Thursday News: “Manafort bombshell deepens mystery in Russia probe”; Omar vs. Abrams; “Northam has a chance to back his words with actions, and his party may hang in the balance”; “Fairfax accuser to meet with law enforcement to detail sexual assault claim”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 14.

• Manafort bombshell deepens mystery in Russia probe (“The latest twist in the Mueller investigation raises the question: Why have so many Trump associates been caught lying about contacts with Russians?”)
• House Votes to Halt Aid for Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen
• Judge voids Paul Manafort plea deal, says he ‘intentionally’ lied to the FBI, special counsel and grand jury
• Mueller just caught a fourth Trump aide lying about contact with the Russians
• Congress advances border security bill without Trump border wall (“Racing against a Friday midnight deadline, when operating funds expire for the agencies that employ about 800,000 workers at the DHS, the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice and others, the Senate and House of Representatives aimed to pass the legislation later on Thursday.”)
• Trump Puts Best Face on Border Deal, as Aides Try to Assuage an Angry Right
• Trump Considers 60-Day Extension for China Tariff Deadline
• These Are the Signs a U.S. Recession May Be Coming
• Senate poised to confirm William Barr as attorney general (“Many Democrats were expected to oppose Barr out of concern he might not fully make public Mueller’s findings. But the Senate is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, so Barr’s confirmation was virtually assured.”)
• ‘He was in his face’: Trump fumes over abortion, courts evangelicals (“A White House confrontation shows how the president has ramped up his interest in issues dear to his hard-core religious supporters.”)
• Daughter and son-in-law of AG nominee leaving the Justice Department (“The Barr family business is breaking up. As William Barr, President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, awaits a Senate vote to confirm his move to the top of the Justice Department, his daughter and son-in-law, both Justice Department employees, are on their way to different jobs.”)
• Trump campaign zeroes in on 3 Democratic 2020 foes (“The president’s campaign is collecting opposition research on Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. Trump himself has his eye on Joe Biden.”)
• O’Rourke meets with Schumer to discuss 2020 Senate bid (“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke last week to discuss a possible 2020 Senate campaign against GOP Sen. John Cornyn, according to a source familiar with the meeting…O’Rourke and former Obama Cabinet secretary Julián Castro — who has announced his own White House bid — are considered by many Democrats to be the party‘s best prospects for defeating Cornyn.”)
• 2 millionaire senators introduce plan to make sure Congress is only for the rich
• A butterfly sanctuary in Texas is going to war with Trump over the border wall (“Butterflies have become a combatant against a ‘vile, racist, profiteering agenda,’ says the National Butterfly Center.”)
• Lawmakers introduce bill to fund government, prevent shutdown
• Omar, Trump envoy Elliott Abrams clash in fiery exchange (Remember: “In early 1982, when reports of the El Mozote massacre of hundreds of civilians by the military in El Salvador began appearing in U.S. media, Abrams told a Senate committee that the reports of hundreds of deaths at El Mozote ‘were not credible,’ and that ‘it appears to be an incident that is at least being significantly misused, at the very best, by the guerrillas.’…During investigation of the Iran-Contra Affair, Lawrence Walsh, the Independent Counsel tasked with investigating the case, prepared multiple felony counts against Abrams but never indicted him.[22] Instead, Abrams cooperated with Walsh and entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress.[24] He was sentenced to a $50 fine, probation for two years, and 100 hours of community service. Abrams was pardoned by President George H. W. Bush in December 1992.” So yeah, other than mistakenly calling him “Mr. Adams,” Omar was right about this guy.)
• Trump Is Refusing to Pay Contractors For Work During the Shutdown (“The president has a long history of stiffing people who work for him.”)
• “This Is a President Who Said Neo-Nazis Were ‘Very Fine People’”: Inside the Capitol, Democrats Try to Make Sense of Ilhan Omar’s Stupid Tweets—and Trump’s Hypocritical Response
• Former U.S. Air Force officer faces spy charges after defecting to Iran
• Parkland: One Year Later (“The tragedy changed the debate on guns, but for the survivors the struggle is more personal”)
• Ilhan Omar’s Cross-Examination of Elliot Abrams Honored Thousands of Central American Dead (“Someone in Congress finally asked a world-historical ghoul to answer for what he did.”)
• With Procedural Maneuver, House G.O.P. Elevates Anti-Semitism as Political Issue (“Every member of the House voted in favor, except for two Republicans who voted present: Representatives Justin Amash of Michigan and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who said the measure should not clutter a War Powers Resolution.”)
• End of the superjumbo: Airbus is giving up on the A380
• Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price.
• Trump’s DHS Guts Task Forces Protecting Elections From Foreign Meddling (“‘It’s very curious why the leadership has not committed resources to prepare for the 2020 election,’ one Homeland Security official tells The Daily Beast.”)
• The Green New Deal Has Put Climate Change Denial Out to Pasture (“Now Republicans have pivoted to actually talking-about-talking-about a solution. Also, cows farts.”)
• Poll: A Year After Parkland, Urgency For New Gun Restrictions Declines (“In the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting that killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day, 71 percent of Americans said laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter. Now, it’s 51 percent.”)
• Rethinking Ralph Northam (“Progressives shouldn’t expect infallibility from our leaders.”)
• Governor Northam’s Troubling Silence on Racism (“Why won’t he explain how his views have evolved?”)
• Why Ralph Northam’s Racist Fiasco Is a Golden Opportunity for Black Voters
• Vestiges of old Virginia
• Virginia Dems blast Trump team’s moves towards offshore drilling
• How the House of Delegates’ dreaded sub-committee system killed LGBT protections, driver’s license suspension reform and, maybe, the ERA (If Democrats controlled the Virginia House of Delegates, all of this stuff – and a lot more – would have passed. Vote Democratic this November!)
• Cummings, Connolly and Wexton seek answers about workers’ back pay after shutdown
• Woman who says Fairfax sexually assaulted her to meet with law enforcement officials
• Fairfax accuser to meet with law enforcement to detail sexual assault claim (“Fairfax spokesperson Lauren Burke told the Boston Globe that Fairfax would cooperate with any investigation, but would consider pressing charges against Tyson for making a false claim against him.” “‘This is a clear effort to obstruct justice,’ attorneys for Tyson said in the statement. ‘Dr. Tyson will not be bullied and she will not be silenced by such threats.'”)
• On Justin Fairfax and Believing Women When It’s Politically Inconvenient (“It’s natural, sober-seeming, intuitive, and adult to claim that there are no easy answers here. It’s also a lie. There’s nothing unclear about believe women, even when it’s personally and/or politically inconvenient. What’s hard is finding a airtight moral rationale for allowing them to be collateral damage.”)
• CNN Reporter Ryan Nobles: “Even without articles of impeachment the General Assembly HAS the authority to investigate” LG Justin Fairfax
• Northam has a chance to back his words with actions, and his party may hang in the balance (“But state party officials are planning to go into the fall campaigns without him as an active presence on the trail. They expect fundraising to be a problem. In 2015, then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe funneled nearly $3.7 million to Democrats around the state through his PAC, Common Good VA. State Democrats say they expect Northam to be unable to do the same this year, when all 140 seats in the legislature are up for election. Coordination is also going to be a problem…”)
• Navigating race and history in Virginia classrooms
• Va. House speaker won’t rule out General Assembly probe into Fairfax allegations
• House committee endorses bill to put Bible class in Virginia schools (VETO)
• Virginia Senate Republicans Pass House GOP Bill Preventing Climate Change Mitigation (As if that’s not bad enough, Virginia House and Senate Republicans have also rejected bills to expand clean energy in Virginia. They suck so bad, and anyone who says the two parties are “the same” is wildly wrong.)
• Virginia’s two Catholic bishops release names of 58 priests they say have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors
• Richmond Catholic diocese publishes list of 42 clergy with “credible” abuse allegations
• Virginia legislators seek mandatory minimum of life in prison for 15 crimes(“Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Mount Vernon), a trial lawyer, noted that most criminal cases are resolved by plea bargaining ‘because of bills like this. This bill puts so much pressure on people to confess. . . . It overly empowers prosecutors.'”)
• Kati Hornung: Dispel myths and ratify ERA
• General Assembly votes to raise minimum age to buy tobacco
• Northam postpones Black History Month reception amid fallout
• Brink and Edds: Let’s set the record straight on Capitol Square
• Amazon Signals It Could Sign Agreement with Local Unions to Govern Arlington Construction
• House budget could take millions from rural schools (Yep, that’s Republicans for ya…)
• Sen. David Suetterlein’s bill to incentivize early high school graduation killed by General Assembly panel
• Henrico Sheriff Mike Wade will not seek re-election after nearly 20 years on the job
• Dog days in the General Assembly
• Reward fund tops $10k for Tommie, the pit bull set on fire. ‘Recovery may not be an option.’ (Anyone who abuses an animal is dangerous, evil and should be put in jail for a looooong time.)
• Mild through Friday before a wintry weekend with snow and rain chances