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☆ Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll is writing an online romance novel with Trump's niece that will include 'erotic scenes,' 'a very bad man,' but no politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

E. Jean Carroll is writing an online romance novel with Mary Trump and law professor Jennifer Taub. The novel will be released in installments on Substack, Carroll announced in her newsletter. Carroll recently won a battery and defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump. "It's completely unlikely and weird and counterintuitive," Mary Trump told The New York Times about the novel. Mary Trump, Carroll, and Taub befriended each other in a Zoom knitting circle during the height of the pandemic, according to Backstory Serial.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Mary Trump, Jennifer Taub, Carroll, Donald Trump, —, Fred Trump Jr, Donald Trump's, Trump, It's, Mary, Taub Organizations: Service, Western New England University School of Law, The New York Times, Times Locations: Bella

☆ Why Iran keeps seizing oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Brad Howard | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Over the last decade, Iran has been causing more and more headaches for oil tanker operators in the Strait of Hormuz, a central artery of global trade. In the last two years alone, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels. This critical waterway separates the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Sea, which makes it an important conduit for millions of barrels of oil that flow through the region. In response to Iranian ship seizures, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is responsible for security in the region, announced an increase in patrols. That included the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton transiting the strait in late May.

Persons: Trump, Arona Baigal, Paul Hamilton, Victoria Coates Organizations: Middle East Security, Center, New, Navy's, Heritage Foundation, U.S Locations: Iran, Strait, Hormuz, New American, Iranian, U.S

☆ American Airlines plans to appeal ruling that blocks JetBlue partnership, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An American Airlines plane takes off near a parked JetBlue plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 16, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. American Airlines plans to appeal a court's recent ruling that would block its partnership with JetBlue Airways in the Northeast, American CEO Robert Isom said Wednesday. A spokesman for JetBlue declined to comment and didn't say whether the airline also planned to appeal the ruling along with American. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled earlier this month that the airlines' partnership in the region is anticompetitive and ordered the airlines to end the partnership in 30 days. American Airlines CFO Devon May said at the same conference on Wednesday that the company didn't expect a material impact this year due to the ruling.

Persons: Robert Isom, Leo Sorokin, We've, Isom, Joe Biden's, Biden, Sorokin, Trump, Devon May Organizations: American Airlines, JetBlue, Fort, Hollywood International Airport, Fort Lauderdale , Florida . American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, American, U.S, District, DOJ, Joe Biden's Justice Department, District of Columbia, Delta, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Devon, Justice Department, Spirit Airlines Locations: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale , Florida, Northeast, American, Boston, New York

☆ Trump White House Aides Subpoenaed in Firing of Election Security Expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Jonathan Swan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The special counsel investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election has subpoenaed staff members from the Trump White House who may have been involved in firing the government cybersecurity official whose agency judged the election “the most secure in American history,” according to two people briefed on the matter. The team led by the special counsel, Jack Smith, has been asking witnesses about the events surrounding the firing of Christopher Krebs, who was the Trump administration’s top cybersecurity official during the 2020 election. Mr. Krebs’s assessment that the election was secure was at odds with Mr. Trump’s baseless assertions that it was a “fraud on the American public.”Mr. Smith’s team is also seeking information about how White House officials, including in the Presidential Personnel Office, approached the Justice Department, which Mr. Trump turned to after his election loss as a way to try to stay in power, people familiar with the questions said. The investigators appear focused on Mr. Trump’s state of mind around the firing of Mr. Krebs, as well as on establishing a timeline of events leading up to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. The latest subpoenas, issued roughly two weeks ago, went to officials in the personnel office, according to the two people familiar with the matter.

Persons: Donald J, Jack Smith, Christopher Krebs, ” Mr, Trump, Krebs Organizations: Trump White, Trump, White, Justice Department Locations: Trump’s

☆ Chinese tech entrepreneurs keen to 'de-China' as tensions with US soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( David Kirton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But he's dismayed by the U.S.-China trade spats and the restrictions on a growing number of Chinese companies that have been imposed, or are being proposed, by U.S. lawmakers. "It's very unfair," he said, lamenting that competitors from other countries did not face similar issues when trying to expand into the United States. Reuters spoke to seven tech entrepreneurs from mainland China, most of them educated overseas, who would like to expand their businesses in the United States. Geopolitical tensions have meant a far less friendly atmosphere for mainland Chinese companies wanting to operate or gain funding in the United States, the entrepreneurs and consultants say. The U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment on attitudes towards Chinese companies within the United States.

Persons: Florence Lo, Ryan, Trump, Joe Biden, Major flashpoints, James McGregor, Xi, Wilson, Chris Pereira, Shein, PDD, Pereira, Tommy, David Kirton, Eduardo Baptista, Casey, Brenda Goh, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Huawei, U.S ., U.S, Micron Technology, Washington DC, Chinese Communist Party, Greater, APCO Worldwide, U.S . Commerce Department, Reuters, of Information, American Ecosystem Institute . Companies, PDD Holdings, U.S . Customs, Border Protection, Casey Hall, Thomson Locations: China, SHENZHEN, U.S, Washington, United States, Shenzhen, East Asia, North America, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Montana, Greater China, Beijing, China's, Shanghai, Dublin

☆ Biden withdraws nomination of official to head US auto safety agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden is withdrawing the nomination of the acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to take the top job on a permanent basis. Ann Carlson, the agency's chief counsel, was named acting head of NHTSA in September and formally nominated for the top position in March. They told Carlson the standards were "consistent with your long career as an environmentalist without traffic safety experience." Jonathan Adkins, head of the nonprofit Governors Highway Safety Association representing state and territorial highway safety offices, said the group was deeply disappointed in the withdrawal of Carlson's nomination. During the Trump administration no nominee was ever confirmed to head NHTSA and there was no nominee for much of the four-year period.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ann Carlson, Pete Buttigieg, Carlson, Buttigieg, Jonathan Adkins, GHSA, Biden, Adkins, Steven Cliff, Cliff, Trump, David Shepardson, Chris Reese, Matthew Lewis Organizations: National, Traffic Safety Administration, White, NHTSA, Tesla Inc, . Transportation, Republicans, Senate, Committee, Highway Safety Association, Biden Administration, Twitter, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington

☆ Casey DeSantis' mission on the 2024 campaign trail is to bring suburban women back to the GOP after Trump lost them
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Ron DeSantis' wife, Casey DeSantis, is a chief confidant key to his political rise. He finished boasting about his "Florida Blueprint," and then his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, glided onstage. In the geography was Casey DeSantis' autobiography: raised in Troy, Ohio, and college-educated at the University of Charleston. As Florida's first lady, Casey DeSantis' initiatives included childhood emotional resiliency, child welfare, and — as a breast-cancer survivor herself — cancer research. "They did not want woke ideology shoved down the throats of their five years olds while they were in school," Casey DeSantis said.

☆ Georgia Republicans get another Trump-Pence showdown as 2024 presidential contenders barnstorm the state convention
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Georgia Republicans are holding their state party convention in early June. Former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence are speaking on different days. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the embattled former president and the yet-to-declare former vice president have already locked down speaking slots for the two-day GOP convention, kicking off June 9. Ron DeSantis, who is hopscotching across Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina this week to build support in those early primary states, declined to comment on whether he would participate in the Georgia GOP meeting. Kemp, who won a second term in November 2022, is skipping the GOP convention altogether.

☆ Opinion | The Supreme Court Is Crippling Environmental Protections. Where Is Congress?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Jim Murphy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson told a room full of governors and state officials that he found the filthy river flowing a mile from the Capitol “disgraceful.” Now the Potomac River runs much cleaner, thanks to the landmark Clean Water Act of 1972 — and that adjective employed by Johnson serves as an apt description today of the failures of the Supreme Court and Congress to protect the nation’s waterways. After half a century of painstaking restoration under the Clean Water Act, streams and wetlands nationwide are once again at risk of contamination by pollution and outright destruction as a result of a ruling on Thursday by the Supreme Court. The Environmental Protection Agency has long interpreted the Clean Water Act as protecting most of the nation’s wetlands from pollution. But now the court has significantly limited the reach of the law, concluding that it precludes the agency from regulating discharges of pollution into wetlands unless they have “a continuous surface connection” to bodies of water that, using “ordinary parlance,” the court described as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes. At least half of the nation’s wetlands could lose protection under this ruling, which provides an even narrower definition of “protected waters” than the Trump administration had sought.

☆ How Hard Will It Be for DeSantis to Beat Trump? Nixon vs. Reagan in 1968 Offers a Clue. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Ross Barkan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis, the 44-year-old governor of Florida, has entered the presidential race, establishing himself as the most formidable Republican rival to Donald Trump. Mr. Trump, an inveterate liar who tried to overturn the last election, is alienating to a wide swath of voters, and many establishment Republicans have been happy to hunt out alternatives, particularly in Mr. DeSantis. After a rough midterm for Republicans that included the defeat of several Senate candidates endorsed by Mr. Trump, the former president appeared vulnerable. But since then, it has grown clear that counting him out as the likely Republican presidential nominee is foolhardy. History offers at least one parallel for why it will be so difficult for Mr. DeSantis and other G.O.P.

☆ How US allies can mitigate Trump 2.0
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

LONDON, May 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A return to the White House by Donald Trump would create challenges for the world’s other rich democracies. TRUMP IN POLYCRISISBiden has painstakingly created a consensus with his core allies since Putin invaded Ukraine last year. PREPARE FOR THE WORSTThe world’s other rich democracies - call them the G6 - cannot change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Politicians in other rich democracies can also try to persuade Republican leaders that now is not the time to abandon Kyiv. If other rich democracies adopt a vigorous mitigation strategy now, they’ll be better prepared if Trump does return.

☆ Poor GenXers without dependents targeted by debt ceiling work requirements
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The deal targets recipients of the Supplementary Nutrition Program, or SNAP, between the ages of 50 and 54, adding new requirements that they work 20 hours a week to receive the aid. Previously, work requirements to receive SNAP ended at age 50. People who have dependents, including children under age 18 or elderly people who rely on them, or people with disabilities, are already exempt from these work requirements, and will remain so. Republicans argue that the work requirements encourage people to get back to work. However, hundreds of thousands of GenXers living below or near the poverty line are likely to be impacted by the new work requirements.

☆ The DeSantis campaign will test whether Casey DeSantis can bring suburban women back to the GOP after Trump lost them
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

☆ Former Trump adviser Michael Flynn is launching an online community for 'COVID-19 unvaccinated people,' where you can find blood donors, surrogates, and 'unvaccinated singles.' A founding membership c
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was a national security adviser during the Trump Administration. He pled guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contact with a Russian ambassador. The community is called 4thePURE, and members can connect with blood donors, sperm donors, breastmilk donors, surrogates, and unvaccinated singles, according to the website. It will also have a directory of "COVID-19 unvaccinated patriot businesses." He pled guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017.

☆ Why China and Japan are praying the US won’t default
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

China and Japan are the largest foreign investors in American government debt. China was the largest foreign creditor to the United States for more than a decade. The falling value of Treasuries would lead to a drop in Japan and China’s foreign reserves. “If the United States defaults on its debt, it will not only discredit the United States, but also bring real financial losses to China,” it said. Analysts say Beijing has shown little willingness to fully integrate with global financial markets.

☆ Supreme Court rules for Idaho landowners in wetlands dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday weakened a landmark water pollution law by ruling that an Idaho couple's property does not include wetlands subject to federal oversight under the law. The case saw the Sacketts return to the Supreme Court for the second time after the justices ruled in their favor in an earlier case in 2012. The Sacketts turned to the Supreme Court for a second time after the 9th U.S. In 2006, four justices said the Clean Water Act covered wetland with a "continuous surface connection" to a waterway but there was not a clear majority. On March 19, a federal judge blocked the rule in Idaho and Texas, saying it unlawfully expanded federal jurisdiction beyond what Kennedy had envisioned.

☆ How rich families use trusts that last as long as 1,000 years to save on taxes and benefit future heirs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Dynasty trusts can last up to 1,000 years – about 40 generations – in Florida and other states. So-called dynasty trusts allow affluent taxpayers to provide for as many as forty generations and only be subject to tax once. Dynasty trusts have grown in popularity as the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption has skyrocketed, according to Sandy Christopher, partner at Withers Bergman. They are usually drawn to dynasty trusts to keep businesses within their families and protect assets from creditors. Dynasty trust assets are also shielded in the event of a divorce.

☆ Biden nominates telecom attorney Anna Gomez to FCC after more than two years of deadlock
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

President Joe Biden nominated telecom attorney Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission, his second attempt to fill an empty seat on the typically five-member panel that has left the agency in a 2-2 deadlock for his entire presidency thus far. Gomez has previously worked for the FCC in several positions over 12 years, the White House said. Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom, a trade group that represents broadband providers like AT&T and Verizon , congratulated Gomez in a statement. Free Press, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports net neutrality, said Gomez's nomination was long overdue. González called Gomez "eminently qualified" for the role and praised the nomination of a Latinx candidate to the position.

☆ Medicare is prohibited from paying for weight-loss drugs. These are the 3 potential ways to change that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There are three routes lawmakers and regulators could use to add coverage for weight-loss drugs. Older Americans hoping to get their hands on powerful weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy may find it impossible to access them. Should Medicare cover weight loss medication, it could also unlock access for people who have private coverage. "A decision by Medicare to cover weight-loss drugs would put pressure on employers and other private insurers to cover weight-loss drugs too," said Tricia Neuman, a senior vice president at KFF who co-authored a recent brief on the subject. There are three potential strategies that could be used to expand Medicare coverage to weight-loss drugs.

☆ Former White House lawyer says Trump 'will go to jail' as Mar-a-Lago probe gathers momentum, per CNN
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A former White House lawyer believes Donald Trump will go to jail, he told CNN. The DOJ is probing whether Trump obstructed justice in bringing classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. Charges connected with mishandling classified documents are punishable by up to 10 years in prison, per Reuters. Infighting within Trump's legal teamFormer President Donald Trump appears in court for an arraignment, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in New York. While the Justice Department is probing whether Trump mishandled classified documents, it is also examining his possible efforts to interfere with the 2020 election.

☆ Montana’s TikTok ban throws users into new era of uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Keri Williams wouldn’t have her business without TikTok. But earlier this week, Montana Gov. Now, Williams, who lives near Montana’s largest city — Billings — is scrambling to figure out the future of her business. The law, set to take effect in January, has already been the subject of a lawsuit by a group of TikTok users who allege it infringes on their First Amendment rights. TikTok said in March that it has 150 million monthly active users in the United States, up from 100 million users in 2020, when the Trump administration first threatened to ban the service.

The U.S.-Mexico border was full of uncertainty in the days before May 11. Title 42, the Trump administration-crafted health ordinance that had been invoked millions of times to turn migrants back from the border, was about to expire, and nobody knew what to expect. Many predictions were lurid and sensationalistic: Masses of desperate people would pour into the country, flood the border towns first and then press northward. “Right-wing media says there are 700,000 en route,” a friend texted me from the border city of El Paso. Border Patrol agents handed out fliers urging migrants sleeping on El Paso’s sidewalks to surrender to custody.

☆ Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch calls COVID-19 response "the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in peacetime history"
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In a statement, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch made it clear where he stands on the pandemic-era emergency response. The US Supreme Court last week rejected a push by Republican-led states to keep it in place. In an eight-page statement in response to the case, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch didn't mince words. He called the country's response to the COVID-19 emergency "the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country." In Thursday's statement, Gorsuch warned that the "concentration of power in the hands of so few" won't lead to "sound government."

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Friday that American Airlines Group (AAL.O) must end its alliance with JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O), agreeing with the U.S. Justice Department that it means higher prices for consumers. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin said the agreement "entangles JetBlue with American in a way that diminishes its status as an independent low-cost player in the market." The judge gave the airlines 30 days to end the alliance. The department sued in 2021 asking Sorokin to stop the "Northeast Alliance" partnership, announced in July 2020 and approved by the U.S. Transportation Department shortly before the end of the Trump administration. It took aim at American Airlines, saying the alliance would cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

☆ Justice Department wins lawsuit to undo JetBlue, American Airlines partnership in the Northeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An American Airlines plane takes off near a parked JetBlue plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 16, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A federal judge on Friday ordered American Airlines and JetBlue Airways to end their partnership in the Northeast, a win for the Justice Department after it sued to undo the alliance arguing it was anti-competitive. The lawsuit, filed in September 2021, alleged that the airlines' alliance was effectively a merger that would hurt consumers by driving up fares. Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines and New York-based JetBlue Airways argued they needed the so-called Northeast Alliance to better compete with other large carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in congested airports in the region. Undoing the partnership would be difficult, especially during the peak summer travel season, which airlines have already sold tickets for.

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