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Category: Politics

Inside the jury room for the Trump Organization criminal trial

Inside the jury room for the Trump Organization criminal trial

The Daily Beast reports: To avoid letting their personal feelings toward Donald Trump cloud their judgment, jurors for the criminal tax fraud case against the Trump Organization had a novel strategy: They referred to the former president as “Joe Smith.” “I constantly fought my knee-jerk belief that of course anything with the name Trump on it is crooked,” one juror told The Daily Beast this week. “I shocked myself in mid-November when I realized that I wasn’t sure I could…

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The supply chain that keeps tech flowing to Russia

The supply chain that keeps tech flowing to Russia

Reuters reports: In March this year, a new firm appeared in Turkey’s corporate registry. Azu International Ltd Sti described itself as a wholesale trader of IT products, and a week later began shipping U.S. computer parts to Russia. Business was brisk, Russian customs records show. The United States and the EU had recently restricted sales of sensitive technology to Russia because of its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, and many Western tech companies had suspended all dealings with Moscow. Co-founded…

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Grant Wahl’s wife: There was ‘nothing nefarious’ about his death

Grant Wahl’s wife: There was ‘nothing nefarious’ about his death

Dr Céline Gounder writes: First and foremost, on behalf of myself and our family, I want to express our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support, love, and sympathy from around the world. This continues to be a very difficult and painful time as we grieve a beloved husband, brother, and friend. It is some comfort to know that so many people Grant reached—countless colleagues, readers, athletes, coaches, friends, and fans—are grieving alongside us. Grant arrived home Monday, December 12,…

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Iranian soccer player sentenced to death after protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini

Iranian soccer player sentenced to death after protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini

Insider reports: An Iranian professional soccer player has been sentenced to death after protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini, according to Iran Wire. Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26, was arrested in November in relation to the killing of a police colonel and two volunteer militia members. He has been accused of “waging war against God” and will be hanged, according to Iran Wire. FIFPRO, the international soccer players union, said in a statement on Monday that it was “shocked and sickened”…

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U.S. finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine

U.S. finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine

CNN reports: The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine that could be announced as soon as this week, according to two US officials and a senior administration official. The Pentagon’s plan still needs to be approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before it is sent to President Joe Biden for his signature. The three officials told CNN that approval is expected. Ukraine has been calling for the US to send the advanced…

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How right-wing information warfare works

How right-wing information warfare works

Greg Sargent writes: By now it should be obvious that for large swaths of the right-wing media ecosystem, the Triggering of the Libs has become an end in itself. In the brutal competition of the so-called attention economy, provoking large-scale outrage and loathing is not an incidental feature of making controversial arguments. It has become a key marker of success. Over the weekend, Elon Musk called for the prosecution of Anthony S. Fauci, the leading infectious-disease expert in the Biden…

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An intel analyst tried to prevent the January 6 attack. DHS failed to act

An intel analyst tried to prevent the January 6 attack. DHS failed to act

Jana Winter reports: On Dec. 20, 2020, a 21-year-old intelligence analyst went online to search for local Washington, D.C., fishing holes and stumbled upon the blueprint of a plot to storm the Capitol and execute members of Congress and law enforcement officers to prevent the certification of electoral votes to make Joe Biden the next president. The domestic terrorism analyst with the Department of Homeland Security saw a link to a website where people “actively at that moment were discussing…

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Mark Meadows exchanged texts with 34 members of Congress about plans to overturn 2020 election

Mark Meadows exchanged texts with 34 members of Congress about plans to overturn 2020 election

TPM’s Hunter Walker, Josh Kovensky and Emine Yücel report: Based on TPM’s analysis, Meadows received at least 364 messages from Republican members of Congress who discussed attempts to reverse the election results with him. He sent at least 95 messages of his own. The committee did not respond to requests for comment. Some of Meadows’ texts — notably with Fox News personalities and a couple members of Congress — have already been made public by the committee, media outlets, and…

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Stephen Miller’s white supremacy law group beats Biden in court

Stephen Miller’s white supremacy law group beats Biden in court

The Washington Post reports: The deal in early 2021 was hailed by advocates for Black farmers as the most significant piece of legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — about $4 billion in President Biden’s massive pandemic stimulus package to rectify decades of discrimination. Minority farmers began investing in new machinery and other improvements, anticipating tens of thousands of dollars in government aid. But today, the landmark deal on behalf of historically disadvantaged farmers is dead — successfully…

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Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in criticizing former Twitter safety chief

Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in criticizing former Twitter safety chief

The Washington Post reports: Elon Musk escalated his battle of words with previous managers of Twitter into risky new territory over the weekend, allying himself with far-right crusaders against a purported epidemic of child sex abuse and implying that the company’s former head of trust and safety had a permissive view of sexual activity by minors. Musk told more than 30,000 listeners in a live Twitter Spaces audio session Friday night that he recently discovered that child sex abuse material…

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Iran carries out second execution linked to nationwide protests

Iran carries out second execution linked to nationwide protests

The Guardian reports: Iran has publicly hanged a man accused of killing two members of the security forces in its second use of capital punishment against anti-government protesters. Majidreza Rahnavard’s family were woken early on Monday morning to be informed that he had been executed and that his body had been buried in a lot in the local cemetery. Rahnavard, a 23-year-old wrestler, had been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for allegedly killing two…

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Security expert calls for an international investigation of Germany’s Russia ties

Security expert calls for an international investigation of Germany’s Russia ties

Berliner Zeitung reports: Until February 24th Jessica Berlin was one of many experts on security and defense policy in the Berlin think tank sphere. But shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Berlin put her work on hold to devote herself entirely to helping Ukraine. She vigorously promotes massive support for Kyiv. In an interview with Berliner Zeitung, she calls for an international commission to investigate corruption by German politicians in the energy sector. She talks about Angela Merkel’s fear of Russia…

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Ukraine can win the war. But the cost may be too high for the West

Ukraine can win the war. But the cost may be too high for the West

The Wall Street Journal reports: Ukrainian leaders have vowed to retake all territory occupied by Russia, prompting a debate over what would be necessary for Ukraine to win and evict Moscow’s forces. The answer is primarily military because Russia is only going to abandon its hard-won gains if its troops suffer catastrophic losses, military strategists say. Behind those talks about weapons and ammunition is a deeper political question as Ukraine’s battlefield fortunes rely heavily on the willingness of Western governments…

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White nationalists, other Republicans brace for ‘total war’

White nationalists, other Republicans brace for ‘total war’

Southern Poverty Law Center reports: A collection of radical right figures including white nationalists and ultranationalist European leaders gathered in Manhattan for the New York Young Republicans Club’s (NYYRC) annual gala Saturday night, where that group’s president declared “total war” on perceived enemies. “We want to cross the Rubicon. We want total war. We must be prepared to do battle in every arena. In the media. In the courtroom. At the ballot box. And in the streets,” NYYRC president Gavin…

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Elon Musk is a far-right activist — one tweet says it all

Elon Musk is a far-right activist — one tweet says it all

Charlie Warzel writes: If there’s one tweet that will tell you everything you need to know about Elon Musk, it’s this one from early this morning: My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022 In five words, Musk manages to mock transgender and nonbinary people, signal his disdain for public-health officials, and send up a flare to far-right shitposters and trolls. The tweet is a cruel and senseless play on pronouns that also invokes the right’s fury…

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Is Dominion’s $1.6bn defamation lawsuit a death blow for Murdoch and Fox News?

Is Dominion’s $1.6bn defamation lawsuit a death blow for Murdoch and Fox News?

The Guardian reports: Rupert Murdoch rarely has to answer for the alternative realities presented by his hugely profitable US cable network, Fox News. Its conspiratorial claims of a parade of cover ups from the 2012 Benghazi attack to the climate crisis and Covid-19 have been lapped up by Fox viewers and scorned by much of the rest of America, and then the world moved on. But on Tuesday, the 91-year-old billionaire media mogul will be obliged to answer difficult questions…

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