Cohen Testifies – Michael Cohen testified three times before Congress this week, calling the president a ‘racist’, ‘con-man’, and a ‘cheat’. The self-described fixer and former personal attorney for President Trump told Congressional lawmakers in a public hearing that Trump broke the law multiple times. Cohen said he was sorry for previously lying to Congress about Trump’s involvement in a Moscow Trump Tower project during the 2016 election campaign. He also said that Trump lied regarding his prior knowledge of Wikileaks’ dumping of stolen DNC emails, and of payments made to women making allegations against Trump. The testimony highlighted the public breakup of the relationship shared by Cohen and Trump spanning decades.
North Korea Talks Break Down – A summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not pan out as Trump hoped for, as North Korea placed unacceptable demands on the United States. President Trump said that Kim requested that all US sanctions be lifted, but did not offer reasonable concessions in return. In a Thursday announcement, North Korea’s foreign minister contradicted Trump, saying North Korea would be willing to dismantle all their nuclear weaponry in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions, and they had not requested the removal of all sanctions. The truth lies somewhere in between. The North Koreans did not technically demand the complete sanction relief – they asked for the lifting of 5 UN Security Council resolution sanctions, which is not the entirety of all the sanctions. However, in practical terms, the removal of those sanctions would essentially be the removal of the sanctions currently crippling North Korea. The White House is keeping open the option for a third summit between the leaders.
Talks With Taliban Continue – US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Thursday that negotiations with the Taliban have been “solid” and “productive”. He said both sides would be taking two days off from discussions for internal deliberations. Under a plan currently on the negotiating table is a framework in which all US personnel would leave Afghanistan within the next five years. The United States has been fighting the Taliban since the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks.
Economy Cools – The US economy grew at a rate of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2018, marking a significant slowdown from the middle of the year when tax cuts and increases in government spending helped fuel the economy to more than 4% growth. While the economy didn’t cool as much as many economists had predicted, it is expected that the growth numbers for the first quarter will dip further to below 2% growth, yet most economists agree that there will not be a recession in 2019.
Harris Backs Out – Mark Harris, the GOP candidate in North Carolina’s contested 9th District, has announced that he will not be filing as a candidate in the District’s new election due to his ongoing health issues. North Carolina’s Board of Elections called for a new election after evidence emerged of ballot tampering which may have given Harris the win for the Congressional seat. A new Republican candidate has not yet been picked for the election against Democrat Dan McCready.
Dems Threaten Subpoena – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he would issue a subpoena to Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before his committee if Mueller’s complete report on alleged collusion with Russia is not released in full. Schiff’s threat comes shortly after a report that claims that Mueller is wrapping up his investigation and will be handing over his findings to newly-minted Attorney General Bill Barr. Barr has said that he will release as much information as possible to the public, but said that some of the findings may remain under wraps.
Study: US Needs To Lose Weight – The United States ranked 35th in a list of the world’s healthiest countries in a new study released by the United Nations. The relatively low ranking for the United States, the most advanced country in the world, is due mostly to the high rates of obesity and tobacco use in the US. The top 10 ranked countries are 1. Spain 2. Italy 3. Iceland 4. Japan 5. Switzerland 6. Sweden 7. Australia 8. Singapore 9. Norway 10. Israel.
Democrat Contenders Embrace Reparations – Three of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 have expressed their support for reparations to be paid to the descendants of slaves in the United States. Senators Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as former Obama administration official Julian Castro have all expressed their interest in giving reparations to slave descendants in the form of tax credits. A poll has shown that a large majority of Americans do not support such measures.
