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BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI & CROOKED MEDIA Wednesday, July 10, 2019 |
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| —Donald Trump after explaining the Access Hollywood tape to Mike Pence |
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| THAT'S GONN-ACOSTA! |
| Labor Secretary Alex Acosta held a lengthy press conference Wednesday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to save his job, amid fierce criticism of the sweetheart plea deal he gave to child-sex predator Jeffrey Epstein when he was a federal prosecutor 11 years ago.
It did not go well! Here’s the background, what happened, and why it matters.
Background: As a federal prosecutor in Miami, Acosta oversaw an investigation of allegations that the influential investor Jeffrey Epstein ran a child-sex trafficking operation. His office cut an unusual and illegal plea-agreement with Epstein that included:
In exchange, Epstein was incarcerated for 13 months in a state facility that allowed him to commute to work (!!!) and registered as a sex offender.
Very bad! Yet President Trump hired Acosta anyhow, kept him on after the Miami Herald uncovered the sordid details, and continued to defend him after federal agents arrested Epstein this weekend and charged him with more child-sex crimes.
What happened today: At Trump’s insistence, Acosta addressed the media about his conduct. During the press conference he:
Why does it matter? Because this guy should be fired! Acosta oversees the cabinet department that oversees human trafficking laws. He shouldn’t have that or any other job in government.
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Kim Darroch, the U.K. ambassador to the U.S., resigned on Wednesday after diplomatic cables in which he described President Trump as “inept,” “clumsy,” and “radiating insecurity,” leaked over the weekend. Darroch’s descriptions of Trump were obvious, and countless other diplomats have undoubtedly written similar cables. But Trump freaked out and cut Darroch off from the administration (radiating insecurity). “The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like,” he wrote. British leaders supported Darroch and condemned the Trump administration, so that bodes well for America's relationship with its closest ally. |
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| Check out our new Crooked Minis series—Reclaiming Patriotism. This month we're exploring the topic of patriotism in 2019. What does it mean? Who gets to call themselves a patriot? And does it even matter? The series is hosted by Ken Harbaugh, a former Navy pilot and nominee for the House of Representatives. Ken talks with people like Pete Buttigieg, Tammy Duckworth, Barbara Lee, and our own Jon Favreau to explore the roles dissent, inclusion, empathy, and reckoning play in our understanding of patriotism. |
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| A three-judge appeals-court panel decided unanimously to dismiss one of the lawsuits claiming President Trump’s Washington, DC, hotel, and the money he collects through it from foreign leaders, violates the Constitution’s emoluments clause. The judges, all GOP appointees, held that the plaintiffs—the city of Washington and state of Maryland—didn’t have standing to sue. Another reminder that Congress shouldn’t be outsourcing its constitutional obligations to the courts.
Teenage migrants held in Arizona detention facilities allege horrific mistreatment by border agents, including sexual assault, retaliation for making complaints about water and food quality, and verbal abuse.
Sixty percent of Americans now believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases—the highest level of public support for legal abortion since 1995, and most likely driven by backlash against Republican lawmakers across the country who have spent recent years working aggressively to implement more restrictive abortion laws.
Young climate activists are organizing nationwide protests to push the Democratic National Committee to sanction a primary debate devoted entirely to the climate crisis. Earlier this year, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said the party would not host a climate-specific debate, and barred candidates from participating in outside debates on it or any other topic. But under pressure, committee members will consider whether to agree to activist demands and schedule a climate change policy debate when they meet in San Francisco between August 22 and 24.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has criticized her progressive members to the press, wants them to stop putting their centrist colleagues on blast on Twitter. She was promptly ratio’d.
Amy McGrath, the retired fighter pilot who’s running to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, raised $2.5 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign.
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| We did another poll! Crooked Media has teamed up with Change Research to conduct a series of polls of Democratic voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina ahead of the presidential primary.
Here’s one interesting finding we heard after the first Democratic primary debate: Voters want to hear more about climate change, and 65 percent of those polled want a climate-specific debate. Good news for the young activists pushing the DNC to host one! Respondents overwhelmingly volunteered that they didn’t hear enough about climate change at the first debate. Sixteen percent of those who answered the open-ended prompt listed climate change as the most under-covered issue, followed by education and healthcare, which each garnered only five percent. Stay tuned for the full results tomorrow. |
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| New York City hosted the World Cup champion U.S. women’s soccer team for a ticker tape parade, where the team’s co-captain Megan Rapinoe issued a call to action: “This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better, we have to love more and hate less. Listen more and talk less. It is our responsibility to make this world a better place.” Hear more from Rapinoe on a bonus episode of Pod Save America this Friday (!!!!!!!!!) |
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