🇺🇸 **Exclusive poll: Young Americans are embracing socialism**
*Axios* - <https://archive.fo/0vK7E>

Generation Z has a more positive view of the word "socialism" than previous generations, and — along with millennials — are more likely to embrace socialistic policies and principles than past generations, according to a new Harris Poll given exclusively to Axios.

Why it matters: The word "socialism" does not carry the same stigma it did in the past, now that it has been resurrected by celebrity politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Young people's political views often change as they grow older, but their support for socialistic policies is a sign that the old rules of politics are changing fast.
Gen Z and millennials are projected to make up 37% of the electorate in 2020, and what they're looking for in a presidential candidate is shifting.

The top three voting issues for Gen Z, according to the Harris poll, are mass shootings, racial equality, and immigration policy and treatment of immigrants.
Millennials' top issues are access to health care, global warming/climate change and mass shootings.
Gen X's top issues are: access to health care, terrorism/national security and the national debt — the same top issues for boomers and older.

Go deeper:

Generation Z prefers "socialism" to "capitalism"
Millennials and Gen Z will make up 37% of the 2020 electorate
How Gen Z could change the GOP
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🇬🇧 **The Brexit Plan Just Failed Again in Parliament: What Happened, and What’s Next?**
*NY Times* - <https://archive.fo/B4Dd1>

Parliament’s rebuke to Prime Minister Theresa May, on the issue that has dominated British politics for three years, casts the nation’s political and economic future into confusion with just 17 days left until its scheduled exit from the European Union.

The vote is sure to intensify calls for her to either step down, call a general election, or both. Plenty of Conservative lawmakers would like to take her place as party leader and prime minister, but there is no obvious front-runner, and the outcome of a general election is just as unclear.

Mrs. May’s plan, painstakingly negotiated with the European Union, would have set the terms for Britain’s scheduled exit on March 29.

Unless Parliament takes some other action, Britain will leave the bloc on that date without a deal in place, which Brexit hardliners insist would be fine, but which most lawmakers and economists say would be disastrous.

Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on whether to reject the prospect of a “no-deal” Brexit, and to vote Thursday on whether to seek a postponement of the March 29 deadline.

The bloc would have to agree to a postponement, which appears likely, but the duration of such a delay is uncertain.

“Let me be clear,” Mrs. May said after the defeat. “Voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face. The E.U. will want to know what use we will make of such an extension.”

Tuesday’s vote was Parliament’s second rejection of the plan, and there was talk of a third vote, even closer to the deadline.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Michael Avenatti cuts ties with Stormy Daniels**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/fOvIJ>

Attorney Michael Avenatti announced Tuesday that he was no longer representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, cutting ties with a client who had propelled him into the national limelight.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Avenatti said he had informed Daniels "in writing" last month that his firm was terminating its representation of her "for various reasons that we cannot disclose publicly due to the attorney-client privilege."

"This was not a decision we made lightly and it came only after lengthy discussion, thought and deliberation, as well as consultation with other professionals," Avenatti added. "We wish Stormy all the best."

In a tweet of her own, Daniels announced that she had retained Oklahoma-based trial attorney Clark Brewster as her personal lawyer and said he would review "all legal matters involving me."

"I anticipate Mr. Brewster will serve as my primary counsel on all legal issues," Daniels concluded.
---------------

🇸🇾 **Hundreds surrender as Islamic State nears defeat in last enclave**
*Yahoo/Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/mvGES>

Islamic State faced imminent defeat in its final enclave on Tuesday as hundreds of jihadist fighters and their families surrendered and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said the battle was as good as over.

A Reuters journalist in Baghouz saw hundreds of people surrendering to the SDF, which launched its final attack to capture Baghouz on Sunday, backed by U.S.-led international coalition air strikes after weeks of siege.

The enclave is the last shred of territory held by the jihadists who have been driven from roughly one third of Iraq and Syria over the past four years.

The ferocious assault continued late on Tuesday. Live footage broadcast by the Kurdish Ronahi TV showed a series of large explosions lighting up the night sky over Baghouz, apparently from an ammunitions dump blowing up.

Smoke billowed past burning buildings, lit orange by flares and raging fires, as tracer fire poured into the enclave amid the sound of constant shooting and blasts.

SDF official Mustafa Bali said on Twitter on Tuesday that the number of Islamic State members who had surrendered has risen to 3,000.

"Once our forces confirm that everyone who wants to surrender has done so ... the clashes will resume," he said, adding that the jihadists' defeat was very near.

The coalition said in an email earlier on Tuesday there were an estimated "few hundred" foreign Islamic State fighters remaining in Baghouz who had decided to fight to the end.
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🇺🇸 **Paul Manafort: Ex-Trump chief gets 43 more months in jail**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/4ssUq>

US President Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort has been jailed for 43 more months on charges stemming from the Russia investigation.

It comes a week after the 69-year-old was given a 47-month prison sentence for fraud in a separate case.

The latest sentencing arises from two conspiracy charges Manafort pleaded guilty to last year.

Speaking from a wheelchair, he told the federal court in Washington DC that he wanted to apologise for his actions.

In a separate development, Wednesday also saw Manafort charged in New York with residential mortgage fraud and other crimes.

President Trump has the power to pardon his former aide for the federal crimes - but not for the charges brought in New York.

"I do feel badly for Paul Manafort, that I can tell you," Mr Trump told reporters after the sentencing on Wednesday.

Asked if he was planning to pardon Manafort, the president answered: "I have not even given it a thought, as of this moment. It's not something that's right now on my mind."

Both cases for which Manafort has been convicted stem from an inquiry into alleged Russian election meddling in the 2016 US elections.

None of Manafort's charges, however, relates to allegations of collusion with Russia. Mr Trump has always denied the charge, describing the inquiry as a "witch hunt".
---------------

🇺🇸 **Sanders Aide Apologizes After Questioning Loyalty of Jewish Americans**
*Free Beacon* - <https://archive.fo/Eyens>

A campaign official working for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) apologized Tuesday for suggesting Jewish Americans and the U.S. government may have "dual allegiance."

Belén Sisa is Sanders's national deputy press secretary on his 2020 presidential campaign. In a Facebook post last month, Sisa shared an article likening the relationship between Democrats and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to that between Republicans and the National Rifle Association (NRA). Sisa was defending comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) about the Jewish community. Sanders has defended the same comments, refusing to condemn Omar.

When a Jewish friend of Sisa's worried about the murderous history of suggestions that Jews are less than loyal to their country of residence, Sisa responded by defending the accusation.

"This is a serious question: do you not think that the American government and American Jewish community has a dual allegiance to the state of Israel?" Sisa wrote in a now-deleted comment.

When another commenter asked whether the question applied to her boss, Sisa replied: "I think I would probably have to ask him? But his comments make me believe other wise as he has been very blunt on where he stands."

Rep. Lois Frankel (D., Fla.) condemned Sisa's remarks. "I would totally disagree with that. It’s ridiculous," she told Politico. "That’s just a terrible statement to make."

The accusation that Jewish Americans are loyal to Israel as opposed to their country of citizenship is a classic anti-Semitic canard. A 2018 publication from the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies explains that, "[i]n its most extreme form, the charge of dual loyalty amounts to an accusation of treason."
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🇺🇸 **Beto O'Rourke starts presidential run with video tweeted an hour late and won't officially launch campaign for two weeks – but says in 2020 announcement that immigration is 'the best possible problem' for the U.S.**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.fo/Ad7m8>

Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke formally announced Thursday that he'll seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, ending months of intense speculation over whether he would try to translate his newfound political celebrity into a White House bid.

Until he challenged Republican Sen. Ted Cruz last year, O'Rourke was little known outside his hometown of El Paso. But the Spanish-speaking 46-year-old former punk rocker became a sensation during a campaign that used grassroots organizing and social media savvy to mobilize young voters and minorities.

O'Rourke's online campaign began Thursday with announcements emailed in English and Spanish, an interview with CBS News will air Friday morning, and he will head to Iowa for three days of hand-to-hand campaigning. But in a head-scratching political move, he won't have an official launch speech until March 30.

And while his campaign website was heavy on merchandise and fundraising buttons as he announced his candidacy, there was no sign at all of policies, political positions or his video — only a photo of a sweaty Beto with microphone in hand.

His much-anticipated rollout was marked by a clumsy lack of coordination that left his supporters looking for a launch video for an hour before his organization posted it on Twitter. O'Rourke's hometown newspaper, the El Paso Times, had it ahead of time, but no other news organization.

The video features an up-and-down bobbing O'Rourke speaking as his wife Amy holds his arm and smiles. Tapping into the marquee issue that defines border zones like his native El Paso, Texas, he declares that 'if immigration is a problem, it's the best possible problem for this country to have.'
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🇺🇸 **Flipping off cop is free speech, court says**
*The Seattle Times* - <https://archive.fo/6bB8J>

Woman gets stopped for speeding. Cop shows mercy and gives her a ticket for a nonmoving violation. As police officer pulls away, however, woman gives him the finger – or, as a U.S. District Court puts it, “flips him the bird.”

Cop takes offense, switches on lights and siren and stops her again, ploughing into her car in the process and then, on top of that, changing the original ticket to a moving violation.

She sues the officer for violating her constitutional rights.

Did he?

That question, plucked from everyday life in the town of Taylor, Michigan, confronted the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in the case of Debra Lee Cruise-Gulyas v. Matthew Wayne Minard, in which Cruise-Gulyas was the motorist and Minard the cop.

Normally, cases like this one don’t get quite this far.

For one thing, most drivers don’t ordinarily give cops the finger as they pull away, especially when the officer has just let them off with a nonmoving violation.

But Cruise-Gulyas told The Washington Post that she was unhappy because, according to her, the area where she was pulled over in June 2017 about 18 miles southwest of Detroit is a notorious “speed trap” for the Taylor Police Department.

“I know this is a bunch of B.S.,” she said, so “when I pulled off I gave him the middle finger.”

And Minard went to the appeals court claiming immunity from the suit, arguing that even if he did violate her rights, which he did not admit to doing, those rights were not clearly established.

Judge Jeffrey Sutton, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel Wednesday, disagreed.

To justify the second stop, he wrote, Minard needed “probable cause that she had committed” a violation.

He didn’t have it, the judge said. Giving the finger is not a crime. That “all too familiar gesture,” as he put it, is “protected by the First Amendment.”
---------------

🇺🇸 **Boeing 737 Max aircraft grounded 'until May at least'**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/kFBzj>

The aircraft will not fly until a software update can be tested and installed, the US regulator said.

Sunday's crash, shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, killed 157 people from 35 nations.

It was the second crash involving a 737 Max in six months.

Some people have pointed to similarities between the incidents, with some experts citing satellite data and evidence from the crash scene as showing links between Sunday's disaster and October's crash in Indonesia of the Lion Air jet that killed 189 people.

US Representative Rick Larsen said the software upgrade would take a few weeks to complete, and installing it on all the aircraft would take "at least through April".

The FAA said on Wednesday that a software fix for the 737 Max that Boeing had been working on since the Lion Air crash would take months to complete.

Meanwhile, investigators in France have taken charge of the crashed Ethiopian Airlines aircraft's black boxes as they attempt to uncover what caused the Boeing 737 Max disaster.

The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) received the flight data and cockpit voice recorders on Thursday.

The first readings could take days, but a lot depends on the boxes' condition.

Regulators across the world continue to ground the Boeing aircraft.

On Thursday, Russia, Japan and Tunisia banned the jet from their airspace. Late on Wednesday, the FAA told the country's airlines to ground their fleets, but was criticised for not doing it sooner.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Morris Dees, a Co-Founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Is Ousted**
*NY Times* - <https://archive.fo/MiZkA>

The Southern Poverty Law Center said Thursday that it had fired its co-founder and chief trial lawyer, Morris Dees, after nearly a half-century, during which he helped build the organization into a fearsome powerhouse that focused on hate crimes and with an endowment that approached half a billion dollars.

The group’s president, Richard Cohen, did not give a specific reason for the dismissal of Mr. Dees, 82, on Wednesday. But Mr. Cohen said in a statement that as a civil-rights group, the S.P.L.C. was “committed to ensuring that the conduct of our staff reflects the mission of the organization and the values we hope to instill in the world.”

“When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and must take appropriate action,” Mr. Cohen said.

Mr. Cohen’s statement suggested that Mr. Dees’s firing was linked to workplace conduct. He said the center, which is based in Montgomery, Ala., had requested “a comprehensive assessment of our internal climate and workplace practices” in a bid to ensure that the organization was a place where “all voices are heard and all staff members are respected.”

In an interview on Thursday evening, Mr. Dees said he had reviewed the S.P.L.C.’s statement on his dismissal but noted that it did not include any specific allegations against him.

“All I can say is it was not my decision,” said Mr. Dees, who added that he had limited involvement with the organization in recent years.

Asked whether he had engaged in any behavior that could have been perceived as improper, he replied, “I have no idea how people take things.”
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🇺🇸 **Feds charge 5 from New Mexico compound, where 11 children were found, with terror, kidnapping offenses**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/aeCaH>

The residents of a makeshift New Mexico compound -- where 11 emaciated children were found during an August raid -- were charged by federal authorities Wednesday with terror, kidnapping and firearms offenses.

“The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to provide material support in preparation for violent attacks against federal law enforcement officers and members of the military,” Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Department of Justice's National Security Division said.

Jany Leveille, 36, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, Hurjah Wahhaj, 38, Subhanah Wahhaj, 36, and Lucas Morton, 41, were charged “with federal offenses related to terrorism, kidnapping and firearms violations,” the Department of Justice said in a press release. In the original indictment, Leveille was also charged with "possessing firearms and ammunition as an alien illegally and unlawfully in the United States."

The suspects were previously charged by indictment on Sept. 11 “with a conspiracy relating to the possession of firearms and ammunition by an alien illegally and unlawfully in the United States,” the DOJ said.

“The superseding indictment alleges a conspiracy to stage deadly attacks on American soil,” U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson said in a statement. “These allegations remind us of the dangers of terrorism that continue to confront our nation, and the allegation concerning the death of a young child only underscores the importance of prompt and effective intervention by law enforcement. I commend our law enforcement partners for their ongoing diligence and outstanding work in identifying and disabling imminent threats of targeted violence.”
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🇺🇸 **Study finds a race gap in air pollution — whites largely cause it; blacks and Hispanics breathe it**
*USA TODAY* - <https://archive.fo/FLojh>

The air that Americans breathe isn't equal.

Blacks and Hispanics disproportionately breathe air that's been polluted by non-Hispanic whites, according to a study. This new research quantifies for the first time the racial gap between who causes air pollution – and who breathes it.

"Pollution is disproportionately caused by whites, but disproportionately inhaled by black and Hispanic minorities," the study said.

Poor air quality remains the largest environmental health risk in the United States, the study warns. In fact, with 100,000 deaths per year, more Americans die from air pollution than car crashes and murders combined.

“Even though minorities are contributing less to the overall problem of air pollution, they are affected by it more,” said study co-author Jason Hill, an engineering professor at the University of Minnesota, who is white. “Is it fair (that) I create more pollution and somebody else is disproportionately affected by it?”

Hill said that while the air in the U.S. has gotten cleaner in the past decade, pollution inequity has remained stubbornly high.

"What is especially surprising is just how large pollution inequity is and has been for well over a decade," Hill said.
----------------

🇳🇿 **Christchurch Shooting 49 Are Dead After 2 Mosques Are Hit**
*NY Times* - <https://archive.fo/lgNnD>

Forty-nine people were killed in shootings at two mosques in central Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, in a terrorist attack that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”

Officials said that one man in his late 20s had been charged with murder, and that two explosive devices were found attached to a vehicle that they had stopped.

A Muslim leader in New Zealand said the attack was especially shocking as it took place around Friday prayers. The police urged people to stay away from the mosques until further notice.

A video and manifesto that appeared to be by a gunman involved in the shooting were posted online on the day of the attack.

The country’s police commissioner, Mike Bush, said in an evening news conference that 41 people had been killed at Al Noor Mosque and seven at Linwood Mosque, and that a further victim had died at Christchurch Hospital.

The police said that four people, including three men and one woman, had been taken into custody. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia said that one of them was Australian
----------------

🇺🇸 **Alan Greenspan: Social Security solvency may require benefit cuts**
*Fox Business* - <https://archive.is/z73Iv#0%>

Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday that the potential for a slowdown in the U.S. economy could stem from an overloading of entitlement programs that aren’t being funded, and that the goal should be to resolve the basic Social Security system.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve said earlier this week that it estimates real GDP growth a key figure for measuring the pace of economic activity – for the first quarter of 2019 is just 0.4 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rate). The data comes from its GDPNow forecasting model, which it says provides a “nowcast” of the official estimate before its release by estimating GDP growth using an approach similar to that of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Opens a New Window. .

“We’re creating an odd imbalance in the system,” Greenspan said during an interview on “Mornings with Maria.” The best way to solve this problem is to fund our benefits, get a balanced budget, and the system will work.”

The former Fed chair, who served in the position from 1987 to 2006, added that “the actuaries of the Social Insurance system say that in order to be actuarially solvent through the life of the programs, we would have to cut benefits by 25 percent right now and extending into the future.”

He called the issue a “fascinating problem” and noted that officials should “come to grips” with it because “the end of the road is very serious trouble,” while adding that defined benefits have been a big problem.

“Sweden had very much the same problems we did,” Greenspan said. “What they did first to resolve them is go from a defined benefit program, which is what we have now, to a defined contribution. What we have is 401(k). 401(k)s cannot go broke – you can only spend what you get.”
-----------------

🇺🇸 **James Gunn: Disney rehires sacked Guardians of the Galaxy director**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/Ibugl>

It comes after famous cast members from the Marvel series signed an open letter pleading for Gunn's return.

In a tweet he thanked Disney and his supporters and said he is "excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all".

He was fired last July over the tweets that Disney called "indefensible".

Stars from the first two films in the franchise had openly supported Gunn after his dismissal, including Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista.

The Guardians of the Galaxy series has grossed over $1.6bn (£1.2bn) worldwide, with the sequel surpassing the earnings seen by the first film.

According to Deadline, the decision was made by Disney executives months ago after he publicly apologised in July and took blame for the incident.

He will reportedly begin production of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after he completes Suicide Squad 2, which is being produced by Marvel rival DC, Deadline reports.

Before his dismissal, he confirmed that he had written the script for a third Guardians movie.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Gillibrand makes it official, launching her 2020 White House campaign**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/HdA0a>

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is officially running for president, formally declaring her candidacy Sunday morning.

“We need a leader who makes big, bold, brave choices. Someone who isn’t afraid of progress. That’s why I’m running for president. And it’s why I’m asking you for your support,” the New York Democrat says in a video announcing the official launch of her campaign.

The move comes two months after Gillibrand set up a presidential exploratory committee -- which allowed her to raise money and build a campaign structure -- and began introducing herself to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – three of the four states that kick off the primary and caucus calendar - as well as California and Texas, which hold contests immediately after the early voting states.

In her video – titled "Brave Wins" – the senator uses "The Star-Spangled Banner" to say that bravery has been a constant choice in the nation’s history, and so many Americans have chosen to be brave.

Gillibrand also takes aim at President Trump, claiming the Republican has promoted an “agenda of cowardice, hate and fear.”

“Brave doesn’t pit people against each other. Brave doesn’t put money over lives. Brave doesn’t spread hate. Cloud truth.

"Build a wall. That’s what fear does,” she charges in the video.

Gillibrand says that if America could land astronauts on the moon, “we can definitely achieve universal health care. We can provide paid family leave for all, end gun violence, pass a Green New Deal, get money out of politics and take back our democracy.”
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🇳🇿 ** Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of New Zealand attack within 24 hours **
*USA Today* - <https://archive.fo/0iW6x>

Facebook said Sunday that it removed or blocked from the social media site 1.5 million videos of a gunman's rampage on two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people and wounded dozens more.

Mia Garlick, spokeswoman for Facebook New Zealand, said that about 300,000 videos were removed within the first 24 hours of the terrorist attack Friday. More than 1.2 million were blocked at upload, she said.

"Out of respect for the people affected by this tragedy and the concerns of local authorities, we're also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content," Garlick said in a tweet.

Garlick said that Facebook was using technology and people "around the clock" to remove content that violates its violence policy.

Minutes before the attack, the alleged shooter posted a 74-page manifesto on Twitter and sent it to numerous officials and media outlets in New Zealand. The gunman also livestreamed the rampage via helmet-cam on Facebook and Twitter.

Footage of the massacre circulated for hours after the shooting, despite efforts by Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Reddit to take it down as quickly as possible. Twitter and YouTube said they were continuously monitoring and removing any content depicting the tragedy.

"Our hearts are broken over today’s terrible tragedy in New Zealand," YouTube tweeted within hours of the attack. "Please know we are working vigilantly to remove any violent footage."
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🇳🇿 **Man Arrested for Distributing New Zealand Mosque Attack Video Online**
*NewsWeek* - <https://archive.fo/nz1C4>

A 22-year-old from New Zealand has been arrested and charged in connection with circulating a graphic video of the mass shootings that took place at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday.

The man, who has not been named by authorities, has been formally charged under New Zealand’s Films Videos and Publications Classification Act and is expected to appear in court on Monday, ABC News reported Sunday.

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian national, allegedly carried out the Friday attacks, which left at least 50 people dead and 50 others injured, while he shared a livestream of the mass shootings to Facebook. Although the social media platform responded quickly to remove the video, others continued to re-upload the clip.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and local police have repeatedly called on individuals and media organizations to restrain from sharing the graphic footage. Police also said that they are not charging the 22-year-old for being directly involved with the attack.

“We would like to remind people that it is an offense to distribute or possess an objectionable publication (under the Films Videos and Publications Classifications Act 1993), which carries a penalty of imprisonment," local police said in a statement, according to ABC News. "The live stream video of the shootings in Christchurch has been classified by the Chief Censor’s Office as objectionable," it continued.
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🇺🇸 **Family says Obama's top economic adviser killed himself**
*Washington Examiner* - <https://archive.fo/u8r2l>

The family of a Princeton University economist and former top economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, has said he committed suicide.

Alan Krueger, 58, died on Saturday, according to a university announcement. His family said in a statement: "It is with tremendous sadness we share that Professor Alan B. Krueger, beloved husband, father, son, brother, and Princeton professor of economics, took his own life over the weekend.

"The family requests the time and space to grieve and remember him. In lieu of flowers, we encourage those wishing to honor Alan to make a contribution to the charity of their choice."

Princeton had not provided a cause of death. The university said in its statement: "In addition to his scholarship, Alan’s life exemplified a commitment to public service. He was married with two children.

Krueger was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Obama from 2011 to 2013. In that role, he sought to draw attention to the problem of inequality and promote ways of increasing economic mobility.

He also served in the Clinton administration as an economist for the Labor Department.
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🇺🇸 **Spaceflight is activating herpes in astronauts**
*Fox 59/CNN* - <https://archive.fo/u8r2l>

The longer astronauts spend in space, the more likely they are to have viruses like herpes, chickenpox and shingles reactivate, according to new NASA research. The reason may be the same for viral reactivation on Earth: stress.

Samples of blood, urine and saliva were collected from astronauts before, during and after short space shuttle flights and long-term International Space Station missions. Herpes viruses reactivated in more than half of the astronauts. The study published last week in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

“To date, 47 out of 89 (53%) astronauts on short space shuttle flights, and 14 out of 23 (61%) on longer ISS missions shed herpes viruses in their saliva or urine samples,” said lead study author Satish K. Mehta at Johnson Space Center. “These frequencies — as well as the quantity — of viral shedding are markedly higher than in samples from before or after flight, or from matched healthy controls.”

Shedding is when a virus successfully reactivates.

On both short and long-term spaceflight missions, astronauts undergo exposure to zero gravity, cosmic radiation and extreme G forces during take-off and re-entry. Added to this is confinement in small spaces, social separation from family and friends and an altered sleep cycle, the researchers said.

Spaceflight creates a stressful environment for the astronauts, awakening dormant viruses.

Four of the eight human herpes viruses were detected, including oral and genital herpes, chickenpox and shingles. Because the herpes viruses take up residence in nerve and immune cells, they’re never really gone, so they can “wake up.”
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🇺🇸 **Three dead in record flooding in US Midwestern states**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/bC0U1>

Three people have died, including a man who officials say was trying to rescue strangers from freezing flood waters.

Record-breaking flooding in at least five states has led to emergency declarations. Several communities have been cut off from outside help.

It follows a powerful winter storm that slammed the US last week.

A hurricane-like weather phenomenon that scientists call a "bomb cyclone" hit the western Rocky Mountains and US Central Plains last week, showering snow and freezing rains on millions of Americans in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota.

In a statement, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said "warm temperatures and rain the last few days have caused much of the heavy snowpack and ice to melt resulting in flooding, ice jams, and rivers and creeks to rise".

The Missouri River has reached record high levels in several locations, including in Iowa and Nebraska, which have been hit hardest by the flooding.

Residents in the towns of Bartlett and Thurman were ordered to evacuate on Sunday as levees were breached.

Three people have been killed, and two other men have been missing for days.
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🇳🇿 **Christchurch shooting: gun owners begin to hand in their weapons**
*The Guardian* - <https://archive.fo/WmyPF>

New Zealanders have begun handing in their firearms to police in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting in Christchurch which resulted in the deaths of at least 50 people.

New Zealand police said that, as of Tuesday night, at least 37 firearms had been handed in to police officers around the country.

The prime minister is expected to announce changes to gun laws in the coming days, including measures such as a ban on semi-automatic rifles, a plan that was flagged by her attorney general, David Parker, one day after the massacre.

She emerged from a long cabinet meeting on Monday, Jacinda Ardern said her team would take the rest of the week to work out the details after agreeing to make changes “in principle”, adding: “These aren’t simple areas of law. So that’s simply what we’ll be taking the time to get right.”

Ardern encouraged people to surrender their firearms to police and advised anyone considering buying a gun to wait a few days to get some certainty on the laws before investing.
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🇺🇸 **Supreme Court Disregards Due Process, Allows ICE to Detain Certain Immigrants Indefinitely**
*Slate* - <https://archive.fo/VoT93>

The Supreme Court delivered a brutal blow to immigrants’ rights on Tuesday morning, ruling that the Trump administration may detain unauthorized immigrants indefinitely once they have been taken into criminal custody. Its 5–4 decision permits the government to arrest and imprison undocumented individuals who were released from custody years, even decades ago. Even immigrants convicted in the distant past of a minor crime, like possession of a stolen bus transfer, may now be apprehended and detained without bond. To reach this result, the court’s conservative justices manipulated the plain text of a federal statute and ignored basic principles of due process. Their decision hands Immigration and Customs Enforcement even more power to terrorize immigrant communities, suspending due process for certain unauthorized immigrants snatched up by ICE.

Tuesday’s ruling in Nielsen v. Preap revolves around a 1996 law designed to crack down on unauthorized immigration. One section of the statute compels the Department of Homeland Security to detain certain non-citizens without a bond hearing as the government awaits permission to deport them. This provision states that immigration officials “shall take into custody” any unauthorized immigrant who has committed a certain criminal offense “when the alien is released” from jail. Officials may not release these individuals prior to deportation unless they are participating in witness protection. ICE interprets this statute to permit it agents to arrest and detain any unauthorized immigrant who was convicted of a crime, then hold him without a bond hearing. It doesn’t matter if the immigrant was convicted a half-century ago and has fully rejoined his community; according to ICE, he remains subject to indefinite detention.
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🇳🇱 **Forum big winner in provincial elections, set to take 12 senate seats**
*Dutch News* - <https://archive.fo/3mKeo>

With most of the votes counted in Wednesday’s provincial elections, Thierry Baudet’s right-wing nationalist Forum voor Democratie appears to have won most votes and will take 12 seats in the senate in May.

Forum, which is pro Nexit and does not believe in climate change, campaigned on national issues and did not draw up policies for any of the 12 provinces it will now be represented in.

‘Arrogance and stupidity have been punished,’ Baudet said in his victory speech. ‘We are being ruined by the people who should be protecting us,’ he said. ‘We are being undermined by universities and journalists, by the people who design our buildings.’

Senate
The four coalition parties will now control 31 of the 75 seats in the senate and will need the support of a fifth party to pass controversial legislation. Forum, Labour and Groenlinks, which almost doubled its support, could all fulfill that role.

Big losers of the night were Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration PVV which is on target to lose four of its nine senate seats, and the Socialists which will sink from nine to four.

Wilders, whose support has been declining for years and has fallen 40% in the provinces, described his party’s losses as ‘limited’. ‘Six parties is not nothing,’ he said, adding that that the ‘unique PVV voice’ will continue to heard in the senate.

Turnout was up sharply on the last provincial vote, with some 56% of people casting their vote. It was highest (60%) in Zeeland and Utrecht.
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🇺🇸 🇮🇱 **Trump says it's time for US to recognize 'Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights'**
*CNN* - <https://archive.fo/VoT93>

President Donald Trump on Thursday overturned longstanding US policy regarding the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, announcing "it is time" for the US to "fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty" over the region.

"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability," Trump tweeted.

The announcement hands Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a significant foreign policy victory, less than three weeks before Israelis head to the polls to decide whether he should remain in power. The move comes just days before Netanyahu is set to join Trump at the White House and follows weeks during which Netanyahu has renewed his push for the US to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967 and formally annexed the territory in 1981. But that annexation has not been recognized by the international community, which has regarded the Golan Heights as occupied territory and Israeli settlements there as illegal under international law. The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, recently reiterated that position.

"The Security Council is very clear that the Golan is Syrian territory, and the first aspect of (Resolution) 2254 is of course the territorial integrity of Syria," he said in a news briefing in late February.
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🇬🇧 🇪🇺 **May gets two-week Brexit reprieve from impatient EU**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/VZ5io>

European Union leaders have given Prime Minister Theresa May two weeks’ reprieve, until April 12, before Britain could lurch out of the EU if she fails to persuade lawmakers to back the withdrawal treaty she concluded with Brussels.

But after seven hours of summit brainstorming on Thursday, her 27 peers kept a host of options open, ramping up pressure on parliament to support May, giving Britain an outside chance of staying in for much longer - but also preparing to deflect blame for the chaos of any no-deal Brexit.

May had wanted to be able to delay Britain’s departure until June 30 to tie up legislative loose ends, and tried to reassure the EU that she could overturn two heavy defeats to clinch a last-gasp parliamentary ratification of her deal next week, so allowing a status-quo transition period to come into effect.

EU leaders had planned to endorse a shorter extension, to May 22, the eve of EU parliamentary elections, and leave any discussion of how to deal with May losing until next week. But diplomats said the prime minister singularly failed to reassure them she could win. Some sensed she did not believe it herself.

After May left the room, and with French President Emmanuel Macron pitching a surprise ultimatum for Britain to be out, deal or no deal, by May 7 — the eve of a summit on the EU’s post-Brexit future — the meeting plunged into frantic debate.

The outcome, with which May declared herself satisfied, was that the May 22 date will apply if parliament rallies behind her next week. If it does not, Britain will have until April 12 to offer a new plan or choose to quit without a treaty.
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🇮🇱🇩🇪🇺🇸 **Germany rejects Trump's call to recognize Golan Heights as Israeli**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/r8emd>

The Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel, a German government spokeswoman said on Friday when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic territory.

“If national borders should be changed it must be done through peaceful means between all those involved,” spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

“The government rejects unilateral steps.”
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🇮🇱🇫🇷🇺🇸 **Responding to Trump, France says Israeli sovereignty over Golan breaks international law**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/oMs7d>

France does not recognize the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights and its recognition - as called for by U.S. President Donald Trump - is contrary to international law, its foreign ministry said on Friday.

“The Golan is a territory occupied by Israel since 1967. France does not recognize the Israeli annexation of 1981,” the ministry said in a daily briefing, adding that U.N. Security Council resolutions had recognized the annexation as null and void.

“The recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, occupied territory, would be contrary to international law, in particular the obligation for states not to recognize an illegal situation,” the ministry also said.
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🇮🇱🇷🇺🇺🇸 **Russia: Golan Heights status change would violate U.N. decisions - RIA**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.is/WDGbS>

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a change in the status of the Golan Heights would be a direct violation of United Nations decisions, RIA news agency said in a report citing ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

She was commenting on a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted on Thursday it was time to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights that Israel seized from Syria in 1967.
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🇮🇱🇪🇺🇺🇸 **EU holds position on Golan Heights despite Trump: Tusk**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.is/q0ZLL>

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday the EU was holding its line on the Golan Heights despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory seized in war.

“The EU’s position is well know and has not changed,” Tusk told a news conference when asked to comment on Trump’s comments. The European Union does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area.
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🇺🇸 **Trump signs executive order to promote free speech on college campuses**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/OlMlp>

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to promote free speech on college campuses by threatening colleges with the loss of federal research funding if they do not protect those rights.

"We’re here to take historic action to defend American students and American values," Trump said, surrounded by conservative student activists at the signing ceremony. "They’ve been under siege."

"Under the guise of speech codes, safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans like those here today," he said.

A senior administration official said the order directs 12 grant-making agencies to use their authority in coordination with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure institutions that receive federal research or education grants promote free speech and free inquiry. White House officials have said it will apply to more than $35 billion in grants.

Public universities seeking funding would have to certify they comply with the First Amendment, which already applies to them. Private universities, which have more flexibility in limiting speech, would need to commit to their own institutional rules.

"Even as universities have received billions and billions of dollars from taxpayers, many have become increasingly hostile to free speech and the First Amendment," Trump said.
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🇵🇱 **Poland likely to bar Holocaust denier, foreign minister says**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/XthPb>

Warsaw is likely to refuse Holocaust denier David Irving entry to Poland later this year, the foreign minister said on Friday, citing local legislation that bans denying the genocide.

Israel had urged Poland to deny Irving entry after reports that he planned to lead a tour of Nazi concentration camps in the country. The author of several books, Irving has denied that the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War Two.

Irving confirmed to Reuters by email that he had planned to visit Poland later this year, as he has in the past.

“Negation of the Holocaust is not allowed by Polish law, therefore he will not be welcome here in Poland if he wants to come and present his opinions,” Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters at a press conference.

Irving sued an American historian, Deborah Lipstadt, for libel in 1996 after she described him as a Holocaust denier. But Lipstadt won, in a case that became the film “Denial”, released in 2016.

Poland’s right-wing government introduced legislation last year that would have made the use of phrases such as “Polish death camps” punishable by up to three years in prison.

After pressure from the United States and an outcry in Israel, Poland watered down the legislation, scrapping the prison sentences.
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🇺🇸 **COMEY LEAKED MEMOS IN ORDER TO SPARK MUELLER PROBE. NOW HE SAYS HE DOESN’T CARE WHAT INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS**
*The Daily Caller* - <https://archive.is/DzosT>

James Comey claimed in an op-ed Thursday that he does not care one way or the other whether special counsel Robert Mueller finds evidence that President Donald Trump conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election or obstructed the FBI’s collusion probe.

Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017 that he leaked memos he wrote after conversations with Trump in order to force the appointment of a special counsel. Comey’s ploy worked, as Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel May 17, 2017.

Though Comey clearly pushed for the special counsel’s probe, he now claims that he has no preference as to what Mueller will write in a report of the 22-month-long investigation.
“Even though I believe Mr. Trump is morally unfit to be president of the United States, I’m not rooting for Mr. Mueller to demonstrate that he is a criminal,” Comey wrote in his op-ed.
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🇺🇸 **As Layoffs Arrive, Disney and Fox Staff Voice Frustrations**
*Hollywood Reporter* - <http://archive.is/d2Mn4>

At Walt Disney's shareholder meeting two weeks ago, CEO Bob Iger spoke of the "long-term value" inherent in the company's pending acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox. "We will hit the ground running as soon as the deal closes," he told attendees.

Nary a public word was spoken about layoffs, but less than two days after the $71.3 billion deal officially closed at two minutes past midnight ET on Wednesday, it was clear that hitting the ground running means, at least initially, lots of lost jobs.

"Today I hate everybody," said one nervous employee who worries for his job. "I hate Disney for buying Fox, I hate Fox for selling, I hate the politicians for allowing it to happen."
Part of the frustration, multiple employees tell The Hollywood Reporter, is that Disney has been less than forthcoming about who will be let go and when. Regarding severance, employees have been told they will get two weeks for every year served, capped at two years.
Says one Disney employee: "We feel like we're the ones who have been acquired because the people at Fox know what their severance packages are, if they are going to get let go, and nobody at Disney knows anything. People are panicking — and rightfully so — because nobody is telling them anything."
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🇺🇸 **Head of Southern Poverty Law Center, Richard Cohen, announces resignation amid internal upheaval**
*LA Times* - <https://archive.fo/XfWnA>

The president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Richard Cohen, announced his resignation Friday, the latest in a series of high-profile departures at the anti-hate organization amid allegations of misconduct and workplace discrimination of female and black employees.

Cohen had been with the organization since 1986 and had been one of its most prominent figures in the public eye. His departure comes one week after he fired his longtime partner, Morris Dees — the center’s co-founder, chief trial counsel and its biggest public face for nearly half a century — for undisclosed misconduct.

At 5:03 p.m. Friday, Cohen sent a message to staff, with the subject line “Stepping Down,” announcing that he, too, would be leaving the organization that he and Dees had turned into a research and fundraising juggernaut.

“Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen wrote, while asking the staff to avoid jumping to conclusions before the board completes an internal review of the Montgomery, Ala., organization’s work culture. Earlier this week, the board of directors announced that it had appointed Tina Tchen, the former chief of staff for Michelle Obama, to lead the inquiry.

Cohen told staff that he had asked the center’s board of directors in October to start searching for a new president, citing a need for a transition to a new generation of leadership. But “in light of recent events, I’ve asked the board to immediately launch a search for an interim president in order to give the organization the best chance to heal,” Cohen wrote.

A spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center declined to comment.

Cohen’s resignation comes the same day as a resignation by the organization’s legal director, Rhonda Brownstein, who did not give a reason for her departure in a brief email to her colleagues. Brownstein did not respond to requests for comment via email and LinkedIn.

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🇲🇽 **Over 100 Central American migrants detained in northern Mexico**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.is/wjwoU>

Mexican police and federal officials on Saturday detained 107 Central American migrants seeking to enter the United States in the border city of Reynosa, the government of the northeastern state of Tamaulipas said.

Following a tip-off, state police intercepted a group of migrants who had been taken out of trucks in a western part of the city, which lies across the border from McAllen, Texas.

At the scene, unidentified gunmen began shooting at police, and one of the attackers was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, the Tamaulipas government said in a statement.

The statement said police seized a firearm and cartridges but did not provide details on whether any gunmen were arrested or who they were.

Separately, police discovered a group of Central American men and women on the edge of a highway in Reynosa. They called in federal migration officials, who are now reviewing the legal status of the Central Americans detained, the government said.

The National Migration Institute counted 51 Guatemalans, 47 Hondurans and 9 Salvadorans detained in total, it added.

Mexico’s new government has pledged to regulate and stem the flows of people moving from Central America to its northern border as it seeks to reduce tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump over illegal immigration into the United States.
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🇺🇸 **Mueller finds no Trump-Russia conspiracy but some questions left unresolved**
*reuters* - <https://archive.fo/sZstn>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, but left unresolved the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice by undermining the investigations that have dogged his presidency.

Even though Mueller’s findings on obstruction of justice were inconclusive, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a summary released on Sunday that Mueller’s team had not found enough proof to warrant bringing charges against Trump.

It marked a political victory for Trump. He quickly claimed “complete and total exoneration” while his Democratic opponents expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome and vowed to continue congressional probes into his business and personal dealings.

Mueller’s 22-month investigation ended with a finding that no one in Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government,” according to Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s confidential report.

The long-awaited report into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russian efforts to help him defeat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, marked a major milestone of his presidency as he prepares for his 2020 re-election battle.

Trump describes the Mueller probe as a “witch hunt”, saying there was no collusion with Russia and denying he obstructed justice. He is certain to use the report to attack his Democratic opponents in the 2020 race.

Mueller himself did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump broke the law, but he presented his evidence to Barr to make a determination.
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🇺🇸 **Avenatti arrested for allegedly trying to extort $20 million from Nike**
*Politico* - <https://archive.fo/pf6v3>

Michael Avenatti, the attorney who shot to national fame for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her case against President Donald Trump, was arrested Monday in two separate cases of alleged financial crimes on both coasts.

New York prosecutors accused Avenatti of attempting to extract more than $20 million from Nike Inc. by threatening to inflict financial and reputational harm on the company. Avenatti, a frequent attacker of Trump who flirted with a 2020 presidential bid, is also facing separate bank and wire fraud charges in Los Angeles, authorities said.

The California lawyer received national attention while representing Daniels in two lawsuits against Trump related to hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors on Monday said Avenatti used his newfound fame to intimidate Nike for money.

According to the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Avenatti allegedly threatened to hold a press conference to announce allegations of employee misconduct at the athletic-wear company unless Nike hired Avenatti and an unnamed co-conspirator to conduct an “internal investigation” of the company for somewhere between $15 million and $25 million.
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🇺🇸 **DOJ, FBI stonewalled House GOP request for McCabe texts, sources say**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/umKID>

Republican investigators on the House Intelligence Committee formally requested former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s work-related text messages as part of their surveillance abuse inquiry last March, but they were denied, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The sources questioned whether the rejection amounted to an obstruction of congressional oversight, after Fox News on Friday published previously unseen texts between then-FBI Deputy Director McCabe and FBI lawyer Lisa Page discussing numerous Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) matters.

An attorney for McCabe, the FBI, and the DOJ did not respond to Fox News' requests for comment following the publication of the texts on Friday.

In their document request, dated March 23, 2018, House investigators demanded the DOJ and FBI promptly turn over "all documents and communications, including emails and text messages" in which Page, McCabe, and seven others "discussed, referenced, or undertook work regarding [British ex-spy] Christopher Steele, the Steele dossier, related FISA applications and the application process."

Other individuals included in the House GOP's request for information were former FBI Director James Comey, then-Special Agent Peter Strzok, and senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr -- who became a back channel between Steele and the FBI, after Steele was fired by the bureau on the eve of the 2016 presidential election over his contacts with the media.
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