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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

9/13 WAKE-UP CALL: Biden Impeachment Inquiry Moves Forward

Daily Mail Graphic (9/13/23)

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the chamber would open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, citing allegations of corruption. The California Republican’s move ramps up GOP efforts to unearth any evidence of wrongdoing before the 2024 elections, but some party members fear blowback at the ballot box. Republicans have been looking into whether the president played a role in or benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s overseas business affairs. The White House has denied the senior Biden’s involvement and accused the GOP of taking revenge for former President Donald Trump’s two impeachments.

➤TWH PUTTING PRESSURE ON MEDIA: Meanwhile, Ian Sams, a special assistant to the president and senior advisor to the White House Counsel's Office, has written a to both conservative and liberal-leaning news outlets. It's slate to go out Wednesday. The letter calls for 'the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies,' Sams wrote. Liberal media commentators were among those angered by the letter and branded the Biden administration's attempt to meddle in what they report inappropriate.


➤STATE LAWMAKERS FILE NEW BILLS THAT WOULD ALLOW OFFICIALS TO SHIELD RECORDS FROM PUBLIC: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' plan to overhaul the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, broadening the kind of documents that can be kept from the public, hit a snag Monday. Plans to hold a hearing on the bill in a Senate committee Monday evening fizzled out after the House of Representatives' efforts stalled in the morning as lawmakers convened for the first day of a special session. The Republican governor called lawmakers to the Capitol for an extraordinary session to take up bills overhauling the state's open records law, cutting income taxes and banning covid-19 vaccine mandates for government workers.


➤DOJ, GOOGLE TUSSLE: Google and the Justice Department debated the company's tactics to bring people to its search engine as the biggest antitrust trial in more than two decades got underway. In opening statements, the Justice Department said the company paid huge sums to cement its dominance in internet search, shut out competitors and stifled innovation, while the Alphabet unit emphasized consumers’ significant preference for its search engine. The DOJ has alleged that Google’s deals with companies including Apple and Samsung to make its search engine the default on web browsers and mobile phones illegally helped maintain the tech giant’s monopoly. Google, which handles about 90% of search queries worldwide, has said that it competes fairly for the contracts, and that users can easily switch away from defaults. The nonjury trial is scheduled to go through mid-November.

➤IT'S NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT: An FDA advisory panel announced that an almost century-old ingredient in widely used oral decongestants doesn’t work. Phenylephrine—found in Benadryl, Mucinex, Tylenol and other over-the-counter pills, syrups and liquids—didn’t go through the rigorous clinical trials regulators require today. Recent studies found it to be ineffective at relieving congestion. The unanimous vote clears the way for FDA to remove oral phenylephrine from its list of approved OTC ingredients, which would mean those products couldn’t be sold in the U.S. Kenvue, which sells Tylenol and Benadryl, and Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Mucinex, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. OTC products for cough, sinus and flu symptoms generated about $5 billion in sales in 2021, according to research firm IRI.

➤FUGITIVE FINALLY IN CUSTODY IN PA: Convicted killer and escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante was arrested by authorities following a two-week-long manhunt. Cavalcante — who had been on the lam since Aug. 31 — was seen being escorted by a SWAT team into a van on Wednesday.
The convicted murderer had been awaiting transfer to a state prison when he fled from Chester County Prison by shimmying his body up two walls about five feet apart. He escaped from the prison by wandering to a secluded area of the yard — scaling a wall and climbing over razor wire before jumping from a roof to elude guards. The manhunt nearly reached its boiling point Monday night into Tuesday morning after a homeowner reported firing seven shots at someone matching Cavalcante’s description, breaking into his home in East Nantmeal Township with the perp stealing a .22 rifle from the property.

➤TEACHER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT: An elementary school teacher in Tennessee was charged with rape after police said she sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy and was reportedly grooming other young boys online via video games. Alissa D. McCommon, 38, who teaches fourth grade at Charger Academy in Covington, was arrested at her home by the Covington Police Department Friday on allegations of sexual misconduct with multiple juveniles in a multi-jurisdictional investigation, police said. Part of the Tipton County School District, the school is located in West Tennessee in the Mississippi Delta region. Covington is about 40 miles northeast of Memphis. McCommon, a mother of two who police said lives in Covington, is charged with one felony count of rape of a child, Tipton County General Sessions court records show. In a Facebook post, Covington police said additional charges are pending in the case.

➤FLOODING KILLS THOUSANDS: Thousands of people were killed and at least 10,000 were missing in Libya in floods caused by a huge Mediterranean storm that burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern coastal city of Derna. A senior medic in Derna told Reuters that more than 2,000 people were dead, while eastern Libya officials cited by local television were estimating a toll above 5,000. Storm Daniel barrelled across the Mediterranean into a country divided and crumbling after more than a decade of conflict.


➤1 STUDENT DEAD, ANOTHER ARRESTED AFTER SHOOTING AT LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL: A student is dead and another is in custody after a shooting Tuesday at a high school in Louisiana, authorities said. The alleged shooter, who is a juvenile and student at the school, was arrested, Sheriff Nat Williams said. Charges will be released at a later time, he said. A motive for the shooting has not been determined, authorities said.

➤BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS OFFICER JOKING WOMAN STRUCK AND KILLED BY SEATTLE POLICE CRUISER 'HAD LIMITED VALUE': A city watchdog agency is investigating after a body-worn camera captured one Seattle Police Department union leader joking with another following the death of a woman who was struck and killed by a police cruiser as she was crossing a street. Daniel Auderer, who is the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, responded to the Jan. 23 crash scene where another officer, Kevin Dave, struck and killed Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, in a crosswalk. Dave was driving 74 mph on the way to an overdose call, and Auderer, a drug recognition expert, was assigned to evaluate whether Dave was impaired.


⚾MLB YANKEES 4 RED SOX 1: Aaron Boone earned his 500th managerial win as the New York Yankees beat the host Boston Red Sox 4-1 to complete a sweep of Tuesday's day-night doubleheader. Gleyber Torres went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, and Everson Pereira crossed the plate twice to lead New York (73-72), which pushed across single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and two more in the ninth. Carlos Rodon (3-5) struck out nine and allowed just one run on four hits through five innings to nab the win. Nick Ramirez clinched his first career save with a clean ninth.

⚾MLB BRAVES 7 PHILLIES 6: Matt Olson collected two hits, including his historic 51st home run, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the host Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 in 10 innings on Tuesday. In the fourth inning, Olson swatted a solo shot to left, tying the single-season franchise record set by Andruw Jones in 2005. He leads the majors in homers this year. Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer and singled, Ronald Acuna Jr. socked a two-run homer and Eddie Rosario produced the go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning. Rosario had three hits for the Braves (95-50), who would clinch the National League East title with a win over the Phillies on Wednesday.


⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Yankees 3 Red Sox 2 (1st Game)
  • Twins 3 Rays 2
  • White Sox 6 Royals 2
  • Cardinals 5 Orioles 2
  • Pirates 5 Nationals 1
  • Reds 6 Tigers 5
  • Rangers 6 Blue Jays 3
  • Mets 7 D-Backs 4
  • Brewers 3 Marlins 1
  • Athletics 6 Astros 2
  • Royals 11 White Sox 10
  • Rockies 6 Cubs 4
  • Mariners 8 Angels 0
  • Guardians 3 Giants 1
  • Dodgers 11 Padres 2

⚾MATT OLSON HITS 51ST HR, TYING BRAVES' SINGLE-SEASON RECORD: Andruw Jones had a hunch when the Atlanta Braves traded for Matt Olson in 2022, then immediately signed him to a $168 million, eight-year contract, that his season home run record wouldn't last long. "I thought Matt would be the guy to break the record," Jones said last weekend in Atlanta when his number was retired. "He's just got that swing. I'm pulling for him, and hopefully he can break it."

✞FORMER NFLer MIKE WILLIAMS HAS DIED: Former NFL wide receiver Mike Williams has died after succumbing to injuries sustained in a construction accident, according to NFL Network. He was just 36 years old. Williams’ agent, Hadley Engelhard, confirmed the tragic news Tuesday to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. “He will be missed. He fought hard his whole life. Prayers to his family,” Engelhard said. There had been premature reports that Williams passed away last week when he was placed on life support after suffering injuries while doing electrical work.

🏀ROCKET'S PORTER BROKE GAL PAL'S NECK: Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr.’s girlfriend was left with a broken bone in her neck after the NBA player allegedly relentlessly beat and choked her at their Big Apple hotel, prosecutors said Tuesday — as he was released on $75,000 bail. Porter, 23, is accused of repeatedly punching his 26-year-old girlfriend, Kysre Gondrezick, in the face and choking her until she couldn’t breathe inside their room at the four-star Millennium Hilton New York Hotel in Midtown early Monday, according to a criminal complaint. The savage beatdown allegedly only stopped when Gondrezick — a former WNBA player — fled the room and was found bloodied and bruised by hotel employees in the hall, prosecutors said during Porter’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. The pro baller, whose full name is Bryan Kevin Porter Jr., was arrested at about 6.30 a.m. Monday and charged with assault and strangulation after cops received a 911 call about the alleged attack. His girlfriend told officers that Porter had struck her with a closed fist multiple times — leaving her with an inches-long gash above her right eye, prosecutors said.

🏈RODGERS' SEASON ENDS: The 39-year-old quarterback has a torn left Achilles tendon that will require season-ending surgery, coach Robert Saleh announced Tuesday. The Jets placed Aaron Rodgers on the injured reserve list. An MRI revealed the severity of the four-time NFL MVP’s injury, confirming what the Jets feared after their 22-16 overtime win over Buffalo on Monday night. Saleh said during a video call he was not immediately certain when the quarterback would have surgery.



🌞THERE GOES THE SUN!





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