National Enquirer’s David Pecker Has Been Given Immunity
David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, has reportedly been granted immunity in the investigation into President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen and his payments to women during the 2016 campaign.
That could potentially be bad news for Trump, as Pecker’s cooperation with prosecutors could offer more details on the efforts to quash these stories about Trump during the campaign, and the extent of the president’s knowledge about those payoffs to women.
Pecker is the CEO of American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, and a longtime friend of Trump’s. In August 2016, the tabloid arranged what’s called a “catch and kill” deal with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and 2007.
McDougal agreed to sell the rights of her story to AMI, and in exchange for not speaking publicly, she received $150,000 and the chance to publish a few fitness articles in the National Enquirer.
Trump Talks About Impeachment
On Thursday, in an interview on “Fox and Friends” President Donald Trump said that impeachment would wreck the stock market and the economy because he is doing such a good job.
"I tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, I think everybody would be very poor," Trump said.
During his Fox interview, Trump denied wrongdoing and said the claims against him don't amount to "high crimes" necessary for impeachment. "I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job," Trump said. Asked to grade his presidency, Trump said he would give himself an "A-plus," and that the only thing he is doing badly is "the press doesn't cover me fairly."
Many Democrats worry that talk of removing Trump will motivate Republicans in swing districts, where the minority party hopes to capitalize on a voter enthusiasm advantage in November. In May, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called impeachment a "divisive issue" and "not the path the party should go on" this year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is dedicated to electing House Democrats, has not pushed for Trump's impeachment and its strategy is unlikely to change.
Tom Steyer, the billionaire former hedge fund manager's Need to Impeach campaign quickly launched digital ads Tuesday escalating calls to impeach Trump. The videos followed Cohen's guilty plea for campaign finance violations and other federal crimes, and former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort's conviction on eight counts of fraud and other charges.
Trump’s Tweet on South African Land Overhauls Draws Government’s Ire
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on August 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own most of South Africa’s territory. The measure has not been signed into law. Ramaphosa has said any measures would not hurt economic growth or food security. No land has been “seized” since the reform plans were announced, the ANC says.
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has followed a “willing-seller, willing-buyer” model under which the government buys white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks. Progress has been slow and most South Africans believe something has to be done to accelerate change, providing it does not hurt the economy or stoke unrest.
In 2016, the country’s parliament passed a bill allowing for “the expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public interest, subject to just and equitable compensation.” In other words, the government could legally force white landowners to give up their land in return for a fair price. The land would then be redistributed to black South Africans.
Today, black South Africans, who comprise 79% of the population, still own just 9% of the country’s land, according to the government.
In a tweet from President Trump on Wednesday he said, “I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. ‘South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.’”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman said Trump was “misinformed” and the foreign ministry would seek clarification from the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria.
“South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past,” a tweet from South Africa’s official government account said.
Patrick Gaspard, a former American ambassador to South Africa, said on Twitter: “The President of the US needs political distractions to turn our gaze away from his criminal cabal, and so he’s attacking South Africa with the disproven racial myth of ‘large scale killings of farmers.’ This man has never visited the continent and has no discernible Africa policy.”
Julius Malema the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters,a radical party which backs the expropriation of land has led calls for the seizure of white-owned land, told Trump to keep out of the debate. “We want to send a strong message to the U.S. to stay out of South Africa. You have caused enough problems in Africa.”
Mollie Tibbetts Update
Yesterday, Cristhian Rivera’s attorney, Allen Richards, alleged that the government was saying falsely that Rivera was not in Iowa legally.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement that, "A search of records by USCIS revealed Rivera did not make any DACA requests nor were any grants given. We have found no record in our systems indicating he has any immigration status."
The Mexican national accused of murdering college student Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa last month lived in the United States illegally for several years and worked for a farm that used Social Security Administration data in part to vet potential employees, according to officials there.
However, Yarrabee Farms co-owner and manager Dane Lang clarified Wednesday afternoon that the farm did not use a federal E-Verify check on suspect Cristhian Rivera, despite the company's claim earlier in the day that it did. Lang said Rivera provided a state-issued photo identification and social security card. “We learned that our employee was not who he said he is.”
The man who was arrested in the murder of Mollie Tibbetts, the University of Iowa student who disappeared last month, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who worked less than three miles from where she was staying the night she vanished.
Authorities on Tuesday announced the arrest of Rivera, who led them to the body of Tibbetts. Rivera has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held on a $5 million cash bond. Rivera is being held on a federal immigration detainer. He's believed to have been in the area for four to seven years. There have been no reports of Rivera’s past criminal record or if he has been deported in the past.
Illegal Alien Sentenced for Raping Women after ICE Detainer Not Enforced
An Illinois judge on Monday slammed the officials who failed to enforce a 2012 ICE detainer on an illegal immigrant who beat and raped three women even though he "shouldn't have been in this country."
Miguel C. Luna, 37, a Mexican national who was living in Joliet, Illinois, illegally was given the maximum sentence of 80 years in prison on Monday after he admitted in May 2016 to the physical and sexual assaults of two women who were running on a state trail in separate incidents in 2015 and 2016. Luna also admitted to raping a third woman who has since died.
“You shouldn’t have been in this country,” Will County Judge David Carlson said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “The system let the victims down in this case.”
Judge David Carlson said he did not understand why Luna had not been deported in 2012 when a fugitive warrant for his arrest was issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The pre-sentence investigation prepared for Luna revealed that he used at least three other aliases over the years and that ICE had issued a deportation number for Luna back in March 2012.
Carlson said he wondered why Luna was never deported from the Joliet area, wondering whether it was because of "misguided political correctness" or "people that don't believe in laws and borders."
Carlson went on to say, "I don't know. But it really, really, begs the question."
Luna had several traffic violations predating the 2015 & 2016 rapes, including driving without a license. Due to his many aliases, it is unclear which charge prior to 2012 led to the ICE detainer and why it was not enforced. Judge Carlson seemed to indicate he believed it was due to an inability to correctly identify Luna prior to his arrest on the rape charges.
Luna faces 16 to 40 years on each of the two felony criminal assault counts. Charges related to the third victim were dropped in exchange for Luna’s guilty plea in the other two cases. Carlson ordered him to serve the sentences consecutively, serve at least 85 percent of the sentences, 68 years, and register as a sex offender if he is ever released from prison. Luna, now 37, will receive good-time credit for the more than two years of incarceration that he has spent inside the Will County Jail, since his arrest in May 2016.
Colorado University-Boulder Offers Class on ‘Whiteness Studies’
The University of Colorado-Boulder offers a course for students who wish to explore the “consequences” of whiteness. The course is offered through the Sociology Department and is titled, “Whiteness Studies.” It is a three-credit hour class that historically has been among the department’s most popular classes. When the class was offered last Fall, 52 students enrolled in the course and others were waitlisted.
The class discusses the dangers of colorblindness. “Colorblindness allows for white people to know that racism exists but then allows them to not have to take action on their white privilege.”
“The problem with colorblind racism is that it ‘aids in the maintenance of white privilege without fanfare, without naming those subjects and those it rewards.”
“Whiteness Studies” is one of many classes offered through the University of Colorado system that take a critical approach to whiteness.
Word of the Day: Bilge |
