Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx subpoenaed over Jussie Smollett case: report

Chicago’s top prosecutor, Kim Foxx, has been subpoenaed Friday over her handling of the Jussie Smollett case, according to The Chicago-Sun Times.
Foxx, Cook County’s state’s attorney, will have to appear in court after a retired appellate judge, Sheila O’Brien, filed a petition last week for a special prosecutor to probe the Smollett case, in which a 16-count indictment against the “Empire” actor was dropped last month.
Foxx’s top deputy, Joseph Magats, was also subpoenaed, and another document requested that Smollett appears at the hearing, the report said.
O’Brien requested Foxx, Magats, and Smollett produce original documents in the criminal case to assure the public “that they have not been altered or destroyed and will not be destroyed throughout this case,” the Sun-Times reports.
The petition for a special prosecutor claimed Foxx’s handling of the case was “plagued with irregularity.”
O’Brien argues that Foxx, who informally recused herself from the case due to contact she had with a relative of Smollett’s during the investigation, should have appointed a special prosecutor.
“Foxx’s conflict in this matter is beyond dispute,” O’Brien wrote, “instead, Foxx misled the public into believing that Smollett’s case was handled like any other prosecution and without influence.”
Smollett told police he was attacked on Jan. 29 around 2 a.m. as he was returning home from a sandwich shop in Chicago. He said two masked men shouted racial and anti-gay slurs, poured bleach on him, beat him and tied a rope around his neck. He claimed they shouted, “This is MAGA country” — a reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
After an intense investigation, police said Smollett staged the entire incident to drum up publicity for his career.
Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.

New York Times apologizes again for 'offensive' Trump, Netanyahu cartoon that 'included anti-Semitic tropes'

The New York Times Opinion section issued a second apology Sunday over a cartoon of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which was called offensive because of "anti-Semitic tropes."
"We are deeply sorry for the publication of an anti-Semitic political cartoon last Thursday in the print edition of The New York Times that circulates outside of the United States, and we are committed to making sure nothing like this happens again," the opinion section tweeted Sunday.
"Such imagery is always dangerous, and at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, it's all the more unacceptable," continued the apology, which was widely shared on Twitter.
The new apology said that the decision to run the syndicated cartoon was made by a single editor working without adequate oversight.
The cartoon showed Trump wearing a pair of sunglasses and being led by a dog depicted as Netanyahu. The dog had a Star of David collar. The cartoon appeared in the paper’s opinion section next to a column penned by Thomas Friedman.
The political cartoon was criticized globally by numerous social media users, who said the Times' first statement was inadequate.
The original apology read, “A political cartoon in the international print edition of The New York Times on Thursday included anti-Semitic tropes, depicting the prime minister of Israel as a guide dog with a Star of David collar leading the president of the United States, shown wearing a skullcap. The image was offensive, and it was an error of judgment to publish it. It was provided by The New York Times News Service and Syndicate, which has since deleted it.”
In an op-ed published online Sunday evening, Times columnist Bret Stephens took his employer to task, writing that the cartoon "in another age, might have been published in the pages of Der Stürmer," a virulently anti-Semitic tabloid published during Germany's Nazi regime.
"The problem with the cartoon isn’t that its publication was a willful act of anti-Semitism. It wasn’t," Stephens wrote. "The problem is that its publication was an astonishing act of ignorance of anti-Semitism .... at a publication that is otherwise hyper-alert to nearly every conceivable expression of prejudice, from mansplaining to racial microaggressions to transphobia."
Stephens added that the Times owed Netanyahu an apology and should reflect on "how it came to publish that cartoon — and how its publication came, to many longtime readers, as a shock but not a surprise."

Jussie Smollett Cartoons

John Hickenlooper forgets what 'GDP' stands for: 'Gross demographic product'

Smoking to much weed ?

Former Colorado Governor and 2020 hopeful John Hickenlooper forgot what "GDP" - gross domestic product - stood for while he answered a question at a labor conference on Saturday.
"Our gross, whatever that stands for, demographic product," he told a woman at the "National Forum on Wages and Working People."
He was discussing child care and lamented how the U.S. should be able to spend less of its GDP on health care. "You know, I should know that. I can't even remember," he added, in reference to the term's meaning.
The event, organized by the Service Employees Union International and Center for American Progress, hosted many Democratic candidates and sought to "provide an opportunity for thought leaders to go beyond talking points and share concrete plans to rebalance our economy and democracy."
Hickenlooper's comments came just a day after the Commerce Department posted a GDP rate of 3.2 percent, something the president celebrated with a tweet on Friday.
"This is far above expectations or projections. Importantly, inflation VERY LOW. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he tweeted.
Before the 2020 election, Republicans have pointed to Trump's economic success while comparing him to the Democratic field of candidates. Along with low unemployment during his administration, GDP unexpectedly reached 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018.
Economic issues will likely be a large part of the 2020 election cycle as more progressive candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., propose large government programs like "Medicare-for-all." The Trump administration has resisted those types of initiatives and focused on encouraging economic growth through policies like tax cuts.
Hickenlooper consistently lagged behind his fellow 2020 candidates, receiving between 0 and 1 percent of support in multiple polls from April.

2020 contender Kamala Harris calls for ban of 'right to work' laws

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., indicated on Saturday that she would use the "bully pulpit" to fight "right-to-work" laws, describing them as an attack on workers' rights.
"The barriers to organized labor being able to organize and strike are something that have grown over a period of time," the 2020 presidential hopeful said while speaking at the National Forum on Wages and Working People.
At the event, Harris emphasized the bully pulpit and executive authority to fight for workers' rights and specifically mentioned right-to-work laws.
"It has to be about, for example, banning right-to-work laws," she said.
The event, organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Center for American Progress, sought to "provide an opportunity for thought leaders to go beyond talking points and share concrete plans to rebalance our economy and democracy," according to its website.
Harris' comments came after years of states like Michigan and Virginia debating controversial right-to-work laws — which would allow workers to exempt themselves from joining a union or paying its fees — as well as last year's Supreme Court decision, in Janus v. AFSCME, which said mandatory public union fees violated the First Amendment.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a fellow 2020 contender, also said in April that he would work to ban right-to-work laws, which exist in 26 states.
Either could face off against President Trump, whom many saw as a more appealing candidate for workers and labor unions given his stances on immigration and trade.
Trump has praised the Janus decision, describing it as a "Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!"
And during his 2016 campaign, Trump supported right-to-work legislation
"We've had great support from [union] workers, the people that work, the real workers, but I love the right to work," he said. "I like it better because it is lower. It is better for the people," he added.

Trump slams Jussie Smollett case as a 'disgrace to our nation' during Wisconsin rally

President Donald Trump derided actor Jussie Smollett as "third rate" during a Wisconsin rally on Saturday and called his legal trouble — in which he allegedly lied about Trump supporters attacking him in a hate crime — a "disgrace to our nation."
"That case in Chicago is a disgrace to our nation," he said, after defending his supporters. "He said 'I was beaten up by MAGA country.' Can you believe it?" Trump said, referring to Smollett during a rally in Green Bay.
"Turned out to be a total lie," he added.
Smollett's case ignited a media firestorm after the “Empire” actor, who is gay and black, said his alleged attackers yelled, "This is MAGA country."
A grand jury indicted him on 16 charges for allegedly lying about the attack but State's Attorney Kim Foxx controversially dropped the charges. Foxx's decision provoked widespread criticism and appeared to prompt some of her staff to resign.
Smollett became the target of a civil lawsuit in April as the city's law enforcement demanded payment, potentially above $130,000, to cover the costs of their investigation into his alleged attack.
His alleged assailants, brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, also filed a defamation suit against Smollett's attorneys for continuing to accuse them of perpetrating a homophobic and racist attack.
On Saturday, thousands, including some who stayed the night and waited in the cold just to be first in the door, attended the “Make America Great Again” rally.
"There's no place I'd rather be than right here in America's heartland," Trump told the audience Saturday. "Is there any place that's more fun than a Trump rally?"

"There's no place I'd rather be than right here in America's heartland. Is there any place that's more fun than a Trump rally?"
— President Trump

The event occurred on the same night as the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, which Trump skipped for the third year in a row.
His speech came just hours after a tragic shooting that left one dead and several others injured at a synagogue in California.
"Our entire nation mourns the loss of life," Trump said, before noting that his administration "forcefully" condemned anti-Semitism.
In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin -- often considered a swing state with strong labor interests -- with just a slim 1 percent margin over former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. According to a statewide survey released in April, Trump has maintained nearly 50 percent of the state's support during his third year in office.
While 52 percent of registered voters disapproved of his job performance, 46 percent approved, the Marquette Law School survey found.
Trump's rally came just after he saw a 3.2 percent GDP report and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report that expressed concerns about obstruction of justice but made no formal accusations of that or "collusion" with Russia.
But as the 2020 election cycle ramped up, Trump seemed to face heightened criticism from Democratic presidential candidates and politicians who continued pressing his administration on the issue – and, in some cases, calling for impeachment proceedings.
During his speech, Trump took aim at his 2020 rivals Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. - whom he referred to as "Crazy Bernie," "Sleepy Joe," and "Pocahontas." He also derided Democrats, whom he said had never been angrier, for putting all their hopes in what he called the "collusion delusion," a reference to speculation surrounding the Mueller investigation.
Some in the Democratic field have also attacked Trump's policies and, as Biden did, the president's character. Before the rally, Sanders ran an ad in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, accusing the president of lying to Wisconsin workers. Sanders, in the front page ad, portrayed himself as someone who would end "corporate greed" in the state.
Trump also defended his economic record and touted efforts on trade, promising that factories would return to the country and indicating that he wouldn't settle for an unfair deal with China. America, Trump said, was the "piggybank" that people kept taking advantage of on trade.
He also blasted Democrats as extreme, pointing out their positions on late-term abortion, the "Green New Deal" and other economic policies, and immigration. Democrats, Trump argued, would bring the country economic and financial "ruin."
The Republican Party, Trump said, was the party of all Americans while Democrats were the party of hoaxes and late-term abortion, among other things.
The president also spoke on the migration crisis in which thousands flooded the U.S.-Mexico border and created a thorny situation in which the administration could no longer hold some detainees. After vowing to build the southern border wall, he accused Democrats of preferring "open borders" which, he said, would bring "tremendous crime" and inflame the drug crisis.

Participants in AOC's 'fun run' didn’t know they were donating to her campaign

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a 5k in Queens Saturday that she billed as “a Family Fun Run supporting U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal on the Saturday following Earth Day.”
But many of the 400 runners didn’t realize their $30 registration fees were going directly into the lawmaker’s campaign coffers.
“We’re getting together for our own health, for our planet’s health … and to fight for the Green New Deal together,” the freshman Democrat told the participants before they set off.
Environmentally conscious supporters — who jogged through Astoria Park alongside a beaming, strolling AOC — believed their money was going to help save the planet.
“It’s going to help raise awareness and educate people,” a female runner told The Post.
“I think it’s really for this particular New Green Deal,” said Brian Schwartz of Long Island. “No question.”
“It’s to help the environment. To support the Green New Deal,” another woman said. “It’s a good cause.”
A vaguely worded notices on AOC’s Facebook page — saying that the run would support “U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & the Green New Deal” — worsened the confusion.
But the fine print on a third event-related website revealed the truth.
“Registration fees are contributions to AOC for Congress,” reads the legal disclosure on aoc5k.com, which lists the Federal Election Commission rules that donors must follow.
“It was a campaign fundraiser,” Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent said confirmed.
The participants paid more than $11,000 all told.
Even kids as young as 3 became unknowing political donors — ponying up $20 fees to join a kids’ 1k.
But by fudging the fact that those fees were actually campaign contributions, AOC may have enticed constituents into inadvertently breaking federal election laws.
Parents, for example, can’t contribute their own funds in a child’s name.
The amount raised is a drop in the bucket for AOC, whose superstar status and combative Twitter feed vaulted her into the fundraising stratosphere in the first quarter of this year, when she raised $726,000 through online solicitations.
But only 4 percent of that total came from constituents in her own district.
At Saturday’s event, 198 runners came from the Bronx and from Queens neighborhoods within the 14th congressional district. The other 200 came from elsewhere.
Those contributions will improve her home-grown fundraising share.
Some participants felt fooled.
“The site says it’s to benefit her environmental plan,” said one supporter who would not give his name. “If it is going to go directly to her campaign they should have said so.”

Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Cartoons