Light News Dump

Monkeys strapped into metal harnesses while cats and dogs left bleeding and dying at 'German laboratory'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7571893/Monkeys-strapped-metal-harnesses-cats-dogs-bleed-footage-German-laboratory.html

Bolton Objected to Ukraine Pressure Campaign, Calling Giuliani ‘a Hand Grenade’
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/us/politics/who-is-fiona-hill.html

John Bolton told a top aide to inform White House lawyers he wasn't 'part of whatever drug deal' Rudy Giuliani and Mick Mulvaney were 'cooking up' in Ukraine
https://www.businessinsider.com/john-bolton-fiona-hill-white-house-lawyers-giuliani-ukraine-2019-10

Giuliani was paid $500,000 to consult on indicted associate's firm
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-whistleblower-giuliani-excl/exclusive-trump-lawyer-giuliani-was-paid-500000-to-consult-on-indicted-associates-firm-idUSKBN1WU07Z

Son of ex-Deutsche Bank executive handed secret documents to the FBI
https://www.businessinsider.com/son-ex-deutsche-bank-executive-handed-secret-documents-to-fbi-2019-10

Blumenthal urges Congress to pass bill that would make assaulting journalists a federal crime
https://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-pol-journalist-protection-act-20191015-x6kulsbjvjamblzmabilfqhhyu-story.html

Mike Pence refuses to turn over documents, defying a House subpoena
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/us/politics/impeachment-news.html

Texas’ GOP House speaker called a female lawmaker “vile” and said President Donald Trump is “killing us” with urban and suburban voters in a secretly recorded meeting with a conservative activist. House Speaker Dennis Bonnen also personally disparaged a Democratic lawmaker in the tape released Tuesday. The tape is at the center of an ongoing state police investigation into whether Bonnen improperly offered House media credentials in exchange for campaign help. It’s also thrown Republicans into disarray at a time when their state dominance is slipping. The tape has prompted calls for Bonnen’s resignation. Bonnen said Tuesday “this was nothing more than a political discussion.” He’s previously apologized for “embarrassing” and “hurtful” comments on the tape but didn’t give details.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/texas-gop-speaker-says-trump-killing-us-in-secret-tape/2019/10/15/b502fcd2-ef66-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html

Trump administration issues plan to illegally lift limits on logging in the largest intact temperate rainforest in North America
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2019/10/15/trump-administration-issues-plan-to-lift-limits-on-logging-in-the-largest-intact-temperate-rainforest-in-north-america/

Giuliani says he won't comply with a congressional subpoena
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/giukiani-comply-congressional-subpoena/story?id=66293635

Rudy taking a real law and order position.  I won't comply with a legal subpoena unless they decide to enforce it.  So, Rudy doesn't comply with the law unless it costs him something.  Sounds like a criminal.

A grand jury has issued a subpoena related to Manhattan federal prosecutors' investigation into Rudy Giuliani, seeking documents from ex-Rep. Pete Sessions about his dealings with Giuliani and associates, according to people familiar.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1184230055204941824
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-rep-sessions-subpoenaed-over-interactions-with-giuliani-giuliani-associates-11571176908

Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas vacated an Obama-era regulation that prohibited providers and insurers who receive federal money from denying treatment or coverage to anyone based on sex, gender identity or termination of pregnancy. | O’Connor, who is the same judge who last year ruled the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, said the rule violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. His ruling is likely to be appealed.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/465939-federal-judge-overturns-obamacare-transgender-protections

Judge restores Kentucky 'inactive' voters to voter rolls
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/465868-judge-restores-kentucky-inactive-voters-to-voter-rolls

Ronan Farrow’s new book is a reminder of how silencing women helped Trump get elected
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/15/20915440/ronan-farrow-donald-trump-catch-and-kill

Facebook refuses to remove Trump/Republican ads that lie about Biden (Biden should sue facebook)
https://news.yahoo.com/facebook-trump-biden-ukraine-ad-removal-154944386.html

The Ukrainian Prosecutor Behind the Dossier Targeting Hunter Biden; Konstiantyn H. Kulyk has been indicted himself on corruption charges and has a reputation for using investigations as political weapons.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/world/europe/ukraine-prosecutor-biden-trump.html

Ships are illegally dumping plastic trash at sea, study suggests - Sources on land blamed for most ocean plastic, but ships may be a bigger problem than thought
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/sea-litter-ships-bottles-1.5318390

House Democrats should be investigating Ivanka for her Chinese businesses
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-criticizes-hunter-biden-house-democrats-should-be-investigating-his-ncna1066016

We Found a “Staggering” 281 Lobbyists Who’ve Worked in the Trump Administration; That’s one lobbyist for every 14 political appointees, and four times more than Obama appointed in half the time.
https://www.propublica.org/article/we-found-a-staggering-281-lobbyists-whove-worked-in-the-trump-administration

The prospect of a 4-day American workweek may gain a powerful ally on the 2020 campaign trail: Bernie Sanders
https://www.businessinsider.com/4-day-workweek-for-americans-bernie-sanders-2020-campaign-2019-10

Oregon GOP's push to recall Democratic governor fails due to lack of signatures
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/465778-oregon-gops-push-to-recall-democratic-governor-fails-due-to-lack-of

Ivanka Photo Resurfaces Showing Trump in Istanbul to Open New Luxury Towers
https://www.newsweek.com/ivanka-trump-photo-resurfaces-showing-donald-trump-istanbul-turkey-erdogan-open-new-luxury-towers-1465240

Now That Shep Smith Is Gone, Trump Zeroes In On Fox News' Chris Wallace
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shep-smith-chris-wallace-fox-news-donald-trump_n_5da3e3b2e4b087efdbb0b29b

Gideon collects $3.2 million for U.S. Senate bid. — Millions of dollars are already flowing into Maine ahead of the anticipated race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins.
https://www.pressherald.com/2019/10/15/gideon-collects-3-2-million-for-u-s-senate-bid/

Support drops for 'Medicare for All' but increases for public option
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/465786-support-drops-for-medicare-for-all-but-increases-for-public-option

Donald Trump Jr. is unironically attacking Hunter Biden for profiting off his father's name
https://theweek.com/speedreads/871837/donald-trump-jr-unironically-attacking-hunter-biden-profiting-fathers-name

Trump tweeted a recommendation to 'impeach the pres' and he has yet to take it down
https://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-tweeted-impeach-the-pres-for-some-reason-2019-10

RNC Chairwoman Decries Nepotism In Politics — Even Though Mitt Romney Is Her Uncle | One Twitter user summed it up: “I don’t know if you quite understand what nepotism means, Niece of Mitt Romney.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ronna-mcdaniel-rnc-mitt-romney-hunter-biden-nepotism_n_5da60270e4b002e33e761288

A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit claiming Trump is illegally profiting from foreign and state government visitors at his hotel in downtown Washington. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit agreed to rehear the lawsuit, brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, that was dismissed last summer by a three-judge panel of the same court. The brief order set oral argument for Dec. 12, and essentially gives the novel lawsuit testing the anti-corruption emoluments provisions of the Constitution a second chance.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/trump-emoluments-case-over-his-dc-hotel-gets-second-chance-in-legal-challenge/2019/10/15/7532f0aa-ef8c-11e9-8693-f487e46784aa_story.html

Russian mercenaries give video tour of abandoned US base in Northern Syria, laughing at the hasty US retreat, showing unfinished meals on dining tables and heavy military equipment left behind. A Russian propaganda coup.
https://twitter.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/1184160164758327298

Speakers at a pro-Trump conference urged attendees to “go to war” for the president and laughed about beating up classmates. It’s the same conference where a video of a fake Trump shooting members of the media played. | Crowd laughed.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-listen-to-conference-goers-at-trump-resort-chant-for-war

DOJ has still not answered question about Firtash extradition | US senator's office says that after 18 months, it has still received no answer from the US Justice Dept. about why a Ukrainian oligarch linked to Manafort and 2 men who work with Giuliani has not been extradited to the US.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-has-still-not-answered-question-about-firtash-extradition-says-n1066521

Turkish bank charged in Manhattan federal court for its participation in a multibillion-dollar Iranian sanctions evasion scheme
https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1184208182282981376

Turkey's govt-owned bank Halkbank paid $2M+ to Trump-tied foreign agents & lobbyists since its deputy chief was arrested over a money laundering scheme with Rudy Giuliani's client allegedly funneling Iran millions of dollars to secretly evade sanctions
https://twitter.com/annalecta/status/1184218675659845632
https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1184209719218581506

This story that Trump advisor Peter Navarro made up a fake source in multiple books is shocking and should lead to his firing. https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/trump-trade-adviser-busted-for-making-up-whimsical-pen-name-to-quote-himself-in-his-books-for-years/ … @SarahBurris @rawstory
https://twitter.com/nickgillespie/status/1184209694866464773
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/trump-trade-adviser-busted-for-making-up-whimsical-pen-name-to-quote-himself-in-his-books-for-years/

NEW: In the past week, a remarkably large number of the U.S. military’s most-elite members have broken their code of silence like never before. But are they too late? My latest: ‘Silent Warriors’ Speak Out Against Trump’s #Syria Turnaround https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/10/silent-warriors-speak-out-against-trumps-syria-turnaround/160613/ … @defenseone #SOF
https://twitter.com/DefenseBaron/status/1184222148526854147
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/10/silent-warriors-speak-out-against-trumps-syria-turnaround/160613/

A Connecticut police officer’s membership in the Proud Boys, a far-right group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies, didn’t violate department policies, the town’s police chief has concluded in response to a civil rights group’s concerns. The East Hampton officer, Kevin P. Wilcox, “stopped his association” with the Proud Boys in February, about five months before the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law inquired about his social media connections with other group members, Police Chief Dennis Woessner said.
https://apnews.com/12ece8cedbf045259dcddebf619141e7

Turkish President Erdoğan threatens Thursday that Ankara will send 3.6M Syrian refugees in Turkey to Europe if European countries label his country's military incursion in Syria as an occupation: "We will open the gates and send 3.6M refugees your way."
https://twitter.com/BreakingNews/status/1182253488509739009

Pres. Erdoğan told Pres. Trump that Turkey will never declare ceasefire in N.E. Syria, & he was not worried about US sanctions, broadcaster NTV reports, and Turkey would “not negotiate with a terrorist organization” in response to Trump’s mediation offer.
https://twitter.com/BreakingNews/status/1184224403728617472

A mass shooting in Puerto Rico has left at least eight people dead near the University of San Juan. Violence on the island has increased in the wake of the damage caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria.
https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1184084449392246786
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/us/puerto-rico-san-juan-shooting-trnd/index.html

State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent told lawmakers that he was told by a supervisor to lay low after he raised complaints about Rudy Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine undermining US foreign policy, according to Rep. Gerry Connolly on House Oversight
https://twitter.com/jeremyherb/status/1184238372153364482

John Bolton is about to take his revenge on Trump. He might save America while he's at it | Bolton may be guilty of serious errors of judgment and defects of character. But he refused to play Trump's game — and now he might be the country's most valuable savior
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/john-bolton-trump-impeachment-inquiry-testimony-ukraine-leak-a9157606.html