Month: January 2020

Mnuchin’s Wife Posts to Instagram Supporting Greta Thunberg; Post Deleted

Buck Banks

“I stand with Greta on this issue. (I don’t have a degree in economics either).”

— Actress Louise Linton, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s wife, in a now-deleted Instagram post in which she appeared to publicly break with her husband over support for Greta Thunberg’s climate change activism, Politico reports.

Recording Found of Trump Ordering Yovanovich’s Firing

Buck Banks

“Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it.”

— A recording reviewed by ABC News appears to capture President Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired while speaking at a small gathering that included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — two former business associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who have since been indicted in New York.

Large Majority Wants Impeachment Trial Witnesses

Buck Banks

72%

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 72% of Americans agreed that the Senate impeachment trial “should allow witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the impeachment charges to testify,” including 84% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans. Also interesting: “About 44% of adults in the United States say Trump should be removed from office, another 15% say he should be reprimanded formally with a congressional censure, and 31% said the charges should be dismissed.”

‘Doomsday Clock’ Now 100 Seconds to Midnight

Buck Banks

100 seconds

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the “Doomsday Clock” to 100 seconds before midnight, the closest it’s ever been to the metaphorical point of the Earth’s destruction. From the statement: “Humanity continues to face two simultaneous existential dangers—nuclear war and climate change—that are compounded by a threat multiplier, cyber-enabled information warfare, that undercuts society’s ability to respond. The international security situation is dire, not just because these threats exist, but because world leaders have allowed the international political infrastructure for managing them to erode.”