BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI & CROOKED MEDIA
Monday, August 12, 2019 | —Joe Biden confused about who the last British PM was, among other things | Jeffrey Epstein, the politically-connected billionaire who faced child-sex trafficking charges in New York, died in federal custody this weekend, in what Justice Department officials have described as a suicide. This is a terrible development both for Epstein’s victims, and the country. Here’s what happened and why it matters. What happened? - Epstein hanged himself alone in his cell, officials say, just days after they inexplicably took him off suicide watch.
- The New York City medical examiner has performed an autopsy—which was overseen by a pathologist hired by the Epstein camp—but the examiner has not yet determined or reported a cause of death.
Why does it matter? - His victims deserve justice, and this reduces the chances they’ll get it. It's the second time Epstein escaped justice for child-sex trafficking. The first time was over a decade ago when a federal prosecutor in Florida named Alex Acosta cut an unlawful, sweetheart deal with Epstein that allowed him to avoid trial and commute to and from jail for a brief, 13-month sentence. President Trump later made Acosta his Labor Secretary.
- Epstein may have taken important, incriminating information about co-conspirators and predators with him to his grave.
What happens now? In an age of conspiracy theories and corruption, both fueled by Trump, it was inevitable that millions of people across the political spectrum wouldn’t be inclined to believe the official story here. Two different internal DOJ investigations might help. But what would really instill confidence is a responsible and aggressive congressional investigation of Epstein’s death. So far, neither the House Judiciary Committee nor the House Oversight and Reform Committee has launched one. | The Trump administration has just released a new regulation to deny green cards and visas to legal immigrants if they have used public programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and government-subsidized housing. This is just the administration’s latest assault on two of its favorite targets—immigrants and poor people—and part of its broader plan to curb all immigration, including legal immigration, to the U.S. The regulation is set to take effect in 60 days, and will have the greatest impact on poor immigrants, many of whom will have to choose between the help they need and the chance to stay in the country legally. Immigrants are not a drain on public resources, which is why a plan like this that deters immigration and costs money to implement will increase budget deficits—even though it’s nominally aimed at reducing welfare spending. What will we get in exchange for those deficits? “Worse health outcomes; more communicable diseases; higher emergency room usage; deeper poverty and housing instability; reduced educational attainment.” But at least the racists will be happy. | Hey LA! Come see Pod Save America live THIS SATURDAY, August 17th, at the Greek Theater. There will be tons to talk about with co-host Jemele Hill, plus performances from Maggie Rogers, Amanda Seales, Best Coast, and Jim James. You don’t wanna miss it. Proceeds from the show will be donated to organizations at the forefront of the fight to protect the vote across America (vote.org, Election Protection, The National Redistricting Foundation, and Think Social Impact), so grab your tickets now → crooked.com/thegreek | A Norweigan white nationalist who had expressed right-wing, anti-immigrant, and pro mass-shooting views online opened fire in a mosque near Oslo on Saturday. No one was killed in the attack because worshipers were able to overpower him, but the shooter’s 17-year-old stepsister was found dead shortly afterward in his home. Violent white nationalism isn’t confined to the U.S., and the mass shootings that happen here (like the one in El Paso) inspire others around the world. The White House has instructed ICE to carry out dozens more workplace raids after last week’s extensive raids in Mississippi. Two Trump fundraisers in the Hamptons this weekend (including one hosted by Stephen Ross, whose company owns Equinox and SoulCycle) raised $12 million. At Ross’s event, Trump used fake foreign accents to imitate Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Trump wants you to know he’s not racist, though, and the donors want you to know they're only in it for the tax cuts. The Trump administration intends to weaken Endangered Species Act protections with rules that will shrink critical habitats, make it harder to take the effects of climate change into consideration when deciding to give protection to endangered species, and allow the government to take economic factors into consideration when making these decisions. Killing animals into extinction for profit is very on brand for this administration. More than 5,000 protestors at Hong Kong’s international airport have grounded over 100 flights at one of the world’s largest air travel hubs. The police responded by beating people, firing rubber bullets at them at close range, and filling an enclosed subway station filled with protestors with tear gas. Russia has admitted that a mysterious explosion off the country’s northern coast was a nuclear reactor that blew up during an experiment and killed seven people. According to intelligence officials, this reportedly happened during a test for a new nuclear-propelled cruise missile that Russian President Vladimir Putin claims will be the centerpiece of Moscow’s recently renewed arms race with the U.S. Officials in Newark, NJ, will start providing the city’s residents with bottled water after receiving a harsh letter from the EPA about lead levels in the city’s drinking water. Last year, officials began distributing water filters to some of the area’s residents, but testing this month demonstrated that the filters weren’t effective. The development is reminiscent of the years-long water crisis in Flint, MI, and, like Flint, Newark has a high poverty rate and large black population. Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles became the first woman to land a triple-double in a gymnastics competition, and won her sixth U.S. All-Around gymnastics title. Universal has scrapped the release of the upcoming movie The Hunt after Donald Trump and other high-profile Republicans and conservatives (intentionally?) misunderstood the plot of the movie, which portrays conservative heroes hunted for sport by evil liberal “elites,” and whined about it online. The libs: owned again. The company claims recent mass shootings in El Paso, Dayton, and Gilroy also influenced its decision. Natty Light came out with its own hard seltzer to compete with White Claw, and it has made us realize that sometimes monopolies are OKAY. | Three recent New York Times features serve as a roadmap for how racists and authoritarians use the internet and other media to radicalize violent nationalists, fan conspiracy theories, and otherwise destabilize democratic societies. - A deep dive into how an international movement of powerful forces, in many cases with the support of the Russian government, has radicalized racists around the world to target immigrants and people of different faiths.
- An analysis of the overlap between how right-wing media personalities and white-nationalist terrorists describe immigrants underscores how Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and others high-profile conservatives have adopted language (“invasion,” “replacement”) previously confined to the right-wing and neo-Nazi fringe.
- Social-media platforms also serve as vectors for right-wing incitement. One of the worst offenders is YouTube, whose algorithm plucks far-right ideas out of obscurity and promotes them into the mainstream.
| The New Zealand government has bought back over 10,000 guns in the month since it outlawed assault rifles in response to the Christchurch massacre. There’s still work to do, though. New Zealand estimates that there are between 1.2 to 1.5 million of the now-banned weapons in the country, and the owners of these weapons have until December 20th to turn them in or sell them back, after which they will face jail sentences of between two to five years. Imagine that! A country that can take swift action to protect its citizens! We can have one of those, too, but only if you vote. | Did someone forward you this email? Sign up to get What A Day in your inbox! Want to advertise with us? What are you waiting for?! | If you prefer not to receive these emails, you may unsubscribe. 7162 Beverly Blvd #212, Los Angeles, CA, 90036 © Crooked Media 2018. All Rights Reserved. | | |