by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, May 8.
- Trump Admin Inflated Iran Intel, U.S. Officials Say (“John Bolton and other Team Trump hawks are trumpeting intelligence that Tehran is readying attacks on U.S. forces. They’re exaggerating the threat, officials tell The Daily Beast.”)
- Trump’s Iran Policy Is Becoming Dangerous (“Growing evidence suggests the U.S. president is traveling a path toward war—whether he knows it or not.”)
- Iran Says It Will Stop Complying With Some Parts of Nuclear Deal
- Exclusive: China backtracked on nearly all aspects of U.S. trade deal – sources
- Tariff War Renewed? How the U.S.-China Talks Could Play Out
- Trump team kills Arctic accord that accurately stated climate change threatens region
- Democrats’ constitutional clash with Trump ramps up
- Barr facing contempt vote as constitutional collision escalates
- Trade war threatens to roil 2020 race as Republicans complain about the tariffs Trump loves
- We’ll soon know the exact air pollution from every power plant in the world. That’s huge. (“Satellite data plus artificial intelligence equals no place to hide.”)
- Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses
- 5 Takeaways From 10 Years of Trump Tax Figures
- Donald Trump May Be One of the Biggest Losers in America (“The “VERY successful businessman” only paid income tax twice between 1985 and 1994—and lost more money than “nearly any other individual American taxpayer.””)
- N.Y. Lawmakers Move Closer to Allowing Release of Trump’s State Tax Returns (“As a standoff builds in Washington over the president’s federal tax returns, New York’s Legislature is moving quickly to allow the release of Mr. Trump’s state returns.”)
- Congress Has Few Options Left To Make Barr Cooperate (“Even holding him in contempt would be largely symbolic.”)
White House orders Don McGahn not to comply with congressional subpoena- Appeals court allows Trump to keep asylum seekers in Mexico, for now
- Trump has signed off on Kushner’s immigration plan (“Any immigration plan will be an uphill challenge on Capitol Hill where lawmakers have struggled for decades to pass comprehensive immigration legislation. Conservative Republicans are likely to oppose a plan that does not cut rates of legal immigration, while Democrats have made clear they will not accept changes without new protections of ‘Dreamer’ immigrants brought to the country as children and are here illegally. Some Republicans, especially those from election swing states, would like to see protections for Dreamers as well.”)
- House committee readies contempt vote against Barr
- Exclusive: Mueller fought release of Comey memos to prevent Trump and others from changing stories
- It’s Finally Sinking In (“Our Planet is unwatchable. The latest U.N. climate change report is unreadable. We’re slowly getting it anyway.”)
- School Shooting in Colorado Leaves 1 Student Dead and 8 Injured
- Obstruction of Justice Is a Crime for Some People and Not for Others. Any Questions? (“William Barr’s Justice Department has a flexible definition of the statute—particularly if you’re the president.”)
- Mitch McConnell Will Not Act in Good Faith, Even When the Security of the Country Is at Stake (“His comments on the Mueller Report were shameless. Elizabeth Warren’s were a sharp riposte—at least for a moment.”)
- Maybe Mike Pompeo Isn’t the Brightest Secretary of State Ever to Hold the Office (“The jumped-up Tea Party congresscritter sees melting ice as an opportunity to drill more.” Or maybe he’s evil and corrupt?)
- A day after blocking House demand for Trump’s tax returns, Mnuchin addressed gathering of his top fundraisers (Slimeball.)
- ABC, NBC, and MSNBC prime-time shows ignored landmark UN report on biodiversity (“Only three of 26 prime-time news programs on major networks covered the report” The corporate media has utterly failed.)
- Exclusive: Trump fixer Cohen says he helped Falwell handle racy photos (Not surprised.)
- Here’s what congressional Republicans said about holding the attorney general in contempt in 2012 (“When Eric Holder was running the Justice Department, they were singing a different tune.”)
- DNC faces new debate minefield (“Most of the 22 candidates running for the Democratic nomination appear to have reached the polling or fundraising thresholds to qualify for the first debate, increasing the likelihood the DNC will have to turn to tiebreakers to determine the top 20”)
- Why Don’t White Athletes Understand What’s Wrong With Trump? (“The Red Sox players who visit the White House owe their black and brown teammates an explanation.”)
- Bipartisan group of senators seeks to increase transparency of online political ads
- Trump’s plan to destroy Joe Biden is almost here — and it could get really ugly (“Joe and Hunter Biden’s Ukraine problems are likely no big deal — but that’s not how Trump and the Red Hats see it”)
- Fox News shows use cropped quote to smear presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg
- How to Defeat Trump (“For starters, we need a patriotic Republican on the right to run as a third-party candidate.”)
- Kaine, uneasy about potential war with Iran, says Lincoln Strike Group deployment was distorted
- Ex-Rep. Scott Taylor threatens Virginia Democrats over election fraud allegations (“Former congressman who lost re-election bid claims ‘complete vindication’ after staffer indicted”)
- Coalition of unlikely allies calls on state to break up utilities, deregulate energy (There’s zero chance that Cooch and the Koch brothers are up to any good here.)
- A coalition takes aim at Virginia’s ‘vampire squid:’ How much will it make it squirm?
- Northam Announces Big Expansion for Merck
- Virginia to sign $7M contract with private security firm to transport mental health patients, freeing up law enforcement
- Federal Court Issues Landmark Patient-Centered Reproductive Freedom Victory in Virginia (“Advanced practice clinicians will now be able to provide first-trimester abortion care in Virginia”)
- Where the Heck Do Things Stand With the HD97 Republican Nomination Fiasco?
- State police have 359 body-worn cameras they are barred from using — at least for now (“The Virginia State Police agency has 359 body-worn cameras it has been preparing to use for more than two years, but state legislators have barred their deployment — at least until next year.”)
- Virginia following legal debate that could threaten interstate lottery games ‘very closely’
- Keyser: Rural Virginia’s engine of economic development (“Solar initiatives are important to Virginia’s economy. There are more than 3,500 solar jobs in Virginia with more than $800 million in solar investment. Not only does investment in solar improve quality of life by providing a cost savings to our members, but it will also create highquality jobs for our residents in the new energy economy.”)
- As Virginia’s drug testing backlog increases, court hearings are being delayed — with defendants waiting in jail
- Dominion Keeps Trying to Pull the Wool Over Our Eyes
- Suffolk real estate agent is Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Del. Chris Jones
- Jennifer McClellan Launches “Virginia United” PAC
- McClellan Starts PAC Amid Speculation on 2021 Run for Governor
- After executive branch’s scandals, two new PACs form to fill the fundraising gap
- Editorial: Creative thinking in Southwest Virginia
- Fairfax board adopts budget with more for affordable housing, environment
- Arlington Police Groups Demand Apology for Commonwealth’s Attorney Candidate’s Mailer
- Arlington County Police Demand Apology After Parisa Tafti Campaign Mailer Alleges Police “Brutality”
- Arlington candidate’s words draw harsh criticism from police (“The race for Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and Falls Church, Virginia, has suddenly turned red hot.”)
- Greg Parks: Why I’m Running for Alexandria Clerk of Court
- Back to cloudier and cooler today and tomorrow; shower and storm chances rise again Friday into the weekend
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