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Mr García denies the allegations against him

Peru’s former President Alan García has shot himself as police came to arrest him.

Casimiro Ulloa hospital in the capital, Lima, said he was in surgery where he was being treated for “a bullet wound to his head”.

Mr García is accused of taking bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht – claims he has repeatedly denied.

Officers had been sent to arrest him in connection with the allegations.

Health minister Zulema Tomás said Mr García’s condition was “very serious and critical”, and that he had to be resuscitated after suffering three cardiac arrests.

“Let’s pray to God to give him strength,” the former president’s lawyer Erasmo Reyna reportedly told journalists at the hospital.

Mr García served as president from 1985 to 1990 and again from 2006 to 2011.

Investigators say he took bribes from Odebrecht during his second term in office, linked to a metro line building project in the capital.

Odebrecht has admitted paying almost $30m (£23m) in bribes in Peru since 2004.

But Mr García says he is the victim of political persecution, writing in a tweet on Tuesday that there is “no clue or evidence” against him.

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Mr García was taken to Casimiro Ulloa hospital in Lima after shooting himself

What is the Odebrecht scandal?

Odebrecht is a Brazilian construction giant behind major infrastructure projects around the world, including venues for the 2016 Olympics and 2014 World Cup in its home country.

But under the glare of anti-corruption investigators the company admitted paying bribes in more than half of the countries in Latin America, as well as in Angola and Mozambique in Africa.

Investigators say Odebrecht bribed officials or electoral candidates in exchange for lucrative building contracts.

The corruption scandal has brought down politicians throughout Latin America.

How is Peru affected?

Peru’s four most recent presidents are all being investigated for alleged corruption, with a fifth – Alberto Fujimori – serving a prison sentence for corruption and human rights abuses.

Ex-leader Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was taken to hospital with high blood pressure on Wednesday just days after his own arrest in connection with Odebrecht charges.

And the current leader of the opposition, Keiko Fujimori, is also in pre-trial detention on charges of taking $1.2m (£940,000) in bribes from Odebrecht.

In October, an opinion poll by Datum showed 94% of Peruvians believed the level of corruption was either high or very high in their country.

The scandal embroiling Peru’s presidents

  • Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, in office 2016-2018, resigned over a vote-buying scandal and detained last week
  • Ollanta Humala, in office 2011-2016, accused of taking bribes from Odebrecht to bankroll his election campaign, in pre-trial detention in Peru
  • Alan García, in office 2006-2011, suspected of taking kickbacks from Odebrecht, sought asylum in Uruguay’s Lima embassy but had his request denied
  • Alejandro Toledo, in office 2001-2006, accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from Odebrecht, currently a fugitive in the US

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47961425

President Trump’s attorneys and the White House are moving to resist a growing number of congressional requests for information, increasing the likelihood of a protracted legal fight that could test the power of congressional subpoenas.

The building battle will shape how much material House Democrats will be able to obtain about Trump’s policies and personal finances through multiple investigations launched by various congressional committees.

White House officials are already digging in their heels on a slew of requests related to Trump’s actions as president. The administration does not plan to turn over information being sought about how particular individuals received their security clearances, Trump’s meetings with foreign leaders and other topics that they plan to argue are subject to executive privilege, according to several aides familiar with internal discussions.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and the president’s legal team are preparing for an extensive legal battle, if necessary, over subpoenas from Congress, aides said.

On Monday, Trump’s private attorneys warned his accounting firm not to comply with a subpoena from the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Separately, two other House committees issued subpoenas to several banks Monday for information about Trump’s finances — drastically ratcheting up the stakes for the president, who is particularly angry about efforts to pry into his business, aides said.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys, said he has urged the president not to cooperate with congressional Democrats’ requests because, he argues, they ultimately want to impeach him. “I wouldn’t cooperate with any of them,” he said. “I’d fight it tooth and nail.”

House Democrats said Tuesday that they are resolute about issuing subpoenas where necessary and pursuing them to the full extent of the law. They said they have little confidence that the Justice Department under Attorney General William P. Barr will enforce contempt actions if their demands are flouted, but they believe subpoenas can be enforced through civil litigation.

“The Trump administration for some reason feels that the subpoena power that’s wielded by Congress is weak and that courts will side with the Trump administration in any kind of dispute about the validity of using that power to produce documents,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), a member of the House Oversight and Intelligence committees. “That kind of overconfidence might be very wrong.”

However, the resulting legal battles could be extensive, expensive and unpredictable, based on past litigation over congressional subpoenas.

“This is clearly going to take time to resolve — the question is how long,” said Mark Gitenstein, who served as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1980s.

Going to court over and over again to fight to enforce lawmakers’ demands will take resources and, critically, precious time that Congress may not have. Congressional subpoenas — and any criminal contempt proceedings that may follow — expire at the end of a congressional session, which could make matters moot after the 2020 election.

“Undoubtedly, it will be in the legislative interest to request expedited action by the courts,” said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.). “Here, justice delayed is democracy denied.”

House Democratic legal advisers have been poring over past congressional subpoena litigation as a guide as they map out their strategy.

One key test came in 2007, when a House panel sought information from then-White House counsel Harriet Miers about President George W. Bush’s efforts to fire U.S. attorneys. The White House objected to her providing information, citing executive privilege, and it was two years before she was required to testify.

During Barack Obama’s presidency, then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. faced a subpoena and a contempt resolution from the House Oversight Committee, which was seeking information about a controversial border law enforcement program called “Fast and Furious.” The effort to secure information from Holder began in 2011 but was not resolved until 2016, long after he left office.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations got faster results in 2015 when it sought information from the company Backpage.com as part of a human-trafficking investigation. The Senate investigators won in court and were able to compel the production of information in about 13 months.

House Democrats believe that their demands for information from the president’s banks and accounting firms could move much faster.

On Monday, the Intelligence and Financial Services committees subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup, seeking information about Trump’s business ventures.

Separately, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena late Monday to Mazars USA, Trump’s accounting firm, for all financial information the firm has prepared or reviewed for the president’s company and foundation.

William Consovoy and Stefan Passantino, attorneys for the president and his company, wrote in a letter to Mazars USA on Monday that a subpoena from the Oversight Committee “would have no legitimate legislative purpose” and requested that the firm provide them with 10 days’ notice of its actions “so that we may take appropriate legal steps to protect our clients’ rights.”

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Oversight Committee, called the letter “the latest attempt by the President and his companies to throw the kitchen sink at Congress to prevent us from obtaining critical information as part of our constitutional oversight responsibilities.”

“But unlike the President, these outside entities understand that congressional subpoenas are mandatory, and they understand their legal obligation to comply with the law rather than obstruct it,” he added.

Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the ranking Republican on the committee, accused Cummings of using the panel’s “limited resources to attack President Trump for political gain.”

For its part, Mazars USA said in a statement that it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.”

Deutsche Bank said in a statement that it is “engaged in a productive dialogue” with the House committees. “We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations in a manner consistent with our legal obligations,” the bank said.

The other financial institutions declined to comment.

The Trump Organization declined to comment. But a person close to the company on Tuesday called the subpoenas for the president’s financial information “a new low” and said they set “a dangerous precedent.”

House lawyers are confident that any executive-privilege claim Trump’s lawyers might try to assert over the financial records would be inapplicable and that the banks will not be cowed from providing Congress with records.

A senior Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal strategy, said Democrats expected it would be “weeks, not months” before Deutsche Bank turned over the requested materials.

“We don’t foresee any issue with them responding appropriately to our lawful and legitimate subpoena,” said the aide. “I would be very surprised if any bank did not comply with a lawfully authorized subpoena from a congressional committee.”

Two former House counsels said House Democrats have a good shot at winning since they could cut Trump’s lawyers out of the equation entirely.

Charles Tiefer, who served as deputy House counsel in the 1990s and now teaches at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said Trump’s lawyers would have to sue the financial institutions to keep them from complying with Congress’s subpoena for Trump’s information. But even then, he was not sure what their argument would be for squashing such a demand.

Some legal experts suggested that a judge could knock down the subpoena because it relates to a private matter, not broader government oversight. But Kerry W. Kircher, who served as House counsel for the Republican majority from 2011 to 2016, said he was not sure such an argument would hold up.

“That’s a tall order. Congress’s oversight powers are pretty sweeping and pretty extensive,” he said. “You can try that; I think that’s a loser.”

The Democrats’ strategy to try to compel the production of information has developed over the past several months in close consultation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), according to people familiar with the plan. Each panel has been urged to develop a clear legal predicate for its inquiry and give the administration and related entities multiple chances to comply with their requests.

All of the House’s requests for information are overshadowed by what one lawyer called “the big kahuna”: the request by the House Judiciary Committee for access to the unredacted report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, an effort that drew participation from the chairs of half a dozen House committees.

The slew of demands from the House committees has infuriated Trump, who has told aides that he does not want to cooperate with the inquiries, according to people familiar with his thinking.

He is particularly angry about the efforts by the Ways and Means Committee to obtain his tax returns, telling aides he will fight that demand all the way to the Supreme Court and adding that, by then, the 2020 election will be over.

“You’re never going to see his tax returns,” Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House official and Trump adviser, said on MSNBC on Tuesday. “He’s not going to release them.”

The White House also plans to hold back information being sought about how particular individuals received their security clearances, and will reject requests for notes on the president’s meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders, senior adviser Jared Kushner’s interactions with foreign leaders, and the president’s conversations with Cabinet members about initiatives, among other topics, according to the people with knowledge of his thinking.

Cabinet agencies have been told to seek White House permission before giving any documents to Congress, and lawyers in the counsel’s office are closely monitoring the requests, aides said.

The White House declined to comment.

House Democrats who have been bracing for a legal battle with the administration said Trump’s stonewalling was maddening.

“They are fighting us on everything now. They’re fighting us on release of the uncensored Mueller report, they’re fighting us on the president’s taxes . . . they basically have decided that they want to thwart congressional oversight power,” said Raskin. “It’s an assault on the separation of powers and specifically the congressional oversight function.”

David A. Fahrenthold and Renae Merle in New York contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-moves-to-resist-house-inquiries-setting-up-fight-over-congressional-subpoena-powers/2019/04/16/49f4c75c-6057-11e9-9412-daf3d2e67c6d_story.html

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(CNN)Attorney General William Barr decided Tuesday that some asylum seekers who have established credible fear and are subject to deportation cannot be released on bond by immigration judges — a major reversal from a prior ruling that could lead to immigrants being held indefinitely.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/politics/barr-immigration-ruling-reversal/index.html

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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Wednesday took a shot at Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders, saying people who intend to vote for the Vermont independent in 2020 should just move to Venezuela instead.

The comment came as Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who is proposing a “Medicare for All” health-care system, attempts to appeal to voters in states that President Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. Sanders scored big ratings and positive reactions from the crowd during a Fox News a town hall Monday night in Pennsylvania, a state that Trump won by some 44,000 votes.

Along with former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to declare whether he is running, Sanders is a favorite among Democratic primary voters, according to polls. Sanders also led the crowded Democratic 2020 field in fundraising during the first quarter, when he pulled in $18 million.

Scott, who predicted that Trump would win his reelection bid next year, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that Sanders has a “legitimate shot” at winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Scott also acknowledged that anything can happen, arguing that a Sanders win would mean a risk to the free market.

“I’m going to the Venezuelan border next week. I’m going to Colombia. I’ll be at the Venezuelan border. If you like Bernie Sanders, why don’t you go ahead and move to Caracas?” said Scott, who has been an outspoken critic of Venezuela and its socialist policies. Caracas is the capital of Venezuela.

A spokesperson for Sanders did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Scott’s remarks.

Scott’s state is home to more than 100,000 Venezuelans and Venezuelan-Americans, the largest concentration in the country.

The Republican Party has used once-wealthy Venezuela, which is now in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis, as a cautionary tale about socialism.

Trump has said that “Socialism has so completely ravaged” Venezuela “that even the world’s largest reserves of oil are not enough to keep the lights on.” He added: “This will never happen to us.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/gop-sen-rick-scott-if-you-like-bernie-sanders-move-to-venezuela.html

Notre Dame fire: Macron calls for unity to rebuild iconic cathedral

French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a Cabinet meeting Wednesday fully dedicated to the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. In a televised address, Macron, who wants to see the 12th-century cathedral rebuilt within five years, made a call to unity and to set aside political differences to work on rebuilding plans. Experts say repairs could require a delicate balance of restoring the majestic building’s unique look with fortifying the structure for the future. Meanwhile, religious statues that sat atop the cathedral had been removed as part of a $6.8 million renovation of the towering spire that fell to the ground. Notre Dame’s heritage director, Laurent Prades, told The Associated Press that the only piece of architecture damaged inside the building is the high altar, which was installed in 1989. A massive fundraising campaign is already underway, with more than $700 million pledged to rebuild the damaged portions of the cathedral. 

118 million at risk as severe storms, tornadoes, could hit central and southern U.S.

Another severe weather outbreak is forecast for Wednesday through Friday in the central and southern U.S., in what could be a repeat of last weekend’s storms that killed nine people. About 118 million people live where severe storms are possible. “We expect numerous thunderstorms to develop in the Plains, Midwest and South starting Wednesday, spreading eastward Thursday and Friday,” the Weather Channel warned. The main threat Wednesday will be in the southern Plains. The greatest risk for severe storms will be “from southeastern Oklahoma into far western Arkansas and into northern and central Texas,” the National Weather Service said. Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Oklahoma City will be most at risk Wednesday. 

CLOSE

Drastic footage shows the deadly front that drove a line of severe storms and tornadoes through much of the South rolled east on Sunday.
USA Today

NFL to release its 2019 schedule

NFL teams and fans will learn who plays whom and when Wednesday in the league’s landmark 100th season.  We do know in advance that the league will depart from recent precedent of having the defending champion host the Thursday night opener. Instead, the Chicago Bears will host the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 5. Super Bowl LIII champ New England is expected to host the Sunday Night Football matchup in Week 1. Make sure to follow USA TODAY Sports for all the latest news as the NFL will reveal its 2019 regular season schedule at 8 p.m. ET.

Hunt for woman ‘infatuated’ with Columbine who created security concerns across Denver

Authorities were hunting for a woman described as “extremely dangerous” and “infatuated” with the Columbine school shooting Wednesday after she created major security concerns across the Denver metro area. Authorities said Sol Pais, 18, made credible but unspecified threats that prompted dozens of schools to increase police presence or cancel after-school activities. The incident comes days before the emotional 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting on Saturday. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI said Pais traveled to Colorado from Miami on Monday night and bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition. She was last seen in the foothills west of Denver and should not be approached, authorities said.  

Beyoncé is coming to Netflix with ‘Homecoming’ concert special 

Beychella is coming to Netflix. On Wednesday, the streaming service will release Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” special, a documentary about her celebrated 2018 Coachella performance in Indio, California. The special promises “an intimate look at Beyoncé’s historic 2018 Coachella performance that paid homage to America’s historically black colleges and universities” that will feature “candid footage and interviews detailing the preparation and powerful intent behind her vision.”  

 

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/17/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-nfl-schedule-beyonce-spring-storms/3476573002/

Stephen Colbert marveled at the fire-fighting advice dispensed by President Donald Trump as Notre Dame Cathedral burned.

Seeing the nearly 900-year-old cathedral engulfed in flames via TV news, Trump offered his help tweeting “So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”

“Does he think every time there is an emergency in France they shout, ‘The cathedral is on fire! We must check Donald Trump’s Twitter feed! He says we must act quickly, get the water! Why didn’t we think of water?! We’ve been using cheese!’”

The French Civil Security agency did respond to Trump’s tweet, issuing one of their own to say, “Hundreds of firemen of the Paris Fire Brigade are doing everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control. All means are being used, except for water bombing aircraft which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”

“For fire fighters, they really know how go give a sick burn,” Colbert said approvingly.

Source Article from https://deadline.com/2019/04/stephen-colbert-donald-trump-notre-dame-cathedral-fire-advice-video-1202597233/

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EPA

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Most of the civilian deaths in Yemen have been attributed to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition

US President Donald Trump has vetoed a bill passed by Congress to end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Mr Trump described the resolution as an “unnecessary” and “dangerous” attempt to weaken his constitutional powers.

It is only the second time Mr Trump has used his presidential veto since he took office in 2017.

Opposition in Congress to his policy on Yemen grew last year after Saudi agents killed the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The resolution passed the House of Representatives in April and the Senate in March, the first time both chambers had supported a War Powers resolution, which limits the president’s ability to send troops into action.

“This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” Mr Trump said in the veto message.

The House Speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, was among those to condemn President Trump for the move.

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in March 2015, when the rebel Houthi movement seized control of much of the west of the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

Alarmed by the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by regional Shia power Iran, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at restoring Mr Hadi’s government.

The US has provided billions of dollars of weapons and intelligence to the coalition.

Media captionSix-year-old Yusra is recovering from a tumour

The UN says at least 7,000 civilians have been killed in the country, with 65% of the deaths attributed to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

US senators have accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering the murder of Mr Khashoggi, but Saudi prosecutors have insisted it was a “rogue operation” and that the agents were not acting on his orders.

President Trump first used his veto last month after Congress voted to block his declaration of a national emergency on the US southern border in order to secure funding for his border wall.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47958014

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday to expect the president to react to Thursday’s release of the redacted Mueller report while downplaying it.

“I would say that that that’s sort of the latest iteration of the palace intrigue stories that the media, the mainstream media tend to love to run around here,” Conway said on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”

BARR HAMMERED FOR STATING ‘SPYING DID OCCUR,’ DESPITE CONFIRMATION OF TRUMP TEAM SURVEILLANCE

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report, with some redactions, is set to be released to the public and Congress on Thursday morning, the Justice Department announced.

Mueller last month submitted his more than 300-page report to the Justice Department for review by Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Barr released a four-page summary he’d prepared, stating that the special counsel found no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats are still demanding to see the full unredacted report. President Trump said he has moved on, insisting that the report exonerated him.

Conway accused the media of trying to divide Trump and staff. She said the full report will further prove the president did not collude with Russia.

TRUMP MAINTAINS ‘NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION,’ SAYS IT’S TIME TO ‘INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS’ IN RUSSIA PROBE 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/conway-talking-mueller-report-says-media-loves-palace-intrigue


Miami Beach

Surfside teen wanted for ‘credible threat’ to Columbine, Colorado schools, authorities say


An 18-year-old woman from Surfside is wanted by the FBI and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office after making what investigators are calling a “credible threat” Tuesday to Columbine High School and other Denver-area schools as the 20th anniversary of the Colorado mass school shooting approaches.

“She is armed and considered to be extremely dangerous,” the sheriff’s department said Tuesday of Sol Pais. The FBI said she was “infatuated with [the] Columbine school shooting.”

Pais was reported missing by her parents Monday night in Surfside, Sgt. Marian Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Surfside Police Department, confirmed Tuesday night.

Around 8:20 p.m., FBI agents entered her home in the 500 block of 90th Street in Surfside.

A man who answered the door at the home Tuesday night encouraged Pais to return home. Before law enforcement authorities arrived, the man identified himself as the woman’s father.

He said he lost contact with his daughter Sunday.

“I think maybe she’s got a mental problem,” he said. “I think she’s gonna be OK.”

The Paises’ next-door neighbor, a woman named Kristen, said she had lived in Surfside for 16 years and next door to the Paises for the last two. The woman, who declined to give her last name, said Pais was a senior at Miami Beach High and had taken the school bus with her son during the past school year.

“She was to herself,” the woman said. “The parents are very sweet.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Pais had traveled to Colorado Monday night and “made threats in the Denver metropolitan area.” She tried to buy firearms, authorities said.

The threats led Columbine and several other high schools outside Denver to lock all their outside doors so no one could enter. All students were safe, school officials said.

The FBI’s Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force issued a notice Tuesday describing Pais as “infatuated with (the) Columbine school shooting.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Mike Taplin told the Associated Press the threats she made were general, not specific to any school.

The Denver Post reported that a call to Pais’ parents’ Surfside home was interrupted by an FBI agent who said he was interviewing them.

FBI Denver Field Office spokeswoman Amy Meyer would not confirm or deny where Pais was from, citing internal policy made out of respect for the suspect’s family members.

The threats come four days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High April 20, 1999, mass shooting, which left 12 students and one teacher dead. Two seniors at the school — Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold — opened fire and killed 13 people before killing themselves.

Pais, according to the sheriff’s office, was last seen in the foothills of Jefferson County.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI tipline at 303-630-6227.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article229346734.html

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Washington (CNN)Julian Assange faced a single criminal charge when he was pulled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London last week — but, according to a CNN review of court records, prosecutors have already given a roadmap about how they may be continuing to investigate WikiLeaks and suggested that more charges are to come.

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{videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);videoPinner.animateDown();}}},onContentReplayRequest: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (Modernizr && !Modernizr.phone && !Modernizr.mobile && !Modernizr.tablet) {if (typeof videoPinner !== ‘undefined’ && videoPinner !== null) {videoPinner.setIsPlaying(true);var $endSlate = jQuery(document.getElementById(containerId)).parent().find(‘.js-video__end-slate’).eq(0);if ($endSlate.length > 0) {$endSlate.removeClass(‘video__end-slate–active’).addClass(‘video__end-slate–inactive’);}}}},onContentBegin: function (containerId, cvpId, contentId) {if (mobilePinnedView) {mobilePinnedView.enable();}/* Dismissing the pinnedPlayer if another video players plays a video. */CNN.VideoPlayer.dismissMobilePinnedPlayer(containerId);CNN.VideoPlayer.mutePlayer(containerId);if (CNN.companion && typeof CNN.companion.updateCompanionLayout === ‘function’) 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    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/politics/julian-assange-us-charges/index.html

    CLOSE

    Historic video from the Notre Dame Cathedral alongside video after a devastating fire ripped through it give perspective on the scope of the damage.
    USA TODAY

    As world watched the beloved Notre Dame Cathedral go up in flames Monday, conspiracy theories about how the fire started spread online.

    The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials say it probably began as an accident during restoration work. Officials have ruled out arson as well as possible terror-related motives, but that didn’t stop misinformation and hoaxes from circulating on social media.

    InfoWars, the far-right conspiracy website run by Alex Jones, published a story based on a since-deleted tweet from Christopher J. Hale claiming the fire was “deliberately” set. Hale, who describes himself as a contributor to TIME & Fox News, clarified that his initial tweet was an “unsubstantiated rumor.”

    Infowars writer Paul Joseph Watson included a video he tweeted that appears to show people with Arabic-sounding names reacting with ‘smiley faces’ to a Facebook post about the fire.

    While Watson presented this as evidence of those people “celebrating” the fire, Buzzfeed News pointed out “it’s impossible to know why people chose a specific emoji, or for that matter the religion of people reacting to a Facebook video.”

    Disinformation: Why is fake news so dangerous? Blame your easily-fooled brain.

    Notre Dame Cathedral fire: Day after devastating Notre Dame Cathedral fire, millions in donations pour in

    As the cathedral burned, a guest on Fox News seemed to suggest the blaze was set intentionally calling it “a French 9/11.” Philippe Karsenty — a French media analyst who, according to the Daily Beast, was once convicted of defamation — warned host Shepard Smith of “the story of the politically correct, the political correctness which will tell you it’s probably an accident.”

    Smith quickly shut down the interview, saying “the man on the phone with us has absolutely no information of any kind about the origin of this fire and neither do I.”

    Dozens of posts on a conspiracy theory subreddit with nearly 850,000 members perpetuated the idea that the fire was started intentionally, blaming it on a variety of minority groups with little to no evidence.

    Many shared a 2016 Telegraph article titled “Gas tanks and Arabic documents found in unmarked car by Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral spark terror fears,” suggesting the incident is connected to the fire. The article has since been updated to confirm that is not about the recent blaze.

    Misinformation has also spread from accounts claiming to be legitimate news sources. CNN reported that a fake Twitter account created in April to look like one operated by the network falsely claimed the fire was caused by terrorism.

    The account was taken down within hours after CNN publicly criticized Twitter over it.

    A Twitter spokesperson told the Washington Post that the company is reviewing reports of disinformation related to the blaze.

    “The team is reviewing reports and if they are in violation suspending them per the Twitter Rules,” the spokesperson told the Post. “Our focus continues to be detecting and removing coordinated attempts to manipulate the conversation at speed and scale.”

    What we know: Here’s everything we know about the Notre Dame Cathedral fire

    Relics saved: Notre Dame’s oldest stained-glass rose windows survived; other relics moved just in time

    Firefighters battle the blaze: Paris Fire Brigade chaplain braved the blaze to rescue cathedral treasures

    Follow N’dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

     

    Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/04/16/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-conspiracy-theories/3486456002/

    President Trump on Tuesday vetoed a joint resolution calling on the U.S. to end military assistance to Saudi-led forces fighting in Yemen’s ongoing civil war, calling it “an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future.”

    It was just the second veto of Trump’s presidency and Congress lacks the votes to override him.

    Both houses of Congress had invoked the War Powers Resolution of 1973 in a bid to end American involvement in the conflict, which has raged in the Middle Eastern country since 2015.

    Congress has shown signs of uneasiness with Trump’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia as he tries to isolate Iran, a regional rival. Many lawmakers also criticized the president for not condemning Saudi Arabia for the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, who had been critical of the kingdom.

    Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that the veto was “part of an alarming pattern of Trump turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s actions that fly in the face of American values” and accused the administration of “deference to Saudi Arabia at the expense of American security interests.”

    Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who co-sponsored the resolution in the Senate along with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, tweeted: “The people of Yemen desperately need humanitarian help, not more bombs. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Trump has rejected the bi-partisan resolution to end U.S. involvement in the horrific war in Yemen.”

    The U.S. has provided billions of dollars of arms to the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. Members of Congress have expressed concern about the thousands of civilians killed in coalition airstrikes since the conflict began. The fighting in the Arab world’s poorest country also has left millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and has pushed the country to the brink of famine.

    After the Senate passed the resolution last month, the White House argued it was flawed and would undermine the fight against extremism. The Trump administration also argued that U.S. activities in support of Saudi-led forces did not constitute “hostilities” and claimed the resolution could “establish bad precedent for future legislation.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    House approval of the resolution came earlier this month on a 247-175 vote. The Senate vote last month was 54-46.

    Trump issued his first veto last month on legislation related to immigration. Trump had declared a national emergency so he could use more money to construct a border wall. Congress voted to block the emergency declaration and Trump vetoed that measure.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-vetoes-resolution-calling-on-us-to-pull-support-of-saudi-led-yemen-war

    Amy Meyer, a spokeswoman for the F.B.I. in Denver, said the woman had presented “a threat related possibly to the schools.”

    Ms. Pais was last spotted in the foothills of Jefferson County, Colo., on Monday night, the authorities said.

    The announcement prompted “lockouts,” or heightened security measures, at schools in Jefferson County and the surrounding area. During a lockout, all exterior doors are locked at a school but business continues as usual inside. Police officers aided in end-of-day student release. County officials said that all students and staff members were safe.

    During the Columbine High School shooting, on April 20, 1999, two students shot and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/us/columbine-sol-pais.html

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    New York (CNN Business)Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is in talks to hold a televised town hall on Fox News, a campaign spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/media/buttigieg-fox-news/index.html

    Omar, a Somali refugee, has not always expressed herself succinctly and clearly; she has apologized for some statements that she says have been misinterpreted, which is more than Donald Trump has ever done. Let’s be clear: It is not anti-Semitic, as such, to be critical of Israel’s politics vis-a-vis its Palestinian neighbors and Palestinians in Israel. Many American Jews consider Israeli policies objectionable and obstacles to peace; so do many Israelis. Nor is it anti-Semitic, as such, to raise questions about the influence that Israel has on American politics.

    Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-fi-hiltzik-ilhan-omar-9-11-20190416-story.html

    Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’RourkeRobert (Beto) Francis O’RourkeDems, Trump harden 2020 battle lines on Tax Day O’Rourke releases 10 years of tax returns Bernie Sanders releases 10 years of tax returns MORE has refused to sign a pledge not to accept donations from the fossil fuel industry, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

    O’Rourke reportedly told members of the Sunrise Movement, a progressive group that brought the pledge, that he won’t take money from executives, lobbyists or political action committees. But he added that he would accept donations from workers.

    “If you work in the oil fields, you answer the phones in the office, if you’re one of my fellow Texans in one of our state’s largest employers, we’re not going to single you out from being unable to participate in our democracy,” the former Texas congressman said during a campaign stop in Virginia, according to Bloomberg.

    The pledge the activists asked him to sign reportedly stated, “I pledge not to take contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry, and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits.”

    O’Rourke’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

    The Texas Democrat has previously faced some some criticism for donations his past political campaigns have taken from the oil and gas industry.

    Several other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have signed the pledge, according to the Sunrise Movement’s website, including Sens. Bernie SandersBernard (Bernie) SandersSanders town hall audience cheers after Fox News host asks if they’d support ‘Medicare for All’ Sanders defends against criticism over income, taxes Sanders on whether he’s too old to be president: ‘Follow me around the campaign trail’ MORE (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenSanders town hall audience cheers after Fox News host asks if they’d support ‘Medicare for All’ Sanders defends against criticism over income, taxes Overnight Energy: Interior watchdog opens investigation into new secretary | Warren unveils 2020 plan to stop drilling on public lands | Justices reject case challenging state nuclear subsidies | Court orders EPA to re-evaluate Obama pollution rule MORE (D-Mass.) as well as South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegMaddow and Buttigieg discuss their coming out stories Buttigieg says he hopes he and his husband have children Sanders on whether he’s too old to be president: ‘Follow me around the campaign trail’ MORE (D).

    Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/439220-orourke-declines-to-sign-pledge-barring-fossil-fuel-money

    Brigham Young University alumna Sidney Draughon (center) flew in from New York to join a protest against the Honor Code Office.

    Kelsie Moore/KUER


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    Brigham Young University alumna Sidney Draughon (center) flew in from New York to join a protest against the Honor Code Office.

    Kelsie Moore/KUER

    Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University is known for its adherence to church teachings and for its strict Honor Code, which regulates everything from beards to premarital sex. Student protest is uncommon.

    But last Friday, 300 gathered at the school’s flagship campus to question its Honor Code Office, chanting, “God forgives me, why can’t you?”

    Students allege that the university is mistreating victims of sexual assault and harassment, especiallyy women and LGBTQ students.

    They say the administration has used the code against victims, and some say they have been punished for reporting their own sexual assaults.

    As a result of earlier student concerns in 2016, the university separated the Honor Code Office from the Title IX Office, which ensures women’s equal treatment on campus. In addition, BYU added an amnesty policy under which anyone who reports an incident of sexual misconduct, including a victim, will not be disciplined by the university for any related honor code violation occurring at or near the time of the report. But students claim there are still problems.

    Students also allege administrators have created a climate of snitching and tattling. They say officials hand out severe consequences for minor infractions, leaving students who need support to improve their lives feeling dejected and alone.

    Among those leading the recent protest was freshman Grant Frazier, who says he wants less punishment and more compassion. “The Honor Code, as many of you may know, was made by students for students. So it needs to be reformed by students,” Frazier shouted as he revved up demonstrators.

    Sidney Draughon, a BYU alumna who started the widely read Instagram account Honor Code Stories after her own experiences with the code, flew in from New York for the event.

    Draughon, a 2018 graduate who now works in finance, says she was called into the Honor Code Office at the end of her freshman year for an old photo and a tweet from high school. She was called in a second time during her senior year over another allegation, which delayed her diploma.

    Standing on a table between the law library and the student center, she told students their concerns matter.

    “It’s about all of you sharing your stories of hurt and feeling like you’re rejected and feeling like you don’t fit in at BYU. But I’m here to tell you that you do. I don’t care who you are!” she said.

    But not everyone is so sympathetic.

    During a moment of silence for LGBTQ students who have been mistreated by the Honor Code Office, 22-year-old Dayson Damuni interrupted, shouting: “If you don’t like the Honor Code, go to a different school!”

    Other students share those sentiments, like 25-year-old Mack Huntsman.

    “The majority of students are in favor of the Honor Code,” he said. “I mean, they chose to come to this university … and then [to] say that they’re oppressing you does not make a lot of sense.”

    The director of the Honor Code Office declined to be interviewed. But he said in a statement that the office has met with more than 200 concerned students. He added that only about a dozen of the school’s 33,000 students are expelled each year for Honor Code violations.

    But protest leader Frazier says the school should be open to change, especially because of its affiliation with the church and what it teaches.

    “We here at the university believe in the atonement,” Frazier said. “We believe in the Gospel and we think the Honor Code Office has forgotten that. And it’s our job to remind them.”

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/04/16/714056430/a-rare-sight-at-brigham-young-university-as-students-protest-the-honor-code-offi

    The devastating fire swept through the cathedral in the evening, riveting the world’s attention as nearly 500 firefighters raced to the scene. Thousands of Parisians gathered nearby to watch the effort to save it, and pray. Many were in tears.

    [Here are photos of Notre-Dame over the years before the fire.]

    As the last rush of tourists tried to get inside, the doors of Notre-Dame were shut abruptly and without explanation, witnesses said. Within moments, white smoke started rising from the spire, which, at 295 feet, was the highest part of the cathedral.

    As it billowed out, the smoke started turning gray, then black, making it clear that a fire was growing inside the cathedral, which is covered in scaffolding. Soon, orange flames began punching out of the spire, quickly increasing in intensity.

    Work on Notre-Dame, a celebrated icon of medieval architecture, began in 1163 and was completed in 1345. The cathedral, on an island in the center of Paris, is visited by about 13 million people a year.

    “It is like losing a member of one’s own family,” said Pierre Guillaume Bonnet, 45, a marketing director. “For me, there are so many memories tied up in it.”

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/world/europe/photos-of-notre-dame-fire.html

    With its iconic cathedral scorched but still standing, France on Tuesday launched an investigation into what triggered the Notre Dame inferno and how a fire that had probably started by accident could gut the symbol of a nation.

    As the smoke cleared from the sky Tuesday, it was almost possible to look head-on at the church — to see its carved statues and two rectangular bell towers — and imagine that all was intact. Much of the valued art and relics had been saved. Even the exquisite stained glass windows remained in place, seemingly immune to the previous day’s flames.

    But that belied the somber accounting of all that had been lost, and how the religious and architectural landmark at Paris’s center had been altered. The church’s trademark steeple, part of the Parisian skyline since the mid-1800s, had been swallowed in the flames. Char and smoke marks licked portions of the walls. And the roof — constructed with centuries-old wood — had been destroyed like tinder, leaving gaping holes that let sunlight shine into the cathedral Tuesday.

    Officials warned that Notre Dame may still have gravely dangerous vulnerabilities, especially in the soaring vault. But a few government officials ventured inside, and camera footage showed charred rubble in front of the still-intact pews.

    In an evening address to the nation, French President Emmanuel Macron described the firefighters as heroic, and said he hoped the country would reconstruct Notre Dame within five years — a more rapid timetable than that put forward by experts.

    “We now have to get things done,” Macron said. “We will act, and we will succeed.”

    He said the rebuilt cathedral would be “even more beautiful.”

    From around the world, more than $700 million in private donations poured in for reconstruction, while both Parisians and tourists lined the Seine, bearing witness at bridges where police cut off access to the site.

    France’s interior minister said more than 500 firefighters had been mobilized Monday to help extinguish flames that had cloaked the sky in smoke. But questions remained about whether any warning signs had been missed.

    Paris Prosecutor Rémy Heitz laid out a timeline in which a first alarm went off at 6:20 p.m., but no evidence of fire was found. Only when a second alarm went off — 23 minutes later — was fire detected.

    “In the meantime, the church was evacuated because a Mass just started a bit earlier,” Heitz said.

    A spokesman for the Paris prosecutor later clarified that it was church staffers, not fire fighters, who looked into the initial alarm.

    Patrick Chauvet, the Notre Dame rector, told French radio that the cathedral’s “fire watchers” were on constant lookout and three times each day made “assessments” in the vulnerable area under the wooden roof.

    “In terms of security, I doubt we could have done more,” Chauvet said.

    Buildings like Notre Dame — full of hidden nooks and passages, composed of timber and old materials — are seen by fire prevention experts as particularly risky, especially when they are under renovation. Stewart Kidd, a consultant on so-called heritage buildings in Britain, said that in old structures, by the time flames become visible, “they may have been burning for an hour” in unseen spaces.

    And when there is construction, Kidd said, “the building is exposed to all sorts of dangerous activity.”

    French officials said they do not suspect foul play. Heitz said were no indications that the blaze was started deliberately. Investigators plan to interview people from the five companies that were doing renovation work at the site. Before the fire, part of the Gothic structure had been encased in scaffolding.

    The Notre Dame cathedral was built over centuries, starting in 1163. It was partially consumed in just hours Monday, as thousands of Parisians stood sentinel, singing “Ave Maria” and weeping at the sight.

    “Parisians lose their lady,” read one French headline. In Strasbourg, the city’s great cathedral tolled its bell for 15 minutes Tuesday morning in solidarity.

    There were no deaths in the fire, but two police officers and one firefighter were injured, officials said.

    Culture Minister Franck Riester said on French radio early Tuesday that much of the cathedral’s art and artifacts had been saved. The 8,000-pipe grand organ survived the flames — though whether it had suffered water damage was still to be determined. Riester also confirmed that firefighters had rescued the church’s two most hallowed relics: the crown of thorns said to have been worn by Jesus and a tunic of Saint Louis, a 13th-century French king.

    The objects would be transferred from Paris City Hall to the Louvre, Riester said.

    “It was necessary to bring them out through the smoke,” Paris Fire Commander Jean-Claude Gallet told BFMTV. He said firefighters rushed into the chamber of the cathedral at the height of the fire to make the rescue.

    The cathedral’s stained-glass rose windows, an ensemble that dates to the 12th and 13th centuries, are also likely intact, said André Finot, a cathedral spokesman.

    “It’s a bit of a miracle. We’re very relieved,” he told BFMTV.

    Vittorio Sgarbi, a Rome-based art historian, said that Notre Dame, even before the fire, had been an architectural mish-mash — some parts original, but many parts added or replaced.

    “This is going to be a fateful event in the story of a non-authentic building, a sort of laboratory,” Sgarbi said.

    Even as the fire still burned, France was making plans to rebuild the church. Experts predicted that reconstruction could take a decade or more — in contrast to Macron’s goal of five years.

    The effort was supported by Pope Francis, who on Tuesday called the fire a “catastrophe” and described on Twitter a desire that the damage would be “transformed into hope with reconstruction.”

    On Tuesday morning, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo floated the idea of an “international donor’s conference” that would unite philanthropists and restoration experts in Paris to raise money for targeted purposes in rebuilding Notre Dame.

    Many philanthropists needed little prompting. French luxury magnate François-Henri Pinault declared that his family would dedicate about $113 million to the effort. The family of Bernard Arnault, chief executive of the LVMH conglomerate and the richest man in Europe, pledged $226 million. The Bettencourt Meyers family behind L’Oreal matched that offer. Companies including Apple and the French oil giant Total made pledges of their own.

    “I am not religious myself; I’m an atheist,” said Charles Gosse, 23, a business school student who launched an online funding campaign and quickly raised $27,000. “But this is beyond religion. It is a national monument like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.”

    In their account of the fire and rescue effort, firefighters told local media that after the first call came in, they had to get through rush-hour traffic clogging the banks of the Seine.

    The flames quickly spread from the top level of the nave, eating up one beam, then another, in a portion of the roof called “the forest,” because each massive support was carved from an entire tree. The 750-ton spire, which was originally constructed in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 19th out of oak covered with lead, toppled shortly before 8 p.m.

    At the height of the effort to combat the blaze, which raged for about nine hours, firefighters trained 18 hoses on the church, according to local media accounts. They pumped water straight from the Seine, the grand river that traverses Paris and closely abuts Notre Dame.

    A number of the people who came to see the remnants on Tuesday said they were prompted by their faith. France, though officially secular, remains predominantly Catholic, and even many non-believers are still baptized and married in churches.

    “I’ve been a Parisian for 62 years,” said city-native Alix Constant, a medical secretary. “When I saw the images of the fire, I had the need to see it with my own eyes. And even more so because I’m a practicing Catholic.”

    Longtime Paris residents said they had a hard time comprehending the destruction.

    “I’m a believer,” said Carine Mazzoni, 48, a lawyer who said her son was confirmed at Notre Dame. “It’s Easter week. It’s a symbol of Paris and a Catholic symbol. It’s the history of the world that’s united in this building.”

    Birnbaum reported from Brussels. Griff Witte and Quentin Ariès in Paris and Stefano Pitrelli in Rome contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-paris-updates/2019/04/16/6f8b40c2-5fc6-11e9-bf24-db4b9fb62aa2_story.html

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    (CNN)Authorities are searching for an armed woman in connection with alleged threats that led to lockouts at Columbine High School and nearly 20 other Colorado schools, officials said Tuesday.

      Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/us/columbine-high-threat/index.html

      Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women in Congress, has drawn a lot of controversy in her first few months in office — moments that Democratic donors seem to want to support her through.

      According to Omar’s Federal Election Commission report filed Monday, donors have rushed to show their support for the Minnesota Democrat by helping her raise more than $830,000 last quarter.

      It’s been a trying quarter for her. In February, she was accused of anti-Semitism after she criticized pro-Israel lobbying in the United States. After pushback from both Republicans and Democrats, the House of Representatives voted on a blanket resolution that broadly condemned anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim discrimination, seen as a rebuke to the first-term Congress member.

      More recently, Omar was under attack for saying “some people did something” when commenting that all Muslims should not be held responsible for the acts of extremists during 9/11. In response, President Donald Trump tweeted a provocative video that stitched together clips of Omar and the falling Twin Towers. Since then, Omar said she has received an influx of anti-Muslim insults and death threats. Fellow Democrats have stood up for her, condemning Trump for inciting violence against Omar.

      Donors have also stood up for Omar by donating to her campaign. More than half of the money she’s raised comes from donors who contributed less than $200. Despite only having received a total of $10,000 from PACs, her haul from individual donors puts her among the top Democratic earners this quarter. In comparison, Democratic leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer raised about $650,000 and $600,000, respectively.

      And while fellow first-term progressive lawmakers have also received considerable donations, they lag behind Omar. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) raised about $720,000, while Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) only raised about $300,000.

      Omar’s FEC report speaks to her strong position for 2020 — at least financially

      So far, Omar’s campaign has only spent about $241,000, leaving her with more than $600,000 in cash at her disposal. That sets her up well for her first reelection campaign in 2020, particularly if Democratic voters remain as engaged as they were in the first few years of the Trump administration.

      More than 70 percent of Omar’s donations — $631,000 — were raised through ActBlue, a platform that lets individuals donate to Democrats online, according to Politico. The platform has significantly helped the party’s fundraising efforts, and Omar’s numbers show how effective digitalizing donations can be.

      Omar also received donations from Democratic colleagues House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and Ocasio-Cortez, two of her most vocal advocates. Clyburn, who contributed $1,000, defended Omar during the anti-Semitism controversy, commenting on how her experience as a refugee has shaped her perspective. Ocasio-Cortez, who donated $2,000, has made her support for her fellow progressive candidate crystal-clear as well.

      This is the kind of support Omar will probably need to keep her seat. And although Trump is trying to make Omar a household name by invoking Islamophobia, his rapidly dropping approval rates in Minnesota suggest his tactics are no longer effective.

      Source Article from https://www.vox.com/2019/4/16/18410602/ilhan-omar-fundraising-trump