Mueller witness bragged about access to Clintons secured with illegal campaign cash, says Justice Department

An emissary for two wealthy Arab princes boasted to unnamed officials of a Middle Eastern government about his direct access to Hillary and Bill Clinton while funneling more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to the former secretary of state's 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic fundraising committees, according to a federal indictment announced by the Justice Department this week. Wonderful meeting with Big Lady. Can't wait to tell you all about it,” George Nader allegedly wrote to an official of one of the foreign governments he advises in the Middle East after attending a political fundraiser with Hillary Clinton on April 16, 2016.

Reddit has said that Russia likely posted leaked UK trade documents as part of a vast covert influence campaign

Reddit has said that leaked documents on US-UK trade deal discussions were likely posted on the site as part of a Russian influence campaign. The documents were cited by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK's opposition Labour party, as evidence that his opponent in the UK general election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was poised to sell out the NHS in trade negotiations with the US. Researchers earlier in the week said that the accounts that posted the documents on Reddit indicated links to a vast Russian influence campaign uncovered on Facebook dubbed Secondary Infektion.

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  Tory minister says 'we should be concerned' about Russian election interference, but report on Russian interference cannot be published before election

  The Independent
• 
  Leaked trade documents cited by Jeremy Corbyn linked to 'Russian disinformation campaign'

  Evening Standard

GOP Rep. pitches LGBTQ rights bill with religious exemptions

As Democrats champion anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community and Republicans counter with worries about safeguarding religious freedom, one congressional Republican is offering a proposal on Friday that aims to achieve both goals. The bill that Utah GOP Rep. Chris Stewart plans to unveil would shield LGBTQ individuals from discrimination in employment, housing, education, and other public services — while also carving out exemptions for religious organizations to act based on beliefs that may exclude those of different sexual orientations or gender identities. Stewart's bill counts support from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but it has yet to win a backer among House Democrats who unanimously supported a more expansive LGBTQ rights measure in May.

Bombs Away! The Powerful B-52 Bomber Is Getting Even More Deadly

Key point: The Pentagon may end up flying the B-52 for 100 years. Sixty-seven years after the U.S. Air Force received its last B-52 from Boeing, the flying branch finally has firmed up plans to fit the heavy bomber with new engines. Air Force magazine in its January 2019 issue took a deep dive into the re-engining effort.

Judge Allows Criminal Trial to Proceed against Pro-Life Investigators

A San Francisco judge ruled Friday that the criminal trial may move forward against the pro-life investigators who went undercover to record abortion industry executives talking about procuring fetal body parts. Judge Christopher Hite deemed the evidence sufficient to send to trial the case against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress, who are charged with nine felony counts, one count of conspiracy and eight counts of illegal taping. Daleiden, 30, and Merritt, 64, several years ago surreptitiously recorded executives from Planned Parenthood and other organizations haggling about compensation for the procurement of fetal parts for researchers who request them.

Trump Administration Authorizes 'Cyanide Bombs' to Kill Predators Again, Months After Backlash

The Trump Administration will reauthorize the use of so-called “cyanide bombs” to poison coyotes, foxes and feral dogs that could threaten private livestock. The decision comes four months after halting their authorization amid public backlash. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday it would include new safety requirements to protect humans and pets, such as additional signs and increased distances the distance the “cyanide bombs” must be from homes and roads.

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  US re-authorizes 'cyanide bomb' anti-predator devices

  AFP
• EPA rejects ban on poison bombs against cattle predators

  Associated Press

Thousands of Las Vegas shooting victims will have to split an $800 million settlement. Now, 2 retired judges have to decide which victims deserve the most.

Two retired judges have been given the gut-wrenching task of divvying up a roughly $800 million settlement among thousands of people who were injured or lost loved ones in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, USA Today reported Friday. Last month, MGM Resorts International, which owned the Mandalay Bay hotel where the shooting occurred, agreed to pay a settlement of up to $800 million to compensate victims and their families. Just over two years ago, the deadliest mass shooting in US history left 58 people dead after a gunman sprayed bullets into a music festival crowd as he stood on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel.

Tesla changed the release dates for the most and least expensive versions of the Cybertruck by a year

Tesla has changed the production timelines for the most and least expensive trims of its Cybertruck pickup truck. It said production for the three-motor, all-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $69,900, would begin in 2021, a year earlier than Tesla first announced. The single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $39,900, will enter production in late 2022, a year later than its original timeline, Tesla said.

Meghan McCain Pouts After Another Joy Behar Clash: ‘I’m Just Trying to Make a Point!’

After taking the day off on Thursday, Meghan McCain returned to The View on Friday and immediately set about doing Meghan McCain things. During a discussion on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's altercation with a Sinclair reporter after he asked her whether she “hated” President Donald Trump, McCain sulked and pouted after frequent sparring partner Joy Behar used an audience-pleasing one-liner against McCain's argument Democrats are too focused on making a meme out of Pelosi's moment. After co-host Sunny Hostin felt Pelosi was “triggered” by the notion that Democrats only want to impeach Trump because they hate him and that it has nothing to do with the Constitution, McCain jumped in to note that Pelosi's campaign is now raising money off the incident.

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  Nancy Pelosi Takes Donald Trump's Insult, Fires It Right Back At Him

  HuffPost
• 
  Nancy Pelosi made her case for articles of impeachment at a CNN town hall. Here are the 5 biggest takeaways.

  Business Insider

Bloomberg says ending 'nationwide madness' of gun violence drives his White House bid

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday he wants to become president to end "the nationwide madness" of U.S. gun violence, calling it evil and saying he would allow its victims to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers. The billionaire media mogul, who jumped into the crowded field of Democratic White House candidates last month, unveiled a national gun control plan at a forum with survivors of gun violence in Aurora, Colorado, where 12 people were killed during a mass shooting inside a movie theater in 2012. Apart from allowing gun violence victims to sue manufacturers, the plan would force owners of assault weapons to register their weapons and require permits for all gun purchases.

Russian spies used French Alps as 'base camp' for hits on Britain and other countries

Fifteen Russian spies, including those accused of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, used the French Alps as a “base camp” to conduct covert operations around Europe over a five-year period, according to reports. The revelations came as Germany expelled two Russian diplomats after prosecutors said there was “sufficient factual evidence” linking Moscow to the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in central Berlin. According to Le Monde, British, Swiss, French, and US intelligence have drawn up a list of 15 members of the 29155 unit of Russia's GRU military spy agency who all passed through France's Haute-Savoie mountains close to the Swiss and Italian borders.

Employee shot at a Virginia post office

Authorities say a postal worker has been shot at a northern Virginia post office by an agent for the Postal Service's Inspector General's office. News outlets report that it happened Wednesday morning at the parking lot of the Lovettsville post office in Loudoun County.

13 Mythical Creatures, Ranked

Did your favorite make the list? From Popular Mechanics

Ex-boyfriend pleads guilty in helpful-homeless-man scam

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty Friday to a state charge stemming from a scheme that raked in more than $400,000 in online donations with a phony story about a homeless man helping a stranded woman. Mark D'Amico pleaded guilty in state Superior Court in Burlington County to misapplication of entrusted property stemming from the late 2017 scheme. D'Amico; his ex-girlfriend, Katelyn McClure; and homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt faced state and federal charges.

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  Boyfriend in GoFundMe Fraud Case Pleads Guilty and Is Expected to Serve 5 Years in Prison

  People
• 
  Alleged mastermind in GoFundMe scam, Mark D'Amico, pleads guilty to state charge

  WABC – NY

Virginia Commission Calls for Repeal of ‘Explicitly Racist’ and ‘Segregationist’ Laws

A Virginia state commission released a report Thursday calling for the official repeal of “deeply troubling” state laws still on the books that contain “explicitly racist language and segregationist policies. The Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law published a lengthy report saying that the outdated laws should not “remain enshrined in law” despite no longer being in effect. The commission believes that such vestiges of Virginia's segregationist past should no longer have official status,” the report states.

• Virginia still has dozens of racist and discriminatory laws on its books, report says

  USA TODAY
• 
  Panel calls for Virginia to purge dozens of old racist laws

  Associated Press

Should America Fear the Chinese H-20 Stealth Bomber?

Key point: The United States is beginning to lose its footing in East Asia. In October 2018, Chinese media announced that the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) would publicly unveil its new H-20 stealth bomber during a parade celebrating the air arm's seventieth anniversary in 2019. Prior news of the H-20's development had been teased using techniques pioneered by viral marketing campaigns for Hollywood movies.

Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to curtail another repo rate crisis, report says

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to monitor bank reserves and decrease the chances of a rate crisis similar to September's, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Mnuchin told the House of Representatives on Thursday that he and Fed Chair Jerome Powell have met multiple times to discuss the September lending rate spike and liquidity concerns ahead of year-end reserve obligations. The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into money markets through market repurchase agreement, or repo, operations and Treasury bill purchases after its overnight lending rate spiked in September.

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  The repo market is ‘broken’ and Fed injections are not a lasting solution, market pros warn

  MarketWatch
• 
  Repo-market turmoil raises almost existential question about post-crisis Wall Street rules, former Fed official says

  MarketWatch

Why Texas’s fossil fuel support will ‘spell disaster’ for climate crisis

In the same month that Greta Thunberg addressed a UN summit and millions of people took part in a global climate strike, lawmakers in America's leading oil- and gas-producing state of Texas made a statement of their own. Texas's Critical Infrastructure Protection Act went into effect on 1 September, stiffening civil and criminal penalties specifically for protesters who interrupt operations or damage oil and gas pipelines and other energy facilities. The new Texas law is emblematic of the unyielding loyalty of conservative lawmakers to the fossil fuel industry in a state stacked with influential climate science deniers or sceptics such as the US senator and former Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz and which named a pipeline tycoon to its parks and wildlife conservation commission.

Bloomberg says he shouldn't have called Booker 'well-spoken'

Mike Bloomberg on Friday expressed regret for calling fellow Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker “well-spoken” earlier in the day, after the New Jersey senator said he was “taken aback” by the racially loaded remark from the former New York mayor. “I probably shouldn't have used the word,” Bloomberg told reporters at a campaign event in Georgia. Booker had charged that Bloomberg's descriptor, which generated significant criticism on social media, was representative of a failure by some of the party's leading White House hopefuls to energize black voters and communicate effectively on issues of race.

• 
  A shortcut on the Bloomberg terminal sent users to the billionaire presidential candidate's website, where a campaign ad autoplayed. It was quickly changed.

  Business Insider
• 
  Bloomberg on his Democratic rivals: 'Trump will eat 'em up'

  Reuters

Belarus crowds rally against closer Russia ties

Roughly 1,000 Belarusians joined an unauthorised demonstration on Saturday against the prospect of a closer union with Russia. Long-time ruler Alexander Lukashenko was meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on Saturday to discuss "key issues in our bilateral relations, including the prospects for deepening integration", according to the Kremlin. Angered by the potential deal, crowds of mostly young Belarusians headed towards the government headquarters in the capital Minsk carrying signs that read "it's not integration, it's an occupation" and "the president is selling our country".

Carjackers’ Plan Foiled Because They Can't Drive Stick

Two teenagers allegedly attempted to carjack a man in Toronto on November 28, but neither could drive a car with a manual transmission, so they fled the scene without the car. A story on Canada's CP24 news website reports that a pair of teenagers attempted to carjack a man in Toronto on November 28, robbing him at gunpoint and taking his keys to get away in his car.

4 dead after hijacked UPS truck leads police on high-speed chase in Florida, FBI says

Four people died in a shootout Thursday after jewelry robbers stole a UPS truck and led Florida police on a high-speed chase, the FBI said. The truck driver, a bystander and both suspects were killed in Miramar, about 20 miles from the site of the initial robbery, FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said during a news conference. Police in Coral Gables responded to the robbery at a Regent Jewelers store shortly after 4 p.m., Chief Ed Hudak said, and were met with gunfire from two suspects.

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  Slain UPS driver's family questions police response to chase

  Associated Press
• 
  UPS driver identified in fatal Florida shootout; Video shows how gunfire unfolded

  USA TODAY

'Dark money' ties raise questions for GOP Sen. Ernst of Iowa

An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Iowa Values, a political nonprofit that is supposed to be run independently, was co-founded in 2017 by Ernst's longtime consultant, Jon Kohan. It shares a fundraiser, Claire Holloway Avella, with the Ernst campaign.