WHAT'S BREWING
LOUISIANA BRACES FOR ITS 6TH MAJOR HURRICANE OF 2020 For the sixth time in the Atlantic hurricane season, people in Louisiana are once more fleeing the state’s barrier islands and sailing boats to safe harbor while emergency officials ramp up command centers and consider ordering evacuations. Most of Louisiana is in the path of Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the Atlantic’s unprecedented hurricane season, with the latest National Hurricane Center estimating landfall in the state on Friday. The center’s forecasters warned of winds that could gust well above 100 mph and up to 11 feet of ocean water potentially rushing onshore when the storm’s center hits land. [AP]
TRUMP MUST TURN OVER TAXES TO PROSECUTORS Trump’s accountant must turn over his tax records to a New York state prosecutor, an appeals court ruled in a decision that likely sets up a second trip to the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said in a written decision that a stay of a lower-court decision will remain in effect so Trump’s lawyers can appeal the ruling to the high court. A district court judge had rejected their renewed efforts to invalidate a subpoena that the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. issued to Trump’s accounting firm. [AP]
TOP DOJ OFFICIALS DROVE CHILD SEPARATIONS A two-year investigation by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz reportedly deems Jeff Sessions, Trump’s first attorney general, and Rod Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general, “a driving force” of the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. “We need to take away children,” Sessions reportedly told a group of federal prosecutors during a May 2018 conference call shortly after the policy was announced. [HuffPost]
DOJ FREES PROSECUTORS TO TAKE STEPS THAT COULD INTERFERE WITH ELECTIONS Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of Department of Justice policy on voting-related crimes. The policy generally bars prosecutors not only from making any announcement about ongoing investigations close to an election, but also from taking public steps before the end of voting because the publicity could tip the balance of a race. But now, if a U.S. attorney’s office suspects election fraud that involves postal workers or military employees, federal investigators may take public investigative steps before the polls close, even if those actions risk affecting the outcome of the election. [ProPublica]
AMY CONEY BARRETT WAS A 'HANDMAID' IN A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN GROUP Appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett’s involvement with People of Praise, a small Christian group, has been under intense scrutiny since Trump nominated the 48-year-old to the Supreme Court last month. Barrett has declined to speak publicly about her involvement with the group and People of Praise has not confirmed she was a member, but The Washington Post revealed Barrett had an active role in People of Praise and served as a “handmaid,” a term used to refer to female leaders. [HuffPost]
COMPANIES ARE MAKING MAJOR CLIMATE PLEDGES. HERE'S WHAT THEY MEAN Companies are pledging to tackle the climate crisis and save the world ― while still selling you stuff, of course. But it's important to look behind the corporate-speak and dissect these initiatives to determine if they truly have teeth and to hold companies accountable for actually fulfilling their promises. In a sea of impressive-sounding pledges, it can be hard to tell what’s meaningful and what’s greenwashing. To try to decode what these pledges really mean, HuffPost asked climate experts to help guide us. [HuffPost] | 
