News Dump for Apr. 27, 2024

US

Dem Docket – Republicans Are Suing for the Right To Harass Election Workers
You might think that even in today’s highly polarized election environment there would be a bipartisan consensus to protect election workers from intimidation and harassment. If you thought so, you would be wrong. In recent weeks, there have been a series of lawsuits aimed at undoing protections for election workers.
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/republicans-are-suing-for-the-right-to-harass-election-workers/

The Conversation – College administrators are falling into a tried and true trap laid by the right
Interrogations of university leaders spearheaded by conservative congressional representatives. Calls from right-wing senators for troops to intervene in campus demonstrations. Hundreds of student and faculty arrests, with nonviolent dissenters thrown to the ground, tear-gassed and tased. We’ve been here before.
https://theconversation.com/college-administrators-are-falling-into-a-tried-and-true-trap-laid-by-the-right-228732

MSNBC – It’s our right to observe the police. These states have decided otherwise.
Not only did the protests that followed Minneapolis police murdering George Floyd fail to lead to meaningful police reform, but there’s been an awful move in the opposite direction.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/louisiana-police-recording-bill-trend-rcna148894

CNN – Poppy Harlow announces she will exit CNN after nearly two decades
Poppy Harlow, the longtime CNN anchor who most recently co-helmed “CNN This Morning,” announced Friday that she will exit the network.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/media/poppy-harlow-exit-cnn/index.html

NBC – Jan. 6 rioter who sought to ‘incite violence’ by Trump supporters sentenced to six years
Federal prosecutors sought a lengthy prison sentence for John Sullivan, who said in video evidence that he wanted to “make those Trump supporters f— s— up.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jan-6-rioter-sought-incite-violence-trump-supporters-set-sentenced-rcna148841

Politico – Florida GOP Rep. Posey abruptly announces retirement
Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) abruptly announced on Friday that he will not seek reelection, after initially planning to run for another term. In a statement posted online, Posey said that he was “looking forward to another spirited campaign for a final term in office. However, earlier this week circumstances beyond my control now require me to suspend my re-election campaign.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/26/florida-bill-posey-retirement-00154658

ABC – Paramedic sentenced to 4 years probation in connection with Elijah McClain’s death
Three of the five first responders involved were convicted in McClain’s death.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/final-responder-convicted-elijah-mcclains-death-sentenced/story?id=109687374

WAPO – D.C. police rejected GWU’s plea to sweep out university protesters
D.C. police rejected pleas from George Washington University officials to clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators out of an on-campus encampment early Friday morning, saying they worried about the optics of moving against a small number of peaceful protesters, according to two officials familiar with the talks.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/26/dc-police-george-washington-university-protests/

Politico – Trump’s former assistant testified — reluctantly. Here’s what we learned from Friday’s witnesses.
The second week of Donald Trump’s criminal trial closed Friday with his defense team working to show inconsistencies in David Pecker’s testimony — but the former tabloid executive largely stuck to the narrative prosecutors have used to lay out their theory of the case.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/26/hush-money-trial-trump-former-assistant-00154741

MSNBC – WATCH: ‘Mob stuff’: Trump’s latest gag order violations ‘imply’ witness threats, intimidation
Michael Cohen used his Trump company email for the Stormy Daniels arrangements now under scrutiny during the Donald Trump hush money trial. Michael Cohen’s alleged relationship with his bank at the time through which he arranged the payment is revealed, amid allegations that Donald Trump continues to violate his gag order.
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/michael-cohen-used-his-trump-company-email-for-stormy-daniels-arrangements-209813061683

CNN – Peter Meijer drops out of Michigan GOP Senate race
Former Rep. Peter Meijer is dropping his bid for Michigan’s open Senate seat, the Republican said in a statement Friday. One of just 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021, riot, Meijer narrowly lost his House primary race in the 2022 midterms to a Trump-endorsed challenger. He entered the state’s Senate race last year despite discouragement from the national party.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/politics/peter-meijer-drops-out-of-michigan-gop-senate-race/index.html

Law & Crime – ‘Can only assist and not prejudice’: Giuliani tells bankruptcy judge a successful appeal of $148M defamation judgment for slandering election workers will help him pay other debts
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/can-only-assist-and-not-prejudice-giuliani-tells-bankruptcy-judge-a-successful-appeal-of-148m-defamation-judgment-for-slandering-election-workers-will-help-him-pay-other-debts/

Failed carpetbagger indicted for murder.
AP – Retired pro wrestler, failed congressional candidate indicted in Vegas murder case
A retired professional wrestler and former congressional candidate in Nevada and Texas has been indicted on a murder charge in the death of an Idaho man who suffered a head injury during a Halloween Party at a Las Vegas Strip hotel. Daniel Rodimer, 45, who now lives in Texas, is expected to appear before a Nevada judge May 8 following his indictment Friday in the death of Christopher Tapp.
https://apnews.com/article/indictment-retired-wrestler-politician-vegas-death-c503068be9d10cbd6ea7e82542def220

Guardian – Conservatives condemn Kristi Noem for ‘twisted’ admission of killing dog
Revelation in new book that possible Trump running mate killed ‘untrainable’ hunting dog prompts widespread revulsion
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/27/kristi-noem-trump-vp-book-killing-dog

CNN – Pro-Palestinian protests continue at colleges across the US
Pro-Palestinian protests continue at major US universities, where several schools have called police on protesters, leading to the arrests of hundreds across the country.
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/university-protests-palestine-04-27-24/index.html

Reuters – Biden says he plans to debate Trump
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that he would participate in a debate with Donald Trump, his Republican opponent in November’s election.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-says-he-plans-debate-trump-2024-04-26/

CNN – Julian Assange’s mission was to change the world – but at what cost?
Julian Assange started his WikiLeaks whistleblowing website on a quest for “radical transparency and truth,” a mission that turned an already polarizing personality into a notorious character and earned him crusaders and critics in equal measure.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/27/europe/julian-assange-profile-intl-cmd/index.html

WORLD

AP – US postpones decision on aid to Israeli army battalion accused of abuses against Palestinians
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that an Israeli army battalion committed grave human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza. But he said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson that he is postponing a decision on blocking aid to the unit to give Israel more time to right the wrongdoing.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-us-military-aid-west-bank-abuses-515acf20ddfffd1b2838bcf55c9a7c73

WAPO – In war-battered Gaza, residents grow angry with Hamas
More than six months into the war in Gaza and with dimming hopes for a cease-fire deal, Palestinians there are growing more critical of Hamas, which some of them blame for the months-long conflict that has destroyed the territory — and their lives.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/27/gaza-hamas-public-support-israel/

SCIENCE

WAPO – Corals are under siege. Is this the best way to save them?
As record ocean heat threatens corals off Florida and across the globe, conservationists are shifting their strategy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/florida-coral-restoration/