The Political Thread

[Chris]

The US economy added just 175,000 jobs in April, marking a firm slowdown

The latest snapshot on US employment was a shocker: The economy added 175,000 jobs, far below expectations for 235,000 and a reversal of the trend for robust monthly gains.

www.cnn.com

The US economy added just 175,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, according to the latest data from the Labor Department.

 

[Chris]

Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar indicted on charges of bribery, money laundering

Cuellar said he and his wife, Imelda, are innocent, and that he is still seeking reelection this November.

www.texastribune.org

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, was indicted with his wife Imelda on Friday on charges of accepting almost $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani energy company and a Mexican bank, the Justice Department announced.

Cuellar allegedly accepted the payments after they had been laundered through fake consulting contracts to shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, according to the DOJ. In exchange, Henry Cuellar allegedly pursued policy in favor of Azerbaijan, the department said. Cuellar also allegedly took money from a Mexican bank and influenced members of the Executive Branch to make policy favorable for the bank, according to the department.

 

[Y2Jayne]

Was randomly thjnking about that terrible attack from a couple of months ago in Saint Louis and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the victime is getting better and walking again.

Missouri Teen Kaylee Gain Walking Again 2 Months After Brutal Beating

Kaylee Gain is making strides in her recovery -- walking around less than two months after a brutal brawl landed her in a coma -- but, she's still got a ways to go, according to her folks.

www.tmz.com

 

[Chris]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, eastern Rafah evacuations

Israel's military has told people in eastern Rafah to "evacuate immediately," Follow for live updates.

edition.cnn.com

• Gazans started to leave Rafah on Monday after Israel’s military told people there to "evacuate immediately." A CNN stringer in east Rafah said the order has sparked alarm in a city already overwhelmed with refugees.
• Israel’s bombardment of Gaza since October 7 has devastated the besieged enclave, reducing neighborhoods to rubble and many of those seeking shelter in Rafah have been displaced multiple times.
• Ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas have again stalled, as the two sides failed to agree on a framework over the weekend.
• The Rafah evacuation call comes a day after Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian trucks following a deadly rocket attack claimed by Hamas.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday: "Even if Israel is forced to stand alone, we will stand alone, and we will continue to strike our enemies."

 

[Chris]

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/06/columbia-university-graduation-commencement-canceled

Columbia University announced Monday it is canceling its two main commencement ceremonies after the school began suspending protesters who refused to leave their encampment in protest of the war in Gaza.

 

[Chris]

Live updates: Donald Trump's hush money trial

Former President Donald Trump's hush money trial continues in New York. Follow here for the latest live news updates, analysis and more.

www.cnn.com

• On the stand: Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is questioning Jeffrey McConney, a former Trump Organization executive, as witness testimony resumes in Donald Trump's New York criminal hush money trial.
• Earlier, the judge found Trump in contempt for violating the gag order again and threatened to jail the former president if he continues to violate it. Trump has been fined $1,000 for the latest violation.
• Prosecutors accuse Trump of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which included the payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Reminder that today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.

 

[Chris]

Hamas says it accepts cease-fire as Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah

Hamas says it will accept a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, just hours after Israel ordered civilians in eastern Rafah to evacuate. Israel has yet to accept the terms.

www.latimes.com

Hamas announced Monday that it had accepted a cease-fire agreement with Israel in Gaza, a diplomatic breakthrough that came hours after Israel ordered civilians in eastern Rafah to evacuate in what was seen as a prelude to a long-anticipated offensive on the area.

Israel has yet to accept the terms and launched a new wave of air strikes late Monday against sites in Rafah but said it would dispatch a delegation to finalize details, even though significant gaps in the agreement remained.

 

[Comrade Khan]

''we'll agree to a cease fire after we kill more of you, lol'' - Israel

 

[Chris]

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/07/europe/zelensky-assassination-plot-ukraine-russia-intl/index.html

Ukraine has detained two security officials allegedly involved in a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky, which Kyiv’s state security service (SBU) said it foiled.

Two colonels in Ukraine’s government protection unit were accused of carrying out “subversive activities against Ukraine in exchange for financial compensation,” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said Tuesday.

Both colonels were charged with treason; one was also charged with preparing a terrorist act.

 

[Chris]

Trump trial live updates: Stormy Daniels takes the stand to testify about alleged 'sexual acts' in hush money case

Live updates and the latest news coverage on Trump’s hush money case as the trial enters Day 13.

www.nbcnews.com

• Adult film actress Stormy Daniels has taken the stand to testify today in the hush money trial, two sources confirmed to NBC News.
• Former President Donald Trump has been charged with falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Daniels, who claims she had an affair with him. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies her allegation of an affair.
• Current and former Trump Organization officials testified yesterday about how former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was reimbursed for the $130,000 payment to Daniels.
• Judge Juan Merchan has now twice ruled that Trump violated his gag order and warned the former president once again that he could face jail time if he continues to post attacks on witnesses and the jury.

 

[Chris]

Trump trial live updates: Stormy Daniels takes the stand to testify about alleged 'sexual acts' in hush money case

Live updates and the latest news coverage on Trump’s hush money case as the trial enters Day 13.

www.nbcnews.com

• Adult film actress Stormy Daniels has taken the stand to testify today in the hush money trial, two sources confirmed to NBC News.
• Former President Donald Trump has been charged with falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Daniels, who claims she had an affair with him. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies her allegation of an affair.
• Current and former Trump Organization officials testified yesterday about how former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was reimbursed for the $130,000 payment to Daniels.
• Judge Juan Merchan has now twice ruled that Trump violated his gag order and warned the former president once again that he could face jail time if he continues to post attacks on witnesses and the jury.

Stormy Daniels, whose account of a tryst with Donald J. Trump after a golf tournament in 2006 led to the first criminal trial of an American president, took the stand Tuesday and described for jurors explicit details of what she said happened inside a Lake Tahoe hotel suite.

Ms. Daniels, the porn star who received $130,000 from Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer on the eve of the 2016 election in return for her silence, described a sexual encounter that she said left her shaking and bewildered, but that Mr. Trump has for years denied ever happened.

Ms. Daniels’s account and the subsequent hush-money payment underpin the case against Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, paid her out of his own pocket and was reimbursed by Mr. Trump, who prosecutors say falsified business records to cover up the repayment.

In her testimony, Ms. Daniels described how Mr. Trump dangled an appearance on “The Apprentice” in front of her, and that she told him that he was “pompous” and “arrogant” — and also asked him if he was married. Mr. Trump, sitting just a few feet from the witness stand, wore a sour expression throughout, and at one point appeared to mouth an expletive.

Live Updates: Stormy Daniels Testifies About Her Encounter With Trump

Ms. Daniels, who received $130,000 in hush money to keep silent about her account of having had sex with Donald J. Trump, is the biggest witness to testify so far in the case.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/joe-biden-antisemitism-speech/index.html

President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a call to fight a “ferocious surge” of antisemitism, saying such hate has no place in America as he connected the horrors of the Holocaust to Hamas’ attack on Israel.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

 

[Chris]

Final missing body recovered in Baltimore bridge collapse

Salvage teams recovered the sixth and last missing body of a construction worker killed in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, local officials announced Tuesday. The bo…

thehill.com