by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, July 9.
- U.S., China to relaunch talks with little changed since deal fell apart
- Hong Kong leader says extradition bill is dead, but critics unconvinced
- Iran Threatens to Extend Nuclear Breaches (“Tehran seeks relief from U.S. economic sanctions as it starts to enrich uranium beyond limits set out in 2015 agreement”)
- Climate change is driving Central American migrants to U.S. border
- Mike Pompeo says ‘we’re not done’ with Iran (“Speaking at a Christians United for Israel event, Pompeo took every chance he could to criticize Iran.”)
- Donald Trump: we will no longer deal with the British ambassador (“In latest tweets on Kim Darroch, US president also attacks Theresa May for making a mess of Brexit”)
- Deutsche Bank Shares Plunge as Skepticism Mounts Over Revamp
- Epstein Arrest Is a Worry for Donald Trump (“The man facing accusations of sex-trafficking and pedophilia has been associated with many high-profile figures, including the U.S. president.”)
- Who Protected Jeffrey Epstein? (“Mr. Epstein is not the only one due a reckoning with justice.”)
- Epstein indictment renews questions about ties to Trump Cabinet official (“As the U.S. attorney in Florida in 2007, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta negotiated a minimal sentence for wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein.” Acosta should resign or be fired, immediately.)
- Barr Says Legal Path to Census Citizenship Question Exists, but He Gives No Details (Worst Attorney General in U.S. history?)
- Barr: Mueller’s Hill testimony will be ‘public spectacle’ (Barr is a menace.)
- (“The new DOJ team must find a rationale that the high court will rule consistent with regulatory law and also believable.”)
- The Census Case Could Provoke a Constitutional Crisis (“President Trump has seldom been rebuked by the Supreme Court. The question now is how he’ll respond.”)
- John Roberts’s Legacy Is Finished If He Revives the Census Citizenship Question (“There is no debate: the question is a Republican plot to win elections. A Republican operative said so.”)
- The President vs. the Chief Justice (“Will Roberts let Trump get away with adding a citizenship question to the census?”)
- Long-shot legal challenge could end Obamacare during the 2020 campaign
“Should the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rule against the law, that would all but guarantee the Supreme Court would again take a case directly challenging the ACA’s survival. The high court, which has twice upheld the health care law since it passed in 2010, would likely deliver a final verdict on the ACA as the 2020 campaign season ramps up.”) - The Affordable Care Act Is Back In Court: 5 Facts You Need To Know
- Trump called Epstein a ‘terrific guy’ who enjoyed ‘younger’ girls before denying relationship with him (Trump is a serial, sexual predator as well.)
- The Mueller report? Haven’t read it. (“More than a dozen members of Congress readily admitted to POLITICO that they have skipped around rather than studying the full document.”)
- Trump calls his Wharton attendance ‘genius stuff.’ An admissions officer says otherwise. (“The retired official, James Nolan, says he got a call on Donald Trump’s behalf from his older brother, Fred Trump Jr., who also happened to be Nolan’s best friend.”)
- Alex Acosta gave a pass to Epstein years ago. He’s still failing victims today.
- Republicans — and some Dems — stand by Acosta amid Jeffrey Epstein charges (“Senators who voted to confirm Trump’s Labor secretary are resisting demands for his ouster, despite the explosive indictment against Epstein.” Disgusting.)
- Jeffrey Epstein Is the Ultimate Symbol of Plutocratic Rot
- Trump’s warped idea of America
- A tremendous quarter for Elizabeth Warren
- Elizabeth Warren Just Announced a Huge Fundraising Haul. That’s Good for the Whole Democratic Party. (“With Warren’s report, we now know how much money each of the five top presidential candidates raised during the second quarter: • Pete Buttigieg: $24.8 million • Joe Biden: $21.5 million • Elizabeth Warren: $19.1 million • Bernie Sanders: $18 million • Kamala Harris: $12 million”)
- Why Isn’t Trump Trying to Win the Center? (“In theory, that’s what he should be doing. In practice, forget it.”)
- Trump’s ‘environment’ speech was a case study in gaslighting
- Lacking support from voters on climate, Trump tests 2020 environment messaging (Trump’s environmental record has been horrendously bad. So of course he’s trying to pretend otherwise.)
- Whistleblower says he was pressured by Trump administration to reverse environmental decision
- “We are all scared”: Trump’s threats of ICE raids keep immigrants on edge
- Tom Steyer is back in the 2020 race: Will that shame Nancy Pelosi into action? (“Just what we needed: another Democratic candidate. Only this one has a specific purpose: Impeaching Donald Trump”)
- New Scandals Rock Government’s Foreign Broadcasting Service
- Sen. Mitch McConnell’s great-great-grandfathers owned 14 slaves, bringing reparations issue close to home (“McConnell has opposed paying reparations to descendants of slaves, though census records show his family, like many others, benefited from their labor.”)
- Fox News is airing its comments section (“Three Fox News programs regularly air cherry-picked comments from unverified Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram users that support the network’s narratives”)
- The Washington Post gave discredited gun researcher John Lott a platform to push repeatedly disproven nonsense
- Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez To Propose Bill To Declare Climate Emergency (“The resolution, set to be introduced Tuesday, is largely symbolic and isn’t likely to pass.”)
- Swalwell Quits Presidential Race for House Reelection Bid (Good. A bunch more should do the same.)
- Video: Former Rep. Scott “Petitiongate” Taylor (R) Announces for US Senate Against Sen. Mark Warner (D)…On Where Else But the Odious “Fox and Friends”
- Republican Scott Taylor, a former congressman, to challenge Sen. Mark Warner
- Scott Taylor Reveals GOP Pessimism With Senate Run (“Taylor’s decision tells us all we need to know about the fate of the Republican Party in Virginia … and it’s not good… can a Republican Party that has lost Virginia Beach win statewide? Nationwide?”)
- Congressman Bobby Scott holds gun violence prevention round table discussion
- Leading GOP senator files gun bill on eve of Va. special session (“Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City) caught Republican colleagues off guard by proposing a bill to ban firearms from local government buildings and make any violation a felony.”)
- ICYMI: Virginia Republicans’ Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week (“Senators reveal their true extremist colors in series of self-inflicted damage”)
- Virginia courts quietly roll out online statewide criminal records searches
- With VA General Assembly Session on Gun Violence Starting Tuesday, So Far Only Dems Have Introduced Serious Legislation
- Dozens of bills filed as General Assembly convenes special session focused on guns
- Editorial: Our non-legislative all-stars
- Audio: Day Before Gun Violence Prevention Special Session, Sen. Amanda Chase Spews NRA Talking Points, Again Claims Her Gun Stopped ERA Activists from “Lay[ing] Hands” on Her
- Delegate Lee Carter’s Campaign Unionizes in Historic First for Virginia
- Neither unemployed nor allowed to work: Virginia’s Blackjewel miners look for relief
- This is Hanover (but it doesn’t have to be)
- Hampton Roads penal system is broken
- Kit Hale column: VHDA building better communities through safe, affordable housing
- Energy audit inspires Virginia yogis to ‘stand up for something that’s important’
- Attorney touts history of service, including in military, in run for Richmond’s top prosecutor
- After helping Arlington land Amazon, Victor Hoskins to become Fairfax County’s economic development chief
- How and why the D.C. area was deluged by a month’s worth of rain in an hour Monday (“Storm environments with these exceptionally high amounts of atmospheric water content are expected to increase from climate change-induced rising temperatures. And it’s plausible Tuesday’s rainstorm was intensified by the climate warming that has already occurred.”)
- It’s Raining Inside the Metro as Flash Floods Rage Across Washington, DC (“The floodwaters are rising on a day when the President Trump is set to deliver remarks on his administration’s ‘environmental leadership,’ which amounts to leaving the world’s main climate treaty and rolling back climate and environmental regulations.”)
- The D.C. Area Got a Month’s Worth of Rain in One Hour (“While a single storm can’t be attributed to climate change, extreme downpours like the one that hit Washington are becoming increasingly common, according to the U.S. government’s 2018 National Climate Assessment, and they’re becoming more severe. “)
- After extreme flooding, D.C.-area residents cleaning up, drying out (“Many local residents had hair-raising tales of flight from the sudden torrents of a deluge that showed the fearful power of nature, hobbled transportation and led to extensive power outages.”)
- BREAKING: Torrential Rain Causes Major Flash Flooding in Arlington County
- Better weather today and tomorrow; heat, humidity and storm chances return by Thursday
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