U.S.AxiosReport: Larry Nassar has spent $10,000 on himself in prison, but paid victims only $300
Former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar spent more than $10,000 on himself while in prison for criminal sexual conduct, paying $300 in restitution towards his victims, per a Wednesday court filing obtained by the Washington Post. Driving the news: Since being imprisoned in 2018, Nassar received deposits totaling $12,825 into his prison bank account — including two pandemic stimulus checks totaling $2,000. Nassar's government-run prison account is intended to cover things such as commissary items and phone and email expenses.
WorldReutersKremlin says Biden is wrong to say that Russia only has nuclear weapons and oil
MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Joe Biden's assessment of Russia as only having nuclear weapons and oil was wide of the mark and betrayed a lack of knowledge about the country. Biden made the remark on Tuesday during a speech in which he warned that if the United States ended up in a "real shooting war" with a "major power" it could be the result of a significant cyber attack on the country, highlighting what Washington sees as growing threats posed by Russia and China. Biden boasted that the U.S. intelligence services were superior to their Russian counterparts and said Putin had "a real problem."
U.S.Washington ExaminerFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis mocks new CDC mask guidance and vows no more lockdowns
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis mocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guideline on mask-wearing as he vowed not to implement new lockdowns. The Republican, who is widely considered a top potential contender in the 2024 presidential race, spoke at a conservative policy conference in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, delivering a shot across the bow of the Biden administration's urgent plea to U.S. residents, regardless of vaccination status, to don face coverings in areas with high concentrations of new infections, as well as students, teachers, and staff returning to schools in person next month. “It is very important that we say unequivocally no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, and no to mandates," the Republican governor added.
U.S.Associated PressViolent arrest in Colorado reignites anger over policing
A video showing a police officer pistol-whipping and choking a Black man during an arrest in a Denver suburb has reignited anger over policing in the community, with activists on Wednesday decrying what they say is just the latest example of the mistreatment of people of color. Aurora Officer John Haubert was arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree assault, second-degree assault and felony menacing charges, after officers responded Friday to a trespassing report where they found Kyle Vinson, who is biracial and identifies as Black. Haubert's lawyer, Reid Elkus, has vowed to “zealously defend” him.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Jan. 6 rioters told Capitol Police sergeant ‘You’re not even an American’
During the U.S. House select committee's first hearing on the Jan. 6 attack, Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said he was subjected to racist and xenophobic insults while he was fighting to protect the U.S. Capitol from violent rioters.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump reportedly called acting AG nearly every day about voter fraud claims
After the November election, former President Donald Trump called then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen on almost a daily basis to tell him about claims of voter fraud, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. During these calls in late 2020 and early 2021, Trump asked Rosen what the Justice Department was doing about the allegations, the people said. At the time, Trump and his supporters were working overtime in an attempt to stop the certification of the election results, and the Post reports that the calls stopped after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
PoliticsWashington ExaminerRepublican governor signs ‘medical freedom’ law preventing COVID-19 vaccine mandates
New Hampshire residents will not be forced to receive a coronavirus vaccination despite other states and businesses requiring one. “Every person has the natural, essential, and inherent right to bodily integrity, free from any threat or compulsion by the government to accept an immunization,” according to a new bill that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law this week. The “medical freedom” law came to fruition as some neighboring states look to boost vaccination rates via vaccine mandates.
U.S.TheGrio2nd former school employee dead amid investigation into sexual abuse of students
His death came after a July 6 report was sent to Marshalltown police alleging that there was “potential sexual exploitation and inappropriate sexual contact between a former school employee and former student,” according to a news release from the police. The former staff member was being investigated by police in relation to allegations involving a former student,” Marshalltown Community School District superintendent Theron Schutte confirmed in a statement, according to the Times-Republican. Meanwhile, a third former employee within the district was also arrested in the past two months for sexual misconduct with a student.
U.S.ReutersTrump, children cannot arbitrate marketing scam case -U.S. appeals court
A federal appeals court said former U.S. President Donald Trump and his adult children cannot move into arbitration a fraud lawsuit accusing them of exploiting their family name to promote a marketing scam targeting the poor and working class. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the plaintiffs' agreements to arbitrate claims against the multi-level marketing company American Communications Network did not extend to the Trumps, who had not signed those agreements. Lawyers for the Trump family did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday's 3-0 decision.
BusinessWashington ExaminerFed’s Powell says inflation could be 'higher and more persistent' than expectations
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that inflation could be more aggressive and last longer than central bank expectations. Powell, fresh out of a two-day meeting with top Fed officials, told reporters that while inflation could be more intense than previously thought, indications are that it will settle back down in the future and the Fed is still not ready to begin talks about raising interest rates to mitigate price increases. “As the reopening continues, bottlenecks, hiring difficulties, and other constraints could continue to limit how quickly supply can adjust, raising the possibility that inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expect,” Powell said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
PoliticsWashington ExaminerMaricopa election audit donor list released
Cyber Ninjas, the firm leading the Arizona Senate's audit of Maricopa County's 2020 election, released a list of its "sponsors" on Wednesday after months of criticism over a lack of disclosures about the sources of funding for the controversial review. Doug Logan, the CEO of Cyber Ninjas, said the audit effort received $3.25 million from the America Project, nearly $1 million from America's Future, over $600,000 from Voices and Votes, $550,000 from Defending the Republic, and $280,000 from LDFFTAR/EIFFTAR. All of the supporters listed are conservative groups, some with Trump allies such as retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and attorney Sidney Powell attached to them, a review by the Washington Examiner found.
U.S.Kansas City StarEx-Missouri police chief pleads guilty to beating man who allegedly tried to drown baby
Greg Hallgrimson, the former police chief of Greenwood, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a handcuffed man who was being held in a police station for allegedly trying to drown his own infant daughter in an icy pond. Hallgrimson, 51, entered a guilty plea in the Western District of Missouri on Wednesday morning, according to court records. He was indicted by a federal grand jury with violating the civil rights of a man identified in court documents as “J.Z.” by throwing him to the ground and striking him in the face while he was restrained in a chair.
PoliticsAxiosTrump allies blame conservative leader for failed Texas endorsement
Donald Trump's advisers are angry at David McIntosh, president of the conservative Club for Growth, for persuading the former president to endorse a losing candidate in the special election for Texas' 6th District. Why it matters: Susan Wright's defeat Tuesday in a Republican runoff with Navy veteran Jake Ellzey dealt a blow to Trump's aura of invincibility as a Republican kingmaker. Trump advisers and allies have been ambivalent about the Club's advice and thought he should stay out of this Republican-on-Republican contest.
PoliticsNBC News'Here we go again': GOP not the only ones questioning updated CDC masking guidance
Six months ago, Dr. Sarah Fortune could see an end to the pandemic. Wednesday morning, Fortune, chair of the immunology and infectious diseases department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, woke up with "existential dread" about the future of Covid-19. Fortune supports the new guidance, which has been widely praised by experts like her, saying it will surely save lives.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest23 Home Decor Items We’re Shopping at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
Including savings on cookware, bath essentials, and rarely discounted candles Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldKansas City StarHobby Lobby bought ancient stolen tablet with tale of Gilgamesh. The feds are taking it
A dirty clay tablet inscribed with one of the world's oldest poems was looted from Iraq, smuggled into the U.S. and turned over to a London auction house before it landed in the hands of a large arts and crafts retailer for the purchase price of $1.7 million. A federal judge in the Eastern District of New York ordered Hobby Lobby on Monday to give up the rare cuneiform tablet bearing a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The retail giant had bought the tablet for the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., where it was seized in 2019.
PoliticsNBC NewsTrump's rough day hints at limits of his power over GOP
For someone his political party still can't quit, Donald Trump sure had a rough day on Tuesday. The House's Jan. 6 committee heard testimony from the Capitol police who fought with rioters on that day, with excommunicated Republican Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Il., taking starring roles on the committee. Notably, Trump didn't comment on yesterday's testimony (but he did fire off statements on masks, crime and the Ohio-15 special election).
PoliticsWashington ExaminerHollywood actress Susan Sarandon joins protest outside AOC's office: 'We’re losing hope here that you represent us'
Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon protested outside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's office in New York, saying she was "losing hope" in the Democrat's leadership. The demonstration, billed as a gathering in favor of Medicare for All, took place outside the congresswoman's office in Bronx, New York, on Monday. Sarandon railed against all members of "the Squad," an ultra-liberal wing of the Democratic caucus in the House, calling out Ocasio-Cortez by name.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump threatened to primary GOP lawmakers who favor the bipartisan infrastructure plan. 17 Republicans just voted to advance it, including Mitch McConnell.
President Trump threatened primary challengers to any Republicans who support the bipartisan infrastructure deal. The former president has railed against negotiations in recent days, warning Republicans to abandon the talks. Former President Donald Trump left no words unspoken in his most direct attempt yet to tank President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure deal.
U.S.BuzzFeed News“You're Killing Me, Bro”: Two Cops Were Arrested After One Of Them Pistol-Whipped And Choked An Unarmed Man
Two police officers in Colorado were arrested Tuesday after disturbing video showed one of them using his gun to repeatedly hit an unarmed man on his head, choke him, and threaten to shoot him, as the man bled from his head and pleaded for his life. "You're killing me, bro!" Kyle Vinson, 29, cried out multiple times after Aurora police officer John Haubert pistol-whipped him several times while trying to place him in custody following a trespassing call on Friday afternoon. The graphic video showed streaks of blood running down Vinson's head while he gasped for air and cried that he couldn't breathe, as Haubert yelled, "If you move, I will shoot you."
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRetired US general says the Trump White House 'was complicit in the planning' of the January 6 insurrection
Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré told MSNBC the Trump White House was complicit in planning the Capitol riot. Honoré also suggested Trump's White House was behind the delayed federal response that day. Honoré conducted a review of the US Capitol's security after the attack.
U.S.INSIDERConservative YouTuber Steven Crowder said that he could 'physically feel death' several days after a 'mild lung collapse'
Steven Crowder is a conservative YouTuber who's been demonetized twice by the platform. YouTuber and conservative commentator Steven Crowder said he had "taken a turn for the worse" on Monday to the extent that he could "physically feel death" days after one of his lungs collapsed. Crowder said in a June 29 video that he was having surgery in July because he had a "connective tissue disorder" that led to his "chest caving in on [his] heart."
SportsThe WeekThe 'frightening' phenomenon Simone Biles experienced before her Olympics withdrawal
Simone Biles shockingly withdrew from team competition at the Olympics this week after experiencing a "frightening" phenomenon known as "the twisties." Biles, after withdrawing from the women's gymnastics team final Tuesday, explained that she had "a little bit of the twisties," and her teammates "saw it a little bit in practice." This term, The Washington Post explains, refers to a "frightening predicament" similar to the yips, in which gymnasts "lose control of their bodies as they spin through the air."
U.S.Business InsiderLos Angeles City Council voted in favor of anti-homelessness ordinance that would impact roughly 40,000 unhoused Angelenos
The LA City Council passed an ordinance that would prohibit homeless encampments in some areas of the city. The measure passed Wednesday in a 13-2 vote, but LA Mayor Garcetti still has the power to veto it. The Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday in favor of an ordinance that would prohibit homeless encampments in some areas of the city.
U.S.Business InsiderPolice officer responds to GOP claims that Capitol rioters were tourists: 'If that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists'
Officer Daniel Hodges joked when asked about GOP claims that Capitol rioters were "tourists." "If that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists," he said. Hodges repeatedly referred to the Capitol insurrectionists as "terrorists."
“[The program] stands likely to leave millions of families — disproportionately the poorest and most fragile ones — behind.”
“[Paying] families monthly, instead of one lump sum ... will provide parents with more stability knowing when cash is coming.”
“More parents will disappear from the workforce, and more children will be locked into dependency.”
“Poverty is a political choice, not an inevitability.”
“Time is running out. There are only six months until monthly payments of the credit cease."