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IVIICII I II V.J. CHAU! I my. -- Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi called on Acosta to step down, as did most of the 2020 Democratic candidates. "Congressional Republicans supported Acosta, saying issues about the plea deal were vetted at his confirmation hearing in 2017. Acosta's critics said he was not fit to lead an agency that has oversight over human trafficking offenses," John Wagner and Lisa Rein report. "Some attorneys for victims questioned Acosta's tweet saying the evidence was new." -- Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is privately urging Trump to dump Acosta, Politico's Eliana and Burgess Everett report: "Acosta critics, including Mulvaney, have argued that he has not been aggressive enough in stamping out Obama-era workplace regulations and employment discrimination lawsuits, and they are using the Epstein lawsuit to push him out the door. Mulvaney on Tuesday acknowledged the tension with Acosta but said it was merely part of the job. 'I push all of the Cabinet Secretaries on the deregulatory agenda, as it is a top priority of the President,' Mulvaney said in a statement. ... One move that has particularly rankled conservatives is Acosta's decision to allow an employment discrimination lawsuit to proceed against Oracle, the rare Silicon Valley company that is not entirely hostile to the GOP." Democrats demand Acosta resign over Epstein deal -- The Justice Department said Attorney General Page 12532 EFTA00043043
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William Barr will not recuse himself from the current prosecution of Epstein, but he will not engage in "any retrospective review" of the 2008 plea deal. Matt Zapotos_ky reports: "Barr had telegraphed at his confirmation hearing in January that he might have to step aside from any Justice Department reviews of Epstein's case, because another lawyer at his then-firm, Kirkland & Ellis, had represented the wealthy financier. The other lawyer, Jay P. Lefkowitz, helped secure [the previous deal]. The split nature of Barr's recusal suggests that federal prosecutors in New York — who unsealed new sex trafficking charges against Epstein on Monday — might not be investigating authorities' handling of the previous allegations. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has been reviewing the handling of Epstein's 2008 plea deal for possible misconduct, and Barr is recused from that." -- The Miami Herald has reported that Lefkowitz, Barr's colleague at the time, had a one-on-one meeting with Acosta at which the then-U.S. attorney agreed not to prosecute Epstein in federal court. -- Epstein amassed a network of powerful connections as authorities say that he was simultaneously abusing dozens of young girls. Marc Fisher reports: "Even as dozens of women were looking to police, prosecutors and courts to hold Epstein to account for his alleged sexual abuses, he was amassing a stunning list of contacts and, in some cases, defenders across the worlds of Hollywood moviemaking, medical research, diplomacy, finance, politics Page 12533 EFTA00043044
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ana law. ... he donated large sums toward neuroscience research at Harvard and a California lab. He invited researchers to his New York house and talked math with them over equations scrawled on a blackboard in his dining room. He flew former president Bill Clinton and actor Spacey to Africa to promote AIDS awareness. He was a member of the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations." -- The criminal case against Epstein had gone cold, but Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown kept pursuing the story and forced authorities to pay attention. The Times's Tiffany Hsu reports: "Months ago, she published a meticulously researched series of articles about the secret plea deal. ... Her work identified some 80 alleged victims ... She worked on the award-winning series with Emily Michot, a visual journalist at The Herald. While Mr. Epstein moved about freely, reportedly building a new compound in the Virgin Islands, Ms. Brown continued to dig, accumulating enough documentation to fill a spare bedroom in her Florida home. ... Geoffrey Berman, a federal prosecutor, said at a news conference that his team had been 'assisted by some excellent investigative journalism.- -- Trump once threw a party with "28 girls" at Mar-a- Lago. He and Epstein were the only men there. The Times's Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman dig into the relationship', "The year was 1992 and the event was a 'calendar girl' competition, something that George Houraney, a Florida-based businessman who ran American Dream Page 12534 EFTA00043045
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miierpr lbe, MAU oryarliceu dl WU. I rumps request. arranged to have some contestants fly in,' Mr. Houraney recalled in an interview on Monday. 'At the very first party, I said, 'Who's coming tonight? I have 28 girls coming.' It was him and Epstein.' Mr. Houraney, who had just partnered with Mr. Trump to host events at his casinos, said he was surprised. 'I said, 'Donald, this is supposed to be a party with V.I.P.s. You're telling me it's you and Epstein?" In fact, that was the case, an indication of a yearslong friendship between the president and Mr. Epstein that some say ended only after a failed business arrangement between them. ... "The full nature of their eventual falling out is not clear. ... The relationship with Mr. Trump turned so toxic that Mr. Epstein at one point told friends that he blamed Mr. Trump for his legal problems with the Palm Beach County police. But while Mr. Trump has dismissed the relationship, Mr. Epstein, since the election, has played it up, claiming to people that he was the one who introduced Mr. Trump to his third wife, Melania Trump, though neither of the Trumps has ever mentioned Mr. Epstein playing a role in their meeting." Trump says he had a 'falling out with Epstein years ago SELECTIVE AMNESIA: -- Trump has a pattern of quickly minimizing ties with people who criticize him or who find themselves facing an onslaught of negative attention that reflects poorly on him. Epstein and Darroch are only the two latest examples. Josh Dawsey reports: "Trump sat across from Page 12535 EFTA00043046
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Darroch during the annual St. Patrick's Day lunch on Capitol Hill in March, inquiring about Brexit and bragging of his strong political standing. ... Trump interacted with Darroch on a number of occasions in London and Washington. ... But after leaked cables showed Darroch criticizing Trump's administration as 'inept' and the president as 'insecure,' the president seemed to have a memory lapse. 'I don't know the Ambassador but have been told he is a pompous fool,' Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. ... Asked Tuesday about Epstein, Trump said that he was 'not a fan' of his. ... 'I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years,' Trump said. In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine before Epstein was in trouble, Trump sang a different tune. 'I've known ■ for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,' Trump said. ... "Among those who have gotten the 'I barely know the guy' treatment: Former acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker, conservative commentator Ann Coulter, former lawyer Michael Cohen, fired FBI director James B. Comey, former senior White House aide Stephen K. Bannon, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former State Department official Brett McGurk, longtime adviser Roger Stone, former White House aide Cliff Sims, former campaign aide George Papadopoulos and even the rapper Lil Jon, who starred on Trump's reality TV show 'Celebrity Apprentice.' The people change, but the comments are eerily similar — and are something of a joke among some Trump advisers." Page 12536 EFTA00043047
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-- He is the do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do president: Trump attacked the "Radical Left" last night for encouraging boycotts against companies whose owners support him, even though he has repeatedly advocated the exact same tactic in the past against his perceived critics. Trump was rallying to the defense of Home Depot and its co-founder, Bernard Marcus, who have been at the center of a boycott from liberal customers after the billionaire said he plans to spend part of his fortune supporting Trump's 2020 campaign. "Among the companies he has targeted are Macy's, which once carried his clothing line but abandoned him after he called Mexicans `rapists' in his campaign kickoff speech in 2015, and Apple, which he urged to release the cellphone information of the perpetrators of the 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.," Isaac Stanley-Becker recalls. "Last year, he celebrated plans to boycott Harley-Davidson when the motorcycle company said it would move some production overseas because of steel tariffs imposed by the president. He has also implored his Twitter followers to boycott Megyn Kelly's show on Fox News and suggested that dropping AT&T could compel CNN to improve its coverage of him. The president has argued that Nike and the NFL would encounter `anger and boycotts' as long as they support players who kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. He struck a different tone on Tuesday, saying it was unfair to penalize a company because one of its co-founders supported `your favorite Page 12537 EFTA00043048
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President, me!'" Sater offers few details after House panel appearance THERE'S STILL A BEAR IN THE WOODS: -- A congressional panel grilled former Trump associate Felix Sater for more details on the president's failed Moscow project. Karoun Demirjian and Tom Hamburger report: "Sater met privately with House Intelligence Committee staffers investigating interference in the 2016 presidential election and questions surrounding Trump's business interests in Russia in 2016. At issue is Michael Cohen's false testimony before the same committee in 2017 and whether Trump was compromised by his organization's effort to build in Moscow. When pressed Tuesday to provide information about his knowledge of Cohen's testimony, Sater at one point cited lawyer-client privilege and declined to respond, according to accounts of the exchange described by Sater's attorney and a spokesman for the committee." -- Federal prosecutors no longer want Michael Flynn to testify against his former partner because they doubt his version of events, according to a court filing. Rachel Weiner reports: "The move could have implications for Flynn in D.C. federal court, where he is awaiting sentencing in a case brought by the special counsel. ... Flynn had been expected to be a key witness in the Virginia trial of Bijan Rafiekian, with whom he ran a consulting business. A court filing from Rafiekian's attorneys includes Page 12538 EFTA00043049
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an email that Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Gillis ended by saying prosecutors `do not necessarily agree' with Flynn's 'characterizations' of how he came to make an inaccurate filing under the Foreign Agent Registration Act for an influence campaign that benefited the Turkish government. According to the email, Flynn says he did not provide false information to his attorneys at the time, did not read the FARA filing before signing it and was not aware that it contained falsehoods. In their filing, Rafiekian's lawyers say they 'interpreted the email's final sentence as a euphemism for, `we've concluded [Flynn] is lying.' "The decision by prosecutors could imperil Flynn's ability to avoid incarceration for lying to the FBI unless he is pardoned by Trump. Flynn's defense attorney, Sidney Powell, said in a statement that 'General Flynn is still cooperating with the government even if they don't call him as a witness.'" -- The Justice Department directed two former members of Mueller's team, Aaron Zebley and James L. Quarles, not to testify before Congress. The Times's Nicholas Fandos and Katie Benner report: "It is unclear what effect the Justice Department's intervention will have on the men's eventual appearances, but it raises the prospect that a deal lawmakers thought they had struck last month for testimony from Mr. Mueller, the former special counsel, and the two prosecutors could still unravel. Both Mr. Zebley and Mr. Quarles have left the Justice Department and are now private citizens, meaning that the department most likely Page 12539 EFTA00043050
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cannot actually block their testimony. But the department's view — depending on how strongly it is expressed — could have a chilling effect on two longtime employees and give them cover to avoid testifying." -- The House Judiciary Committee will vote tomorrow on whether to subpoena 12 individuals with connections to Trump, including Jared Kushner and Jeff Sessions, for their investigation on whether the president obstructed justice. Colby Itkowitz reports: "The panel will also vote to subpoena documents related to the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy on migrants entering the country illegally, which led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents in 2018. ... In addition to seeking subpoenas for Kushner and Sessions, the committee will vote to subpoena former White House chief of staff John Kelly; [Flynn]; former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski; former deputy attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein; former White House deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn; assistant attorney general Jody Hunt; former White House staff secretary Rob Porter; National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard; American Media Inc. chief executive David Pecker; and Keith Davidson, former attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels." -- Ahead of the former special counsel's testimony next week, many lawmakers admit that they have not read Mueller's report in full. Politico's Darren Samuelsohn reports: "Trump can't give a straight answer about the subject. More than a dozen members of Congress readily Page 12540 EFTA00043051
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admitted ... that they too have skipped around rather than studying every one of the special counsel report's 448 pages. And despite the report technically ranking as a best- seller, only a tiny fraction of the American public has actually cracked the cover and really dived in. `What's the point?' said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). ... The result, say lawmakers, historians and cultural critics, is a giant literacy gap in the country when it comes to the most authoritative examination into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump obstructed that investigation." Pelosi said she will not address "anything more that [Barr] has to say" because he "has lied to Congress." Pelosi's comments came a day after the attorney general accused Democrats of trying "to create some kind of public spectacle" by calling for Mueller to publicly testify next week. "I don't even want to address him," Pelosi said in response. "He has lied to Congress as the attorney general of the United States. He's lied under oath. I'm not speaking to anything more that he has to say." (John Wagner) -- Russian intelligence agents appear to have been the first people to promote the conspiracy theory that DNC staffer Seth Rich was killed by assassins working for Hillary Clinton. Yahoo News's Michael Isikoff reports: "Russia's foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, first circulated a phony `bulletin' — disguised to read as a real intelligence report —about the alleged murder of the former DNC staffer on July 13, 2016, according to the U.S. Page 12541 EFTA00043052
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federal prosecutor who was in charge of the Rich case. That was just three days after Rich, 27, was killed in what police believed was a botched robbery while walking home to his group house in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., about 30 blocks north of the Capitol. ... In a graphic example of how fake news infects the internet, those precise details popped up the same day on an obscure website, whatdoesitmean.com, that is a frequent vehicle for Russian propaganda. The website's article, which attributed its claims to `Russian intelligence,' was the first known instance of Rich's murder being publicly linked to a political conspiracy." -- Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier, was interviewed for 16 hours last month as part of the investigation by Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department's inspector general. Politico's Natasha Bertrand reports: "The extensive, two-day interview took place in London while Trump was in Britain for a state visit, [two] sources said, and delved into Steele's extensive work on Russian interference efforts globally, his intelligence- collection methods and his findings about Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, who the FBI ultimately surveilled. ... The interview was contentious at first, the sources added, but investigators ultimately found Steele's testimony credible and even surprising. The takeaway has irked some U.S. officials interviewed as part of the probe — they argue that it shouldn't have taken a foreign national to convince the inspector general that the FBI acted properly in 2016." Page 12542 EFTA00043053
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After crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States on June 13, Karla Yadira Rivera, 36, cries as she walks to Border Patrol agents with her daughters Karla, 11; Andrea, 12; and Emilia, 17, in El Paso. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post) THE IMMIGRATION WARS: -- Border arrests are dropping as Mexico's crackdown on migrants takes effect. Nick Miroff reports: "The number of people taken into custody along the U.S. southern border fell 28 percent in June, a drop that U.S. authorities say reflects the early impact of Mexico's crackdown on Central American migration. Border crossings typically rise in the spring and slump during the scorching summer months, but the drop registered from May to June was significantly larger than in previous years, according to Homeland Security statistics." -- Migrant children in an overcrowded detention center in Yuma, Ariz., are making sexual assault allegations and saying they fear retaliation from U.S. agents when they complain about poor treatment. NBC News's Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley_report: "A 16-year-old Guatemalan boy held in Yuma, Arizona, said he and others in his cell complained about the taste of the water and food they were given. The Customs and Border Protection agents took the mats out of their cell in retaliation, forcing them to sleep on hard concrete. A 15-year-old girl from Honduras described a large, bearded officer putting his hands inside Page 12543 EFTA00043054
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her bra, pulling down her underwear and groping her as part of what was meant to be a routine pat down in front of other immigrants and officers. The girl said `she felt embarrassed as the officer was speaking in English to other officers and laughing' during the entire process, according to a report of her account." -- California became the first state to offer health benefits to adult undocumented immigrants. NPR's Bobby Allyn reports: "The measure signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday extends coverage to low-income, undocumented adults age 25 and younger for the state's Medicaid program. Since 2016, California has allowed children under 18 to receive taxpayer-backed healthcare despite immigration status. And, state officials expect that the plan will cover roughly 90,000 people. ... In California, extending health benefits to undocumented immigrants is widely popular. A March survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that almost two-thirds of state residents support providing coverage to young adults who are not legally authorized to live in the country." -- Two active-duty Marines were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle three undocumented Mexican immigrants through California. Meagan Flynn reports: "Lance Cpls. Byron Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar- Quintero, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif., were arraigned Monday in federal court on charges of transporting undocumented immigrants `for financial gain,' accused of Page 12544 EFTA00043055
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taking jobs from `recruiters' and following instructions from unknown people in Mexico to make extra cash on the side. They are among several active-duty U.S. troops charged or convicted in recent years of helping immigrants cross the border in exchange for money, highlighting how smugglers have sought to offer the shield of a uniform or credentials to assist desperate immigrants on the journey north." Footage shows hate crime being committed at Glenelg High School THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA: -- "A black_principal,Joiir white teens and the `senior prank' that became a hate crime," by Jessica Contrera: "This was the last day of the year for the class of 2018 at Glenelg High School. There was going to be an awards ceremony, a picnic, that end-of-a-journey feeling that always made [Principal David Burton] so proud of his job. But as he was on his way to work at 6:25 a.m., the assistant principal had called, agitated and yelling about graffiti. 'It's everywhere,' he kept saying, so Burton had leaned on the gas and rushed the last few miles. ... He turned a corner and saw something written in large capital letters on the sidewalk: `BURTON IS A NIGGER.' He paused only for a moment, looking at the words, trying to comprehend that all of this was real. Later, school district officials, county administrators and prosecutors would have a name for what happened here. They would repeat it, condemn it and vow to prevent it from occurring again. Hate crime." -- A white man who called 911 on a black man in his Page 12545 EFTA00043056
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building apologized for his actions, explaining that they were informed by a tragic family history — his father was murdered after confronting a mentally ill man who showed up on his driveway. The man, Christopher Cukor, called the cops on Wesly Michel, a man who was going up to a friend's apartment in the same building without using the call box. The video of their encounter went viral online. (Eli Rosenberg) -- Elijah Al-Amin, a black teenager, was stabbed to death at a convenience store in Arizona by a white man, allegedly because he was playing rap music in his car. The man, Michael Adams, stabbed the 17-year-old two days after Adams was released from prison, where he had completed a sentence for assault and theft. (NBC News) -- The Chicago Defender, the legendary newspaper read by generations of black Americans, printed its final copy. The newspaper will cease its print editions after today but will continue its digital operation. (New York Times) -- A graphic artist who went viral for calling out Google's lack of a doodle celebrating Juneteenth was contacted by the search giant about a job. Davian Chester created his own Google doodle to celebrate the holiday marking the end of slavery, which quickly spread across social media and attracted the company's interest. Chester said he is still in talks with Google about the job, but Page 12546 EFTA00043057
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in the meantime, his hometown of Columbus, Ga., has put up a billboard of the doodle. (Allison Klein) Tom Steyer: 'Fundamental Change' I Campaign 2020 2020 WATCH: -- Billionaire activist Tom Steyer formally entered the Democratic presidential primary with an announcement video outlining his pledges to reduce corporations' political influence and address climate change. Chelsea Janes reports: "In January, when he announced he would not run for president, Steyer said that rather than entering the race he would turn his attention fully to pressuring members of Congress to start impeachment proceedings against [Trump]. ... On Tuesday, as he announced his presidential bid, Steyer did not mention impeachment or Trump, although the president was briefly seen in the video. Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was also seen in the video being led down a hallway in handcuffs. ... Steyer will have one week to accumulate 65,000 donors to qualify for the second Democratic debate, which will take place at the end of the month." Biden told a voter he'll "go further" than cutting incarceration by 50 percent. BuzzFeed News's Katherine Miller reports: "In a video shared ... by the ACLU, Biden tells a man, Keith Albert, who identifies himself as an ACLU voter, that he'd 'go further than' cutting incarceration by half. 'Would you commit to cutting incarceration by 50%?' Albert asks Biden. 'More than that. We can do it more than that,' he Page 12547 EFTA00043058
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responds. Last month in Concord, New Hampshire, another self-identified ACLU voter asked if Biden would 'commit to cutting the prison population overall, and specifically the federal prison population, in half' — a slightly different wording." -- CNN announced its rules for the next Democratic presidential debates. From CNN's Mark Preston: "The upcoming Democratic presidential debates will feature opening and closing statements and two hours of debate time each night ... While candidates will not officially learn if they make the Detroit stage until July 17, Tuesday's call with the 20-plus Democratic campaigns was held to help them prepare for the debate should their respective candidates qualify, a CNN spokesperson said." The rules include: • Colored lights will be used to help candidates manage their remaining response times. • A candidate attacked by name by another candidate will be given 30 seconds to respond. • There will be no show of hands or one-word questions. • A candidate who constantly interrupts others will have their time reduced. • Questions posed by moderators will appear on the screen for viewers. -- The DNC announced that the third debate, which will be hosted by ABC News and Univision, will be held in Houston. rInrrinnr•ifc .nre f"niicrAel r•rt Page 12548 EFTA00043059
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-- Licit I IVGI GlJ (AI c II IGI GGJII luly I V....ILA ..7G%A WI I VC...II CI CAy II IU Mitch McConnell as a villain in a bid to win back the Senate and energize liberals. Costa reports: "That effort gained new momentum on Tuesday as Amy McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and combat pilot, announced she would challenge McConnell (R-Ky.) and blamed him for turning Washington into 'something we despise' in a campaign video that drew millions of views. While McGrath faces a steep climb against McConnell in ruby-red Kentucky, which President Trump carried by 30 percentage points in 2016, she is expected to raise significant funds from national Democrats and provide the party with a relentless and high-profile opponent." -- Though Sen. Pat (R-Kan.) won't make an endorsement in the Republican primary race to replace him, he said former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach faces a "very difficult" path to the Senate. The Kansas City Star's Bryan Lowry reports: "'It seems to me if you have just lost a statewide race, that the chances of you winning another statewide race would be very difficult,' told reporters. 'I have not talked to Kris about this. I did talk to him earlier, but that was all about allegedly being the head of DHS. But the votes weren't there.' ... Kobach's campaign manager Steve Drake rejected ' analysis of the race and also hit back against the criticism from national Republicans. ... Kobach's entry could ramp up efforts to recruit Secretary of State Pompeo into the race." The RN( is threatpninn to withhniri siinnort frnm Page 12549 EFTA00043060
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candidates who refuse to use the party's newly established online fundraising tool, WinRed, as tensions over the future of the party's grass-roots fundraising efforts reach a breaking point. Politico's. Isenstadt reports: "The moves illustrate how Republican leaders are waging a determined campaign to make WinRed the sole provider of its small donor infrastructure — and to torpedo any competitors. On Monday, the RNC sent an eight-page cease-and-desist letter to Paul Dietzel, a Republican digital strategist who earlier this month launched Give.GOP, a fundraising platform that includes a directory through which donors can give to party candidates and organizations. In the letter, RNC chief counsel Justin Riemer writes that while Give.GOP has a page inviting donors to give to the RNC, the committee hasn't yet received any funds from the platform or received any outreach from it. Riemer also accuses Dietzel of using the committee's trademark and logo without its permission." -- Sarah McBride, a transgender activist who made waves after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, is now running for Delaware state Senate. Deanna Paul reports: "If she wins the 2020 race to succeed Sen. Harris McDowell, who is retiring at the end of his term, McBride will be the state's first elected transgender senator. ... Now serving as national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGTBQ lobbying group, she has continued to be a force for the movement through the Trump-Pence administration, which -I I -.A --./ .-,..-4.: I C, 1-1 -1- /1 Page 12550 EFTA00043061
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bl IC UellICU VI IC Ul LI IC I I Ilibl ILI- LLID I t.../ administrations in history' during a 2018 interview." Mexico's finance minister, Carlos Urzua, speaks as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador looks on during a news conference in February. (Henry Romero/Reuters) THE NEW WORLD ORDER: -- Mexican Finance Minister Carlos Urzila abruptly resigned, dealing a major blow to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government. Mary Beth Sheridan reports: Urzba quit after accusing Lopez Obrador's government of making decisions "that were not grounded in evidence and of naming officials who were ignorant of economics. ... Lopez Obrador has sought to woo the business community by pledging a balanced budget and a stable peso, even as he has launched ambitious social programs to help youth and the poor. But the peso immediately slid after UrzCia announced his resignation on Twitter, falling more than 2 percent, to about 19.3 pesos to the dollar. It later recovered some ground after Lopez Obrador named a U.S.-educated technocrat, Arturo Herrera, as Urzua's replacement." -- Iran's release after four years in prison of a Lebanese businessman was meant to be seen as an opening for U.S.-Iranian talks. But the gesture wasn't enough for Washington. Reute ' l r,s,se,sleyWroughtons Joaatban Landay and Arshad Mohammed report: ""It was a missed opportunity." one U.S. source said of Nizar Zakka's June 11 Page 12551 EFTA00043062