News Dump for May 3, 2024

US

AP – Man who bragged that he ‘fed’ an officer to the mob of Capitol rioters gets nearly 5 years in prison
Jack Wade Whitton, a Georgia business owner who bragged that he “fed” a police officer to a mob of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison for his repeated attacks on law enforcement during the insurrection.
https://apnews.com/article/jack-wade-whitton-capitol-riot-sentence-32ca23ad4b637214ae21f637de17227c

WAPO – Texas man gets five-year prison term, $200,000 fine in Jan. 6 riot case
The financial penalty meted out to Ryan T. Nichols is by far the largest imposed on any of the more than 800 defendants sentenced for taking part in the Capitol siege.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/02/ryan-nichols-sentencing-jan-6-capitol-riot/

Daily Beast – Emails Reveal Top Trump Accountant Had Secret Campaign Role
Not only was Allen Weisselberg handling the Trump Org’s books, he was also advising the former president’s campaign 2016 campaign, documents obtained by The Daily Beast suggest.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/emails-reveal-top-trump-accountant-allen-weisselberg-had-secret-campaign-role

Daily Beast – Donald ‘Von ShitzInPantz’ Diss Makes Hush-Money Trial Debut
A ribald social media posting by Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer” was formally entered into the court record on Thursday.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-von-shitzinpantz-diss-makes-hush-money-trial-debut

AP – Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
https://apnews.com/article/hush-money-trial-new-fines-testimony-trump-fe6995afbc96650b67f46d813ab05f06

Mueller, She Wrote – UNSEALED: Trump’s Motion to Dismiss the Florida Charges based on Selective and Vindictive Prosecution
Judge Cannon has “unsealed” a Trump motion from her secret docket, and it’s just as ridiculous as you’d expect.
https://muellershewrote.substack.com/p/unsealed-trumps-motion-to-dismiss

AP – Alexander Smirnov: Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens must remain jailed, appeals court rules
A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a bid to release from jail a former FBI informant who is charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family.
https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-alexander-smirnov-informant-detention-2a16e676657f32778b3efb31f259f109

Guardian – Second Boeing whistleblower dies after short illness
Joshua Dean, 45, former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, alleged ‘gross misconduct by quality management’.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/02/second-boeing-whistleblower-dies

AP – Arizona’s Democratic governor signs a bill to repeal 1864 ban on most abortions
Once the repeal takes effect in the fall, a 2002 statute banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy will become the state’s prevailing abortion law.
https://apnews.com/article/arizona-governor-abortion-ban-1864-signing-07bba2fa805971be62b800bd89c81a5a

CNN – Biden unveils $3 billion for nationwide lead pipe replacement
President Joe Biden announced Thursday $3 billion toward identifying and replacing the nation’s unsafe lead pipes, a long-sought move to improve public health and clean drinking water that will be paid for by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/politics/biden-lead-pipe-replacement/index.html

CBS – Over 200 people arrested at pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA campus
Over 200 people have been arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA campus as protesters resisted officers on Thursday, according to UCLA police.
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/lapd-make-arrests-at-pro-palestinian-encampment-on-ucla-campus/

NBC – Campus protests live updates: Nearly half of NYC arrests involved people not affiliated with schools
Of the 112 people arrested Tuesday in protests at Columbia, 29% were not affiliated with the school, New York City officials said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/campus-protests-live-updates-police-ucla-encampment-rcna150340/rcrd40701?canonicalCard=true

CBS – North Carolina candidate for Congress suspends campaign days before primary runoff after Trump weighs in
Johnston County attorney Kelly Daughtry, the candidate who finished first in the Republican nomination primary race for a North Carolina congressional seat, says she’s suspending her campaign, citing her rival’s endorsement by former President Donald Trump in the runoff election.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-congressional-candidate-suspends-campaign-before-runoff/

CNN – American conservatives embrace Hungary’s authoritarian leader at Budapest conference
The visiting GOP dignitaries’ praise for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his authoritarian government showed how the small central European country has become an unlikely model for a potential Trump second term – despite what international observers have described as an alarming backsliding of democratic rights.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/01/politics/gop-conservatives-hungary-cpac-orban-invs/index.html

WAPO – Survivors of Oct. 7 attack sue pro-Palestinian groups in U.S.
They allege that American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine spread terrorist propaganda from Hamas at U.S. colleges.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/02/lawsuit-students-palestinian-protests-hamas/

CBS – Military documents contradict Republican Rep. Troy Nehls’ military record claims
There is no question that Nehls served overseas, engaged in combat, and was awarded a Bronze Star for his duties there. But military documents obtained by CBS News after a months-long investigation and a review of his service record by the U.S. Army at the Pentagon show Nehls received one – not two – Bronze Star medals. And his Combat Infantryman Badge from Afghanistan was revoked from his service record in 2023 because Nehls served as a civil affairs officer, not as an infantryman or Special Forces soldier.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/troy-nehls-bronze-star-combat-infantryman-badge/

Asshole!
CNN – American oil tycoon accused of trying to conspire with OPEC to inflate prices
Scott Sheffield, founder and longtime CEO of a leading American oil producer, attempted to collude with OPEC and its allies to inflate prices, federal regulators alleged on Thursday.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/energy/oil-ceo-opec-scott-sheffield/index.html

AP – The unexpected, under-the-radar Senate race in Michigan that could determine control of the chamber
Elissa Slotkin had less than half an hour to reckon with a retirement announcement that would reshape Michigan’s political landscape. The state’s senior senator and the third-ranking Democrat in the chamber, Debbie Stabenow, was about to reveal that she would retire in 2024.
https://apnews.com/article/michigan-senate-slotkin-rogers-election-stabenow-d724624cf34ee7ff64845e34cd4a2d79

Good lord.
Dakota Scout – Gov. Kristi Noem’s account of meeting North Korean dictator in doubt
Gov. Kristi Noem claimed in her new book that she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and “starred him down.”
https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/gov-kristi-noems-account-of-meeting

WAPO – Biden to award Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19, including Pelosi and Ledecky
President Biden will give the nation’s highest civilian honor Friday to former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh and others.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/03/presidential-medal-freedom-recipients-biden/

WAPO – Hope Hicks witnessed nearly every Trump scandal. Now she must testify.
Friends say the former aide and Trump have not spoken since she testified to Congress about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, but the two continue to have affection for each other
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/03/hope-hicks-testimony-trump-hush-money-trial/

Well well well. What do we have here?
Law & Crime – Mark Meadows unmasked in Arizona fake electors indictment, faces 9 felony charges: Report
Charges have formally been made public against Mark Meadows, the onetime chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, in the expansive fake electors case now underway in Arizona.
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/mark-meadows-unmasked-in-arizona-fake-electors-indictment-faces-9-felony-charges-report/

CNN – Trump Media’s accounting firm charged with ‘massive fraud’
BF Borgers, Trump Media & Technology Group’s independent accounting firm, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday with widespread fraud and accused of operating a “sham audit mill.”
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/03/business/trump-media-accounting-firm-charged-fraud/index.html

The fuckery never stops.
Politico – Former government official charged with falsely implicating colleagues in Jan. 6 attack
Investigators say Miguel Zapata used “burner” emails to submit anonymous, false tips to an FBI tipline about seven ex-colleagues.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/03/former-government-official-charged-jan-6-capitol-riots-00155949

WORLD

BBC – Ukrainian MP charged with embezzling £220,000
Ukrainian authorities have charged a member of parliament with embezzling over £220,000. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) alleged the Ukrainian MP purchased assets far exceeding his official income.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw59r476523o

BBC – Mexican police search for missing foreign tourists
Mexican police have arrested three people over the disappearance of two Australians and an American in Baja California, one of the country’s most violent states.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd13e9pjjgjo

The Conversation – Taiwan is experiencing millions of cyberattacks every day. The world should be paying attention
In recent years, China has used a variety of “grey zone” tactics to pressure Taiwan to accept the Communist Party’s attempts at unification. This has included an onslaught of cyberattacks, which not only pose a significant threat to Taiwan’s national security but also seek to undermine its democratic processes.
https://theconversation.com/taiwan-is-experiencing-millions-of-cyberattacks-every-day-the-world-should-be-paying-attention-225677

This won’t end well.
Reuters – Russian troops enter base housing US military in Niger, US official says
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were not mingling with U.S. troops but were using a separate hangar at Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital.
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/russian-troops-enter-base-housing-us-military-niger-us-official-says-2024-05-02/

SCIENCE

BGR – Bacteria on the ISS has mutated into something never seen on Earth
In 2018, scientists discovered something unexpected lurking aboard the International Space Station. This unexpected visitor turned out to be five strains of a multi-drug-resistant bacteria known to cause Enterobacter bugandensis. Now, though, researchers say at least 13 strains have been discovered. This means that the original strains have mutated into several new strains of bacteria never before seen on Earth.
https://bgr.com/science/bacteria-on-the-iss-has-mutated-into-something-never-seen-on-earth/

COOL!
ESA – The Sun’s fluffy corona in exquisite detail
This otherworldly, ever-changing landscape is what the Sun looks like up close. ESA’s Solar Orbiter filmed the transition from the Sun’s lower atmosphere to the much hotter outer corona. The hair-like structures are made of charged gas (plasma), following magnetic field lines emerging from the Sun’s interior.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2024/04/The_Sun_s_fluffy_corona_in_exquisite_detail

CNN – Chang’e-6: China launches moon probe as space race with US heats up
China launched an uncrewed lunar mission Friday that aims to bring back samples from the far side of the moon for the first time, in a potentially major step forward for the country’s ambitious space program.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/china/china-change-6-moon-probe-launch-intl-hnk-scn/index.html

TEXAS

Houston Landing – Houston ISD to cut more than 100 staff who serve students experiencing homelessness, hunger
HISD Executive Director of Student Supports Phuong Tieu delivered the news to roughly 170 district staff during a virtual meeting Thursday morning, saying their roles will be cut at the end of June due to budget constraints, according to a video recording of the meeting obtained by the Houston Landing and information from attendees.
https://houstonlanding.org/houston-isd-to-cut-more-than-100-staff-who-serve-students-experiencing-homelessness-hunger/

WAPO – Texas man files legal action to probe ex-partner’s out-of-state abortion
The previously unreported petition reflects a potential new antiabortion strategy to block women from ending their pregnancies in states where abortion is legal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/05/03/texas-abortion-investigations/

I’m sure if he’s innocent, then things will work out. Until then, fuck.
NBC – DOJ expected to announce indictment of Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, sources say
Federal authorities searched the congressman’s home in Laredo in 2022 as part of an investigation into the country of Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/doj-expected-announce-indictment-texas-democratic-rep-henry-cuellar-so-rcna150567