- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on showing Transportation Secretary/her former 2020 Dem primary rival Pete Buttigeig her state's crown jewel: the Minnesota State Fair
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Brace yourself for Trump loyalists making some really flimsy new arguments for why Trump was totally not breaking the law when he stole tons of classified documents.
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One of the issues surrounding disgraced former president Trump’s possible mishandling of classified information is the nature of the office he held. Unlike the vast majority of federal employees with access to top-secret information, presidents don’t have to sign paperwork insuring against disclosure of those classified documents when they join or leave the government. The typical process of being “read in”—where the government worker signs documents at the outset acknowledging the legal requirements not to share information on sensitive programs with unauthorized people or keep classified documents in unauthorized locations—doesn’t happen to presidents.
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In fact, former CIA officer and national security expert David Priess notes that presidents, despite being able to classify or declassify documents, don’t themselves have formal security clearances. When asked how the apparent lack of a read-out or read-in for Trump might affect prosecutors’ legal analysis of the facts in the Trump case, a spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment. One of Trump’s former chiefs of staff, John Kelly, said that Trump should have been “read out” when he left the White House in order to let him know, “Once you’re not the president anymore, all the rules apply to you.” This would have been an especially important explanation because Trump is…not smart.
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But as we know, mishandling of national-security material is not the only crime Trump seemingly committed, and his unique status as a former president may not reduce his legal exposure to the other potential criminal charges listed on the search warrant: destruction of records and obstruction of justice. In any event, the Justice Department submitted its proposed redactions today to the search-warrant affidavit that convinced a judge to find probable cause that FBI agents would find evidence of crimes at Mar-a-Lago. That a redacted document will be released tomorrow under a judge’s order.
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But of course, Trump isn’t the only Republican who’s reckless with sensitive information and obstructs investigations.
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Yesterday, the Justice Department released the entire text of a secret 2019 Justice Department memo that laid out the legal rationale for not charging Trump with committing obstruction of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The nine-page (batshit) memo says that no potential instances of obstruction of justice Mueller cited “would warrant a prosecution for obstruction of justice” regardless of Trump’s status as president. Think prosecutors might hurt your political popularity? Obstruct away! Feel uneasy about certain witnesses? Tamper with ‘em! DOJ lost a battle to conceal the memo to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (okay guys, calm down), which described it as a “breathtakingly generous view of the law and facts…to benefit Donald Trump,” and “does not comport with a serious reading of the law of obstruction of justice or the facts as found by Special Counsel Mueller.” Sounds about like maybe Merrick Garland should withdraw the memo and charge Trump with obstruction.
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In other news of Republicans pulling every lever to control the flow of information, the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday that it has shut down a disinformation working group that was very unpopular with Republicans. I wonder why! DHS said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas decided to terminate the Disinformation Governance Board following a recommendation from the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which provides the DHS secretary with independent advice. House Republicans called on Congress to pass legislation to shut down the board and block federal funds from being used for similar efforts back in May. Again, what a shock.
Contortions to discredit the Mar-a-Lago probe, the 2019 Barr memo, and the congressional GOP conniption fit over any attempted crackdown on the spread of disinformation all stem from the same rotten core of the Republican Party. Such cagey, mendacious officials are present at every level of the federal bureaucracy, and it’s clear that we are not rid of them even though Donald Trump no longer resides in the White House.
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To post or not to post? That is the question…at least for the hosts of Dare We Say. Josie Totah, Alycia Pascual Peña, and Yasmine Hamady talked about performative activism and how social media has mobilized the activists in all of us for the best and for the worst. Plus in a new segment” ‘The Ick-uation Room’, the girls discuss one of the most polarizing topics - the Zara landing page. You don't want to miss it!
New episodes of Dare We Say drop every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint accusing coffee giant Starbucks of illegally withholding wages and benefits from thousands of unionized baristas. It coincides with a campaign by the corporation (and interim CEO Howard Schulz) to stifle unionization efforts at its stores across the country. Since late 2021, more than 230 locations have voted to join the Starbucks Workers United union, which led to a broader surge in unionization nationwide. The NLRB seeks back-payments and benefits for unionized workers since May, and wants to require Schultz to read a statement to workers about their union rights. The board stated that Starbucks’s denial of benefits and raises to union workers was an intentional measure to discourage union organizing. Starbucks, of course, denies that. But the NLRB weighing in is a boon to union activists, confirming their suspicions of stolen benefits and wage increases. And how often do we get to see an all-powerful CEO of a major corporation be forced to apologize to exploited workers? The board further requests that Starbucks provide payroll records, time cards, and personnel reports for analysis to determine the amount of back-pay owed. Starbucks could try to settle the case. Otherwise, a hearing will be held on October 25. Separately, a federal judge last week ordered the company to reinstate seven fired baristas in Memphis who were involved in union organizing. These strong measures to fight back against corporate union busting are encouraging, and hopefully they continue.
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Tennis star Novak Djokovic will not play in the U.S. Open because he refuses to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and is therefore not allowed to travel to the United States. Real dumb-guy behavior if you ask me! An *unforced error*!
A coalition of environmental groups sued the EPA today over its refusal to regulate some older coal-ash dumps, claiming they’re polluting the air and groundwater.
As inflation and insufficient wages continue to hurt the average American, bargain stores like Dollar Tree and Dollar General have seen huge profit increases.
The IRS plans to spend the first big chunk of it’s new funding under the Inflation Reduction Act to hire customer-service representatives to answer taxpayer questions during tax season. Yep, just as terrifying as the Republicans warned us it would be!!
As extreme temperatures cause Lake Mead’s water levels to continue to fall to their lowest point in recorded history, authorities have uncovered multiple sets of human remains. One such set belonged to a 42-year-old Las Vegas man who was first reported missing 20 years ago.
The state of Oklahoma killed 50-year-old James Coddington today by lethal injection, despite the state’s Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation that his life be spared. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) declined to commute his sentence or stay his execution.
A pipeline operator reached a settlement with Southern California tourism companies, fishermen, and other businesses that sued after a crude-oil spill off the coast last year near Huntington Beach.
Celebrity chef Mario Batali settled two sexual misconduct lawsuits filed by women who accused him of groping them. Last year, Batali and his former business partner paid $600,000 to at least 20 women and men who said they had been sexually harassed while working at his Manhattan restaurants.
Faux-populist charlatan and Ohio Republican Senate nominee JD Vance appeared chummily as a guest on a podcast hosted by Jack Murphy, a right-wing extremist conspiracy theorist who just a few years ago said that feminists should be raped. Great that they’re not even hiding the depths of their unconscionable depravity anymore!
Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant was cut off from the country’s electricity grid, setting off a mass power outage in the adjacent area after fires damaged its last functioning transmission line.
Orange County, CA, agreed to pay $480,000 to a formerly pregnant inmate who suffered a miscarriage after sheriff’s deputies stopped at a Starbucks while driving her to the hospital after her water broke in jail.
After the dissolution of the short-lived coalition formed by Arab and Jewish Israelis to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, many Palestinians are wondering whether voting in the upcoming November 1 election will change their station at all.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree today increasing the size of the Russian armed forces by 137,000 as his war on Ukraine surpasses the six-month mark.
The state of Texas’s full abortion ban, which provides no exceptions for rape or incest, and criminalizes performing an abortion as a felony punishable to up to life in prison and a $100,000 has taken effect as of today.
Tesla is demanding an advocacy group take down videos of its self-driving vehicles striking child-size mannequins, alleging the footage is defamatory and misrepresents its most advanced driver-assistance software. Maybe they should consider trying to make better cars instead.
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The school board of Uvalde, TX, voted unanimously to fire local police chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo yesterday, three months after he was accused of cataclysmically mishandling the response to a school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. The decision came after more than an hour of closed-door discussions and a written plea from Arredondo’s lawyers asking for his reinstatement. Community members have been calling for his dismissal since learning the horrifying details of his neglectful response, and erupted into applause when his firing was approved. A Texas House committee probe into the massacre concluded that Arredondo did not adhere to the district’s active shooter guidelines — which he personally wrote — and did not correctly assess the gravity of the situation. Arredondo was also sworn in as a city council member just days after the shooting, but he resigned before school district leaders placed him on administrative leave. Following the release of the State House report, they signaled intentions to fire him. Arredondo’s attorney likened his firing to a “quest for vengeance” from the community who he said are “lashing out.” Considering what they’ve suffered, and the reams of evidence pointing to Arredondo’s deadly incompetence, their reaction seems entirely justified.
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Crooked x Cariuma: Vote with your feet
You know we’re all about voting: doing it, registering people to do it, and of course giving a portion of the proceeds from the Crooked Store to VoteRiders to help inform citizens of their state’s voter ID requirements and secure them the documents they may need to vote.
Why not add wearing shoes that support voting to that list?
Just in time for canvassing season, we’re excited to announce that Crooked and Cariuma have collaborated to launch our own co-branded OCA low-tops, in two designs that we think you’ll really love.
Lace up your kicks, because the midterms are fast approaching, and door knocking is the perfect way to get some steps in. Join our volunteer community now at votesaveamerica.com/volunteer – trainings start on 8/18 and we need all hands (and feet) on deck.
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