Happy Tuesday, Newsies! Many thanks to Good News Roundup (“Goodie”) for filling in for me last Tuesday when I was traveling.
Let’s get straight to the good news, shall we?
🔍 That Russher Thing 🔎
It’s hard to believe how craven some of these criminals are, but they continue to surprise! After pretending to be cooperative and remorseful and receiving a laughably light 14 day sentence, George Papadopoulos immediately started blabbering on social media and making it clear that he was neither remorseful nor particularly cooperative. In the last few days, he also tried to get his sentence delayed. But a federal judge said No and ordered George to present himself at prison Monday morning to serve his sentence:
Robert Mueller filed the eagerly anticipated status report on the Paul Manafort matter today, and it was a stunner. The cooperation agreement is kaput, because Manafort continued to commit crimes! In this filing, the OSC makes it clear that since Manafort broke the agreement, “the breach relieves the government of any obligations it has under the agreement, including its agreement to a reduction in the Sentencing Guidelines for acceptance of responsibility, but leaves intact all the obligations of the defendant as well as his guilty pleas.” :
Special counsel Mueller's team says Paul Manafort lied to investigators, breaking plea deal, Alex Johnson and Tom Winter, NBCNews, November 26, 2018.
The plea deal didn't amount to a guilty plea to the 10 outstanding Virginia charges — three counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts and seven counts of bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy. However, under terms of the deal, prosecutors can use his admission of guilt against him if it is established that he did violate the agreement.
The consequences could be severe. Because of the reported breach, Mueller's office has no obligation to inform the court about any helpful cooperation he may have provided, which could have lessened his sentence.
Under the plea agreement, Manafort can't appeal the sentences in the Washington or the Virginia cases, and now prosecutors can ask for "an upward departure" in their new sentencing request — meaning they could ask for more jail time than what Manafort pleaded to originally.
Manafort could also face being retried on the 10 counts on which the jury deadlocked in Virginia, because the judge in that case dismissed those charges without prejudice. The fact that Manafort admitted guilt to them could be presented to the jury.
Manafort Breached Plea Deal by Repeatedly Lying, Mueller Says, Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times, November 26, 2018.
The 11th-hour development in Mr. Manafort’s case is a fresh sign of the special counsel’s aggressive approach in investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential race and whether anyone in the Trump campaign knew about or assisted Moscow’s effort.✂️
Mr. Manafort had hoped that in agreeing to cooperate with Mr. Mueller’s team, prosecutors would argue that he deserved a lighter punishment. He is expected to face at least a decade-long prison term for 10 felony counts including financial fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. ✂️
“Everybody who lies to Mueller gets called on it — so he had to know that Mueller would catch him. So the question is: What was he hiding that is worse than going to jail for the rest of your life?” said Joyce Vance, a professor of law at the University of Alabama law school and former federal prosecutor. “There are often rocky dealings with a cooperator, and Mueller didn’t cut bait at the first sign of trouble. It was likely more than one lie and this would not have been a minor detail — it had to be something material and significant and intentional.”
There has been speculation that Papadopoulos, Manafort and Corsi changing their tunes and becoming uncooperative may be connected to the appointment of the supremely unqualified Matthew Whitaker as acting AG. But we have good people fighting that battle, too. State AGs and Democrats in congress are pushing back against that blatantly obstructionist move:
15 AGs Support Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Appointment Of Matt Whitaker, Nick Visser, Huffington Post, November 26, 2018.
In an amicus brief filed in U.S. District Court, the attorneys general voiced their support for the state of Maryland, which asked a federal judge to block Whitaker’s appointment earlier this month, saying it was illegal. Maryland, which is suing the federal government to uphold parts of the Affordable Care Act, has argued that the role should be filled instead by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has already gone through the Senate’s confirmation process. ✂️
The brief was signed by the attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington state and the District of Columbia. ✂️
Three senators have also filed their own lawsuit challenging the legality of Whitaker’s appointment ― Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Mazie K. Hirono (Hawaii) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).
🌎 News From Across the Pond 🌎
The UK Parliament has lost patience with Mark Zuckerberg’s insolent refusal to answer questions about Facebook’s mining of millions of user’s personal data without consent. Good!
Parliament seizes cache of Facebook internal papers, Carole Cadwalladr, The Observer, November 24, 2018.
Parliament has used its legal powers to seize internal Facebook documents in an extraordinary attempt to hold the US social media giant to account after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly refused to answer MPs’ questions.
The cache of documents is alleged to contain significant revelations about Facebook decisions on data and privacy controls that led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. It is claimed they include confidential emails between senior executives, and correspondence with Zuckerberg. ✂️
The documents seized were obtained during a legal discovery process by Six4Three. It took action against the social media giant after investing $250,000 in an app. Six4Three alleges the cache shows Facebook was not only aware of the implications of its privacy policy, but actively exploited them, intentionally creating and effectively flagging up the loophole that Cambridge Analytica used to collect data. That raised the interest of Collins and his committee.
Nice try, Facebook (and nice clapback, Ian Lucas, MP):
👀 Oh, and what have we here? Looks like Facebook may be facing a comeuppance across more than one pond. The fact that Zuckerberg and Facebook are finally being made to answer tough questions is good news:
And here is some truly joyous news from Ethiopia, thanks to Andrew Cockburn!
🇺🇸 Thank You For Your Service 🇺🇸
This is really good news for veterans who were separated from military service after traumatic injuries, assaults or PTSD without an “honorable” discharge, thus denied veterans’ benefits and health care.
Connecticut VA Opens Its Doors To 'Bad Paper' Veterans. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, November 26, 2018.
For an estimated 500,000 veterans, being put out of the military with an other than honorable discharge is a source of shame and an obstacle to employment. "Bad paper," in most cases, means no benefits or health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs — even when the problems that got them kicked out were linked to PTSD, traumatic brain injury or military sexual assault.✂️
It took years of lobbying, but as of last month, Connecticut veterans whose other than honorable discharge is linked to PTSD, brain injury or sexual assault will qualify for state health care and benefits, including tuition to state schools.
The national VA is changing too — earlier this year Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pushed through legislation that makes VA mental health care available nationwide to veterans with other than honorable discharges, though it has been slow to roll out.
✂️ Random Clips ✂️
How cool is this? NASA’s InSight Mars explorer lands safely on the Red Planet, Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post, November 26, 2018.
Stopped clocks, etc...
Even some Fox personalities can’t swallow the atrocious behavior at the border on Sunday. Some sliver of moral conscience, some little shred of decency briefly overcame Geraldo Rivera — and it’s good news to know that there is some conscience there in some MAGAs:
Gallup reported Monday that approval for the PrOTUS has fallen to 38%, while disapproval has risen to 60%.
⚡️ Lightning Roundup ⚡️
⚡️ Obamacare is having a surprisingly good year, Sarah Kliff, Vox, November 26, 2018.
⚡️ José Andrés is nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, congressman confirms, Tim Carman, Washington Post, November 26, 2018.
⚡️ Christine Blasey Ford Is Donating Her GoFundMe Money To Sexual Assault Survivors, Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, November 26, 2018.
⚡️ Could California’s ocean ranches solve a global food shortage and fix the seafood trade deficit?, Scott Wilson, Washington Post, November 26, 2018.
⚡️ Democrats flip 39 seats in latest tally as losing GOP Rep. Mia Love tears into Republicans over treatment of minorities, Allan Smith, NBCNews, November 26, 2018.
⚡️ More on that Facebook story: Plaintiff In Facebook Lawsuit Hints A Reporter May Have Tipped Off Parliament To Seize Documents, Ryan Mac, Charlie Warzal and Mark Di Stefano, BuzzFeed News, November 26, 2018.
💙 Roundup WindDown 💙
I’m still getting back up to speed after last week’s travels, so not much music today but here is something to send you off on this Tuesday. Good Day, Newsies!