by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 27.
- As Trump meets Kim in Vietnam, he’s undermined and distracted by Michael Cohen (“Trump was undermined by simultaneous betrayal back home. Prepared written testimony from his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, surfaced overnight in Washington detailing the president’s alleged criminality, cons, lies and racism.”)
- North Korea finding new ways to evade sanctions, secret U.N. report reveals
- Trump Lowered North Korea Summit Expectations — and Still Might Not Deliver
- Intelligent, Bright and Merciless: A North Korean Official’s Take on Kim Jong-un
- Trump bets it all on friendship with Kim (“Friendship” with a brutal dictator. Niiice.)
- India, Pakistan in Worst Escalation in Decades Over Downed Jets
- Pakistan shot down two Indian jets inside its airspace, government claims, as border crisis escalates
- Cohen testimony on Trump: ‘He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.’ (“The president’s former lawyer will also tell Congress that Roger Stone told Trump he’d spoken with WikiLeaks about disclosing Democratic emails.”)
- Michael Cohen Plans to Call Trump a ‘Con Man’ and a ‘Cheat’ in Congressional Testimony (Which, of course, Trump is.)
- TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL D. COHEN COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (“I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience. I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman.
He is a cheat. He was a presidential candidate who knew that Roger Stone was talking with Julian Assange about a WikiLeaks drop of Democratic National Committee emails.”) - On Eve of Michael Cohen’s Testimony, Republican Threatens to Reveal Compromising Information
- Trump Ally Rep. Matt Gaetz Insists He’s Not Threatening Michael Cohen, Just ‘Witness Testing’
- Rep. Matt Gaetz’s very witness-tamper-y Michael Cohen tweet (“President Trump and his allies have camped out in a whole host of gray areas when it comes to obstruction of justice and witness tampering over the last two years. But this one from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) doesn’t appear to be nearly so gray”)
- Everything You Need to Know About Michael Cohen’s House Testimony
- GOP unloads border angst on Pence (“Senate Republicans expressed deep skepticism about Trump’s emergency declaration at a closed-door meeting with the vice president.”)
- House passes resolution to nullify Trump’s national emergency declaration
- House Votes 245-182 to Block Trump’s Phony Border “Emergency”: Every Virginia Dem Votes to Defend the Constitution; Every Virginia Republican Votes to Trash It
- Highlights From Michael Cohen’s Opening Statement Ahead of House Testimony
- Watergate experts: Michael Cohen hearing ‘immediately reminiscent’ of John Dean testimony
- America Must Stand as a Bulwark Against Autocracy (“The House Intelligence Committee’s first hearing will focus on the rise of authoritarianism and the threat to liberal democracy around the world.”)
- Why does Trump fall in love with bad men? (“What can we say? They have great chemistry”)
- Former Trump campaign staffer Alva Johnson says the president forcibly kissed her during his 2016 campaign. Cable news barely covered it. (“Fox News devoted less than a minute of coverage to the story while CNN completely ignored it”)
- Matt Gaetz Is Proof There’s No Bottom to the Barrel (“The Trump-stanning dolt from Florida had a message for Michael Cohen on Twitter.”)
- Pope Francis demanded ‘concrete’ measures against child sex abuse. Where are they? (“A summit at the Vatican on clergy sex abuse is long on rhetoric, short on action.”)
- Joe Biden ‘Very Close’ To 2020 Decision As His Family Gives Its Blessing
- A fossil fuel-tied consultant has frequently used his CNN job to attack environmental protections (CNN is horrible.)
- I’m in Awe of This Mountain of Complete Bullshit (“The president* unleashes a gobsmacking lie about his daughter’s business credentials, and she supplements it with some delusion of her …”)
- North Carolina’s 9th District Is Absolutely Nuts (“The preacherman with the election-fraud controversy bows out in favor of…this guy?”)
- Virginia man charged after threatening Sen. Mark Warner (“Anthony Butkiewicz III was charged with a single-count of threatening to assault a U.S. official, WTKR reported on Tuesday. The arrest stems from Butkiewicz leaving several threatening voicemails on the phone of Warner’s Richmond office.”)
- Video: Rep. Spanberger Calls for Smart U.S. Diplomacy with North Korea, Presses Administration to Hold Regime Accountable for Human Rights Abuses
- OPINION: Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax must have lost his damn mind comparing himself to lynching victims (“What do Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, legendary actor and philanthropist Bill Cosby, music superstar Robert Kelly and Virginia’s second African-American Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax all have in common? Besides being ego-driven Black men, either they or someone representing them has used the word ‘lynching’ to describe the precarious public circumstances that came as a result of their own poor-decision making, which typically includes some kind of abuse of power.”)
- Justin Fairfax and The Lies We Tell About Lynchings (“Plenty of elements would have to be different for Fairfax’s predicament to be comparable to the kind of lynching he describes, and that for decades held black Virginians in a state of terror. High on that list is that his black women accusers would have to occupy a similar space on the racial and gender hierarchies as white women — not just worthy of white men’s protection, but held in such esteem and understood as so symbolic of white purity that allegedly whistling at them or ‘frightening’ them — to say nothing of sexually assaulting them — was just cause for murder without trial.”)
- Editorial: How Virginia should proceed with Fairfax (“The people who ought to be investigating are the relevant local authorities in Massachusetts and North Carolina. Before Virginia legislators try to mount their own inquiry, freighted with political suspicions on all sides, perhaps they ought to call for authorities in those other states to investigate. If they don’t, well, then at least we’ll know that before we plunge into some improvised political proceeding.”)
- Herring still intends to run for governor but ‘hasn’t thought about that at all’ after blackface scandal (“He’s been focused on how he can help repair the damage of the last few weeks and help make more progress on racial equity, both in policy and understanding.”)
- After two collisions and 17 deaths at sea, Congress pushing Navy on reforms (“The service has begun to reform crew policies, training standards and maintenance, but Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia Beach, questioned the leaders’ sense of urgency.”)
- Dominion and partners in pipeline seek new paths around 4th Circuit, including U.S. Supreme Court
- Barbara Comstock column: Data centers keep Virginia a strong leader in the 21st-century tech economy (Comstock is now a lobbyist, the revolving door being what it is…)
- Poll shows Virginians favor Lt. Gov. Fairfax remaining in office as he challenges sexual assault allegations
- How George Allen’s chief of staff inspired legislation to make it easier for gay couples to raise children
- State closes lower portion of James River to shellfish harvest
- Police investigating ‘fully naked’ images of Fairfax County students shared on Snapchat
- Legislation to limit sexuality conversion therapy in Virginia stalls this year; boards now look to regulation
- Munley: Northam should intervene on pipelines
- With a mental health system in crisis, Virginia lawmakers inch toward stabilization
- Virginia energy policy must become more transparent and inclusive
- Editorial: Valuable insight on Virginia’s path forward (The Virginian-Pilot finally comments on Del. Jay Jones’ great speech last week.)
- Jung Byun for Fairfax County School Board: Join me as we innovate education together!
- SD-13 Republican Primary is a Race…to the Far Right
- Despite Opposition from Homophobic Bigots Like Del. Dave LaRock (R), Loudoun County Public Schools Passes New Nondiscrimination Policy for LGBTQ Students, Staff
- Roanoke County School Board leader Don Butzer announces re-election bid
- Jail lacked care, accountability in prisoner’s death
- After gym teacher’s “runaway slave game,” Loudoun County NAACP calls for diversified hiring in LCPS
- Despite state law and its own policy, the Richmond School Board approved a budget the public hasn’t seen
- D.C.-area forecast: Cool and calm through tomorrow; light wintry mix possible Thursday night into early Friday
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
