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☆ Embattled Republican Rep. George Santos to face federal charges -CNN
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday in federal court in New York's Eastern District, where charges have been filed under seal, CNN reported. The Associated Press reported that in a brief phone interview Santos said he was unaware of the charges. Santos' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and his lawyer could not immediately be reached. CNN reported that the exact nature of the charges against Santos were not immediately clear. Santos' office, through his congressional Twitter account, has previously said he is cooperating with the House Ethics Committee's investigation.

By Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced it would prohibit non-Muslims from entering the holy site for the rest of Ramadan. “I see these visits as a raid on our holy site,” he said. That status quo is slowly being chipped away, says Sheikh Rani Abusibr, an Imam of nearly twenty-years at Al-Aqsa. There was a heightened security presence at the holy site when Easter, Ramadan, and Passover celebrations overlapped. Without the status quo arrangement being enforced, there are fears that an already tumultuous region could spiral out of control.

☆ US journalist detained in Russia reportedly reading famous anti-Soviet novel by a Ukrainian Jew as he sits in notorious ex-KGB prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The WSJ reporter detained in Moscow is reportedly reading a famous anti-Soviet novel. The book, which equated crimes of the Nazis and the Soviets, was written by a Ukrainian Jew. "Life and Fate" was not published in the Soviet Union into 1988, when Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost allowed for greater freedom of expression. "This is a novel written by a Jew that concludes that the Soviet Union had come to resemble Nazi Germany," historian Walter Laqueur told the Washington Post in 1987, shortly before the novel was finally published in the Soviet Union. His parents were part of a large wave of Jews who fled the Soviet Union due to ongoing persecution.

☆ Trump claims Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is backed by George Soros. Here's why that attack is an antisemitic trope.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Trump said Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is backed by the billionaire philanthropist George Soros. To be clear, there is no evidence that George Soros has donated to Bragg. "George Soros and Alvin Bragg have never met in person or spoken by telephone, email, Zoom etc.," Vachon told Insider via email. Neither George Soros nor Democracy PAC contributed to Alvin Bragg's campaign for Manhattan District Attorney." To the far right, Soros represents a member of that cabal, said Lorber, an analyst at Political Research Associates.

☆ A new lawsuit alleges a Tucker Carlson producer mocked a Jewish Fox News employee for going to a 'Jew bakery' to 'see his people'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Fox News employee says that Tucker Carlson producers mocked Jewish employees. A new lawsuit alleges that one producer taunted a Jewish employee for going to a "Jew bakery" to "see his people." The suit details an encounter between one producer on Tucker Carlson Tonight and another employee, a Jewish man and producer on the same show. During the holiday season in 2022, the Jewish worker went to a Jewish bakery and brought a babka — which is a historically Jewish sweet bread — to the office, the lawsuit states. Then, whenever the Jewish employee would visit the bakery after that, the worker "loudly proclaimed to the [Tucker Carlson show] booking team that [the Jewish employee] went to the 'Jew bakery,' and that he had gone 'to see his people,'" the suit alleges.

☆ Two Israels face off as justice overhaul deepens the divide
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

For them, weakening the Supreme Court would undermine the bedrock of Israel's democracy and could set the country on the path to becoming a corrupt and religiously coercive state. In 2020, the Supreme Court struck down a law that had retroactively legalised homes built by settlers on land owned by Palestinians, like Amona. Settlers driven by ideology see themselves as pioneers redeeming land that was promised by God and many feel betrayed by Supreme Court rulings against settlements. The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment. "The Supreme Court has challenged parliament time and again, playing politics, not nicely."

☆ Freshman Rep. Andy Ogles admits he didn't know what he majored in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Freshman Rep. Andy Ogles claimed he had a degree in "policy and economics" while campaiging. Ogles, a freshman representative from Tennessee, originally claimed on the campaign trail that he had a degree in international policy and economics, according to Nashville's NewsChannel5. But while it's true Ogles studied at Middle Tennessee State University, he did not major in international policy nor economics. An Insider interview with Laffer, however, revealed that Ogles' role working with Laffer primarily didn't involve economics — instead, Laffer claimed Ogles mainly worked in fundraising, though he didn't question Ogles' claim of being an economist. "An economist is a person who works in economics," Laffer told Insider.

☆ George Santos — who is Catholic — insists he used to say he was 'Jew-ish' as a party joke. Now he says he's taken 4 DNA tests to prove his maternal grandparents are actually Jewish.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

George Santos told Piers Morgan he used to say he was "Jew-ish" as a party joke. He also said he has taken four DNA tests to prove that his maternal grandparents are actually Jewish. Santos claimed his grandparents fled Belgium in 1941 before falsifying documents to say they were born in Brazil. "I would always say I was raised Catholic but I come from a Jewish family, so that makes me 'Jew-ish.'" Santos explained: "I would say that my grandparents are Jewish on my mother's side, so I am 'Jew-ish.'

☆ Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna claimed she was raised Jewish. Some relatives question that, and say her grandfather fought for the Nazis.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna may have misrepresented her religious background. She says she was raised as a Messianic Jew by her father, but relatives dispute that. Luna also claims to be Hispanic, but registered to vote as "White, not of Hispanic origin" in 2015. But according to three relatives who spoke with the Post, her father, George Mayerhofer, was Catholic, and they were unaware of him practicing any form of Judaism. One relative, Jolanta Mayerhofer, told the Post that Heinrich Mayerhofer had no choice in the matter.

☆ George Santos claimed Kyrsten Sinema told him to 'hang in there' after Mitt Romney confronted him. Her office says that's a lie.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Madison Hall | Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

George Santos said Kyrsten Sinema told him to "hang in there buddy" following a tense conversation with Sen. Mitt Romney. Sinema's office, however, said she told Santos no such thing. The embattled congressman from New York claimed on Thursday that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told him to "hang in there buddy" after he was confronted by Sen. Mitt Romney at the 2023 State of the Union. "Kyrsten didn't say a word to Rep. Santos - and didn't even know about the exchange with Senator Romney until they got to their seats." "I'm reaping the consequences of those bad judgment calls," Santos later told a prospective staffer in leaked audio obtained by Talking Points Memo.

☆ George Santos says it 'wasn't very Mormon' of Mitt Romney to tell him he doesn't 'belong' in Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Chris Panella | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. George Santos told reporters Wednesday that Sen. Mitt Romney's comment "wasn't very Mormon of him." The two had a tense moment at the State of the Union, with Romney telling Santos, "You don't belong here." Reporters and outlets like CNN reported that Romney and Santos had a heated exchange at the State of the Union Tuesday night, with Romney telling Santos: "You don't belong here." According to other reports, Romney told reporters Tuesday night that the ongoing issues around Santos' repeated lies and embellishments are "an embarrassment." "I've made bad judgment calls, and I'm reaping the consequences of those bad judgment calls," Santos later told a prospective staffer.

☆ Walter Mosley Thinks America Is Getting Dumber
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk Walter Mosley Thinks America Is Getting DumberWalter Mosley is best known as one of contemporary literature’s pre-eminent crime novelists, but he’s actually four or five different writers rolled into one. You have to tell stories about real people experiencing it and not real people with a Ph.D. People who are not stupid but ignorant, who don’t know things about the world. There are people who don’t know how to spell, they don’t know how to think. You have these people coming out into the world, and they don’t know what to do. That’s going to happen.

☆ Putin promised not to kill Zelenskyy, former Israeli prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In the five-hour interview, which touched on numerous other subjects, Bennett says he asked Putin about whether he intended to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Are you planning to kill Zelenskyy?' He said 'I won't kill Zelenskyy.' I then said to him 'I have to understand that you're giving me your word that you won't kill Zelenskyy.' Bennett's government, an ideologically diverse union that sent current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a brief political exile, collapsed in the summer over infighting.

☆ George Santos says he'll step down from his committees amid scandals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. George Santos told his GOP colleagues that he will step down from his committees. Santos was set to serve on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and House Small Business Committee. Santos said he will remove himself from the congressional panels because he's been a "distraction," one House Republican told the Washington Post. 3 House Republican, said in a press conference on Tuesday. Two House Democrats earlier this month filed a complaint against Santos, asking the House Ethics Committee to investigate the congressman.

☆ George Santos's ex-boyfriend said he lived with the congressman and his wife while they were still married but thought the couple were just friends at the time: 'We all used to go party together'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Joshua Zitser | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pedro Vilarva, who met Santos in 2014, said he lived with Santos' wife unaware that the pair were married. Pedro Vilarva, who was 18 in 2014 when he met Santos, described the living situation in an interview with Insider on Friday. Vilarva said that he eventually discovered the pair were married, but Santos told him that he was planning to divorce his wife. Vilarva and Santos met in 2014, and Santos announced an engagement party with Vilarva that same year. "He asked me 3x but I didn't accept it," Vilarva told the Beast via text.

☆ Former Covid chief Jeff Zients to replace Ron Klain as White House chief of staff, Biden confirms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Jeff Zients, former White House Covid-19 response coordinator under Biden and an economic advisor to former President Barack Obama, will replace Ron Klain as White House chief of staff, President Joe Biden confirmed in a statement Friday. Zients is a longtime ally of both Biden and Klain and has a reputation of getting things done. In recent weeks he has returned to the White House to help coordinate staff turnover after the midterms, where he has worked closely with Klain. The White House will hold an official transition event next week to welcome Zients and thank Klain, Biden said in his statement. Zients worked as CEO of health care consulting firm the Advisory Board Company, which is now part of UnitedHealth.

But a new survey suggests a “disturbing” lack of awareness about the Holocaust in the Netherlands, where she and her family hid for years before being discovered and deported to a Nazi concentration camp. Equally disturbing is the trend toward Holocaust denial and distortion,” Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor said in a press release accompanying the survey. Some of them, a small part, do not even know about the Holocaust,” Dutch Holocaust survivor Max Arpels Lezer, 86, told NBC News by video call from his home in Amsterdam. A memorial at the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands, where Dutch Jews were kept before being sent to concentration camps. In 1961, Lezer married Sofia, now 86, who as a child had been hidden by a Dutch family during the war.

☆ George Santos says he's undecided on whether he'll vote to kick Ilhan Omar off of the Foreign Affairs Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The GOP wants to remove Ilhan Omar from a committee over years-old comments seen as anti-Semitic. George Santos, who has lied about being the Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors, is undecided. As he boarded an elevator, Santos re-affirmed that he hadn't decided how he would vote on Omar. Omar apologized at the time, and on Wednesday, she called the effort to remove her from the committee was a "political stunt." Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 25, 2023

“To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” Santos tweeted on Dec. 22. After images surfaced showing Santos dressed in drag, Santos insisted it was “categorically false” that he had ever performed as a drag queen. A Siena College survey released Monday showed many New York voters seem to agree with Stern’s assessment. Just 16% of New York voters said they viewed Santos favorably — including a mere 15% of Republicans. Additionally, 59% of New York voters said Santos should resign while just 17% said he should not.

☆ At meetings, Proud Boys sing 'Proud of Your Boy,' a weepy ode to mom from Broadway's 'Aladdin,' documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Proud Boys are urged to sing a Broadway show tune at meetings, a new court document reveals. The song is "Proud of Your Boy," a weepy ode to making mom proud by the title character in "Aladdin." The anthem is 'Proud of Your Boy," an emotional ode to winning mom's approval from the hit musical, "Aladdin." "Do the 'Proud Boys' know their anthem was written by a gay Jew?" The Southern Poverty Law Center, which calls the Proud Boys a violent, right-wing hate group, has also noted that the song "Proud of Your Boy" inspired the group's name.

☆ Ivan Provorov Went to a Hockey Game, and a Culture War Broke Out
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Tal Fortgang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

American pluralism is a glorious thing. Dedication to shared ideals and the commitment to living peacefully among compatriots of all colors and creeds can bring out the best in us. It unites people of all religions, national origins and other historical sources of division in defending our aspirations to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet that pluralism is in peril today, compelling me, an American Orthodox Jew, to defend Ivan Provorov , a Russian Orthodox Christian and professional hockey player. Mr. Provorov, a defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers, has come under fire for refusing to wear a “Pride Night” jersey bearing the rainbow flag or use a rainbow-taped hockey stick during warm-ups before the team’s game on Tuesday.

☆ George Santos was married to a woman while also sending invitations to celebrate his engagement to his boyfriend, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. George Santos planned an engagement party for his boyfriend while he was married to his then-wife. Santos' ex-boyfriend told The Daily Beast that the engagement "never happened." Santos wrote in a Facebook invitation to the engagement dinner in 2014, per the outlet. The Daily Beast reported it obtained the invitation courtesy of Greg Morey-Parker, Santos' former roommate, and the aforementioned Pedro Vilarva, Santos' ex-boyfriend. Vilarva told the outlet that he rejected Santos' proposals and that the engagement party "never happened."

NBC News has repeatedly contacted Santos’ team with requests for comment about his lies and other allegations against him. Here is a timeline mapping out the controversy:Nov. 3, 2020: Santos loses his first bid for Congress to Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. Sept. 6, 2022: Santos files his personal financial disclosure report, claiming his assets are as much as $11 million. The New York Times later reported that none of the 49 victims appear to have worked at the various firms named in his biography. In another Dec. 26 interview with the New York Post, Santos acknowledges some of the specific fabrications in his résumé.

☆ George Santos used fake Jewish name on GoFundMe because he thought 'Jews will give more,' former roommate says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

George Santos used a fake Jewish last name to raise money on GoFundMe, a former roommate told CNN. Using the name Zebrowski would encourage Jews to "give more," Santos said, per the roommate. Gregory Morey-Parker, who previously lived with Santos, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday that Santos used several aliases during their time as roommates. Morey-Parker said he primarily knew Santos, who has listed his full name as George Anthony Devolder Santos, as Anthony Devolder. Santos later told the New York Post that he is Catholic and only claimed to be "Jew-ish."

☆ George Santos — accused of falsifying most of his CV — says he is a 'workhorse' and that he's 'lived an honest life'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

George Santos told Matt Gaetz that he has lived an "honest life." During the podcast, Santos told Gaetz he has "lived an honest life" and has "never been accused of any bad doing." Santos admitted to the New York Post in December that he never graduated from any institute of higher learning. Prosecutors in Long Island said on December 28 that they opened an investigation into Santos. Long Island Republicans and the New York State GOP in January called on Santos to resign, but he has refused to do so.

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