News Dump

Court Filing Says House Judiciary Committee is considering articles of impeachment against Trump | "Because Department of Justice policies will not allow prosecution of a sitting President, the United States House of Representatives is the only institution of the Federal Government that can now hold President Trump accountable for these actions," the committee wrote in a filing in U.S. District Court. "To do so, the House must have access to all the relevant facts and consider whether to exercise its full Article I powers, including a constitutional power of the utmost gravity—approval of articles of impeachment," the filing said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-judiciary-committee-is-considering-articles-of-impeachment-against-trump-court-filing-says/

The judiciary committee just quietly crossed the threshold from oversight to impeachment investigation, and the media hasn't noticed, it's an impeachment inquiry without calling it an impeachment inquiry: House Dems to sue for Mueller grand jury information. The whole point of an impeachment inquiry is that you invoke Article I Section 2 in court filings and such as a basis for making a determination on exercising Congressional impeachment power. Which is exactly what the judiciary committee just did today. However it's too late. It's the end of July. Democrats should have done this the moment the Mueller report was released.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/26/politics/nadler-democrats-grand-jury/

“Just asked Nadler if what they’re doing now is the same thing as an impeachment inquiry, and he said: “In effect.” And then he said the distinction is that impeachment inquiry is just about impeachment. His probe is a bit broader but could lead to recommendation of impeachment”
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1154792920895152130

A Democratic aide confirms to me that @SpeakerPelosi signed off on the language @RepJerryNadler used today.
https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1154798882364284929

North Korea may have produced 12 nuclear weapons since first Trump-Kim summit:
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/454961-north-korea-may-have-produced-12-nuclear-weapons-since-first-trump-kim-summit

U.S. Supreme Court issued ruling tonight allowing Trump to use Pentagon funds for border wall | The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday handed President Donald Trump a victory by letting his administration redirect $2.5 billion in money approved by Congress for the Pentagon to help build his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border even though lawmakers refused to provide funding.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-wall/u-s-supreme-court-lets-trump-use-disputed-funds-for-border-wall-idUSKCN1UL2S7

Trump Admin Approves $26 Billion Dollar Deal for Trump International Hotel’s $195,000 Spender
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-admin-approves-billion-dollar-deal-for-trump-international-hotels-195000-spender/

Trump's Treasury Pick Said Obama Was a Muslim Who Took Orders From Terrorists
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/monica-crowley-barack-obama

Joe Manchin questions China’s promised $84 billion investment in West Virginia: ‘Something doesn’t make sense here’ | The deal was announced in 2017 as part of $250 billion in business agreements reached between the U.S. and China in connection with Trump’s visit to the country. Gov. Jim Justice said there would be “shovels in the ground” the following year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/25/joe-manchin-questions-chinas-84-billion-investment-in-west-virginia.html

Donald Trump has given the US attorney general permission to share classified information about the Russia investigation with Devin Nunes, the Republican House Intelligence Committee ranking member who has called for Justice Department and FBI officials to be jailed over the probe. The US president said he had given William Barr “a total release” of documents relating to the investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election, and had also “given him authorisation to release it to whoever he wants”. “He’s got everything; everything he needs, he’s got,” he told Sean Hannity in an interview on Fox News on Thursday night. Mr Trump added: “He’s the attorney general of the United States, he’s has got a lot of very good people under him that I guess are involved and I gave them a total release. So, all of it’s been released and he has all of it. “I’ve also given him authorisation to release it to whoever he wants, whether it’s his people or frankly perhaps people like Devin Nunes, who is a star.” Mr Nunes, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, this week portrayed allegations that Mr Trump’s presidential campaign team colluded with Russia as a “hoax” comparable to “the Loch Ness monster”. Earlier this month, he described officials who triggered Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as “a bunch of dirty cops”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mueller-investigation-trump-russia-devin-nunes-barr-classified-documents-a9022171.html

We're supposed to believe the Russians hacked into voting systems but did nothing once they got there? | It concluded that while there is no evidence that any votes were changed in actual voting machines, “Russian cyberactors were in a position to delete or change voter data” in the Illinois voter database. The committee found no evidence that they did so. While the report is not directly critical of either American intelligence agencies or the states, it described what amounted to a cascading intelligence failure, in which the scope of the Russian effort was underestimated, warnings to the states were too muted, and state officials either underreacted or, in some cases, resisted federal efforts to offer help. | Remember when we were all told that it was only a couple of precincts, then a couple of cities, then a couple of states? Remember when it was just data? Now, as far as we can read between the blacked-out lines, we are being asked to believe that the Russians could have deleted "voter data," that they "were in a position" to jack around with it, but, having achieved this monumental intelligence triumph, they didn't do anything with it?
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a28517486/russia-hack-election-systems-all-50-states/

Georgia election officials accused of destroying evidence
https://apnews.com/77fbf492e1684b72a9e1e2323ea4e8eb

Rep. Eric Swalwell: It's time for Trump's impeachment. Mueller's report gave us everything we need.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/it-s-time-trump-s-impeachment-mueller-s-report-gave-ncna1034586

Trump administration to pay farmers $16bn to make up for damage from trade war with China
https://www.independent.co.uk//news/business/news/trump-china-us-trade-war-farmers-aid-economy-a9021741.html

Congress Will Sue To Enforce McGahn Subpoena Next Week, Nadler Says
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/congress-will-sue-to-enforce-mcgahn-subpoena-next-week-nadler-says

CNN editor praised murder of ‘Jewish pigs’ in terrorist attack on Israeli bus
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cnn-photo-editor-called-jews-pigs-and-praised-their-deaths-in-old-tweets

Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals made from 80,000 tons of recycled mobile phones, electronics
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/24/tokyo-2020-olympic-medal-project-recycled-cellphones-electronics/1820927001/

A haul of seven frozen tiger carcasses found in a car in Hanoi has led to the arrest of a key wildlife trafficking suspect, as the country tries to tackle a well-worn smuggling route from Laos
https://www.france24.com/en/20190726-seven-dead-tigers-found-car-vietnam

U.S. Rep. Pete Olson announces he won't seek reelection : The Republican from Sugar Land was first elected in 2008. His seat is being targeted by national Democrats.
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/07/25/us-rep-pete-olson-retiring/

Top CBP Officer Testifies He’s Unsure if 3-Year-Old Is “a Criminal or a National Security Threat”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/cbp-chief-brian-hastings-family-separation-judiciary-hearing-not-mueller.html

Trump adds $4.1 trillion to national debt. Here's where the money went | The biggest contributor to the $4.1 trillion that will be added to the national debt through 2029 is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This signature tax cut legislation signed by Trump in 2017 single-handedly increased the debt by $1.8 trillion, according to CRFB. “If you were to extend all the expiring provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it would be about a trillion more on top of that, so it’s hugely expensive,” says CRFB’s senior vice president Marc Goldwein. “Some of this is done on a partisan basis, some of this is done on a bipartisan basis. But it’s all part of a culture of no longer worrying about how we’re going to pay for things and just assuming that future generations are going to cover the bill.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-adds-41-trillion-to-national-debt-heres-where-the-money-went-162238723.html

Attackers break into home of Mexican investigative journalist, kill her dogs and steal her reporting records
https://www.newsweek.com/attackers-investigative-journalist-kill-dogs-steal-reporting-records-1451083
https://cpj.org/2019/07/mexico-journalist-lydia-cacho-robbed-dogs-killed.php

Nadler: We’re Pursuing a De Facto Impeachment Inquiry
https://news.yahoo.com/nadler-pursuing-facto-impeachment-inquiry-174503986.html

Mitch McConnell Received Donations from Voting Machine Lobbyists Before Blocking Election Security Bills
https://www.newsweek.com/mitch-mcconnell-robert-mueller-election-security-russia-1451361

Alaskan glaciers melting 100 times faster than previously thought
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/alaskan-glaciers-melting-faster-than-previously-thought/

Brazil's Bolsonaro blamed as illegal deforestation pushes Amazon Rainforest to 'tipping Point,' Expert warns.
https://www.newsweek.com/brazil-bolsonaro-illegal-deforestation-amazon-rainforest-tipping-point-1451270

'He wants to destroy us': Bolsonaro poses gravest threat in decades, Amazon tribes say - Indigenous leaders who say Brazil’s new president is trying to force them from their lands are braced for a new era of ruin
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/26/bolsonaro-amazon-tribes-indigenous-brazil-dictatorship

3 GOP Representatives Have Dropped Reelection Bids This Week Alone | Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) announced Friday that she will not run for reelection in 2020, making her the third Republican to decide against a reelection bid this week. | Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX), representing a district experiencing rapid demographic change, announced his retirement on Thursday. Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI) bowed out Wednesday, citing the “rhetoric and vitriol.”|
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/martha-roby-gop-retirement-2020

An Army colonel has gone public with allegations that one of Trump's top military nominees sexually assaulted her in a hotel room
https://www.businessinsider.com/army-colonel-accuses-trump-military-pick-of-sexual-assault-2019-7

High-Fructose Corn Syrup and ethanol as a gas additive are created by politics, not need.
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2019/07/the-secret-history-of-why-soda-companies-switched-from-sugar-to-high-fructose-corn-syrup/

Abbas/Fatah (Palestinian West Bank government) declare suspension of all agreements with Israel. One of the agreements is the reason that the Palestinian Authority even exists so by announcing the end of all agreements the Palestinian Authority is kind of announcing the end of itself. This could be very bad news.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49125785

Kellyanne Conway cites "domestic press corps" as possible threat to U.S. election security
https://www.newsweek.com/kellyanne-conway-press-election-security-threat-1451360

Meat eaters are officially destroying the planet, report warns
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/meat-eating-destroying-planet-report-warning-a7985071.html

India readies plan for $4 billion Tesla-scale battery storage plants. The country has an installed renewable energy capacity of about 80 gigawatts (GW) and is running the world’s largest renewable energy programme, with plans to achieve 175GW by 2022 and 500GW by 2030.
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-readies-plan-for-4-billion-tesla-scale-battery-storage-plants/amp-1564077561033.html