10 October 19
In Bill Barr, Trump Found His Dick Cheney
Bob Moser, Rolling Stone
Moser writes: "Two months into his ill-begotten presidency, when Donald Trump flew into a temper tantrum over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' insistence on recusing himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, he famously bawled, 'Where's my Roy Cohn?'"
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Bob Moser, Rolling Stone
Moser writes: "Two months into his ill-begotten presidency, when Donald Trump flew into a temper tantrum over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' insistence on recusing himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, he famously bawled, 'Where's my Roy Cohn?'"
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President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani. (photo: William B. Plowman/Getty)
Trump Pressured Tillerson to Help Scrap Criminal Case Against One of Giuliani's Clients, According to Report
Alison Durkee, Vanity Fair
Durkee writes: "Giuliani was not the president's lawyer at the time, and Bloomberg notes that it's unclear whether Trump actually realized the request was as 'improper' as it actually was."
EXCERPT:
Trump's involvement with Zarrab's case specifically also raises new questions. Zarrab was arrested in 2016 on a family trip to Walt Disney World for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran, with former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara writing that Zarrab had “facilitated millions of dollars-worth of transactions on behalf of Iran . . . through a global network of companies located in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.” Beyond that, Zarrab also had ties to the Turkish government, and, Bharara noted, was “engaged in a massive bribery scheme . . . paying cabinet-level [Turkish] governmental officials and high-level bank officers tens of millions of Euro and U.S. dollars” to facilitate his transactions. Zarrab's case was a priority for Erdogan, who, while not directly implicated in the sanctions evasion, was tangentially linked to the corruption. The Turkish president lobbied Obama administration officials, including President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, for the trader's release, and the New York Times noted in 2017 that his officials mounted a campaign casting the case as “a conspiracy against Turkey” when it eventually went to trial. While the efforts to secure Zarrab's release were ultimately unsuccessful, Zarrab ended up taking a plea deal in November 2017—and was speculated to be cooperating with Robert Mueller's team in their investigation of Michael Flynn and his relationship with Erdogan.
Alison Durkee, Vanity Fair
Durkee writes: "Giuliani was not the president's lawyer at the time, and Bloomberg notes that it's unclear whether Trump actually realized the request was as 'improper' as it actually was."
EXCERPT:
Trump's involvement with Zarrab's case specifically also raises new questions. Zarrab was arrested in 2016 on a family trip to Walt Disney World for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran, with former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara writing that Zarrab had “facilitated millions of dollars-worth of transactions on behalf of Iran . . . through a global network of companies located in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.” Beyond that, Zarrab also had ties to the Turkish government, and, Bharara noted, was “engaged in a massive bribery scheme . . . paying cabinet-level [Turkish] governmental officials and high-level bank officers tens of millions of Euro and U.S. dollars” to facilitate his transactions. Zarrab's case was a priority for Erdogan, who, while not directly implicated in the sanctions evasion, was tangentially linked to the corruption. The Turkish president lobbied Obama administration officials, including President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, for the trader's release, and the New York Times noted in 2017 that his officials mounted a campaign casting the case as “a conspiracy against Turkey” when it eventually went to trial. While the efforts to secure Zarrab's release were ultimately unsuccessful, Zarrab ended up taking a plea deal in November 2017—and was speculated to be cooperating with Robert Mueller's team in their investigation of Michael Flynn and his relationship with Erdogan.
Given Erdogan's involvement, the revelation that Trump was personally pushing for Zarrab's case to be dropped is likely to fuel new concerns about Trump's reportedly “fawning” relationship with the authoritarian Turkish president, as Trump seemingly prioritizes Turkey over the views of his own party by withdrawing troops from Syria and leaving the American-allied Kurds at risk. (Trump's relationship with Erdogan has also been scrutinized given Trump's real estate business in Istanbul, and an NBC News analysis found that Turkish officials have made more visits to Trump properties than any other government.) The president defended his wildly unpopular military decision Wednesday in true Trumpian fashion, saying that the Kurdish troops “didn’t help us in the Second World War. They didn’t help us in Normandy.” (Trump also dismissed a question on ISIS escapees by saying “they are going to be escaping to Europe.”) Lawmakers, meanwhile, are escalating their rare bipartisan condemnation of Trump's decision, as Senators Lindsey Graham and Chris Van Hollen released a bill Wednesday that would issue sanctions against Turkey. “The Kurds have been a great partner . . . Turkey under Erdogan has not been. I’m concerned about what can happen next,” Republican Sen. Roy Blunt told Politico Wednesday. “I wish the president would reconsider.”
Sacramento Municipal Utility District worker Lindsey Martinez prepares a utility pole for installation. (photo: Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle)
Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke (photo: Antonio Perez/AP)
New US citizens recite the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at Rockefeller Center, in New York City, on September 17, 2019. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty)
Former far-right Colombian president and senator Alvaro Uribe (photo: John Vizcaino/Reuters)
Oil drilling operation. (photo: iStock)
Sacramento Municipal Utility District worker Lindsey Martinez prepares a utility pole for installation. (photo: Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle)
J.D. Morris, San Francisco Chronicle
Morris writes: "Nearly a century ago, thousands of dissatisfied Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers decided they wanted to divorce themselves from the company's power service and form their own government-run utility."
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Morris writes: "Nearly a century ago, thousands of dissatisfied Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers decided they wanted to divorce themselves from the company's power service and form their own government-run utility."
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Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke (photo: Antonio Perez/AP)
Chicago Releases Investigation Showing 16 Police Officers Helped Cover Up the Killing of Laquan McDonald
Naomi LaChance, Splinter
LaChance writes: "On Wednesday, the city of Chicago released a watchdog report showing an alleged cover-up following the 2014 police killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald."
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Naomi LaChance, Splinter
LaChance writes: "On Wednesday, the city of Chicago released a watchdog report showing an alleged cover-up following the 2014 police killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald."
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New US citizens recite the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at Rockefeller Center, in New York City, on September 17, 2019. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty)
Trump Just Quietly Cut Legal Immigration by Up to 65%
Nicole Narea, Vox
Narea writes: "With one proclamation signed late Friday evening last week, President Donald Trump made his adviser Stephen Miller's dreams of restricting legal immigration a reality."
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Nicole Narea, Vox
Narea writes: "With one proclamation signed late Friday evening last week, President Donald Trump made his adviser Stephen Miller's dreams of restricting legal immigration a reality."
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Former far-right Colombian president and senator Alvaro Uribe (photo: John Vizcaino/Reuters)
Former Colombian President Uribe Investigated by Supreme Court
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Former far-right Colombian President and Senator Alvaro Uribe went Tuesday before the Supreme Court of Justice as part of the process opened against him for alleged procedural fraud and bribery of witnesses."
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teleSUR
Excerpt: "Former far-right Colombian President and Senator Alvaro Uribe went Tuesday before the Supreme Court of Justice as part of the process opened against him for alleged procedural fraud and bribery of witnesses."
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Oil drilling operation. (photo: iStock)
Revealed: The 20 Firms Behind a Third of All Carbon Emissions
Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "New data from world-renowned researchers reveals how this cohort of state-owned and multinational firms are driving the climate emergency that threatens the future of humanity, and details how they have continued to expand their operations despite being aware of the industry's devastating impact on the planet."
Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "New data from world-renowned researchers reveals how this cohort of state-owned and multinational firms are driving the climate emergency that threatens the future of humanity, and details how they have continued to expand their operations despite being aware of the industry's devastating impact on the planet."
EXCERPT:
The top 20 companies on the list have contributed to 35% of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane worldwide, totalling 480bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) since 1965.
Those identified range from investor-owned firms – household names such as Chevron, Exxon, BP and Shell – to state-owned companies including Saudi Aramco and Gazprom.
Chevron topped the list of the eight investor-owned corporations, followed closely by Exxon, BP and Shell. Together these four global businesses are behind more than 10% of the world’s carbon emissions since 1965.
Twelve of the top 20 companies are state-owned and together their extractions are responsible for 20% of total emissions in the same period. The leading state-owned polluter is Saudi Aramco, which has produced 4.38% of the global total on its own.
Michael Mann, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, said the findings shone a light on the role of fossil fuel companies and called on politicians at the forthcoming climate talks in Chile in December to take urgent measures to rein in their activities.
“The great tragedy of the climate crisis is that seven and a half billion people must pay the price – in the form of a degraded planet – so that a couple of dozen polluting interests can continue to make record profits. It is a great moral failing of our political system that we have allowed this to happen.”
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