| Rep. Connolly says Democrats already have 'smoking gun' to impeach Trump Posted: 12 Nov 2019 07:12 PM PST  A Democratic lawmaker who attended most of the closed-door depositions over the past month said that while public hearings will be instructive for Americans, President Trump has already given Congress all the evidence it needs to impeach him.
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| Venezuela ex-intel chief missing in Spain ahead of US extradition: police Posted: 13 Nov 2019 01:46 AM PST  Venezuela's former military intelligence chief has gone missing in Spain just days after a court approved a request for his extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges, police said Wednesday. "They are currently looking for him," said a spokeswoman for Spain's national police, referring to General Hugo Armando Carvajal. Judicial sources said police had gone to his house in Madrid after Friday's court decision but could not find him.
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| U.S. Supreme Court declines to shield gun maker from Sandy Hook lawsuit Posted: 12 Nov 2019 07:11 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a blow to the firearms industry, rejecting Remington Arms Co's bid to escape a lawsuit by families of victims aiming to hold the gun maker liable for its marketing of the assault-style rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that killed 20 children and six adults. The justices turned away Remington's appeal of a ruling by Connecticut's top court to let the lawsuit proceed despite a federal law that broadly shields firearms manufacturers from liability when their weapons are used in crimes. The lawsuit will move forward at a time of high passions in the United States over the issue of gun control.
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| William Taylor laughs at GOP question if Giuliani channel was 'as outlandish as it could be' Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:15 PM PST  Republican counsel Steve Castor came to Wednesday's impeachment hearing with a curious line of questioning: could something extremely unusual have, theoretically, been even more unusual?Castor, the lawyer who questioned diplomat William Taylor on behalf of House Republicans during the public impeachment hearing, asked about what Taylor had previously described as a "confusing and unusual arrangement for making U.S. policy toward Ukraine" in the Trump administration, with there being a secondary, "highly irregular" channel including Rudy Giuliani operating outside of formal diplomatic processes.But Castor's apparent defense of this irregular channel is that it could have, in theory, been more irregular."In fairness, this irregular channel of diplomacy, it's not as outlandish as it could be," Castor said to Taylor. "Is that correct?"Taylor laughed at this question while agreeing that, well, sure, it "could be" more outlandish. But the line of questioning didn't go quite as Castor likely planned. After Castor tried to get Taylor to say that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's involvement in the secondary channel also was "certainly not outlandish," Taylor didn't exactly agree, responding that it's "a little unusual for the U.S. ambassador to the EU to play a role in Ukraine policy.""Okay," Castor said, making one more attempt by asking, "It might be irregular, but it's certainly not outlandish." This time, a seemingly baffled but amused Taylor just smiled. > "This irregular channel of diplomacy is not as outlandish as it could be, is that correct?" GOP counsel asks William Taylor. > > Taylor agrees, but adds, "It's a little unusual for the US ambassador to EU to play a role in Ukraine policy." https://t.co/YHsiIaIXhs pic.twitter.com/Vp6mO6PhvF> > -- ABC News (@ABC) November 13, 2019More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Climate change is damaging the health of the world's children and threatens lifelong impact, report says Posted: 13 Nov 2019 03:31 PM PST  Climate change is already damaging children's health worldwide and could shape the well-being of an entire generation.
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| An Air India flight was delayed nearly 12 hours after a stowaway rat was spotted in the cabin Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:30 AM PST  "The rat was located and trapped. Then the aircraft was fumigated," a representative from Air India said, according to Indian local media.
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| Court rules against warrantless searches of phones, laptops Posted: 12 Nov 2019 08:10 PM PST  A federal court in Boston has ruled that warrantless U.S. government searches of the phones and laptops of international travelers at airports and other U.S. ports of entry violate the Fourth Amendment. Tuesday's ruling in U.S. District Court came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without individualized suspicion at U.S. ports of entry. ACLU attorney Esha Bhandari said the ruling strengthens the Fourth Amendment protections of international travelers who enter the United States every year.
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| 2020 Subaru Outback vs. 2019 Honda Passport in Photos Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:59 AM PST |
| The U.S. Navy canceled a routine Black Sea operation after Trump complained that it was hostile to Russia Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:01 AM PST  Christopher Anderson, an aide to Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine, testified that the White House canceled a Navy freedom-of-navigation operation in the Black Sea after President Trump complained to then-national security adviser John Bolton about a CNN report that framed the operation as a counter to Russia, Politico reported.
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| Is Nikki Haley auditioning to replace Pence on Trump's 2020 ticket? Posted: 12 Nov 2019 08:34 AM PST  Less than three months ago, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations tried to tamp down speculation that she might replace the vice president on Trump's 2020 ticket. But multiple political observers say her new book tour is doubling as an audition for the role.
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| Michael Avenatti faces new fraud charge in Nike extortion case Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:13 PM PST ![Michael Avenatti faces new fraud charge in Nike extortion case]( "Michael Avenatti faces new fraud charge in Nike extortion case") Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled a new fraud charge against lawyer Michael Avenatti, accusing him of lying to a client as part of his alleged effort to extort Nike Inc. The prosecutors also dropped two counts of conspiracy against Avenatti from the case, which was first made public in March, according to a superseding indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan. "I am extremely pleased that the two counts alleging I engaged in a conspiracy against Nike have just been dismissed by Trump's DOJ," Avenatti wrote on Twitter, referring to the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.
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| From 'Anonymous,' key excerpts from inside Trump White House on Putin, Hillary Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:20 PM PST  Key excerpts from "A Warning," a book by an anonymous senior administration official about President Trump and his administration.
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| How Did Nazi Germany Crush France During World War II So Easily? Posted: 11 Nov 2019 06:30 PM PST  Though Germany eventually lost World War II and France again ended up on the victorious side, the leadership traits demonstrated before and during the battle in 1940 are textbook examples of what makes for great leadership—and what kind of leadership leads to defeat.
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| Officer: Miranda failure for Iowa murder suspect a mistake Posted: 12 Nov 2019 09:01 PM PST  A police officer who obtained a confession from a suspect in the disappearance and death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts said Wednesday that she made an honest mistake when she failed to read him his complete legal rights. Officer Pamela Romero testified that she tried to read Cristhian Bahena Rivera a Miranda warning during the Aug. 20, 2018, interrogation but didn't realize until later that she left one part out, failing to tell him that his statements could be used against him in court. After several more hours of questioning, Rivera led officers to a cornfield where they discovered Tibbetts' body underneath leaves and stalks.
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| 'Words matter': Trump accused of fuelling attacks on Hispanics as violent hate crimes hit 16-year high Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:45 PM PST  Violent hate crimes have climbed to a 16-year year high in the US, with a surge in attacks on Hispanics, according to FBI data.Reports of hate crimes dipped slightly in 2018 from an alarming increase the previous year, but violence rose as attacks increasingly targeting people instead of property.
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| ‘Watchmen’ brings 1921 Tulsa massacre to the fore: Three questions Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:31 AM PST !['Watchmen' brings 1921 Tulsa massacre to the fore: Three questions]( "'Watchmen' brings 1921 Tulsa massacre to the fore: Three questions") The massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was largely forgotten, even by those living in the state. But as many as 300 black people died.
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| For Bill Taylor, first impeachment witness, 'everything's easy after Vietnam' Posted: 12 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  Most Americans came to know Taylor on Oct. 3, when Democrats released text messages that showed him calling it "crazy to withhold security assistance [to Ukraine] for help with a political campaign."
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| German air force rejects delivery of two Airbus planes Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:08 AM PST  Germany's air force said Wednesday it had refused delivery of two Airbus A400M transport planes over technical faults, saying bolts holding the propellers on some already operational aircraft were loose. Repeated technical problems have dogged the A400M programme, a turboprop transport aircraft developed jointly for Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.
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| Korean survivor says Japan's no-show at 'comfort women' case in Seoul lacks honor Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:47 AM PST  A South Korean woman who had been forced to work in a Japanese wartime military brothel said Japan lacked honor for failing to attend a South Korean court on Wednesday as it began hearing a civil case brought against its government by a group of victims. "I am a living proof of history," said Lee Yong-soo, the 91-year-old survivor, her voice quaking with emotion as she addressed a news conference held near the courthouse, before proceedings began. Reminders of Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean peninsula are inflammatory for both sides.
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| 'Blossom everywhere': Hong Kong protesters evolve tactics Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:47 AM PST  From "be water" to "blossom everywhere", Hong Kong's black-clad pro-democracy protesters' tactics have evolved this week in their bid to overwhelm police by creating flashpoints in as many areas as possible. The campaign of massive disruption has seen small groups of protesters emerge all across the city of 7.5 million people from Monday to block intersections, vandalise shops, clash with police and damage the vital train network. "We must blossom everywhere to divert the police force," read an anonymous post on Wednesday morning on an internet message board popular with protesters, echoing other calls online.
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| Tulsi Gabbard's lawyers sent a letter to Hillary Clinton demanding she retract Russia comments Posted: 12 Nov 2019 04:19 PM PST  Tulsi Gabbard's lawyers want Hillary Clinton to make her retraction at a press conference and on social media.
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| See Photos of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel Posted: 11 Nov 2019 09:01 PM PST |
| FBI investigating killing of US women and children in Mexico Posted: 12 Nov 2019 03:44 PM PST  FBI agents are in Mexico helping investigate the fatal shootings of nine American women and children in northern Mexico last week. "The FBI remains committed to working alongside our international partners to help bring justice to the perpetrators of this heinous act of violence," Hagee said in a written statement. A Mexican federal official says FBI agents have been in Mexico since Monday, adding that they were unarmed.
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| Pilot receives $300K in wrongful arrest Posted: 12 Nov 2019 11:20 AM PST  An airline pilot who was arrested after being seen naked in his hotel room overlooking Denver International Airport has been awarded a $300,000 wrongful arrest settlement from the city.
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| Trump impeachment: Steve Bannon says Pelosi’s strategy to oust president is ‘quite brilliant’ Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:31 AM PST  Far-right political strategist Steve Bannon has heralded the tactics deployed by Democrats to impeach his former boss and remove him from office as "quite brilliant".Mr Bannon, once the president's right-hand man and chief strategist, has fallen in and out of favour with the president since his resignation.
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| The US is being hit by a frigid, early cold snap that has killed at least 6 people and could break 100 temperature records Posted: 13 Nov 2019 03:50 AM PST  The National Weather Service said the unseasonal cold air, which spread from Kansas to Minnesota to Kentucky to New York, has brought an early winter.
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| Poland seizes two for plotting Breivik-style attacks on Muslims Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:56 AM PST ![Poland seizes two for plotting Breivik-style attacks on Muslims]( "Poland seizes two for plotting Breivik-style attacks on Muslims") Polish agents arrested two people accused of planning attacks against Muslims inspired by Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik and suspected white supremacist Brenton Tarrant in New Zealand, the security service said on Wednesday. The arrests follow a spate of attacks involving white supremacists targeting ethnic and religious minorities across the globe. Far-right groups have grown in strength in Poland, the largest of the European Union's post-communist states.
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| Asylum-seekers in Greece, Italy face years of limbo: EU audit Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:07 AM PST  Asylum-seekers crowded into "hotspots" in Greece and Italy face limbo that can drag on for years because of legal bottlenecks and poorly performing EU schemes, a report said Wednesday. The document, by the EU's European Court of Auditors, also found that two agencies meant to assist the two countries with their overflowing camps and caseloads were failing in their missions, partly because of insufficient support from member states. The audit looked at EU projects meant to alleviate the pressure on the so-called hotspots -- camps on Greek islands and in Italy, where migrants' asylum claims were examined and designated refugees were meant to be vetted for relocation to other EU states.
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| 'A big fan': Trump welcomes Turkey's Erdogan despite bipartisan concern over Syria attack Posted: 13 Nov 2019 03:46 PM PST  Trump's meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be a hornet's nest, provoking bipartisan anger over Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria.
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| Why China Loves Russia's Su-35 Fighter (And Might Buy Even More of Them) Posted: 12 Nov 2019 04:13 AM PST  But a larger question looms.
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| WSU fraternity death marks 4th campus fatality in a month Posted: 13 Nov 2019 01:17 AM PST  "There is a cultural problem," said Franklin College Professor Hank Nuwer, who has studied fraternity drinking trends for decades
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| Federal prosecutors to charge 2 more St. Louis officers Posted: 13 Nov 2019 09:18 AM PST ![Federal prosecutors to charge 2 more St. Louis officers]( "Federal prosecutors to charge 2 more St. Louis officers") Federal prosecutors will seek additional charges in the 2017 attack of an undercover St. Louis police officer who claimed he was beaten "like Rodney King" by his own colleagues. St. Louis officers Randy Hays, 32, and Bailey Colletta, 26, have pleaded guilty in connection with the attack of undercover Officer Luther Hall. Two others, Dustin Boone, 36, and Christopher Myers, 28, are awaiting trial.
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| Socialism Stinks: The Unfortunate Lessons of Venezuela's Central Planning Posted: 11 Nov 2019 11:29 PM PST  Socialism doesn't work.
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| Mysterious Professor at Heart of Russian Investigation Returns for Impeachment Proceedings Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:51 PM PST  Chip Somodevilla/GettyROME—Joseph Mifsud, the erstwhile professor from Malta whose promise to help then-candidate Donald Trump's campaign aide George Papadopoulos get his hands on Russian "dirt" about Hillary Clinton has reportedly resurfaced. On Wednesday, the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera posted a six-minute audio recording in English it says Mifsud sent from an anonymous email account late Tuesday night. A short time later, the Italian news agency Adnkronos published a clip it received. Whether other publications received the Mifsud missive is not clear, nor is the more important question of whether it's genuine. Last summer Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham traveled to Rome twice to learn what they could from Italian secret service officials about the professor as part of their investigation into the Russian investigation led by Robert Mueller. Mifsud has not been seen for two years and speculation has swirled around the question of whether he is still alive and, if he is, who is supporting him.Barr Went to Rome to Hear a Secret Tape From Joseph Mifsud, the Professor Who Helped Ignite the Russia ProbeThe Corriere clip starts with a brief introduction. "Today is the 11th of November 2019" and continues, "I am Joseph Mifsud speaking, this is my voice." It does sound like other recordings of Mifsud.He goes on to say that he has had "no contact with friends and family for a number of months now." While he doesn't say where he is or where he has been, it is clear that—if this is Mifsud—he hopes that he can come back out from under whatever rock he has been hiding under for the last two years. "It is extremely important finally … that I am given the possibility of coming back to life," the voice says. "It has been very, very difficult for me to live like this, without any human contact, without a human experience, and I believe that I should be given the opportunity to do that. It is extremely important that somebody somewhere decides to let me breathe again."He does not say who is keeping him from resurfacing or why he has chosen to go underground. But he does make a laborious attempt to explain that he is "just a networker" who connects people who might be interested in "similar topics.""It's been almost two years to date that the whole issue—blown up issue—has been presented to the world's media and on the world's stage, as if I had something to do with issues concerning countries," the man says, without naming which countries or issues those are. He then goes on to deny infiltrating "programs, contacts or any other institutions of the world."The Mifsud voice does not mention that he has been accused of being a Russian asset in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Nor does me mention Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about their interactions. Nor does the man who says he is Mifsud say he has also been accused by deep state conspiracy theorists that he was sent as a lure to trap Trump by then-President Barack Obama. Instead, he calls all accusations that he is anything but an academic absurd. "I try to bring one group in contact with another," he said. "Not, not repeat and underline, nobody in any service, secret service, intelligence service or anybody of this sort." He then goes on to qualify that if he had met any such spooks, he didn't know it. "If I had any contact with this, I have not known that this person or that person had any link with any institution," the man claiming to be Mifsud says. Mifsud's own lawyer, Stephan Roh, has insinuated that his client was forced into hiding by Italian intelligence officials to avoid compromising the investigation into Mueller's investigation. "I think Mifsud is still alive, he was at least until last Spring. I know he was hiding because he feared for his life, I also know that someone forced him to hide," Roh told Italian news agency Adnkronos last year. "Mifsud had to disappear, because he could compromise the whole investigation of Mueller against Trump."Here's How Dumb Bill Barr's Great Mifsud Conspiracy Story Really IsThe person on tape doesn't necessarily seem to agree with that assessment. Instead, he says he was not the bearer of dirt on anyone to anyone. "It was never my intent to try to obtain any information to pass from one side to the other," the voice says. "I have never done so because II was never in possession with any information which would be useful to one side or another."The Adnkronos clip rambles, with the man purporting to be Mifsud seemingly trying to convince whoever is listening that he wants out of hiding. "I have kept out of the limelight. I have tried to keep myself busy—mentally. I'm going to be 60 in April … I need to have contacts with my ailing parents … I've been living a very lonely life."He goes on to say, "I have never been paid by anybody to commit any intrusion into the privacy of another," he says. As noted, there is no independent verification of the recording's validity. One might think a video would be far more convincing.BuzzFeed quotes the investigative journalism website Belingcat's analysis that it is likely Mifsud based on words Mifsud is known to mispronounce, and the site called his former girlfriend who told it she was "certain" it was her former lover. Adnkronos, on the other hand, sent the audio tape to Mfisud's Swiss lawyer Stephan Roh, who says it is not him. If the voice does indeed belong to the mysterious professor, or even if it does not, it begs the question why the name Mifsud would resurface on the eve of the open impeachment hearings into Trump over the Ukraine? His broad denials prove nothing. His adamant insistence that he has "been a networker all my life" proves even less. Still, the timing is suspicious and mysterious. Who benefits? Until we know more, impossible to tell.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Ruth Bader Ginsburg misses Supreme Court hearings due to illness Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:05 AM PST  Ruth Bader Ginsburg was missing from oral arguments at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday morning after contracting a stomach virus.Chief Justice John Roberts announced that the court's oldest justice, at 86 years old, was "indisposed due to an illness" but would be following the week's cases by reading briefs from home. It's the second time within the past year that she has missed arguments due to an illness.
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| Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt Posted: 12 Nov 2019 03:45 PM PST ![Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt]( "Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt") Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area. Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, the boat is a supply vessel for Mexico's oil industry. Micoperi and the Italian embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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| Cows swept off island during Hurricane Dorian found after swimming for miles Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:06 AM PST  Cows missing for two months were located on North Carolina's Outer Banks after 'mini tsunami' carried wildlife awayCows are recognized as adept swimmers comfortable with covering a few hundred yards – but swimming miles of open water in a hurricane is outside their general range. Photograph: Dawn Damico/AlamyThree cows swept off an island during the raging storm of Hurricane Dorian have been located on North Carolina's Outer Banks after apparently swimming four miles during the storm.The extraordinary swimming bovines were grazing on their home of Cedar Island when the giant storm hit on 6 September, generating an 8ft "mini tsunami" that swept away wildlife, including 28 wild horses and about 17 cows from the island's herd.They were presumed dead, but Cape Lookout National Seashore staff spotted one of the cows on another barrier island a month after the storm. That sighting was followed by two more, apparently grazing peaceably. A picture of the rangy-looking trio is now on Facebook.Cows are recognized as adept swimmers comfortable with covering a few hundred yards. But swimming miles of open water in a hurricane is outside their general range of expertise.Cape Lookout Park spokesman BG Horvat said the animals were lucky not to have been swept out into the Atlantic."I'll say it's about four miles across Core Sound," Horvat told McClatchy news service. "Remember, the cows and all the horses were swept away with the water surging back. Who knows exactly, but the cows certainly have a gripping story to share."Locals are now working on a plan to recover the animals – presumably without making them swim.
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| Study: Half Europe’s unauthorized migrants in Germany, UK Posted: 12 Nov 2019 03:50 AM PST  At least 3.9 million unauthorized migrants — and possibly as many as 4.8 million — lived in Europe in 2017 with half of them in Germany and the United Kingdom, according to a study published Wednesday. The Pew Research Center said the number grew from 2014, when about 3-3.7 million resided in Europe, and peaked in 2015-16 during the refugee crisis when some 1.3 million people arrived, mostly from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, the European Union and Turkey signed a deal designed to keep millions of migrants in Turkey from coming to Europe, and many asylum seekers, especially Syrians, received asylum or residency rights in Germany and other European countries.
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| Zimbabwe Distributes New Banknotes but Keeps Curb on Withdrawals Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:17 AM PST ![Zimbabwe Distributes New Banknotes but Keeps Curb on Withdrawals]( "Zimbabwe Distributes New Banknotes but Keeps Curb on Withdrawals") (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterZimbabwean banks started distributing low-denominated banknotes on Tuesday to help end a crippling cash shortage, more than a decade since the nation had its own hard currency.However, strict withdrawal limits of Z$300 ($19) a week meant consumers continued to struggle to get enough cash to cover costs.The central bank sent Z$30 million of the new notes to local banks, the state-controlled Herald newspaper cited Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya as saying. Lenders were issuing newly minted Z$2 and Z$5 notes and coins."The only consolation is that today I got my money, but the problem is that it's not enough to last the whole week since I use public transport," said Ishe Mukoi, a store supervisor in the capital, Harare.Zimbabwe this year abolished a multi-currency system and reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar as sole legal tender, a decade after it went out of circulation because of hyperinflation. It has weakened from a 1:1 parity peg in February to 15.8742 per U.S. dollar on Tuesday.The central bank plans to "drip feed" Z$1 billion into the economy over the next six months to help end arbitrage and premiums being charged on the parallel market.To contact the reporter on this story: Godfrey Marawanyika in Harare at gmarawanyika@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline MackenzieFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 25 charged with over brutal killing of Bangladesh student Posted: 13 Nov 2019 06:15 AM PST  Some 25 people, many members of Bangladesh's ruling Awami League party, were charged with murder Wednesday over the brutal killing last month of a university student who criticised the government on social media. The battered body of 21-year-old Abrar Fahad was found in his dormitory hours after he wrote a post on Facebook slamming Dhaka for signing a water-sharing deal with India. Police said he was beaten to death by fellow students -- many members of the ruling Awami League's university branch.
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| Feud Between Trump Advisers Underscores a White House Torn by Rivalries Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:40 AM PST  WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's chief of staff and former national security adviser clashed in court Monday. Two new books describe how top aides to the president secretly plotted to circumvent him. And nearly every day brings more testimony about the deep internal schism over the president's effort to pressure Ukraine for domestic political help.In the three years since his election, Trump has never been accused of running a cohesive, unified team. But the revelations of recent days have put on display perhaps more starkly than ever the fissures tearing at his administration. In the emerging picture, the Trump White House is a toxic stew of personality disputes, policy differences, political rivalries, ethical debates and a fundamental rift over the president himself.The fault lines were most clearly evident Monday when Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, abruptly withdrew his effort to join a lawsuit over impeachment testimony after a sharp collision with his onetime colleague John Bolton, the former national security adviser. Mulvaney retreated only hours after a lawyer for Bolton and his former deputy, Charles Kupperman, went to court arguing that his clients wanted nothing to do with the staff chief because they had vastly different interests.In withdrawing his motion, Mulvaney indicated that he would now press his own lawsuit to determine whether to comply with a subpoena to testify in the House impeachment inquiry. But it left him at odds with the president, who has ordered his team not to cooperate with the House, an order Mulvaney essentially has refused to accept as other administration officials have until he receives separate guidance from a judge.Mulvaney's lawyers emphasized that he was not trying to oppose Trump, maintaining that he was actually trying to sue House Democrats, and an administration official who insisted on anonymity said there was "no distance" between the president and his chief of staff. Still, Mulvaney hired his own lawyer instead of relying on the White House counsel, and he consciously made clear that he was open to testifying if left to his own devices.The situation underscored long-standing enmity between Mulvaney and the counsel, Pat Cipollone, who have repeatedly been at odds throughout the impeachment inquiry, according to four administration officials briefed on the events.Mulvaney, who has been left with an "acting" title for more than 10 months and therefore insecure in his position, is said to see Cipollone as angling for his job as chief of staff. People close to Cipollone deny that and say he is not interested, although they acknowledged that there were previous discussions with Trump about such a shift.Hoping to bolster his own place in the White House, Mulvaney has recommended to Trump that he hire Mark Paoletta, the general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget, where Mulvaney is still technically the director, according to people familiar with the maneuvering. Paoletta would not displace Cipollone but would give Mulvaney an ally on the legal team as the impeachment battle plays out.Another person familiar with the latest moves said that Paoletta was considered but that West Wing officials decided they were pleased with the hiring of Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, and Tony Sayegh, a Republican strategist, both of whom began full time this week.The latest personnel struggle echoed an attempt by Mulvaney several weeks ago to hire former Rep. Trey Gowdy, a fellow South Carolina Republican, to join the president's legal team. Cipollone and others were said to take issue with the idea, concerned it was an effort by Mulvaney to run his own legal team. Cipollone told allies he had no such concerns, but eventually, Gowdy bowed out, facing an issue with a ban on former House members lobbying Congress.Despite his own tenuous job status, Mulvaney has privately told associates in recent days that there is no easy way for Trump to fire him in the midst of the impeachment fight, the implication being that he knows too much about the president's pressure campaign to force Ukraine to provide incriminating information about Democrats.The court fight between Mulvaney and Bolton on Monday brought their long-running feud into the open. Mulvaney was among those facilitating the Ukraine effort while Bolton was among those objecting to it. At one point, according to testimony in the impeachment inquiry, Bolton declared that he wanted no part of the "drug deal" Mulvaney was cooking up, as the then national security adviser characterized the pressure campaign.Their clash was just one of many inside Trump's circle spilling out into public in recent days. The legal conflict Monday came just a day before Nikki Haley, the president's former ambassador to the United Nations, plans to publish a memoir accusing Trump's former secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and former chief of staff, John Kelly, of conspiring behind his back while in office. Her account in effect is a mirror image of another book coming out this month by an anonymous senior administration official describing how concerned aides mounted their own internal resistance to Trump.Kelly disputed Haley in a statement Sunday and Tillerson added his own refutation Monday. "During my service to our country as the secretary of state, at no time did I, nor to my direct knowledge did anyone else serving along with me, take any actions to undermine the president," Tillerson said in a statement.While he offered Trump frank advice, he said, once the president made a decision, he did his best to carry it out. "Ambassador Haley was rarely a participant in my many meetings and is not in a position to know what I may or may not have said to the president," Tillerson added.Tillerson was never enamored of Haley when they were both in office, seeing her as a rival trying to upstage him and run foreign policy from her perch at the United Nations. Haley's portrayal of herself fighting off Trump's internal enemies was met Monday with scoffs from several administration officials, who said they were aware of little evidence to back up her self-description. But a former senior administration official who witnessed some of the interactions Haley had with the president described her as heavily involved with policy.The books are being published at the same time new transcripts are released by the House documenting how Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and a coterie of allies, including Mulvaney, sought to sideline career diplomats and other foreign policy officials who warned against enlisting Ukraine to help the president's personal political interests.The dispute pitted one part of Trump's administration against another in a struggle over foreign policy that now has the president on the precipice of being impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.The lawsuit that Mulvaney sought to join was filed by Kupperman, a longtime associate of Bolton, and asked a court to decide whether Kupperman should obey the president's dictate to stay silent or a House subpoena to testify.While not technically a party to the lawsuit, Bolton, who left his post in September after clashing with Trump, is represented by the same lawyer, Charles Cooper, and is taking the same position as Kupperman in waiting for the court to decide whether he should testify or not.Mulvaney's effort to join the lawsuit late Friday night stunned many involved in the impeachment debate because he still works for the president. Mulvaney did not ask Bolton or Kupperman for permission to join the lawsuit nor did he give them a heads up. Bolton and his team considered it an outrageous move since they were on opposite sides of the Ukraine fight and did not want their lawsuit polluted with Mulvaney.Not only did the motion filed Monday by Bolton's camp seek to keep Mulvaney out of the lawsuit, it even advanced an argument that the acting chief of staff may have to testify before House impeachment investigators. The motion noted that in a briefing with reporters last month, Mulvaney appeared "to admit that there was a quid pro quo" before later trying to take back the admission, meaning that he might not have the right to defy a House subpoena since he had already discussed the matter in public."Accordingly, there is a serious question as to whether Mulvaney waived the absolute testimonial immunity claimed by the president," the motion said.Mulvaney's lawyers rejected that. "The idea that Mr. Mulvaney has somehow waived broad immunity by speaking about this" at a briefing "doesn't have any legs," Christopher Muha, one of the lawyers, told the judge in the case Monday afternoon, according to a transcript of a conference call released by the court.Nonetheless, Judge Richard Leon, of the U.S. District for the District of Columbia, indicated at the end of the call that he was inclined to reject Mulvaney's request to join the suit. Mulvaney then withdrew it and said he would file his own separate action.The motion filed by Bolton's camp noted that Kupperman does not take a position on who is right, the president or Congress, and "will remain neutral on the merits of the constitutional issue," while Mulvaney "has made it clear that he supports the executive" branch interpretation.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| A History of Modern American Architecture Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:28 PM PST |
| Mexico's Pemex won't pay ransom after cyberattack: energy minister Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:28 AM PST  Mexican national oil company Pemex will not pay a ransom demanded by suspected cyberattackers who targeted the firm's computer systems, Energy Minister Rocio Nahle told reporters on Wednesday. Nahle, who also serves as chair of the Pemex board, added that the attack hit the company's administrative headquarters in Mexico City and that its "plants and wells" continued to operate. Hackers have demanded some $5 million in bitcoin from Pemex.
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| US weather: Snowstorm causes 50-car pileup as America prepares for Arctic blast Posted: 12 Nov 2019 06:05 PM PST  More than 50 cars crashed on a strip of Ohio freeway in the middle of a snowstorm as the US braces for severe weather and hundreds of record-breaking, below-freezing temperatures overnight.Whiteout conditions across the northeast and midwest caused several accidents, some deadly, as an Arctic blast of frigid weather moves eastward. Many roads and schools have closed and thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed as millions of Americans prepare for an early winter blast of Arctic air.
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