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Wednesday, July 19, 2023

7/19 WAKE-UP CALL: Trump Expects Third Indictment

Donald Trump said he received a target letter as part of the federal Jan. 6 investigation, a sign that he is likely to be indicted. Special prosecutor Jack Smith sent a letter to the former president’s legal team indicating that he could face charges stemming from the probe into efforts to undo his 2020 election loss, Trump said on social media. Trump said he had been given four days to report to the grand jury. He called Smith “deranged” and accused the Biden administration of trying to undermine him in the 2024 presidential race. Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination. A spokesman for Smith declined to comment. The first pretrial hearing in the case alleging Trump mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House is today.

Former President Donald Trump went on the attack on Tuesday evening, slamming the 'deranged prosecutor' who is threatening a new set of charges related to the 2020 elections and who has already charged him over the handling of classified documents. It came as the federal judge overseeing the documents case in Florida signaled she could delay the trial until 2024 after hearing from the former president's lawyers that they needed more time to prepare for such complex legal proceedings. Judge Aileen Cannon told Trump's lawyers to set out a concrete timetable for her, but said she understood that they needed more time to review evidence.


➤MICHIGAN CHARGES 16 FAKE ELECTORS FOR DONALD TRUMP WITH ELECTION LAW AND FORGERY FELONIES: Michigan’s attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates that confirmed they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that all 16 people would face eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. The top charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

➤LOOKS LIKE U-S SOLDIER HAS DEFECTED TO N-K: The U.S. military was scrambling to establish the fate of an American soldier who made an unauthorized crossing of the inter-Korean border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a new crisis in its dealing with the nuclear-armed state. 

Travis King
The U.S. Army identified the soldier as Private Travis T. King who joined up in 2021 and was facing disciplinary action. While on an orientation tour of Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border between the two Koreas, King crossed into North Korea on Tuesday "wilfully and without authorization," U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said. "We believe that he is in (North Korean) custody and so we're closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier's next of kin," Austin told a briefing. North Korea's state media has made no mention of the incident. Its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The crossing comes at a time of renewed tension on the Korean peninsula, with the arrival of a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine, and the test launch early on Wednesday of two ballistic missiles into the sea by North Korea.


➤RUSSIAN MISSILES HIT PORT CITY: Russia launched one of its largest missile attacks on Ukraine’s port of Odesa. The strikes came hours after Moscow withdrew from an agreement ensuring safe passage for Kyiv’s grain exports through the Black Sea and during a visit by a U.S. Agency for International Development delegation. USAID announced a $250 million aid package to expand capacity at Danube River ports and modernize and rebuild infrastructure used in grain exports. Ukraine’s ports are among the world’s most important for the export of wheat and corn. The Kremlin said yesterday it would rejoin the international grain agreement if its demands are met, including Western help to its sanction-impacted food and fertilizer exports.

➤FBI RESTRICTS AGENT FROM TESTIFYING: The FBI warned a supervisory agent who investigated Hunter Biden that he was expected to “decline to respond” to House Oversight Committee questions about the “ongoing” case involving the first son, a bombshell letter shows. FBI general counsel Jason Jones sent the letter Sunday afternoon, just hours before the agent was set to testify. “[T]he Department expects that you will decline to respond to questions seeking non-public information likely covered by one or more components of executive privilege or other significant confidentiality interests, in particular information about deliberations or ongoing investigative activity in law enforcement matters,” Jones wrote. 

➤CHILD DIES AFTER BEING HIT BY 3-YEAR-OLD DRIVING GOLF CART: A 7-year-old in Fort Myers, Florida, has died after sustaining critical injuries when he was struck by a golf cart his 3-year-old brother was driving, law enforcement officials said. The 3-year-old, who was driving the cart on private property on Orange River Boulevard Monday, was approaching a curve near a home on the street when he collided with his brother, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release. The 7-year-old brother had been standing in front of the home at the time. The Florida Highway Patrol did not provide any information on why the 3-year-old child was driving a golf cart.

➤795,000 AMERICANS A YEAR DIE OR ARE PERMANENTLY DISABLED AFTER BEING MISDIAGNOSED: Top medical researchers are sounding the alarm that an estimated 795,000 American patients continue to die or become permanently disabled each year because they are being diagnosed with the wrong conditions.  Researchers say an estimated 371,000 patients die and 424,000 are permanently disabled each year because they are incorrectly diagnosed across a range of medical care settings — not just in the family doctor's office.

➤RETAIL SALES UP: Americans boosted their retail spending in June for the third straight month, a sign of consumers’ continued resilience amid easing inflation and a strong labor market. Retail sales—a measure of spending at stores, online and in restaurants—rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month from the month before, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was a slower pace than in May and April and matched the 0.2% increase in consumer prices last month, a sign that Americans’ spending is keeping up with, but not outpacing, inflation.

➤TIGER'S EX DROPS LAWSUIT: Tiger Woods's ex-girlfriend Erica Herman is dropping her lawsuit against the PGA Tour star's estate seeking $30 million, according to a report.  The 39-year-old has dismissed the case pending the result of her latest appeal of a judge's order to throw out a separate lawsuit she filed against the golfing icon, which sought to invalidate a non-disclosure agreement on a sexual harassment claim.  Herman filed the $30 million lawsuit last October against the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, which is the legal owner of Woods's mansion in Hobe Sound, Florida, where the two lived together.

🐶PETS ARE 'FAMILY': About half of U.S. pet owners say their pets are as much a part of their family as a human member. Families come in all shapes and sizes. And for a majority of Americans, family includes their pets. Most Americans own a pet, including about a third who have more than one. And nearly all U.S. pet owners say their pets are part of their family, including about half who not only consider their pets to be a part of their family but also say they are as much a part of their family as a human member.

⚾MLB ANGELS 5, YANKEES 1:  Shohei Ohtani had an RBI triple, Mickey Moniak hit a two-run homer and Patrick Sandoval pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning of Los Angeles´ victory over New York. Moniak had three hits and drove in three runs for the Angels, who have won three of four after a six-game skid. With its first series victory since June 16-18 against Kansas City, Los Angeles is back at .500 while attempting to make enough progress this month in the AL postseason race to justify keeping Ohtani. Gleyber Torres´ third-inning homer was New York´s only hit until Anthony Volpe´s one-out single finally chased Sandoval (5-7). The Yankees are 1-4 on their trip out of the break, losing both series in Denver and Anaheim. Domingo Germán (5-6) struck out nine for the third time in his last four starts for New York, but also yielded five runs on four hits and three walks.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave fans hope as he said that outfielder Aaron Judge is 'close' to returning to the field. The slugger has been sidelined with a toe injury since June 3 when he injured his right big toe after it collided with the outfield wall in a game against the LA Dodgers. The Yankees form has taken a significant hit in his absence but Boone offered a positive update Tuesday. 

⚾MLB METS 11 WHITE SOX 10: David Robertson retired Tim Anderson on a game-ending flyout that stranded runners on second and third, and the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox 11-10 Tuesday night after building a seven-run lead behind a pair of Francisco Álvarez home runs. Álvarez and fellow rookie Brett Baty hit back-to-back home runs off Lucas Giolito (6-6) as the Mets took a 5-0 lead in their highest-scoring first inning this season. New York's catcher added another two-run homer in the sixth off Tanner Banks for his third multi-homer game, putting the Mets ahead 11-4.

⚾MLB DIAMONDBACKS 16, BRAVES 13: Geraldo Perdomo gave Arizona the lead with a two-run double in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks took advantage of Atlanta´s worst pitching effort of the season to beat the Braves 16-13 on Tuesday night. It was Arizona´s first game in which each team had at least 13 runs and the first in the majors since the Chicago White Sox beat the Cubs 17-13 on Aug. 27, 2021. The NL East-leading Braves have lost three straight. Arizona snapped a four-game losing streak.

⚾MLB SCORES

  • Phillies 4 Brewers 3
  • Rangers 5 Rays 3
  • Dodgers 10 Orioles 3
  • Guardians 10 Pirates 1
  • Giants 11 Reds 10
  • Cardinals 5 Marlins 2
  • Cubs 17 Nationals 3
  • Royals 11 Tigers 10
  • Rockies 4 Astros 3
  • Athletics 3 Red Sox 0
  • Twins 10 Mariners 3
⚾MLB TAKING OVER BROADCASTS OF ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS GAMES: A bankruptcy judge approved Diamond Sports Group's request to shed its contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, prompting Major League Baseball to step in, beginning with the team's game against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. Like it did upon taking over the San Diego Padres' broadcasts at the end of May, MLB will make D-backs games available blackout-free through its streaming service, MLB.TV, and will provide a linear cable option on different channels through Cox, DirecTV, Spectrum and Comcast Xfinity. Other providers such as Mediacom, Orbitel, TDS and Optimum/Suddenlink will also carry D-backs games, as will the streaming service Fubo.






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