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BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA Wednesday, October 2, 2019 |
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| —Putin re: election interference. Awesome. |
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| EYE OF THE SHITSTORM |
| The House’s impeachment inquiry continues to force incriminating information into public view, and the White House’s efforts to stanch the flow have been...less than effective. You know when you open a soda that’s been shaken up and try to cover it with your hand? Here’s what America got sprayed with today.
How’s Trump handling this? In his usual way but this time on live TV next to the president of Finland. Sorry, Finland! He also lashed out on Twitter at Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff for wasting everyone’s time and energy on “BULLSHIT” to, as he claims, overturn the results 2016 election.
Classic. So where do we stand? On an active volcano, basically. The only thing we can say with any certainty is that the coming days will bring us a) incriminating new revelations and b) a heady blend of criminal obstruction and public meltdowns. That’s been the pattern for a full week now, and public support for impeachment has only grown. |
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| The Trump administration reportedly wants to impose strict new time limits on unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the U.S. A draft Justice Department regulation would create a two-month deadline for unaccompanied children to apply for asylum with Citizenship and Immigration Services officials after crossing the border. Currently, these children can file an application at any time, and adults can apply with the agency for up to one year after crossing into the U.S. |
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| Did you notice the new name in our byline today?! Meet Sarah Lazarus, our associate editor. She’s joined the What A Day team to help us churn out the best content in the history of content, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of her work here and throughout Crooked Media’s vast empire! We’re so excited to have her, and hope you are too. |
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| Bernie Sanders had surgery to insert two stents after doctors discovered an artery blockage. His campaign canceled his public events until further notice, but insists he is recovering and in good spirits, which seems weird because he’s almost never in good spirits, but we hope he’s back on his feet soon.
President Trump personally reached out to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for help discrediting the Russia investigation. The call apparently took place on July 26, one day after his impeachment-sparking phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The prime minister of Australia must be feeling a little less special.
House Democrats are investigating allegations that at least one foreign government booked blocks of Trump hotel rooms with no intention of ever using them. It’s part of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s larger investigation of Trump’s unconstitutional acceptance of foreign and U.S. government money through his private businesses.
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to a $20.4 million settlement with two counties in Ohio for its role in the opioid crisis. The agreement removes them from the first federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, and makes the company the fifth drugmaker to settle lawsuits out of court in the hope of avoiding trial. The agreement did not require the company to admit wrongdoing.
The FDA tried to ban flavored vape products four years ago with widespread support from public health experts and scientists, but tobacco-industry lobbyists prevailed on senior Obama administration officials to abandon the plan, and scrap evidence that the idea was in the interest of public health.
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing Botham Jean, her unarmed neighbor, after she entered his apartment.
Prince Harry has sued a British tabloid for its supposedly “false” and “deliberately derogative” coverage of Meghan Markle after it published a letter from Markle to her father. He referenced the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a statement: “My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person.”
According to a senior Boeing engineer, Boeing rejected a safety system on the now-infamous, grounded 737 Max jets to reduce costs. The engineer filed an internal ethics complaint and said he thought those additions could have reduced the risks that resulted in two fatal crashes earlier this year.
The United Auto Workers strike against General Motors has reached its 17th day, and Michigan’s economy is starting to feel the effects: 46,000 striking workers missed their first payday last Friday, and G.M. is losing an estimated $25 million per day. Michigan already faces the highest risk of recession in the country.
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| Crooked Media did another poll with Change Research, this time in Arizona—a key 2020 battleground. Just like in Wisconsin, we found that a generic Democrat candidate leads Donald Trump by just one point, 47-46.
Want to change those numbers? So do we! → votesaveamerica.com |
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| Our country is being tested in unprecedented ways. Get clear-eyed, sharp analysis of critical issues making the headlines with CAFE Insider. Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, and former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram break down politically charged legal news each week on the exclusive CAFE Insider podcast. Members also get a weekly newsletter, early access to events, and more. |
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| President Trump has pressured officials to fortify the border with a snake or alligator-filled moat, and said that border patrol agents should shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. It’s a horrifying, if unsurprising, glimpse into the casual cruelty underlying his immigration agenda. Every line of the article is wilder than the last, but here’s the part where Trump got bored of hearing that he needs legal authority to take down drones:
“Kirstjen, you didn’t hear me the first time, honey,” Mr. Trump said, according to two people familiar with the conversation. “Shoot ’em down. Sweetheart, just shoot ’em out of the sky, O.K.?” |
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| All of the major banks that partnered with the private prisons behind mass incarceration and immigrant detention have officially committed to cutting ties with the industry. The loss of credit lines and term loans will create an estimated shortfall of 87.4 percent of the private prison industry’s future funding. That’s a big threat to this terrible industry’s existence, and comes on the heels of a federal judge’s decision to block the expansion of family detention, California’s abolition of private prisons, and multiple Democratic candidate proposals to ban them altogether.
These banks didn’t reassess out of the goodness of their hearts—they came under pressure from shareholders, policy makers, investors, and most importantly, grassroots activists. More than 100 organizations across the country worked together under the umbrella of the The Families Belong Together Committee to make this happen. |
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