sarah Palin visits Dallas salon that stayed open amid lockdown

Sarah Palin visits Dallas salon that stayed open amid lockdownPalin's visit came a day after Shelley Luther was sentenced to 7 days in jail for refusing to close her business during stay-at-home orders.




Venezuela orders arrest of 3 in US for role in failed plot

Venezuela orders arrest of 3 in US for role in failed plotVenezuela’s chief prosecutor ordered the arrest Friday of a former Green Beret and two opposition figures living in the United States for their purported role in a botched operation aimed at removing Nicolás Maduro from power. Tarek William Saab said Venezuela will seek the capture of Jordan Goudreau, a military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as Juan José Rendón and Sergio Vergara, two U.S.-based advisers to opposition leader Juan Guaidó.




DNA samples lead to arrest in 1987 murder of 17-year-old Ohio girl: 'Great to see justice'

DNA samples lead to arrest in 1987 murder of 17-year-old Ohio girl: 'Great to see justice'Using DNA to track down 67-year-old James E. Zastawnik, police made an arrest in the 1987 murder of an Ohio girl.




Woman heartbroken by Smithfield Foods' response to grandfather's death from coronavirus

Woman heartbroken by Smithfield Foods' response to grandfather's death from coronavirus“I want you to know he died in the hospital alone, isolated, and scared,” she wrote in an Instagram message to Smithfield Foods.




U.N. triples coronavirus appeal to $6.7 billion to help poor countries

U.N. triples coronavirus appeal to $6.7 billion to help poor countriesThe United Nations on Thursday more than tripled its appeal to help vulnerable countries combat the spread and destabilizing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, asking for $6.7 billion to help 63 states mainly in Africa and Latin America. While the United States and Europe are in the grip of the outbreak, U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock warned that the virus was not expected to peak in the world's poorest countries until some point over the next three to six months. The new coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, has infected some 3.7 million people globally and more than 263,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally.




Reopened restaurant tells workers: Don't wear face masks — or don't work

Reopened restaurant tells workers: Don't wear face masks — or don't workRestaurant workers in a reopened Dallas eatery say they are being asked to weigh their safety against their jobs.




A 1996 court declaration written by Tara Reade's ex-husband shows she spoke of harassment in Biden's Senate office

A 1996 court declaration written by Tara Reade's ex-husband shows she spoke of harassment in Biden's Senate office"It was obvious that this event had a very traumatic effect on (Reade), and that she is still sensitive and effected (sic) by it today," Dronen wrote.




Michael Flynn Confessed. Justice Department Now Says It Doesn’t Care.

Michael Flynn Confessed. Justice Department Now Says It Doesn’t Care.It may not be a pardon. But the Justice Department has dropped charges against Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.Retired Army Lt. Gen. Flynn, an important figure in the war on terror who gave Trump’s 2016 run military validation, will avoid prison time after the Justice Department provided a deliverance on Thursday that Flynn had long sought. It is also the second redemption that Trump has provided the general, who served as his first national security adviser for less than a month. “The Government has determined, pursuant to the Principles of Federal Prosecution and based on an extensive review and careful consideration of the circumstances, that continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice,” wrote Timothy Shea, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a former senior aide to Attorney General William Barr. Shortly before the filing, lead prosecutor Brandon Von Grack abruptly withdrew from the case.The Justice Department filing, in essence, portrays Flynn as the victim of an FBI frame-up job, and his lies to the FBI as legally marginal. Shea wrote that Flynn’s lies needed to have been “not simply false, but ‘materially’ false with respect to a matter under investigation.” Later in the filing, Shea referred to those lies as “gaps in [Flynn’s] memory,” rather than deliberate falsehoods Flynn conceded. “Even if he told the truth, Mr. Flynn’s statements could not have conceivably ‘influenced’ an investigation that had neither a legitimate counterintelligence nor criminal purpose,” Shea wrote.It was an astonishing turnaround since 2018, when a federal judge said to Flynn in a sentencing hearing, “arguably, you sold your country out.” That judge, Emmet Sullivan, could still decide to reject Shea’s filing and continue with Flynn’ sentencing. Michael Bromwich, a former federal prosecutor and Justice Department inspector general, tweeted that the extraordinary move represented “a pardon by another name” and called it a “black day in DOJ history.”Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the decision to drop charges was “outrageous” and revealed “a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice.” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) added, “If Barr’s Justice Department will drop charges against someone who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and who the White House publicly fired for lying to the vice president, there’s nothing it won’t do, no investigation it won’t taint.”Neither Flynn nor his attorney, Sidney Powell, responded immediately to requests for comment.Speaking to reports on Thursday afternoon, Trump said he had no prior knowledge of the Justice Department’s decision. “He was an innocent man,” Trump said, of Flynn. “Now in my book he’s an even greater warrior.”The dropped charges follow a years-long groundswell from Trump’s base, and particularly Fox News, to clear Flynn. His advocates claim that Flynn was set up by the same disreputable FBI figures who they believe persecuted Trump over phantom collusion with Russia.Flynn’s guilty plea, in December, 2017, has been no obstacle to the narrative, particularly since Flynn sought afterwards, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his plea. His sentencing, initially set for February, had also been delayed.Last month, agitation for a Flynn pardon intensified after documents emerged from two of Trump’s most hated ex-FBI figures, counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page, discussing Flynn’s fateful January 2017 interview with the FBI. Page asked when and how to “slip it in” to Flynn that lying to an FBI agent is a crime, something that Flynn’s advocates believed showed the general being railroaded from the start. But veteran FBI agents and prosecutors have pointed out that the FBI is not legally obligated to inform an interview subject that lying to them is illegal. “Michael Flynn was very familiar with the FBI,” said Stephanie Douglas, a former executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “He would certainly have been aware of his obligation to provide candid and truthful information. His claim he was tricked and manipulated doesn’t sound valid to me.” Shea, in his Thursday court filing, suggested the FBI officials were “fishing for falsehoods merely to manufacture jurisdiction over any statement.” In Shea’s view, Flynn’s lies were less germane to the prosecution than the FBI “lack[ing] sufficient basis to sustain its initial counterintelligence investigation,” and its pre-interview position that it ought to close the investigation before speaking with the then national security adviser.Former FBI deputy head Andrew McCabe said on Thursday that the suggestion there was no reason to interview Flynn was “patently false, and ignores the considerable national security risk his contacts raised.” He said Flynn’s lies added to the FBI’s concerns about his relationship with Russia. “Today’s move... is pure politics designed to please the president,” he added.U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, who was appointed by Barr to review Flynn’s and other high-profile cases, said on Thursday that he concluded “the proper and just course” was to dismiss the case. “I briefed Attorney General Barr on my findings, advised him on these conclusions, and he agreed,” he said.The FBI Didn’t Frame Michael Flynn. That’s Just Trump’s Excuse for a Prospective Pardon.While serving as national security adviser, Flynn misled FBI interviewers about conversations he had with the then-Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak. In one of those late 2016 conversations, according to court filings, Flynn asked the Russians to avoid escalatory actions in response to sanctions and diplomatic expulsions then President Barack Obama enacted as reprisal for Russian electoral interference. Shea, in his filing, called Flynn’s Kislyak calls “entirely appropriate on their face.”The national security adviser’s lies prompted the holdover attorney general, Sally Yates, to warn the White House that Flynn had given the Russians leverage to blackmail him. But it would take weeks before Trump fired Flynn over “an eroding level of trust” concerning misleading Vice President Mike Pence on the Kislyak contacts. By May, Trump was said to have regretted dismissing the general.  Flynn in 2017 agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The general avoided charges for taking $530,000 in unregistered money from interests connected to the Turkish government—something he only declared with the Justice Department after his downfall as national security adviser. During a sentencing hearing in 2018, a federal judge castigated Flynn for disgracing the uniform Flynn wore for three decades. “Arguably, you sold your country out,” Judge Emmet Sullivan said. Two years earlier, on stage at the Republican national convention, Flynn had led a chant of “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton. Protesters outside Flynn’s courtroom did not let the general forget it. Trump’s enduring bond with Flynn is a testament to the importance of the role the general played in 2016.A host of national security officials, many aligned with the Republican Party, rejected Trump in 2016 as unfit to be president owing to his nativism, his penchant for brutality and his benign view of dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Flynn was the exception. And the general was an exceptional figure. As the intelligence chief for the Joint Special Operations Command during the mid-2000s, Flynn is one of a select few people who can be said to have personally prosecuted the most sensitive missions of the war on terror. Michael Flynn Putting Mueller Deal at Risk in ‘Dangerous’ New TrialIt was a pivotal credential in another way. Flynn emerged from the war on terror endorsing Trump’s view that the security apparatus, abetted by hidebound liberals and cowardly conservatives, had neutered the war on terror by refusing to see it was a civilizational conflict with Islam. “Islam is a political ideology” that “hides behind this notion of being a religion,” Flynn told the Islamophobic group ACT for America shortly after the 2016 convention. His hostility to Islam informed his sanguine view of Russia, which both Flynn and Trump saw as naturally aligned with the U.S. against what they called “Radical Islamic Terror.”It also meant that Trump and Flynn shared a common bureaucratic enemy. James Clapper, then the director of national intelligence, was a lead architect of an intelligence assessment finding Russia intervened in the election on Trump’s behalf. In 2014, Clapper fired Flynn as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. It was deeply embittering. Just four years earlier, Flynn had been hailed as an innovator after claiming U.S. military intelligence had misunderstood the Afghanistan war. While Flynn portrayed himself as a martyr, victimized by the ‘Deep State’ for daring to warn about radical Islam, Clapper and other intelligence leaders had fallen out with Flynn over what they considered an incompetent management style and an iffy relationship with the truth. Reportedly, Flynn believed Iran was involved in the 2012 assault on a CIA compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans, and claimed incorrectly that Iran was responsible for more American deaths than al-Qaeda. Aides referred to such untruths as “Flynn facts.” Flynn facts did not disturb Trump. They validated his instincts on national security. Trump rewarded Flynn by making him national security adviser, one of the most important positions in the U.S. security apparatus. It was the first time Trump redeemed Flynn. Thursday’s dropped charges represent the second. 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.




Trucker charged in serial killings faces scrutiny across US

Trucker charged in serial killings faces scrutiny across USInvestigators from multiple states were looking Thursday into whether a long-haul trucker from Iowa who's implicated in three women's slayings in the 1990s could be responsible for other unsolved homicides. Officers arrested Clark Perry Baldwin, 58, in Waterloo on Wednesday after new DNA evidence allegedly tied him to three women whose bodies were dumped in Wyoming and Tennessee. Detectives with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are “looking at any connections” that Baldwin may have to other cold cases, special agent Mike Krapfl said.




As world shelters, scientists raise alarm on another threat: An active hurricane season

As world shelters, scientists raise alarm on another threat: An active hurricane seasonThe season officially begins June 1, but some meteorologists who have been tracking ocean and atmospheric dynamics over the past few months say conditions are ripe for storms.




Three nurses murdered in Mexico as coronavirus reaches peak transmission

Three nurses, all sisters, were found dead with signs of strangulation in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, officials said on Friday, an apparent triple murder that follows a series of assaults on health workers in the coronavirus pandemic.


from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2YKbGwK

Trump, Saudi king reaffirm defense ties amid tensions

President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman spoke by phone on Friday and "reaffirmed the strong United States-Saudi defense partnership," the White House said, amid tensions over Saudi's oil output.


from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2Wh8p6t

The Man Who Taught Australia How to Mix a Proper Drink


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Ahmaud Arbery Video Was Leaked by a Lawyer Who Consulted With Suspects


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Roberts Rejects Request for Inquiry into D.C. Appeals Court Vacancy


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