News Dump

Trump hosted an exclusive party with Jeffrey Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate, a new report claims. It was just the two of them and "28 girls". | Houraney claimed to have warned Trump about Epstein's behavior and said the real estate tycoon did not heed his notice. Houraney, a businessman, reportedly said Trump "didn't care" about how he had to ban Epstein from his events. |  Houraney had a falling out with Trump after his girlfriend accused him of making unwanted sexual advances in the early 1990s. | Trump previously said he knew Epstein for 15 years and suggested he was well-acquainted with the financier.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-epstein-party-at-mar-a-lago-women-2019-7
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/trump-epstein.html

Labor secretary Alexander Acosta trying to all-but-eliminate funding to anti-sex trafficking agency. He's requesting 80% reducting of funding to forcibly close the agency.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/09/labor-secretary-alexander-acosta-sex-trafficking-budget-cut

Trump+Republically Illegal Lift Summer Ethanol Ban Meant to Prevent Smog
https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-lifts-ethanol-fuel-ban-2638665365.html

Manhattan Prosecutors asked judge to lower Jeffrey Epstein's sex offender status in 2011
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/09/us/jeffrey-epstein-sex-offender/index.html

Trump Republicans Pushing Mueller Deputies Not To Testify: The Justice Department is seeking to discourage Robert S. Mueller III’s deputies from testifying before Congress, potentially jeopardizing an agreement for two of the former prosecutors to answer lawmakers’ questions in private next week, according to two government officials familiar with the matter. The department told the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees last week that it was opposed to the testimony and had communicated its view to the two former members of Mr. Mueller’s team, Aaron Zebley and James L. Quarles III, according to a senior congressional official familiar with the discussions. A Justice Department official confirmed that account and said that the department had instructed both men not to appear. | Both Mr. Zebley and Mr. Quarles have left the Justice Department and are now private citizens, meaning that the department most likely cannot actually block their testimony. But the department’s view — depending on how strongly it is expressed — could have a chilling effect on two longtime employees and give them cover to avoid testifying.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/mueller-testimony-justice-department.html

Migrant kids in overcrowded Arizona border station allege sex assault, retaliation from U.S. agents
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-kids-overcrowded-arizona-border-station-allege-sex-assault-retaliation-n1027886

Robert Foster, Republican gubernatorial candidate, denies woman reporter access because of her gender
https://mississippitoday.org/2019/07/09/robert-foster-gop-governor-candidate-denies-woman-reporter-access-because-of-her-gender/

Illinois governor cancels band's state fair appearance over Confederate flag use
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/452240-illinois-governor-cancels-band-appearance-at-state-fair-over-use-of

This means he gets another max bag at age 30. He's illegally gaming the NBA payment rules. Kawhi Leonard has signed his Los Angeles Clippers contract — a three-year, $103M maximum contract with a player option in the third season, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
http://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1148979868035534848

We Know and Americans voted for him anyway: Peter Wehner Has Chilling Theory For GOP Silence On Alex Acosta’s Deal With Jeffrey Epstein: “We have a president who is a sexual predator,” the longtime Republican insider said.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/peter-wehner-republicans-acosta-epstein_n_5d255322e4b07e698c4280fa

Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath raised more than $2.5 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign against Mitch McConnell — over $1 million of it coming in just the first five and a half hours after she announced, according to her campaign. McGrath campaign manager Mark Nickolas said it’s the most ever raised in the first 24 hours of a Senate campaign. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says the next closest was former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, who raised $1 million in his first day of his campaign in Arizona.
https://www.nbcnews.com/card/mcgrath-raises-record-2-5-million-first-day-senate-campaign-n1028121

Michael Moore warns 2020 Democrats: Trump 'hasn't lost one inch of his fired-up insane base'
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/449528-michael-moore-warns-2020-democrats-trump-hasnt-lost-one-inch-of-fired-up

Trump tasked aides to find a way to weaken the US dollar. (Blames China for doing it, attempts to do it himself...) (This would also be the perfect way to gain market share for those certain people with legal fronts for their multinational money laundering company that need to pad their wallets and stats for an upcoming election and endless legal battles.)
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/10/trump-has-reportedly-tasked-aides-to-find-a-way-to-weaken-the-us-dollar.html

‘This doesn’t look like the best economy ever’: 40% of Americans say they still struggle to pay bills
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/this-doesnt-look-like-the-best-economy-ever-40percent-of-americans-say-they-still-struggle-to-pay-bills/2019/07/04/855c382e-99b5-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html

US Authorities Are Investigating Allegations A Teenage Female Was Sexually Assaulted By A Border Agent
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/us-authorities-are-investigating-after-a-girl-said-she-was
https://thinkprogress.org/teenage-migrant-girl-15-years-old-sexual-assault-customs-border-patrol-cbp-agent-223d973c31a9/

As Trump Pushed Him Away, Epstein Bragged He Introduced POTUS And Melania
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/epstein-trump-melania-introduction

The Senate will finally hold a briefing on election security on Wednesday
https://www.vox.com/2019/7/10/20688010/senate-election-security-mitch-mcconnell

Dossier author grilled by American investigators: Christopher Steele, who put together the infamous Steele Dossier, apparently left investigators impressed.
https://thinkprogress.org/steele-dossier-author-grilled-by-investigators-7ca0969564e8/

Alex Acosta to hold press conference on Jeffrey Epstein plea deal
https://www.axios.com/alexander-acosta-press-conference-jeffrey-epstein-343d5e09-2221-4a7a-8202-c639e26c52ed.html

Kim Darroch's forced resignation as US ambassador is a disgrace – and it proves just how weak Britain is now
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/kim-darroch-resigns-trump-leak-brexit-boris-johnson-nigel-farage-a8998801.html

Take precautions for a sudden outbreak of the Epstein-Barr Virus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epstein%E2%80%93Barr_virus

”McGrath ruthlessly goes after McConnell, at one point recounting a letter she wrote to him when she was 13, telling him her dream was to fly fighter jets in combat and asking him to change the law so that women could be pilots in the military too. Apparently, he never wrote back to the young McGrath.”
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/bj9498/who-is-amy-mcgrath-meet-the-former-fighter-pilot-trying-to-take-down-mitch-mcconnell

Trump’s “Salute to America” celebration on the Fourth of July cost the District of Columbia government $1.7 million, bankrupting the city's fund to protect the capital from terrorist threats and provide security at rallies and other events. “Our projections indicate that the EPSF [Emergency Planning and Security Fund] will be depleted following your additional July 4th holiday activities and subsequent first amendment demonstrations. The accrued amount for the July 4th holiday totals approximately $1.7 million,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) wrote in a letter to the White House Tuesday. Bowser requested that the administration reimburse the city for its expenses, noting that future events like the 2021 presidential inauguration will put further strains on the security funds. “It is critical that the EPSF is fully reimbursed for these funds to ensure the District can uphold proper security and support during the remainder of the fiscal year without incurring a deficit for federal activities,” she wrote
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/452411-dc-mayor-july-4-celebration-depleted-security-fund

Houston to host third debate in Democratic presidential primary. The debate is scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13. Calling Texas a battleground state, party officials hailed the decision. | "Texas is a battleground state, period," Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement. "We know that when Texas goes blue, the White House will follow. We are pleased that our partners at the Democratic National Committee have agreed to host the third Presidential Debate here in Texas."
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/07/09/houston-hosting-third-2020-presidential-debate-democratic-candidates/

David Attenborough has highlighted Australia as an “extraordinary” example of a country where people in power remained climate change deniers despite the country facing some of the worst effects of global heating.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/10/david-attenborough-says-its-extraordinary-climate-deniers-are-in-power-in-australia

Neera Tanden on Twitter: "Instead of doing sad videos about me, perhaps Jimmy Dore could do a video apologizing for spreading the Seth Rich conspiracy, that we now know came from a Russian disinformation campaign"
https://twitter.com/neeratanden/status/1148929371475992576

Antiwar candidate Bernie Sanders faces backlash over the $1.2 trillion war machine he brought to Vermont. | The jet’s presence in Vermont may also pose problems for Sanders as he seeks the nomination of the Democratic party for the presidency. He has long been an opponent of increased defense spending — in May, when he voted against one of the most enormous defense budgets in recent U.S. history — but that same defense spending is critical to Vermont’s economy, and Capt. Arcovitch said that the F-35 program brings in revenue for the state’s growing aerospace sector.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/10/bernie-sanders-faces-backlash-over-war-machine-he-brought-to-vermont.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/top-states-for-business-vermont.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-22/lockheed-s-costly-f-35-to-be-billions-costlier-pentagon-finds

The Explosive Secret Recording That Shows How Russia Tried To Funnel Millions To The “European Trump:" A close aide to Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini held covert talks to pump Russian oil money to his far-right party
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/albertonardelli/salvini-russia-oil-deal-secret-recording

Some of Putin’s Top Cops Are Mobsters. Even KGB Vets Are Ashamed: A recent spate of arrests shows elite FSB units and senior officers shaking down businesses for huge bribes and even robbing banks
https://www.thedailybeast.com/vladimir-putins-top-cops-some-in-the-fsb-are-mobsters-even-kgb-vets-are-ashamed

Scientists reawaken 40,000 year old ancient worms frozen under Arctic Ice | The nematode worms were found buried in the Siberian permafrost and are the most complex creatures to have ever been revived after a lengthy deep freeze
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9465085/scientists-ancient-worms-frozen/

Sir Kim Darroch resigns as UK ambassador to US
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48937120

British Politicians and Former Diplomats Are Furious That Trump 'Bullied' their Ambassador Out of Office
https://time.com/5623540/british-ambassador-resignation-trump/

In first year in power in Ontario, conservatives cut 227 clean energy funding projects, 758 renewable energy contracts, and cap-and-trade program that would have made the province $3 billion, skipping public consultation process
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/07/09/news/exclusive-doug-ford-didnt-tell-you-ontario-cancelled-227-clean-energy-projects

Holland covers hundreds of bus stops with plants as gift to honeybees - Shelters support biodiversity while also capturing dust to improve air quality and storing rainwater
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bus-stop-plants-green-roof-bees-holland-utrecht-a8997581.html

Reminder: Donald Trump Called Climate Change a Hoax. Now He's Awkwardly Boasting About Fighting It
https://time.com/5622374/donald-trump-climate-change-hoax-event/

Study Warns Carbon-Saturated Oceans Headed Toward Tipping Point That Could Unleash Mass Extinction Event
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/09/completely-terrifying-study-warns-carbon-saturated-oceans-headed-toward-tipping

Radiation levels in the water around a sunken Soviet-era nuclear submarine are some 100,000 times higher than normal, scientists have warned, raising fears that the K-278 Komsomolets may still pose a threat 30 years after it sunk. Norwegian scientists have been analyzing the area around the submarine, which came to rest on the floor of the Norwegian Sea after sinking on April 7, 1989. The accident—caused by a fire in the engine room—resulted in the deaths of 42 of the Komsomolets' 69 crew. Most were killed by radiation exposure while waiting for the Soviet navy to rescue them. The 400 feet long submarine now sits one mile underwater, around 100 miles southwest of Norway's Bear Island, in one of the largest fishing grounds on Earth.
https://www.newsweek.com/radiation-levels-sunken-russian-submarine-100000-higher-normal-soviet-nuclear-1448484

Judge in Rep. Duncan Hunter criminal case finds campaign-funded trip to Italy was family vacation
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-07-09/judge-in-rep-duncan-hunter-criminal-case-finds-family-trip-to-italy-was-mostly-personal-vacation

Attorneys general from Maryland and the District of Columbia are decrying an appeals court's decision to dismiss their emoluments lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Wednesday, which they believe adds support to the notion that the president can benefit financially from his private business without substantial checks and balances. | The plaintiffs could ask the full roster of Fourth Circuit judges to review the panel's decision or ask the Supreme Court to take up the case. A spokesperson for the plaintiffs would not confirm to Newsweek what they planned to do in response to Wednesday's decision. | (Republican judge appointed by Bush Sr, Republican judge appointed by Bush jr., and Republican judge appointed by Trump.)
https://www.newsweek.com/attorney-general-response-emoluments-donald-trump-1448590

Totally Fine for Foreign Officials to Illegally Funnel Money to Trump by Staying at his Hotel, Judges Rule
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-hotel-legal-challenge-emoluments-856388/

Trump Invites Fringe Social Media Company Popular With Nazis to the White House
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qv7q87/trump-invites-fringe-social-media-company-popular-with-nazis-to-the-white-house

Mother of toddler who died after ICE detainment testifies before House subcommittee. Yazmin Juárez, whose 21-month-old daughter died after the two were both detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) testified Wednesday before a House subcommittee. She said that her daughter Mariee became sick while in detention, but that if conditions were better at the Dilley, Texas, facility where they were being held, her daughter might have survived, according to a copy of her testimony. 
https://thehill.com/latino/452505-mother-of-toddler-who-died-after-ice-detainment-testifies-before-house-subcommittee
https://thehill.com/latino/thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/404161-migrant-mother-to-sue-us-after-toddler-detained-at-ice-dies
https://www.arnoldporter.com/-/media/files/perspectives/news/2019/yazmin-juarez-testimony-july-2019.pdf?la=en

Intelligence aide, blocked from submitting written testimony on climate change, resigns from State Department. Rod Schoonover’s decision to leave was voluntary, according to individuals familiar with the matter
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/07/10/intelligence-aide-blocked-submitting-written-testimony-climate-change-resigns-state-department/

Trump’s company cancels strip-club-sponsored golf tournament at his Florida resort
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/nonprofit-pulls-out-of-strip-club-sponsored-golf-tournament-at-trump-club/2019/07/10/d1fb8760-a352-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

YEP...: Democratic Majority for Israel‏ @DemMaj4Israel
We support a two-state solution.
@IfNotNowOrg steadfastly refuses to acknowledge Israel’s fundamental right to exist, in any borders.
Until they meet that very minimal standard, they are not even worthy of being part of the conversation.
https://twitter.com/DemMaj4Israel/status/1149061117500678163

The Trump administration hasn’t allowed members of Congress to read a classified directive President Trump issued almost a year ago outlining new rules for the military’s use of cyber weapons, despite repeated requests, according to lawmakers and others familiar with the matter. The issue has prompted concern on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon is increasingly deploying offensive cyber operations against adversaries—including against Iran last month during a peak in tensions with Tehran—without keeping congressional overseers adequately informed. | In a bipartisan letter addressed to Mr. Trump in February, the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said Congress hadn’t been able to see the directive, known as National Security Presidential Memorandum 13, “and other related documents on cyber operations” despite the panel’s requests. Lacking that visibility had impeded the committee’s ability to consider the policy implications of military cyber operations, the letter said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-hasnt-briefed-congress-on-new-rules-for-cyberattacks-lawmakers-say-11562787360
https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/cyber0710.pdf?mod=article_inline

A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing his nomination. Members of Congress have raised questions about the allegations and the military investigation that found insufficient evidence to charge him. The officer told The Associated Press that Gen. John Hyten subjected her to a series of unwanted sexual advances by kissing, hugging and rubbing up against her in 2017 while she was one of his aides. She said that he tried to derail her military career after she rebuffed him. The Air Force investigated the woman’s allegations, which she reported days after Hyten’s nomination was announced in April, and found there was insufficient evidence to charge the general or recommend any administrative punishment. The alleged victim remains in the military but has moved to a different job. “My life was ruined by this,” she told the AP.
https://apnews.com/08a297df36e947a7888fde64acebdec5

24 hours in and we’ve got our first self inflicted wound.....Kentucky Senate candidate pretty much destroyed her campaign....: "I was asked earlier today about Judge Brett Kavanaugh and I answered based upon his qualifications to be on the Supreme Court. But upon further reflection and further understanding of his record, I would have voted no."
https://twitter.com/AmyMcGrathKY/status/1149098724678918146