| Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, will tell senators during his confirmation hearing tomorrow that it’s “vitally important” that Special Counsel Robert Mueller be allowed to finish his investigation into Russian collusion, according to a copy of his written remarks cited Monday by the Associated Press. “I believe it is in the best interest of everyone—the president, Congress, and, most importantly, the American people—that this matter be resolved by allowing the special counsel to complete his work,” Barr will reportedly say. He is also expected to claim that it is “very important” that the results of that investigation are shared with Congress and the public. “My goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law,” the remarks state. “I can assure you that, where judgments are to be made by me, I will make those judgments based solely on the law and will let no personal, political, or other improper interests influence my decisions.” If confirmed, Barr will succeed Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who has been a vocal critic of Mueller’s investigation. |
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| Adult-film star Stormy Daniels filed a lawsuit against the Columbus, Ohio, police officers who arrested her at a strip club last July, alleging that the officers conspired to arrest her due to her prominent attacks on President Trump. The lawsuit claims that the group of officers, many of whom were allegedly public supporters of Donald Trump, violated Daniels’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by conspiring to arrest her ahead of her scheduled appearance at a club called Sirens. It further alleges that the arrest was made “in retaliation for the public statements she had made regarding President Trump,” and “because they believed that doing so would damage her credibility in relation to any statements she had made or might in the future make against President Trump.” She claims the officers agreed to fabricate evidence against her if necessary to complete the arrest. Once the arrest was over, the suit alleges, the defendants celebrated over email. “We look forward to exposing the facts related to the outrageous conduct of these rogue officers, who abused their power and the badge to further a political vendetta against Stormy,” her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted. “Here in America, unlike in Russia, we don’t arrest citizens for political purposes in an effort to silence them. Each and every individual who had a hand in this bogus arrest, no matter their position power, will be held accountable.” |
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| President Trump on Monday mocked immigrants for following the legal citizenship process, reportedly arguing that those who attended their immigration court hearings “cannot be very smart,” according to a tweet from BuzzFeed reporter Paul McLeod. After falsely claiming that only two percent of immigrants show up to court for their hearings, Trump reportedly added that “those people you almost don’t want because they cannot be very smart.. those two percent are not going to make America great again, I tell ya.” This leaves immigrants little recourse to win President Trump’s favor—because as he’s said nearly every day, he certainly doesn’t approve of them entering the country illegally either. View this cheat in a browser to see this embedded tweet. |
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| Controversial rapper Kanye West on Sunday spoke out in support of music by R&B singer R. Kelly and pop icon Michael Jackson—who have both faced allegations of sexual abuse—arguing that we can listen to their tunes “all we want,” Yahoo News reports. “They just gonna pull up full documentaries on him,” West reportedly said during a Sunday service event live-streamed by Kris Jenner. West added that “Then they gonna come with the Michael [Jackson] documentary [...] We can all enjoy all their music all we want. I thought I wasn’t going to go there today. If we’re gonna tear down artists, let’s go ahead and take [Leonardo] da Vinci out the Louvre. Let’s take down all the art.” West’s comments likely reference both Surviving R. Kelly, the groundbreaking Lifetime docuseries that exposed grotesque details of R. Kelly’s alleged sexual abuse, and Leaving Neverland, a not-yet released documentary that will reportedly tell the stories of two boys who were allegedly sexually abused by Jackson while they were minors. His words contrast sharply with those of other artists, Yahoo notes—most notably, those of his friend John Legend, who reportedly called Kelly “a serial child rapist.” After the comments sparked outrage online, Kim Kardashian tweeted in defense of her husband. “I’m going to nip this in the bud right now. Kanye was speaking about his own experience of everyone quick to say they are cancelling him because of differences in opinion & not being perfect,” Kardashian claimed. “The analogies were in context to his own experiences, not defending anyone else.” |
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| Donald Trump has swiftly deleted a clanging error on Twitter that suggested he has no idea where he’s headed today. At around 7:30 a.m. Monday morning, Trump tweeted: “Getting ready to address the Farm Convention today in Nashville, Tennessee. Love our farmers, love Tennessee—a great combination! See you in a little while.” The only problem is that he got both the city and the state completely wrong. The event is actually taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana—not Nashville, Tennessee. Let’s hope the president’s team is up to speed on where he's actually supposed to be... |
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| Mel Stottlemyre, a New York baseball legend, died Sunday in Seattle, Washington, after a long battle with bone-marrow cancer. He was 77 years old. A five-time All-Star and three-time 20-game winner for the Yankees, Stottlemyre was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma, for which there is no cure, in the spring of 1999. He underwent an experimental treatment for the disease that included a stem-cell transplant, four months of chemotherapy, and as many as 24 pills a day, after which doctors told him there was still no way of knowing if or when the disease would come back. Stottlemyre coached Doc Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Andy Pettitte, and Roger Clemens among others as one of the pre-eminent pitching coaches in baseball. In 2015, the Yankees presented him with a plaque in Monument Park. “If I never get to come to another Oldtimers Day, I will take these memories and I’ll start another baseball club, coaching up there, whenever they need me,” Stottlemyre said in an emotional speech. |
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| A 17-year-old was charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly killed a transgender escort last year,the Chicago Tribune reports. Tremon Hill, a young father and a basketball player at Phillips High School, was denied bail on Sunday after he was accused of fatally shooting 24-year-old Dejanay Stanton in the head in late August. Phone records reportedly show that Hill and Stanton had exchanged about 400 text messages between July 22 and the day Stanton died. Hill allegedly told Stanton he was 18 and interested in having sex, but at one point said he was not interested in having sex with a transgender person. The two reportedly had multiple sexual encounters. Hill allegedly told Stanton he was having suicidal thoughts, and arranged an Aug. 30 meeting. Text messages allegedly show Hill guiding Stanton to the area where she was found dead. Video surveillance and cell towers put Hill in the area at the time of the shooting. If convicted, Hill will be charged as an adult and will face life in prison. |
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| Los Angeles teachers began their first strike in 30 years Monday to demand smaller class sizes, better pay, and an increased number of support staff, according to the Los Angeles Times. Schools in the district struggled to remain open as an estimated 31,000 teachers and support staff walked off the job. “Let’s be clear, educators don’t want to strike,” United Teachers Los Angeles President Alex Caputo-Pearl told the assembled strikers. “We don’t want to miss time with our students. We don’t want to have less money for the car payment or less money for the school supplies that we always end up buying ourselves.” On Friday, negotiations between United Teachers Los Angeles and the L.A. Unified School District ground to a halt, which precipitated Monday’s strike. The district had reportedly offered a full-time nurse for every elementary school, $130 million in increased funding, and another 1,200 staffers to help shrink class sizes. But that staff increase was only guaranteed for a year—which caused the union to reject the offer. At the moment, the Los Angeles Times notes, no new talks have been scheduled. |
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