Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Feds Thought Trump Withheld Documents

Palm Beach Post 8/10/22

The FBI's execution of a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday came after authorities believed that Trump or his aides hadn't returned all the documents and other materials that were the property of the government, The Washington Post and CNN reported Tuesday. CNN cited a source as saying officials believed the documents had national security implications. Investigators met with Trump's attorneys earlier this year, and the source said there was suspicion that after months of discussions, Trump representatives weren't being completely truthful with them. Investigators have for months been looking into how Trump handled material taken with him when he left the White House after the National Archives referred the case to the Justice Department after retrieving some 15 boxes of materials from Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has blasted the investigation and Mar-a-Lago search as politically motivated and meant to hurt his potential second run for president in 2024. Top congressional Republicans defended Trump after news of the search broke, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, but a smaller number, notably including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, have so far remained silent. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who could potentially be facing Trump in a 2024 run for the GOP presidential nomination, shared, quote, "deep concerns" about the search, but didn't attack the FBI, saying instead that Attorney General Merrick Garland should, quote, "give a full accounting to the American people as to why this action was taken and he must do so immediately." The White House said President Biden had no prior knowledge of the search, and Democrats dismissed Republican claims of a politicized Justice Department and FBI, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying, "The FBI director [Chris Wray] was appointed by Donald Trump."

 
Scott Perry
➤REP. SCOTT PERRY SAYS FBI AGENTS SEIZED HIS CELLPHONE: Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said that FBI agents with a search warrant seized his cellphone yesterday morning. Perry said in a statement that three agents "seized" his phone while he was traveling with his family, calling it "banana republic tactics." He stated, "They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish." AP reported that the circumstances of the seizure weren't immediately known, but Perry has been a figure in the congressional investigation into then-President Donald Trump’s actions leading up to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Perry pressed Trump to replace Justice Department leaders and install Justice official Jeffrey Clark as the acting attorney general. Clark had been pushing Trump's baseless election fraud claims.

➤POWERFUL EXPLOSIONS AT RUSSIAN AIR BASE IN CRIMEA: There were powerful explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea Tuesday, which could potentially mark an escalation of the war if Ukraine was responsible. Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that the Saki base had been attacked, instead saying that munitions there had blown up in what Russia's state news agency Tass quoted an unnamed ministry source as saying appeared to be due to a "violation of fire safety requirements." Ukraine's Defense Ministry said sarcastically on Facebook: "The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine cannot establish the cause of the fire, but once again recalls the rules of fire safety and the prohibition of smoking in unspecified places." AP reports that if Ukraine was responsible, it would be the first known major attack on a Russian military site on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

➤MAN CHARGED IN KILLING OF TWO MUSLIM MEN IN NEW MEXICO, SUSPECT IN TWO OTHER DEATHS: Albuquerque police announced yesterday that a 51-year-old man (left) had been charged with killing two Muslim men in the New Mexico city, and that he's also suspected in the murders of two other Muslim men there. The suspect, Muhammad Syed, is himself a Muslim from Afghanistan, who's been in the U.S. for about five years. Police were looking into possible motives, including a, quote, "interpersonal conflict." The latest victim was killed Friday, with the three other men murdered in ambush shootings. Three of the deaths were within the past week, and the fourth took place last November.

➤PLAN APPROVED TO STRETCH MONKEYPOX VACCINE SUPPLY: Federal health officials approved a plan yesterday that will stretch the nation's limited supply of monkeypox vaccine. People will be given just one-fifth the usual dose, with it administered in an injection just under the skin instead of into deeper tissue. Research suggests the reduced amount is about as effective as the usual dose, and injecting just under the skin may rev up the immune system better. Two shots would still be given four weeks apart. Robert Fenton, the White House’s monkeypox response coordinator, called the newly-approved dosing "safe" and "effective." The step acknowledges that the U.S. currently doesn't have enough vaccine for everyone seeking the shots as monkeypox has been rapidly spreading and has infected more than 8,900 Americans.

 ➤VACCINE FOR LYME DISEASE MOVING FORWARD: A vaccine to protect against Lyme disease in humans is entering its final phase of clinical trials. At best, it will be available in 2025. Only a vaccine to protect dogs against the disease, which is spread by black-legged ticks, currently exists in the U.S.

Emmett Till
➤GRAND JURY DECLINES TO INDICT WOMAN WHOSE ACCUSATION LED TO EMMETT TILL'S LYNCHING: A Mississippi grand jury has declined to incite the now 87-year-old white woman whose August 1955 accusation against 14-year-old Emmett Till led to the Black teenager's lynching, a key, galvanizing moment in the civil rights movement. Leflore County District Attorney Dewayne Richardson said Tuesday that a grand jury in the county heard more than seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses before determining there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter. Relatives had said Till had whistled at Donham -- then Carolyn Bryant -- but didn't touch her as she'd claimed. Donham's then-husband, Roy Bryant, and brother-in-law, J.W. Milam, were arrested in Till's murder, but acquitted. After their acquittal, the two men admitted to Till's abduction and murder in an interview with Look magazine. Both have long been dead.
 
➤ELECTRIC FORD GETS PRICIER: The all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup is getting a price increase before it rolls into dealerships this fall. Starting prices will increase to a range of $47,000 to $97,000, from $40,000 to $92,000. The company said the pricing of pre-orders will not be affected but holders of nonbinding reservations will be.


➤TESTS QUESTION SAFETY OF AUTOMATIC DRIVING TECHNOLOGY: The latest version of the automated driving mode installed by Tesla in its electric cars is incapable of avoiding a child standing in its path, according to a safe-technology advocacy group. The Dawn Project says Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta software repeatedly hit a stationary child-sized mannequin standing in its path. The findings are part of an ad campaign that aims for a ban on auto-driving technology.

➤IT’S A BUYER’S MARKET OUT THERE: It’s finally turning into a buyer’s market for home hunters. The number of homes for sale nationwide grew at a record pace for a third consecutive month in July, according to the Monthly Housing Trends report published by Realtor.com. The number of active listings increased 30.7% in July. The trend suggests that prospective home buyers will soon have more negotiating power over price. But the increase in supply is a direct result of higher interest rates on mortgages, which could sideline many buyers.

🎾SERENA WILLIAMS TO RETIRE, SUGGESTS WILL BE AFTER U.S. OPEN: Tennis great Serena Williams announced Tuesday that she will be retiring, saying, quote, "the countdown has begun," suggesting, but not clearly saying, that it will be after the U.S. Open, which begins at the end of this month. The 23-time Grand Slam champion shared the news in a essay released yesterday by Vogue magazine and in an Instagram post. 

Williams, who turns 41 in September, wrote on Instagram, "There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction. That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun. I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just (as) exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks." However, she wrote in the essay that she doesn't like the word "retirement," and prefers to think of it as her, quote, "evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me." Williams said she and husband Alexis Ohanian, with whom she shares four-year-old daughter Olympia, want to have a second child, and wrote, "I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out." Williams has won more Grand Slam singles titles in the professional era than any player, male or female. Only Margaret Court has more, 24, but won some of hers in the amateur era.

🏀RICHARDSON HOPEFUL ABOUT PRISONER SWAP FOR GRINER, WHELAN: Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson, who's repeatedly acted as an emissary in hostage negotiations, said yesterday that he's hopeful about the chances of a prisoner swap that will lead to the release of WNBA star Britney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, by Russia. Speaking to the Associated Press, Richards wouldn't discuss the current status of negotiations or explain what role he may be playing, but said he was "relatively positive" for several reasons, including the end of the criminal case against Griner last week, in which she was given a nine-year prison sentence on drug charges, providing an opening for diplomatic negotiations to begin in earnest.
 
🏌JUDGE DENIES THREE LIV GOLFERS BID TO PLAY IN FEDEX CUP: A federal judge denied a temporary restraining order yesterday to three players who left the PGA Tour to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf who wanted to participate in the upcoming FedEx Cup Playoffs. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan suspended Taylor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford after they appeared in LIV tournaments without conflicting-event releases from the tour. U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled they hadn't made their case of irreparable harm and agreed with the PGA Tour's position that the players' argument for emergency relief was of, quote, "their own making."

🏈GOODELL: NFL WANTS TOUGHER PENALTY FOR WATSON: Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday that the NFL wants a tougher penalty for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson because his actions were "egregious'' and "predatory behavior.'' Watson was suspended for six games earlier this month by the NFL's disciplinary officer and the league appealed last week, seeking a suspension of at least a year. Watson was accused of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct during massage sessions in civil lawsuits filed by 25 women. One lawsuit was dropped, and Watson has settled 23 of the other 24.

🏈NFL OWNERS APPROVE SALE OF BRONCOS TO WALTON-PENNER FAMILY: The NFL owners on Tuesday unanimously approved the sale of the Denver Broncos to the Walton-Penner family. The sale was announced in June, with the buying group headed by Walmart heir Rob Walton, his daughter Carrie Walton Penner and her husband Greg Penner, the chairman of Walmart. The ownership group also includes former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton. Although the sale price wasn't announced, ESPN has reported it was $4.65 billion, a record for a North American sports franchise.

🌚LOOK OUT FOR THE SUPERMOON: Look up into the sky tomorrow night (Thursday). It’s your last chance of the year to see a supermoon. Supermoons occur on nights that our moon moves closest to Earth in its orbit and therefore looks its biggest and brightest. This will be the fourth and last time in 2022 that this will happen.



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