POLITICO MASSACHUSETTS PLAYBOOK: STATE of the STATE — Iranian student DETAINED at Logan — Former City Hall employee caught taking CASH on CAMERA

STATE of the STATE — Iranian student DETAINED at Logan — Former City Hall employee caught taking CASH on CAMERA

BY STEPHANIE MURRAY GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Tuesday! It's good to be back in your inbox. STATE OF THE STATE TONIGHT — Gov. Charlie Baker will deliver his State of the Commonwealth address at the State House this evening. You can expect him to talk about education, transportation, housing, climate change and fiscal responsibility according to Lizzy Guyton, Baker's communications director. But Massachusetts politicos have been buzzing about what he said yesterday at a breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day. BAKER'S STUPID FAUX PAS!  Following remarks from Rep. Ayanna Pressley at the breakfast, Baker jokingly referred to Pressley's speech as "that rant." The comment drew groans from the audience, and online pushback grew from there. The flap is even on the front page of the Boston Herald this morning. Baker apologized for using the word shortly after, saying he found Pressley's speech "moving" and agreed with what she said, but not before one of the state's leading Democrats weighed in. Attorney General Maura Healey came to Pressley's defense in a tweet, saying Baker's words were dismissive and harmful. "Ayanna Pressley spoke the truth about racial injustice and the disparities faced by Black women and people of color at the MLK breakfast," Healey wrote online. "It was thoughtful, personal, and anything but a rant. Language like that is dismissive and perpetuates the very harm we seek to end." Was Healey's tweet a sign of what's to come in 2022? More than a few people seem to think it's in the realm of possibility. Baker is in the second year of his second term, and he'll be up for reelection in 2022 if he decides to go for term number three. When the state's political class talks about who could run against him for governor, Healey's name is always high up on the list. Regardless, Healey and Pressley share a political bond. The AG was one of the only Massachusetts elected officials to endorse Pressley when she ran for Congress in 2018, and both women are high-profile surrogates for Sen. Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign. - AND THAT MAKES SEVEN: MA-04 ALERT — "With a Promise to Unite the Community and Deliver Real Change, Attorney Ben Sigel Announces Historic Run For Congress," from the Sigel campaign: "Community advocate and attorney Ben Sigel will announce his historic bid for Congress today in an email to supporters. "This campaign is about bringing people together," said Sigel, a resident of Brookline. If elected, Sigel will make history by being the first Latino elected to represent Massachusetts in the United States Congress." Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker delivers his State of the Commonwealth address, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Rep. Katherine Clark attend, as well as House and Senate lawmakers. DATELINE BEACON HILL - "Hate and white supremacy are 'ruining this country,' Ayanna Pressley says. Not identity politics," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Sitting before more than 1,300 people gathered to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy Monday, Representative Ayanna Pressley decried the contention that identity politics is "ruining this country." "No, it isn't. It is hate and white supremacy that is codified through legislation," Pressley said toward the end of an impassioned speech, adding that identity is not confined to race but includes experience, be that as a military veteran or someone battling addiction. "The solution is representation. And there is nothing wrong with identity." Pressley's comments, greeted by applause at a panel discussion at the 50th annual MLK Memorial Breakfast, also led to the day's most awkward moment when Governor Charlie Baker jokingly lamented that his place on the stage meant he had to follow her and "that rant." - "States spending big bucks on census preparations," by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: "With political clout in Washington, D.C. and billions of dollars in federal funding at stake, Massachusetts and more than a dozen other states are spending unprecedented amounts of money on outreach and preparations for the 2020 census to get the decennial count right. Collectively, at least 27 states have spent or committed more than $316 million for the effort, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Massachusetts has earmarked at least $6.25 million this fiscal year for 2020 census outreach and preparations, the seventh largest amount among all states." - "State officials seek to rein in rapidly growing urgent care industry," by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, Boston Globe: "For years, the urgent care industry has grown rapidly, with walk-in clinics popping up across Massachusetts to treat patients with colds, infections, cuts, sprains, and other common ailments. Yet the industry remains largely unregulated. Urgent care has become a common term in health care — but it has no state definition in Massachusetts, making these centers difficult if not impossible to monitor, according to state officials. Now policy makers appear poised to impose new requirements on urgent care centers, but they're facing resistance from industry executives." - "Mass. bill would let 16 and 17-year-olds vote in local elections," by Associated Press: "Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would give cities and towns greater leeway in allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections. On Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Election Laws is planning to hold a public hearing at the Statehouse on a number of bills including two that would let "every citizen 16 or 17 years of age, who is a resident in the city or town where he or she claims the right to vote" to be placed on the voting lists for local elections. The bill wouldn't lower the voting age statewide, but instead let cities and towns extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds without having to seek permission from the Legislature." - "Hearing on nip bottle bill set for Wednesday," by Beth Treffeisen, Cape Cod Times: "As nip bottles continue to line Cape roads, discarded by motorists who may be drinking while driving, one Bourne resident has decided it's time to consider banning the sale of the miniature packaged alcoholic beverages. "It will stop a lot of people from drinking on the road while they are in public, which would be the goal of this ban," Jeremey Canfield told the Board of Selectmen earlier this month. Most nip bottles contain hard alcohol, and Canfield says it can take as few as two nips to be legally intoxicated. He said he understands that liquor stores will be against the ban because nips make up part of their revenue, but he argues the ban would make the community much safer." WHAT CITY HALL IS READING - "Lynch, former City Hall employee, caught on camera accepting stack of cash in bribery," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "A photograph filed in federal court late Friday shows former City Hall employee John M. Lynch "grabbing thousands of dollars in cash as part of a corrupt bribe," according to court records that called for Lynch to be sentenced to at least four years in prison. "Figuratively speaking, the defendant got caught with his hand in the cookie jar," Assistant US Attorney Dustin Chao said in court records, adding, "Lynch used his city position and official influence to aid a crooked developer so that he could line his own pockets with cash." Lynch, 66, a city employee for more than two decades until he resigned in August, is slated to be sentenced in federal court Jan. 24 for taking a $50,000 bribe to help a Boston real estate developer. The photograph provided a damning portrait of the crime as prosecutors seek to justify their recommended sentence." FROM THE HUB - "Walsh hits unions for public spat over Southie Edison plant project," by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: "Mayor Martin Walsh chided two local unions for "fighting publicly" over a controversial proposal that would put residential homes next door to the state's busiest cargo port, saying the residents and unions should trust in a community process that others call "flawed." "I don't think that that fight should have went public. I don't agree with the two different union organizations fighting publicly. That's not how we resolve issues. It's solidarity — a brother and sisterhood — that shouldn't be done in the paper," Walsh said." - "Judge halts deportation of Iranian student," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "A FEDERAL JUDGE issued a 48 hour stay of the deportation of an Iranian student enrolled at Northeastern University, who arrived back in the US on Sunday night and was detained by immigration officials at Logan Airport. US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs issued the ruling on Monday night less than two hours after attorneys for Shahab Dehghani filed an emergency petition in the case. Dehghani began attending the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2015 before transferring to Northeastern. He had returned to Iran and reapplied for a student visa, which took almost a year to be approved. When Dehghani's flight from Tehran arrived in Boston on Sunday at about 5 p.m., however, he was made aware that he would not be allowed to remain in the US, despite being cleared to study here." - "What would 'sanctuary spaces' look like in Boston? Public hearing sought after ICE accessed student incident reports," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "Like clockwork, Julia Mejia's phone would blow up at the start of each school year with texts and calls from immigrant parents wondering if their children's buses were running late. "Especially during the beginning of the school year, when the buses are either late or don't show up and their kids don't go home, the fear that ICE has picked up their kids is real," said Mejia, who met those parents after founding her nonprofit, the Collaborative Parent Leadership Action Network." - "At MIT, Epstein Report Reopens Wounds — And Prompts Calls For New Leadership," by Max Larkin, WBUR: "It's been a week since MIT released a report that outlined its ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — and revealed details about an aggressive, often improvised process for accepting financial gifts at the elite institution. Attorneys at the law firm Goodwin Procter led the investigation, compiling the 61-page report which MIT has published in its entirety. The report concludes that none of the school's current senior administrators — including L. Rafael Reif, MIT's president since 2012 — played a role in accepting the nine gifts Epstein donated after his 2008 conviction in Florida for solicitation of sex with a minor. (Epstein was found dead inside his jail cell last August, where he was being held pending trial on sex trafficking charges.)" PRIMARY SOURCES - "Kennedy stumps in Amherst," by Bera Dunau, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Newton, spoke to dozens of voters at a Sunday town hall at AmherstWorks as part of his campaign for U.S. Senate, where he made the case for vigorous opposition to President Trump and highlighted his strength as a campaigner for other candidates. "A Massachusetts Senate seat I don't think is one where we say, 'Hey you know what? Voting the right way and filing the right legislation is enough,' given the challenging times that we're in," said Kennedy. - "Springfield city councilors, state representatives endorse Sen. Ed Markey," by Elizabeth Román, Springfield Republican: "Springfield City Councilors Jesse Lederman, Melvin Edwards, Malo Brown, Sean Curran, and Tim Allen have all voiced their support of U.S. Sen. Ed Markey's reelection to ensure that he continues to lead on the issues that matter most to the people of Massachusetts. "No one has been fighting for the issues that impact communities like Springfield for longer than Senator Ed Markey," said Lederman in a prepared statement." EYE ON 2020 - ENDORSEMENT WATCH: State Rep. Nika Elugardo is backing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. Tweet. ALL ABOARD - "New commuter line between Mass. and Conn. exceeds 1 million passengers," Associated Press: "More than a million riders have traveled the commuter line between New Haven, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., that opened in June 2018. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said last week that the Hartford Line has seen 1,075,559 passenger rides in the past 19 months. The one-millionth ride happened around the busy Thanksgiving holiday in late November, his office said. Ridership on the line, which also serves Connecticut's capital city of Hartford, has been growing at a rate of 25% year-over-year, Lamont's office said. The line is also on track to exceed 750,000 passenger trips in its second year, outpacing forecasts, the office said." - "A Charlie Card Isn't Needed, But It Will Take At Least $500 To Board These MBTA Trains," The Associated Press: "The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is auctioning off seven vintage subway cars. To make room for hundreds of news cars coming in the years ahead and to comply with safety laws, the MBTA removes salvageable parts from inoperable trains, then puts the cars up for auction. "The old cars are sold to the highest bidder, usually for the scrap metal," MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told The Boston Globe. "Old cars are retired after they are no longer capable of providing safe and reliable passenger service." Made by Boeing and Kinkisharyo in the early 1970s and `80s, the cars have sat idle for at least three years, according to the auction posting." WARREN REPORT - "'He totally said it' or 'complete BS'? Sanders and Warren voters dig in," by Alex Thompson, Trent Spiner and Stephanie Murray: "Every Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders supporter seems to have an opinion on their infamous Dec. 2018 meeting. One side believes Warren's account that Sanders told her a woman couldn't beat Donald Trump: "He totally said it! Women are watching, Bernie." The other is just as convinced she embellished or lied for political advantage: "We obviously know that it was complete BS." Interviews with more than two dozen voters at events for Sanders and Warren last weekend made clear that the hard feelings between the two progressive icons have extended to their supporters." - "'I'm in sunny Keene': Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle canvass for Elizabeth Warren in New Hampshire," by Jackson Cote, MassLive.com: "Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and her Northampton counterpart, Mayor David Narkewicz, headed north to New Hampshire over the weekend to canvass for presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Western Massachusetts mayors, both of whom have endorsed the Massachusetts Democrat's 2020 bid, posted photographs of themselves on Twitter in Keene, New Hampshire on Sunday, saying that they were knocking on doors for the Warren campaign." PATRICK PRIMARY - "Deval Patrick to unveil reparations as part of black economic agenda," by Alexi McCammond, Axios: "Deval Patrick supports developing a plan for the federal government to provide reparations to living descendants of slaves, a position he'll make clear as part of an economic platform for black Americans he's unveiling today, an aide tells Axios. The former Massachusetts governor, one of only two non-white candidates remaining in the Democratic presidential primary, is rolling out his "Equity Agenda for Black Americans" on MLK Day. The proposals aim to close the racial gap in health care, education, and the economy." FROM THE DELEGATION - A city with a plan: U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern says Worcester's renaissance wasn't always so visionary," by Michael Bonner, MassLive.com: "More than two decades ago, James McGovern was elected to his first term in Congress. He brought with him to Washington a vision of Worcester, one that included all parties, from the federal level down to the city, working together seamlessly. But that wasn't how things were done in Worcester at that time. "We don't have a plan, or sometimes we have 1,000 plans or sometimes people don't know we have plan," McGovern remembered saying to the Worcester Chamber of Commerce during a speech after his election. "I said, 'Economic Development in this city reminds me of my 4-year-old soccer team. A kid kicks the ball to the right, everyone runs to the right.'" ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: "THAT RANT," — Globe: "McConnell's rules seek quick impeachment trial," "Urgent care sites surge, as do calls for licensing." FROM THE 413 - "PCB dump in the Berkshires? It's on the table, activist reveals," by Clarence Fanto, Berkshire Eagle: "Contaminated soil excavated from the Housatonic River potentially could be dumped in Berkshire neighborhoods under the terms of a mediated settlement pending between the federal Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric Co. The terms of the deal remain officially under wraps, but a party to the mediation effort revealed publicly this week that the secret talks over cleaning up PCB pollution south of Pittsfield now include possibility of local dumping of the material, which is believed to cause cancer." - "Briefings: Councilor Gomez to Again Contest Hampden Senate Primary," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "The Democratic primary ballot in the Greater Springfield area is beginning to look a bit crowded. In addition to races for the Democratic nomination for the US House and Senate, a State Senate contest is set to begin. Springfield Ward 1 Councilor Adam Gomez will challenge incumbent West Springfield Senator James Welch, who represents the Springfield-anchored Hampden Senate district." - "The solution to Boston's housing and congestion crisis? Western Mass." by Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe: "To Greater Boston, Western Massachusetts is the far-off land of Tanglewood, the Berkshires, and Norman Rockwell. For economic opportunity, however, it's a place to leave. The University of Massachusetts in Amherst — a crown jewel of the region — bought a failing college in Newton to give college administrators better access to Beacon Hill and students better access to Boston-area internships. State Senator Eric Lesser of Longmeadow is trying to change that classic Boston-centric way of thinking. For most people, "Western Massachusetts doesn't exist. They have no opinion of it," said Lesser, a former Obama White House aide who won election to the state Legislature in 2014." THE LOCAL ANGLE - "MLK's message still resonates in a 'divided Randolph,'" by Joe DiFazio, The Patriot Ledger: "Judy Lyken Gueye said she has only vague memories from childhood of her parents bringing her from Randolph to the nation's capital to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak and to join the march on Washington D.C. in 1963. What she remembers more clearly, however, is the fight for equal rights that her parents Herb and Olga Lyken waged back home, fighting housing discrimination and becoming a voice for black residents in Randolph." TRANSITIONS - Arthur Bernard joins Deval Patrick's presidential campaign as Massachusetts state director. Deborah Shah joins the Patrick campaign as Massachusetts organizing director. - Maine Gov. Janet Mills and House Speaker Sara Gideon join the North/South Rail Link Working Group. WEEKEND WEDDING - "Leah Robins, Daniel Sternberg," via NYT: "Leah Arielle Robins and Daniel Severin Sternberg were married Jan. 18 at the Omni Parker House in Boston. The bride, 34, is a senior government affairs specialist at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in Boston. She serves on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Massachusetts and a vice president of Temple Beth Shalom in Cambridge, Mass. The groom, 37, is an associate at the Boston office of White and Case, an international law firm, where he specializes in patent litigation." Link. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to NPR "Here and Now" digital producer Serena McMahon, who celebrated Monday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Jeremy Jacobs who is 8-0, and Diego Sanchez, a Massachusetts Democratic State Committee member and Barney Frank alum, turns 63. DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Celtics beat the Lakers 139-107. FOR YOUR COMMUTE: WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR VOTE - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray talk about the recent Democratic presidential debate, and where things stand in Iowa for the 2020 hopefuls. Liberty Square Group founder Scott Ferson joins to talk about the Welcome Party, a group that's reaching out to independent voters in New Hampshire. Later, Evan Fulchuk of Voter Choice Massachusetts talks about ranked choice voting and how it could impact the Bay State. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Stephanie Murray @StephMurr_Jour   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters FOLLOW US

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Hyannisport man faces new charge in college admissions scandal

By Beth Treffeisen

Posted Jan 14, 2020

John Wilson indicted on one count of filing false tax return.

BOSTON — A Hyannisport resident who already faces several charges related to a nationwide college admissions scandal was indicted on a new charge of tax fraud Tuesday.

A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against John Wilson, a former Gap executive and the founder and CEO of the private equity and real estate development firm Hyannis Port Capital, on a charge of filing a false tax return, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

It is alleged that Wilson paid a total of $220,000 to secure his son’s admission to the University of Southern California as a purported water polo recruit, the statement says. Wilson then deducted that amount of money from his 2014 tax returns as charitable donations and business expenses, according to the statement.

An arraignment date has not been set.

Wilson also was charged in October with bribing USC employees to get his son into the school as part of the scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues. University employees designated the children of Wilson and 10 other defendants as athletic recruits, regardless of a student’s prowess in sports, or as members of other favored admissions categories, the Justice Department said at the time.

Wilson, who also has a Lynnfield address, was charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery in connection with the USC allegations, as well as two counts of substantive federal programs bribery in relation to his efforts to secure his two daughters’ admission to Harvard University and Stanford University, the previous statement said.

He also had previously been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud. The alleged scheme connected to those charges involved bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow someone to secretly take college entrance exams in place of the defendants’ children or to correct their children’s answers after they had taken the exams.

FOCUS: Sen. Richard Blumenthal | Yes, Trump Is Guilty of Bribery

07 December 19 Folks, You Have to Donate for This to Work A public news option - must- have public support. It’s that simple. This organization can thrive with 1% of its subscribers contributing on a monthly basis. But without it we cannot survive at all. Right now we are not getting that. You have to step up. Donate and watch the good that comes. Marc Ash Founder, Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! Update My Monthly Donation If you would prefer to send a check: Reader Supported News PO Box 2043 Citrus Hts, CA 95611

06 December 19 It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News STARVING AMONGST SUPPORTERS: We have a very loyal, longstanding readership. Our subscribers morally support what we do and believe in our work. But here we sit among tens of thousands of our supporters with a significant funding shortfall. You have an opportunity now to get onboard. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! FOCUS: Sen. Richard Blumenthal | Yes, Trump Is Guilty of Bribery Richard Blumenthal, The Washington Post Blumenthal writes: "When presidents trade public actions for political favors, the proper punishment is not a matter of opinion; it's a matter of law." hen presidents trade public actions for political favors, the proper punishment is not a matter of opinion; it’s a matter of law. President Trump solicited a bribe. And the Constitution makes clear that a president who engages in bribery “shall be removed from office.” In fact, along with treason, it is one of only two crimes specifically mentioned as conduct that would necessitate impeachment and removal. Before I joined the Senate, I spent decades in law enforcement deciding when bad conduct rises to the level of illegality. Any good lawyer starts with the legal text, and when the Constitution was drafted, bribery was defined broadly as any “undue reward” for a public action. As illustrated during the House impeachment inquiry, which moves to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, a political investigation ginned up to reward Trump for providing needed military aid would certainly fit the bill. But even under the narrower definition of bribery currently in the criminal code, Trump’s actions clearly qualify. Federal law defines bribery as the solicitation of “anything of value personally” by a public official “in return for” an official act. It also specifies that a bribe can be a reward for an act the public official would have done anyway. In short, merely soliciting a bribe is bribery. So, we face two questions. First, did Trump seek something of personal value from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky? He most certainly did. Everything from information about the whereabouts of a witness to the promise of future campaign contributions has been identified as a “thing of value” in bribery law. Trump clearly valued Ukrainian investigations into his political enemies. By all accounts, he was obsessed with them. According to multiple reports, Trump cared more about the investigations than he did about defending Ukraine from Russia. More important, Trump’s interest in the investigations was political, not public-spirited. U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland — one of the “three amigos” conducting Ukraine policy directly for the president — has testified that Trump wanted the investigations announced but did not care whether they were conducted. As long as Ukraine cast a pall of baseless suspicion over Trump’s political enemies, he did not need anybody to actually unearth new facts. Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani basically admitted as much when he told the media the investigations would “be very, very helpful for my client,” even if they had no value for the United States. Next question: Did Trump demand Ukraine provide him with his thing of value “in return” or out of gratitude for an official act? Yes. Trump has publicly admitted that he personally withheld military aid to Ukraine. Sondland, National Security Council staffer Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor Jr. have all testified that the aid was withheld to induce Ukraine to initiate the investigations. Even if Trump would have released Ukraine’s aid regardless of whether Ukraine announced investigations — and the evidence suggests otherwise — Trump would still be guilty of soliciting an illegal gratuity, one form of bribery. The July 25 rough transcript makes clear that he bragged about America’s largesse just before asking for a personal favor. That alone constitutes bribery. The president’s supporters have two responses. First, they argue that Trump can’t be guilty of bribery because Ukraine never conducted the investigations he demanded and because the country still received military aid. Of course, the money was released only after a government whistleblower exposed the president’s plans. As a law enforcement official, I prosecuted criminals whose illegal schemes failed because they were caught red-handed. None had the gall to say they were innocent because their crimes did not achieve their goals. Ineffective criminals are still criminals. The bribery statute makes clear: Soliciting a bribe is illegal even if the bribe is never paid. Second, Trump’s defenders argue that no one has testified they directly heard Trump order anybody to demand a bribe. Apparently, they want us to believe that Giuliani — a private citizen — ran a shadow foreign policy to secure political benefits for Trump without Trump’s knowledge or support. The fact that Trump specifically told foreign leaders to contact Giuliani is simply an unfortunate coincidence. That no witness heard Trump utter the words “please solicit a bribe from Ukraine” should not be shocking. Anybody who has watched a mob movie knows criminals don’t spell out their illegal plans to every subordinate. More importantly, individuals who might have heard Trump say those words may have unlawfully refused to testify, at Trump’s request. When a defendant improperly withholds evidence, courts instruct juries to assume that the evidence would not help the defendant. Americans should make the same assumption here. Trump’s actions threaten our democracy. But the greater threat would be if America became a place where such misdeeds went unpunished. Fortunately, our Constitution tells us in no uncertain terms that the president’s actions deserve the strongest penalty Congress can provide — removal from office. If the rule of law means anything, we must follow its command. READ MORE Contribute to RSN Update My Monthly Donation

Paul Krugman | Trump Gives US Business the Ukraine Treatment

29 November 19

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The November funding-drive is nowhere close to where it should be and we are running out of time. We need a boost here any way we can get it, as soon as we can get it.

With significant urgency.

Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News

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29 November 19

It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News

SWITCHING TO EMERGENCY MODE ON DONATIONS - Due to a total lack of donations for November the organization’s funding situation has become critical. We are going to have to stop the train and focus solely on bringing in the relatively few donations we need to function. The show will not go on without funding. Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Paul Krugman | Trump Gives US Business the Ukraine Treatment

Paul Krugman, The New York Times

Krugman writes: "The story that has emerged in the impeachment hearings is one of extortion and bribery."

EXCERPTS:

Cook’s incentive to play along was obvious. Apple assembles many of its products in China; it’s seeking exemptions from Trump’s China tariffs. And there’s every reason to believe that the allocation of such exemptions is driven by politics, not the national interest.

For example, in 2018 a company owned by Oleg Deripaska — an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, who is supposed to be under U.S. sanctions for activities that include interference in foreign elections — received a waiver from aluminum tariffs. The waiver was withdrawn only after Democrats in Congress noticed it, with the Commerce Department claiming that it had been granted as a result of a “clerical error.” Uh-huh.

Put it this way: By using his political power to punish businesses that don’t support him while rewarding those that do, Trump is taking us along the same path already followed by countries like Hungary, which remains a democracy on paper but has become a one-party authoritarian state in practice. And we’re already much further down that road than many people realize.

READ MORE

Ambassador Sondland. (photo: Getty)

Trump's "No Quid Pro Quo" Statements Are Clear Evidence of His Ukraine Motives
William Saletan, Slate
Saletan writes: "A new report shows the president was launching his cover story, not telling the truth."
READ MORE

ICE officer. (photo: AP)

ICE Arrests 90 More Students at Fake University in Michigan
Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
Warikoo writes: "About 90 additional foreign students of a fake university in metro Detroit created by the Department of Homeland Security have been arrested in recent months."
READ MORE

Sen. Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. (photo: ABC News)

Billionaire-Funded Protest Is Rearing Its Head in America
Hamilton Nolan, Guardian UK
Nolan writes: "The most straightforward way to avoid this creeping problem, of course, is to have everyone personally flog a billionaire before being granted admission to a protest."

Recently a crowd of protesters disrupted a speech by Elizabeth Warren. The activists might have seemed grassroots, but they weren’t

ast week, Elizabeth Warren went to Atlanta to give a major speech about issues of concern to black women. Her speech touched on knotty, existential topics such as the legacy of slavery, institutional racism, voter suppression, mass incarceration and reparations. But the next day’s headlines overwhelmingly focused on the fact that the speech was interrupted by a loud group of pro-charter school protesters.

We were supposed to be talking about challenging centuries of institutional racism, but now we’re talking about charter schools. How did that happen? If you suspect that some sort of nefarious action that can be traced back to plutocratic billionaires is involved – well, of course.

The protesters themselves were, by all accounts and appearances, a group of concerned people who passionately oppose Warren’s plan to bolster public education and crack down on the charter school industry. But they did not all materialize in the crowd together in matching shirts by chance. Their existence was orchestrated by pro-charter school groups that are funded by an array of billionaires, including Netflix founder Reed Hastings, art and philanthropy titan Eli Broad and, most prominently, the Walton Foundation, controlled by the staggeringly wealthy family that owns Walmart. Thus we are all forced to deal with the spectacle of classic tactics of grassroots protest being coopted and fueled by a tiny group of the very sort of people that such tactics were developed to target in the first place.

Of course, astroturfing is nothing new – the suburbs of Washington DC are strewn with post office boxes that serve as the headquarters address for zillions of groups that all have names like Working Americans for Freedom and Reduced Taxation on Pass-Through Business Structures. And charter schools, in particular, have long been an issue that seems created in a lab to entice billionaires to pour money into groups that have as their public faces working parents or former union leaders. (A book could be written on why the ultrarich are so drawn to the charter school movement, but the short answer is that it combines the fiction that education rather than capitalism is responsible for our nation’s ills and the ability to privatize a longstanding public good, all in one.)

It would be a mistake, though, to think that this little propaganda incident is about a single issue. The real lesson of this is how well even transparently corrupt tactics like this work. One of the emotional backbones of Warren’s speech was the story of the 1881 Atlanta washerwomen strike – a relatively little known incident in labor history that she was no doubt inspired to cite by the union leader Sara Nelson’s recent speech on the same topic in front of the Democratic Socialists of America convention. Yet what should be a shining example of radical ideas rising to mainstream prominence in a presidential campaign has been pushed to the bottom of most news stories in favor of the charter school ruckus. This points to the fact that astroturf campaigns don’t have to be very sophisticated, or even very secret; they just need to make enough noise to weasel their way into a 30-second TV hit to get the job done.

And so we are all left to gaze in dread at our dystopian very near future, when an increasingly small and savvy pool of billionaires is responsible for not only the majority of businesses, political connections and wealth, but also protests. If you thought that misleading stories on Facebook were bad, imagine a horde of angry activists, staging classic protests around the country, whose existence is entirely facilitated by the richest and most powerful people on earth.

The one thing that rich people forever lust for is authenticity, that elusive quality that tends to disappear the more that your influence is bought rather than organically developed. (A huge portion of the public relations industry exists to sell rich people the illusion of authenticity, with the assumption that the rich are too insulated from reality to realize that they are being ripped off.) Nothing is perceived as more authentic than real live chanting, sign-waving demonstrators. It is a trivial matter to find people who genuinely believe in a cause. Plutocrats can supply them with organizers and resources while still maintaining plausible deniability of actually controlling them. As a side benefit, in the same way that Fox News has undermined the public’s belief in factual journalism, billionaire-funded protests will inevitably make everyone more cynical about the integrity of real protests.

There’s really no downside, from the perspective of billionaires.

The most straightforward way to avoid this creeping problem, of course, is to have everyone personally flog a billionaire before being granted admission to a protest. Until we sort out a few minor logistical problems with that system, we will have to settle for something even simpler: keeping private money out of politics, by law. The Walton family’s net worth is nearly $200bn. If they are so concerned about education, they can pick up the tab for the entire US Department of Education for the next three years and still have a few billion left over.

Perhaps ironically, getting money out of politics is one of the big ideas at the center of Warren’s campaign. But a lot of people may not have heard about it, over the shouting of all of those grassroots protesters.

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The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York has launched an opioid inquiry focusing on six companies. (photo: Carlo Allegro/Reuters)

US Prosecutors Open Criminal Probe of Opioid Makers, Distributors

Al Jazeera

Excerpt: "Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into whether pharmaceutical companies intentionally allowed opioid painkillers to flood US communities."

Opioids have contributed to more than 400,000 deaths in the US since 1997, according to government statistics.

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Egyptian police officer. (photo: Getty)

Egypt's Security Forces Raid Last Major Independent Newspaper's Office
Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "Egyptian security forces raided the office of Mada Masr, the country's last independent media outlet, and arrested three of its journalists this weekend."







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Recycling bins. (photo: Chris Wattie/Reuters)

Recycling Isn't Working - Here Are 15 Ways to Shrink Your Plastic Footprint
Emily Holden, Guardian UK
Holden writes: "As plastics corporations ramp up production, they are also promoting a failing recycling system. Just 9% of plastics get recycled. Traditional plastics are made from extracted oil and gas, and they contribute to the rising temperatures behind the climate crisis."

Only 9% of plastics get recycled, and significant reductions will require systemic change – but there are easy tips for individuals to cut back

s plastics corporations ramp up production, they are also promoting a failing recycling system.

Just 9% of plastics get recycled. Traditional plastics are made from extracted oil and gas, and they contribute to the rising temperatures behind the climate crisis.

Environment experts are increasingly calling for a reduction in plastic use, as the waste accumulates in the oceans, poor countries and even human bodies. Plastics are also burned, as China – which once accepted the bulk of America’s waste – has begun to refuse it. And more than a million Americans lived next to polluting incinerators.

Significant reductions will require systemic change, researchers say. But there are also some easy tips for individuals who want to cut back on plastics.

(If this list is overwhelming and you’re not sure where to start, collect your plastic waste for a month and conduct an audit. Cut back on what you find the most of.)

1. Carry a reusable bottle, fork/spoon and bag

Be sure to use these items as many times as possible so they are worth the resources they take to create.

2. Refuse the lid on your coffee cup

Take a few sips before you leave the shop so you can avoid spilling. (Some coffee shops will say they are required to give you a lid, citing possible liability for burns.)

3. Choose products in glass or cans if they are an option. Recycle those materials

Plastics recycling is largely failing, but you should still try to recycle your waste plastics if they are accepted in your community. Make sure you are recycling correctly with this guide.

Glass and aluminum cans are much more likely to be recycled. Glass is most efficient when reused (ie with returnable milk bottles).

4. When possible, eat in the restaurant instead of taking it to go

Unless you have a physical disability, let your server know in advance that you won’t need a straw.

5. If you order takeout or delivery, tell the restaurant you don’t want plastic utensils or straws

This is an option on some food delivery apps.

6. Opt for products with less packaging. Say no to bagged lemons, apples, onions and garlic, and tea that comes in plastic packets

Choose more fresh produce for snacks to avoid individual plastic wrappers.

7. Shop from the bulk section and use your own containers

Some grocery stores will let you use pretty much any container, as long as you verify the weight of the empty container in advance.

8. Use bars of soap (also available for shampoo and shaving) instead of bottles and skip the plastic loofah

Find bars that are wrapped in paper, and for an extra environmental benefit, avoid palm oil.

9. Use a razor that requires replacing only the individual blades

The upfront expense may be daunting, but if you can afford it, you will save money over time. Note that TSA does not allow passengers to fly with individual blades.

10. Use a bamboo toothbrush or one with a replaceable head

The market for these products is growing rapidly. Most bristles will still have synthetic fibers, but you can at least avoid throwing away the brush’s plastic arm every few months.

11. Buy concentrated cleaners that can be mixed with water in a reusable container.

You can find these in powder, gel and liquid form.

12. Choose frozen, concentrated juice that comes in cardboard tubes instead of the plastic jugs

Some of them taste good, and they are lighter to carry home.

13. Don’t buy bottled water. Filter your own

“Bottled water is no safer than filtered tap water, but the industry doesn’t have to disclose the results of its testing,” according to the Environmental Working Group. The advocacy organization’s Tap Water Database can help you select the best filter for your local water source.

14. Buy fewer clothes, or shop secondhand. Wash your clothes less so they last longer. Hang them to dry

Most clothing contains synthetic fibers made of plastic. These fibers shed in the wash and end up in waterways. Synthetic materials may have some advantages over natural ones, however, because they may last longer.

15. When shopping online, group as many items together as possible, so you can receive fewer plastic envelopes

You can also choose slower shipping times, which could reduce the climate footprint of your purchase.

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