Fox News Settles Discrimination Lawsuits

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Fox News and its parent company 21st Century Fox said they have reached settlements with 18 former employees of the news channel who had filed lawsuits that included allegations of racial and gender discrimination.

Terms of the settlements weren’t disclosed, but a person familiar with the matter said the cases were settled for around $10 million. There are no nondisclosure agreements as part of the settlements, the person said.

The first suit, filed in March 2017 in New York state court, was brought by two black women who worked in the payroll department at Fox News. They alleged that they were subject to racial slurs and insults by their superior and that they were subjected to a hostile work environment.

Other employees from payroll and accounting subsequently joined the suit, as did Kelly Wright, an on-air personality. Wright argued that discrimination based on his race had kept him from advancing at the network. Wright is leaving the network.

21st Century Fox FOX, +0.96% and News Corp NWSA, +0.63% , the parent of the Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch, share common ownership. (Read more from “Fox News Settles Discrimination Lawsuits” HERE)

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Leaker of Michael Cohen’s Financial Records Makes Another Explosive Accusation

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New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow says that the person who leaked Michael Cohen’s financial records talked to him and explained why they did it – because they believe they discovered a cover up. . .

The law-enforcement official says “records of bigger, potentially more sensitive, swaths of suspicious transactions appeared to be missing from a government database,” explained Ronan Farrow.

According to the report, the official noticed that two “suspicious-activity reports” were missing from the record. Believing that the records were being “withheld” from law enforcement, he leaked them to the media.

The reports are required to be filed in a database by banks to flag activities that appear suspicious. The database is called FINCEN and can be accessed by law enforcement and other government personnel. They are not necessarily criminal activity but could be used as evidence. . .

The leaker says he knows the consequences of his actions, but that they could not ignore the potential corruption of the FINCEN system. “We’ve accepted this as normal, and this is not normal,” the official said. “Things that stand out as abnormal, like documents being removed from a system, are of grave concern to me.” (Read more from “Leaker of Michael Cohen’s Financial Records Makes Another Explosive Accusation” HERE)

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Obama’s Presidential Center Sued for Corrupt Scheme

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A public park advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing Obama Presidential Center organizers of pulling an “institutional bait and switch” by reneging on its original planned purpose of building an official presidential library in historic Jackson Park.

The Chicago City Council approved an ordinance in 2015 for the parkland to be leased to the Obama Foundation for the purpose of housing former President Barack Obama’s official presidential library, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Tuesday.

But operations have since changed. Obama now plans to use the parkland to build a $500 million personal museum and monument dedicated to his person. The National Records and Archives Administration will operate his presidential library somewhere else.

The lawsuit, Protect Our Parks, Inc. filed against the city of Chicago and the Chicago Park District, argues public parkland is “prohibited by law” from being given to a private entity such as the Obama Foundation for private use. . .

The complaint accuses the City of Chicago of dealing with the Obama Foundation “in a classic Chicago political way, known as a short con shell game, a corrupt scheme to deceive and seemingly legitimize an illegal land grab, one that will endure for centuries to come, regardless of future changing public park needs and increasingly consequential environmental conditions.” (Read more from “Obama’s Presidential Center Sued for Corrupt Scheme” HERE)

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This Is CNN: The Only Thing More Absurd Than Trump in Green Sniper’s Scope Is the ‘Reason’ It Was Published

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CNN’s Chris Cillizza is under fire after tweeting an image of a sniper’s crosshairs over a picture of President Donald Trump.

The CNN editor-at-large tweeted then deleted the image of the green sniper’s scope over Trump’s face in a tweet captioned, “Donald Trump, pointing to heavens to commemorate police officers killed in the line of duty.”

. . .

“I’ve deleted a GIF about President Trump. We use @GifGrabber to make our GIFs and it defaults to the image below as a first frame. To clear up any unintended confusion, I’ve removed the tweet,” Cillizza explained.

(Read more from “This Is CNN: The Only Thing More Absurd Than Trump in Green Sniper’s Scope Is the ‘Reason’ It Was Published” HERE)

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FBI Releases Pro-2nd Amendment Statement, Cites ‘Preparation’ by Police and Citizens

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A report released by the FBI in April underlined the necessity of the Second Amendment, pointing out that nearly half of the incidents in which active shooters were confronted by citizens, the incident ended with an armed citizen successfully stopping the shooter.

A total of 50 active shooter incidents occurred in the United States in 2016 and 2017; of those 50, 10 involved the shooters being confronted by citizens. Of those ten, four were stopped by an armed citizen who stopped the shooter. The FBI report states, “Armed and unarmed citizens engaged the shooter in 10 incidents. They safely and successfully ended the shootings in eight of those incidents. Their selfless actions likely saved many lives. The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike.” (Read more from “FBI Releases Pro-2nd Amendment Statement, Cites ‘Preparation’ by Police and Citizens” HERE)

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Bombshell: FBI Used Secret Program to Gather Information on Trump Campaign, No Judge Needed

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By The Intercept. The FBI routinely uses secret orders known as national security letters to demand information that recipients might not actually have to give up, internal documents indicate. The letters are among the FBI’s most potent instruments, because they function like subpoenas without requiring the approval of a judge. Internal guidelines suggest that the bureau has been using them to pursue sensitive electronic data and phone records — despite the fact that such attempts overstep the bureau’s legal authority.

The Intercept obtained the FBI’s rules for national security letters as they are spelled out in two different guides: a document detailing current guidelines for agents using the letters and an uncensored 2011 version of the FBI’s main operating manual, the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, or DIOG. Both documents are marked “unclassified” or “for official use only.” The first document has not been previously released. The DIOG has been made public only in heavily redacted form.

The FBI issues thousands of NSLs each year. They are controversial in part because they carry the force of law but are created entirely outside the judicial system: To issue one, an FBI official just needs to attest that the information sought is relevant to a national security investigation. The letters have also been criticized because they are shrouded in secrecy. Companies that receive them are for the most part forbidden from notifying their customers or the public. The government has fought to keep even basic rules governing them secret. (Read more from “Bombshell: FBI Used Secret Program to Gather Information on Trump Campaign, No Judge Needed” HERE)

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Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation

By The New York Times. Within hours of opening an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in the summer of 2016, the F.B.I. dispatched a pair of agents to London on a mission so secretive that all but a handful of officials were kept in the dark.

Their assignment, which has not been previously reported, was to meet the Australian ambassador, who had evidence that one of Donald J. Trump’s advisers knew in advance about Russian election meddling. After tense deliberations between Washington and Canberra, top Australian officials broke with diplomatic protocol and allowed the ambassador, Alexander Downer, to sit for an F.B.I. interview to describe his meeting with the campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.

The agents summarized their highly unusual interview and sent word to Washington on Aug. 2, 2016, two days after the investigation was opened. Their report helped provide the foundation for a case that, a year ago Thursday, became the special counsel investigation. But at the time, a small group of F.B.I. officials knew it by its code name: Crossfire Hurricane. (Read more from “Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation” HERE)

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz: NRA Is a Terrorist Organization

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Even though the tactic doesn’t seem to be working for Democrats, Senator Debbie Wasserman Schultz today doubled down on earlier rhetoric calling the National Rifle Association “just shy” of a terrorist organization.

According to her recent interview with the Huffington Post, Wasserman Schultz is no fan of the gun rights organization, and she’s not afraid to show it.

“The NRA is kind of just shy of a terrorist organization,” Schultz told the magazine. “They have done everything they can to perpetuate the culture of violence that we have in our country with the spread of assault weapons across the nation.”

She then attacked recently-appointed NRA President Oliver North’s recent comments that gun rights are facing the strongest opposition to a civil right since the Jim Crow era by suggesting the NRA is actually responsible for mass murder.

“The Jim Crow laws actually resulted in the deaths of people standing up for their rights,” Wasserman Schultz said. “People that are dying as a result of the infection that is the spread of assault weapons thanks to the NRA are being murdered in cold blood without any cessation or interest on the part of the NRA to do anything about it.” (Read more from “Debbie Wasserman Schultz: NRA Is a Terrorist Organization” HERE)

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Michael Avenatti Threatens Daily Caller Reporter for Publishing Public Records on Him

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. . .The Daily Caller article seems fairly straightforward and is mostly a fact-based review of public records. The article does, however, cast Avenatti in a bad light because it recounts some of his past failures. It should not surprise you for a minute that someone like Avenatti does not want to be called out for his lack of success.

In response to the article, Avenatti fired off an email to one of its authors this morning. It’s a combination of hilarity and stupid mistakes. The subject line of the email is “Cut It Out.” Mistake number one. (Also, that’s just so silly.)

Aveantti opens the email by saying it was “Off The Record,” but that’s not a unilateral request, and clearly has no impact when sending a blistering, threatening email to a reporter. That’s mistake number two.

He threatens to sue for defamation, but doesn’t specify what he believes was defamatory in the article. He also threatens to seek damages against the reporters personally, and essentially orders the reporter to relay the message to President Trump: “I would tell Mr. Trump to find someone else to fabricate things about me.” (I laughed.)

He then clearly launches a threat when he writes: “If you think I’m kidding, you really don’t know anything about me. This is the last warning.” Mistake number three. (Read more from “Michael Avenatti Threatens Daily Caller Reporter for Publishing Public Records on Him” HERE)

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President Trump Boldly Calls for Death Penalty of Cop Killers, Honors Fallen Officers and Their Families

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By Bizpac Review. President Trump came out swinging against “anti-police prejudice” and vowed to hold those who commit deadly attacks on our nation’s officers accountable to the highest degree.

“If we want to bring down violent crime then we must stand up for our police,” Trump said at the Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the Capitol on Tuesday.

“We must confront and condemn anti-police prejudice,” he said.

Trump called for the “end of attacks” on our police. “We’re not going to let bad things happen to our police,” he continued. “We believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty. Bring it forth.”

At one point, Trump invited the family of a fallen NYC officer on the stage to join him as he paid the officer, who was murdered in cold-blood just for being an officer, and her grieving family his respects. (Read more from “President Trump Boldly Calls for Death Penalty of Cop Killers, Honors Fallen Officers and Their Families” HERE)

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At National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, Trump Calls for Death Penalty for Cop Killers

By CBS News. President Trump delivered remarks at the 37th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the Capitol on Tuesday where he demanded stronger protections for law enforcement officials and an end to ambush-style attacks of police officers across the country.

“The Trump administration has a policy and it’s very clear: We will protect those who protect us,” the president said in front of the Capitol building . . .

The annual event honors law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, bringing together members of the law enforcement community with families of those who lost their lives in 2017 and years prior. The president delivered a solemn message to young children of officers killed during duty present at the memorial service: “Your moms and dads were among the bravest Americans to ever live.”

“When danger came when darkness fell, when distraction loomed, they did not flinch. They were not afraid. They did not falter,” he said. He added, “Their immortal legacy lives on in each and every one of you. Today, every American heart bleeds blue.” (Read more from “At National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, Trump Calls for Death Penalty for Cop Killers” HERE)

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U.S. Identifies Suspect in Major CIA Leak

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The U.S. government has identified a suspect in the leak last year of a large portion of the CIA’s computer hacking arsenal, the cyber tools the agency had used to conduct espionage operations overseas, according to interviews and public documents . . .

Joshua Adam Schulte, who worked for a CIA group that designs computer code to spy on foreign adversaries, is believed to have provided the agency’s top-secret information to WikiLeaks, federal prosecutors acknowledged in a hearing in January. The anti-secrecy group published the code under the label “Vault 7” in March 2017. It was one of the most significant and potentially damaging leaks in the CIA’s history, exposing secret cyber weapons and spying techniques that also might be used against the United States, according to current and former intelligence officials . . .

Federal authorities searched Schulte’s apartment in New York last year and obtained a personal computer equipment, notebooks, and hand-written notes according to a copy of the search warrant reviewed by The Washington Post. But that failed to provide the evidence that prosecutors needed to indict Schulte with illegally giving the information to WikiLeaks.

“Those search warrants haven’t yielded anything that is consistent with [Schulte’s] involvement in that disclosure,” Matthew Laroche, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, said at a hearing on Jan. 8, according to a court transcript. (Read more from “U.S. Identifies Suspect in Major CIA Leak” HERE)

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