The Full Belmonte, 8/20/2022
FILE - Attorney General William Barr appears before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 9, 2019. The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr improperly withheld portions of an internal memorandum Barr cited in publicly announcing that then-President Donald Trump had not committed obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation. That's the ruling by a federal appeals court Friday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr improperly withheld portions of an internal memo Barr cited in announcing that then-President Donald Trump had not obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, a federal appeals panel said Friday.
The department had argued that the 2019 memo represented private deliberations of its lawyers before any decision was formalized, and was thus exempt from disclosure. A federal judge previously disagreed, ordering the Justice Department to provide it to a government transparency group that had sued for it.
At issue in the case is a March 24, 2019, memorandum from the head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and another senior department official that was prepared for Barr to evaluate whether evidence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation could support prosecution of the president for obstruction of justice.
Barr has said he looked to that opinion in concluding that Trump did not illegally obstruct the Russia probe, which was an investigation of whether his campaign had colluded with Russia to tip the 2016 election.
A year later, a federal judge sharply rebuked Barr’s handling of Mueller’s report, saying Barr had made ‘misleading public statements’ to spin the investigation’s findings in favor of Trump and had shown a ‘lack of candor.’” Read more at AP News
“The US Justice Department must release a 2019 memo advising then-attorney general Bill Barr on how to handle the conclusion of the Mueller investigation and the department’s decision not to charge Donald Trump, a federal appeals court ruled.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Walmart said its employee healthcare plan would cover medically necessary abortions, including the cost of travel.
That’s an expansion of the largest U.S. private employer’s policy, which previously covered the procedure when the health of the mother was in danger. A memo to its roughly 1.7 million U.S. workers said its healthcare plan would provide coverage in cases of rape, incest, ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage. In June, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that the GOP has a better chance of flipping the House than the Senate because of ‘candidate quality.’” [Vox] Read more at The Hill / Mychael Schnell
“The unemployment rate declined in more than half of American states in July, with a record 22 of them reporting jobless rates at or below 3%. Nationally, US unemployment is at a half-century low.” Read more at Bloomberg
“COLUMBIA, S.C. – A disbarred South Carolina attorney charged with killing his wife and son has been indicted on another round of financial crimes.
This time, prosecutors said Alex Murdaugh stole $295,000 from his brother and the law firm founded by his prominent legal family a century ago.
Murdaugh, 54, faces nine additional charges — four counts of obtaining property under false pretenses, three counts of money laundering and two counts of computer crimes — in indictments handed up by the State Grand Jury on Tuesday and released publicly Friday.
Murdaugh is in jail and set likely to stand trial in January on murder charges for the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul. They were killed with different guns outside one of the family's homes in Colleton County, investigators said.” Read more at USA Today
Kids cost $300K (each)
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
“Parenting inflation: It will cost $26,000 more to raise a child through high school today than it did just two years ago, Axios' Erin Doherty reports.
The new price tag: $310,605 for married, middle-income parents with kids born in 2015, according to a Brookings Institution estimate first shared with The Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Inflation is cooling slightly, but food, housing, supplies and other expenses remain high.
That's on top of higher costs for child care arrangements.
The Brookings estimate is an inflation-era adjustment based on USDA figures from 2017.
Between the lines: The estimate — which doesn’t include college education costs — assumes that the U.S. has entered a period of higher inflation, similar to 1980–1997.
Zoom out: Rising prices are likely to have disproportionate impacts on lower-income families.
‘We’re cutting off the cable today because we can’t afford it,’ Pittsburgh mom of three Muffy Mendoza told WSJ.
The bottom line: ‘I think this is not going to be a major determinant of whether people have children or not, but I think it’s going to have an influence,’ Brookings senior fellow Isabel Sawhill told Axios.” Read more at Axios
Illustration: Rae Cook/Axios
“Chemists at UCLA and Northwestern University have discovered a new way to destroy ‘forever chemicals,’ according to a study published this week in the journal "Science."
Why it matters: The toxic chemicals have been in drinking water systems around the U.S. and are linked to adverse health effects, Axios' Jacob Knutson reports.
The method, using a common ingredient in soap and an organic solvent, is a relatively cheap and mild way to break them down.” Read more at Axios
“Russia’s Gazprom says its main pipeline needs some maintenance, so it’s going to stop delivering natural gas to Europe for three days—just as Germany rushes to fill storage sites and further squeezing energy supplies among countries that have sanctioned Russia for its war on Ukraine. European benchmark futures soared as much as 9%.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Germany’s Summer of Near-Free Rail Travel Is Almost at an EndGermany’s three-month experiment giving people a monthly 9-euro ($9.20) ticket to travel anywhere on regional trains, trams and buses is leaving many consumers wanting more. Carolynn Look, Agatha Cantrilland Josefine Fokuhl look at how the popular program has caused the use of public transit to soar.” Read more at Bloomberg
“UK Travel Chaos Stretches Into Weekend With National Rail Strike
Disruptions to Britain’s transport system are extending into the weekend as train workers seeking to preserve jobs and earn more walk out again. Siddharth Philip reports how the latest strike comes a day after London’s subway network ground to a halt.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Xi Starts March to Third Term With Problems Mounting Everywhere
China’s president is entering the most challenging period in his decade-long rule. As Rebecca Choong Wilkins writes, Xi must tackle everything from tension over Taiwan to Covid-19, a real-estate crisis and economic weakness as he closes in on clinching an unprecedented third term.” Read more at Bloomberg
“A small Australian research lab tucked away in a coastal town, 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Sydney, says it has developed a patented technology using a catalyst that can turn hydrogen and oxygen into superheated steam capable of driving a power-station turbine.” Read more at Bloomberg
“As many as 100 million people — more than 1% of the global population — were fleeing conflict, violence, human-rights violations or persecution worldwide in May, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Annmarie Hordern tells the story of one such family from Afghanistan who were among the thousands forced to flee their homes after the fall of Kabul a year ago.” Read more at Bloomberg
The family’s passport photos.
“HELSINKI (AP) — In a leaked video, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin is seen dancing and singing with friends at a private party. The 36-year-old leader poses for the camera. She sits on her knees, hands behind her head. She’s entangled in a group hug. She’s having a good time.
Countless similar videos are shared daily on social media by young and not-so-young people partying in Finland and all over the world. But the leak has triggered a debate among Finns about what level of reveling is inappropriate for a prime minister, especially considering neighboring Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which prompted long-neutral Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership.
Marin, who leads the center-left Social Democratic Party, has faced a barrage of questions about the party: Were there drugs? Alcohol? Was she working or on summer vacation? Was the prime minister sober enough to handle an emergency had one arisen?
The video, clearly shot by someone at the party, was leaked on social media and caught the attention of Finnish media this week. Marin said she attended the party in recent weeks, but refused to say exactly where and when.
She also acknowledged that she and her friends celebrated in a ‘boisterous way’ and that alcohol - but, to her knowledge, no drugs - was involved. She said Friday that she took a drug test to put an end to speculation about illegal substances.” Read more at AP News
“China sentenced Chinese-Canadian financier Xiao Jianhua to 13 years in prison and fined his company Tomorrow Holding 55 billion yuan ($8.1 billion), bringing an end to a long-running saga that has seen many of the tycoon’s business interests reined in since he was seized in Hong Kong more than five years ago.” Read more at Bloomberg