News Dump

Labor Secretary Alex Acosta stepped down on Friday amid controversy over the way he handled a sex crimes case against wealthy businessman and hedge fund manager Jeffrey Espstein a decade ago when he was U.S. attorney for southern Florida.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/us/politics/acosta-resigns-trump.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-s-labor-secretary-alex-acosta-resigns-after-criticism-over-n1029226
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/labor-secretary-alex-acosta-is-resigning-as-pressure-mounts-from-jeffrey-epstein-case.html

More Than a Dozen New Accusers Come Forward After Jeffrey Epstein’s Arrest
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-more-than-a-dozen-new-accusers-come-forward-after-his-arrest

'We Have a President Who Lost the Popular Vote by Three Million': Sanders Backs Abolishing the Electoral College - Nearly two-thirds of Americans support replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote system, according to recent polling
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/12/we-have-president-who-lost-popular-vote-three-million-sanders-backs-abolishing

(Far too little far too late) Chicago Mayor Permanently Bans ICE From Accessing Police Database Ahead Of Raids
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-bans-ice-police-databases_n_5d27bd19e4b0bd7d1e19c547

Former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka screamed in a journalist's face in the Rose Garden as Republican supporter cheered him on
https://www.businessinsider.com/former-trump-adviser-gorka-screams-at-journalist-in-rose-garden-2019-7

Kamala Harris: Rape kit backlog can be cleared at cost of Trump golf trips
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/07/11/kamala-rape-kit-backlog-president-trump/1705345001/

Every member of Trump’s new "human rights" commission is an anti-LGBTQ activist - The commission is a Who's Who of anti-LGBTQ academics and activists - and they'll be advising Trump on what constitutes "human rights."
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/07/every-member-trumps-new-human-rights-commission-anti-lgbtq-activist/

ACLU Files Preemptive Lawsuit To Protect Refugees From Massive Trump Ice Raids
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-files-preemptive-lawsuit-protect-refugees-massive-trump-ice-raids

The ACLU announced it has filed a preemptive lawsuit against the Trump administration to try to stop planned ICE raids this weekend. Five immigration legal services organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday to protect the refugees being targeted by the raids. The groups — represented by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, New York Civil Liberties Union, and the law firm Munger, Tolles, & Olson LLP — argue that constitutional due process requires the government to bring these families and children before an immigration judge so they can have a fair day in court before facing deportation.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/aclu-files-suit-in-attempt-to-stop-reportedly-planned-ice-raids

Border Patrol Agents Are Passing Around A Commemorative Coin Mocking Care for Migrant Kids
https://www.propublica.org/article/border-patrol-agents-are-passing-around-a-commemorative-coin-mocking-care-for-migrant-kids

Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s highly-anticipated Capitol Hill testimony will be delayed one week under a tentative arrangement he reached with House Democrats, according to multiple sources briefed on the discussions. Although it’s unclear why Mueller’s testimony was delayed until July 24, lawmakers familiar with the matter said one reason was an ongoing negotiation about how much time they would have to question the former special counsel.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/12/mueller-testimony-delayed-by-one-week-1412004

Democrats Are Failing the Country by Letting Trump Off the Hook - Democrats have essentially been shouting, "Do whatever you want, Mr. Trump! We are terrified of our own shadow and will let you get away with anything!"
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/11/democrats-are-failing-country-letting-trump-hook

“I’m on the House Floor looking under the seats for the spine of Paul Ryan. Haven’t found it yet,” tweeted California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-ryan-donald-trump-twitter_n_5d27b7e0e4b0bd7d1e19c222

Paul Ryan Did at Least as Much Damage to the Country as This President* Has
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a28377465/paul-ryan-donald-trump-feud-republican-party/

Female Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost Was a Member of Racist, Antisemitic, Mysognist, Pornographic, Obscene, Prosecutable Hate Speech Secret Facebook Group
https://theintercept.com/2019/07/12/border-patrol-chief-carla-provost-was-a-member-of-secret-facebook-group/

Border Patrol Chief Who Reacted with Outrage Over ‘Disturbing’ Online Group Was a Member of the Group
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/border-patrol-chief-who-reacted-with-outrage-over-disturbing-online-group-was-a-member-of-the-group/

Gov. Gavin Newsom is firing California's top oil and gas regulator over an increase in state permits for hydraulic fracturing and allegations of conflict of interest among senior officials. Newsom's chief of staff asked the state's natural resources secretary to fire Ken Harris on Thursday. Ann O'Leary's request came hours after advocacy groups Consumer Watchdog and and FracTracker Allliance released a report showing officials working in the division of oil and gas own stock in companies they are responsible for regulating. It also showed the department has drastically increased fracking permits.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-oil-gas-regulator-20190711-story.html

New Staff Report Shows Administration’s Child Separation Policy More Harmful, Traumatic, and Chaotic Than Previously Known
https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/new-staff-report-shows-administration-s-child-separation-policy-more-harmful

Houston Police Chief Torches Donald Trump Over ICE Raids: Chase Crooks, Not Cooks
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/houston-police-chief-donald-trump-immigration-raids_n_5d28253de4b0060b11ea105a

House report: At least 18 migrant children under the age of 2 were separated from parents for 20 days to 6 months
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/politics/house-oversight-committee-family-separations/

House approves amendment to reverse transgender military ban
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/452649-house-approves-amendment-to-reverse-transgender-military-ban?amp

Remembering Pulse: DeSantis left out LGBTQ in proclamation. Records show another version existed.
https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/07/12/remembering-pulse-desantis-left-out-lgbtq-in-proclamation-records-show-another-version-existed/

US border officials permanently separated 3 girls from their father because he is HIV+
https://qz.com/1664355/border-agents-permanently-separated-3-girls-from-hiv-father/

Pastor tells Fox News immigrant detention center is fine because kids pray weekly and don’t complain
https://thinkprogress.org/pastor-tells-fox-news-immigrant-detention-center-fine-because-kids-pray-weekly-and-dont-complain-1ebc2ae21f1e/

Trump’s Pick to Run the Labor Department Promoted Sweatshops on Remote US Islands. | On July 12, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta will be replaced on an acting basis by Deputy Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella. As Mother Jones reported after reviewing hundreds of pages of billing records and emails, Pizzella worked in the late 1990s with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to promote a sweatshop economy in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/08/trump-pick-to-run-labor-department-promoted-sweatshops-on-remote-us-islands/

The House has voted to curb Trump's ability to strike Iran militarily, adopting a bipartisan provision that would require the president to get Congress's approval before authorizing military force against Tehran.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/us/politics/trump-iran-vote.html

O’Rourke is the first Dem presidential candidate to announce participation in one of more than 500 vigils planned worldwide on July 12, which highlight inhumane and unsafe conditions experienced by immigrant children and asylum-seekers at detention facilities throughout the U.S.
https://twitter.com/amandawgolden/status/1148223983805980672

China 'hopping mad' as 22 countries sign UN letter on Uighur Muslims
https://news.sky.com/story/china-hopping-mad-as-22-countries-sign-un-letter-on-uighur-muslims-11760845

The @TexasGOP is now calling Texas the most important swing state in 2020 #txlege
https://twitter.com/scottbraddock/status/1149048493924921345?s=21

India lifts 271 million people out of poverty in 10 years between 2005-06 and 2015-16
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/lifting-poverty-10-yrs-india-fastest-jharkhand-un-report-sanitation-nutrition-5825985/

A major Russian financing scandal connects to America’s Anti-LGBT Christian fundamentalists
https://thinkprogress.org/world-congress-of-families-anti-lgbtq-russian-far-right-financing-f9a3d4de4a90/

In new interview, Jaden Smith talks about feeding homeless people vegan food; it's made by his family's chef: "I wanted homeless people to eat the same thing that I eat at a table with my mom, my dad, and my sister.
https://www.complex.com/music/2019/07/jaden-smith-interview-erys-album-inventor

Incoming acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella under scrutiny for work with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/acosta-replacement-pizzella-faces-scrutiny-for-work-with-jack-abramoff.html

Buttigieg dings Trump: He invited 'the comments section off YouTube' to the White House
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/buttigieg-dings-trump-he-invited-the-comments-section-off-youtube-to-the-white-house

Plans opposed by Sir David Attenborough to build 500 houses near a UK nature reserve have been refused. Sir David Attenborough spoke out against plans to build on the land off Moor Lane in January and more than 7,600 people objected to the proposals.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-48962585

D.C. attorney general issues subpoenas to NRA, its charitable foundation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/dc-attorney-general-issues-subpoenas-to-nra-its-charitable-foundation/2019/07/12/835bb30e-a4bb-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html

Turtles born at key breeding ground will all be turned female by climate change, study predicts - Even under a low emissions scenario, 99.86 per cent of hatchlings would be female by 2100, researchers at the University of Exeter said.
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/loggerhead-turtles-all-female-no-males-breeding-ground-cape-verde-a9000476.html

Beware Trump Administration's Plans For 'Fresh Thinking' on Human Rights
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/11/beware-trump-administrations-plans-fresh-thinking-human-rights

Judge lets Jeffrey Epstein file financial disclosure under seal for bail bid in child sex traffic case
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/judge-allows-jeffrey-epstein-to-file-financial-disclosure-under-seal.html

The New York Times published an article on Wednesday with the headline “Jeffrey Epstein’s Fortune May Be More Illusion Than Fact, ” which said that “there is little evidence” that Epstein is, as has been reported before, a billionaire.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/business/jeffrey-epstein-net-worth.html

NBC News reported Thursday that a number of charities said that they never received donations that Epstein claims to have made.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/charities-say-they-never-got-donations-jeffrey-epstein-claims-he-n1028561

Head of NASA’s human exploration program demoted as agency pushes for Moon return | William Gerstenmaier, the longtime associate administrator for human exploration at NASA, has been reassigned to a new role as special adviser to NASA’s deputy administrator. The move signifies something of a demotion for Gerstenmaier at the agency. As head of the human exploration division, Gerstenmaier has overseen many of NASA’s biggest projects for human spaceflight, such as the operations on the International Space Station; the development of NASA’s next big rocket, the Space Launch System; and the Commercial Crew program, an initiative to launch astronauts to the ISS using commercial spacecraft.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/10/20689737/nasa-william-gerstenmaier-associate-administrator-human-exploration-demoted

House nearly unanimously passes bill to extend benefits to 9/11 first responders
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/politics/house-vote-9-11-first-responders-bill/index.html

Watch Al Franken Grill Trump’s New Labor Chief for Promoting Sweatshops
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/watch-al-franken-grill-trumps-new-labor-chief-for-promoting-sweatshops/

Immigration Judges Rail Against Plan Elimintate Court Interpreters
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/immigration-judges-court-interpreters-videos

EPA expanding use of chemical considered toxic for bees.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/452827-epa-expanding-use-of-chemical-considered-toxic-for-bees

On July 4th, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency in Philadelphia seized a cargo vessel with nearly 20 tons of cocaine on board with a street value of about $1.3 billion. It was the largest cocaine bust ever carried out by the CBP.
https://safehaven.com/news/Breaking-News/13-Billion-In-Cocaine-Found-On-JPMorgan-Vessel.html

Nothing says "chicken welfare" like continuing to torture and kill them
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/12/kfc-first-uk-fast-food-chain-to-commit-to-new-chicken-welfare-standards

'A sort of eco-dictatorship': Shanghai grapples with strict new recycling laws - “This is what people call authoritarian environmentalism. It’s not environmentally based consciousness from the bottom. It’s a sort of eco-dictatorship, a very strange but somehow effective mode of governance”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/12/a-sort-of-eco-dictatorship-shanghai-grapples-with-strict-new-recycling-laws

Meat infected by African swine fever found in UK for first time
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/11/meat-infected-by-african-swine-fever-found-in-uk-for-first-time

ICE Raids have begun in the Bay Area
https://twitter.com/cmarinucci/status/1149518761495449603

Hundreds Of Separated Immigrant Children Were Kept In US Custody "Far Longer" Than Previously Known. Many immigrant children separated from their parents at the border last year were kept in government custody far longer than previously known, including at least 679 minors who were detained between 46 and 75 days, according to a report released Friday by the House Oversight Committee.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/separated-immigrant-children-trump-detention-report


Congressional Black Caucus members are furious at Justice Democrats, accusing the outside progressive group aligned with firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of trying to oust lawmakers of color, specifically African American lawmakers. Justice Democrats is backing primary challengers to eight-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a Hispanic Caucus member, and 10-term Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The insurgent group also made noise this year about challenging Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a CBC member seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). And CBC leaders are fretting that Justice Democrats may target other black lawmakers in the coming weeks and months, including Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Anthony Brown (D-Md.). Brown said the group has been making calls in his district, actively trying to recruit a challenger to run against him — something that Justice Democrats denies. “It just seems strange that the social Democrats seem to be targeting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individuals who have stood and fought to make sure that African Americans are included and part of this process,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a senior CBC member, told The Hill.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/452701-cbc-members-accuse-aoc-linked-justice-democrats-of-targeting-black

Facebook’s FTC fine will be $5 billion—or one month’s worth of revenue. Fine will settle privacy investigation triggered by Cambridge Analytica scandal.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/07/facebooks-ftc-fine-will-be-5-billion-or-one-months-worth-of-revenue/

Jeffrey Epstein tampered with witnesses, sent $350K to 2 people: prosecutors
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jeffrey-epstein-tampered-witnesses-sent-350k-2-people-prosecutors-n1029381

Pompeo launched a personal review of the CIA’s Russia findings in 2017. He found no wrongdoing
https://www.vox.com/2019/7/12/20691643/pompeo-russia-investigation-trump-barr-politico

Milk Sales Plummet by $1.1 Billion in 2018: The dairy industry is losing profits as plant-based alternatives continue to capture consumer dollars
https://vegnews.com/2019/3/milk-sales-plummeted-by-11-billion-in-2018

Duncan Hunter sends more Islamophobic campaign mailers in California
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/12/duncan-hunter-islamophobic-campaign-mailers-1415292

Beto O'Rourke: We have an economy that works too well for too few and not at all for too many. Let's increase opportunity by achieving: ✅Equal pay ✅Paid family leave ✅A $15 minimum wage ✅Universal health care ✅Affordable child care ✅Affordable higher education ✅The Equal Rights Amendment
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1149794549579075584

The pilot of flight MH370 which disappeared in 2014 was 'in control until the very end' it has been alleged, as evidence mounts the crash was a murder-suicide. French investigators have been given access to a 'considerable amount' of Boeing flight data sent during the Malaysian Airlines flight prior to the crash. This includes numerous documents and satellite data from British-based satellite telecommunications company Immarsat. It is expected to take around 'a year' to go through all of the information received from Boeing, but preliminary investigations suggest 'someone was behind the control stick when the plane broke up in the Indian Ocean'. Investigators based this view on data which showed that 'some abnormal turns made by the 777 can only be done manually.' It adds to the conclusion that Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was a troubled, lonely man who deliberately killed all passengers and crew on board the flight.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7238231/Depressed-pilot-MH370-control-end-investigators-believe.html

Freddie Jones
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/10/freddie-jones-film-actor-sandy-thomas-emmerdale-dies
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0428086/

Henry Ross Perot (/pəˈroʊ/; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, philanthropist, and politician. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an independent presidential campaign in 1992 and a third-party campaign in 1996, establishing the Reform Party in the latter election. Both campaigns were among the strongest presidential showings by a third party or independent candidate in US history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot

Actor Eddie Jones, who for decades fashioned a career from playing fatherly characters on the stage and screen, has died at the age of 84.
https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ny-character-eddie-jones-dead-at-84-20190709-vxxxvgm7qvfjvcv37izsqbloou-story.html

Rip Torn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Torn

The Constitution says the census counts "persons," not "citizens," and records of debates on the issue show that proposals to count only citizens were considered and rejected.
https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/1149811934503538688

Government sends teenage girls to new Florida facility just 9 miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/article232255462.html

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Honors KKK Grand Wizard With Proclamation
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-honors-kkk-grand-wizard-proclamation_n_5d28dd44e4b0060b11ec14fb

Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan under federal investigation for alleged leaks and for ordering ICE agents to not carry out a mass deporation project that would have separated children from their adult family
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/acting-dhs-secretary-mcaleenan-under-federal-investigation-for-alleged-leaks-officials

U.S. appeals court blocks Trump administration birth control exemptions
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-birthcontrol/u-s-appeals-court-blocks-trump-administration-birth-control-exemptions-idUSKCN1U72M5

This is a Hatch Act violation. Current State Department employees are not allowed to start running for office before they leave the Executive Branch. Moreover, if an Executive Branch employee becomes aware of any third-party advocating for the employee’s election to public office, the employee must publicly and emphatically disavow that advocacy, or step down from his position immediately. This is the law. It should not be so easily disregarded........: Ambassador to Japan will ILLEGALLY run for Senate in Tennessee, Trump tweets
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/12/bill-hagerty-run-senate-tennessee-1415531