Biden’s Cabinet will be mix of progressives, centrists: Mick Mulvaney

Former Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney provides insight into Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks.

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  • Biden says the Trump White House won't give him COVID stockpile information. Here it is.

    President-elect Joe Biden blasted the Trump administration Wednesday for refusing to share information needed to help his incoming team battle the coronavirus pandemic, including information on supplies in the national stockpile.

  • DNA cracked 1995 cold case murder of nurse, California police say

    "In simple terms ... DNA was under Christine Munro’s fingernails at the time of her murder," the Redding Police Department wrote about cracking the case.

  • Photos Show California Gov. Newsom Flouting Coronavirus Precautions at Upscale Napa Restaurant

    Newly released photos appear to show California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife in an unmasked group eating shoulder-to-shoulder indoors at a birthday party earlier this month.FOX 11 Los Angeles obtained photos from a 50th birthday party for Jason Kinney, a longtime lobbyist and Newsom adviser, at French Laundry on November 6, taken by a witness who told the outlet the group was so loud that open sliding glass doors near where they were seated had to be closed.> EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864> > -- Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 18, 2020On Monday, Newsom apologized for attending the party saying he made a “bad mistake.”“I should have stood up and … drove back to my house…The spirit of what I’m preaching all the time was contradicted,” he said. “ I need to preach and practice, not just preach.”Newsom said that he wanted to “own” his mistake because he was concerned his actions might undermine the message of caution he had sent to residents. The governor instituted new coronavirus restrictions this week, closing indoor dining across much of the state and urging residents to avoid large Thanksgiving gatherings."I’m doing my best every single day in trying to model better behavior,” he said.A spokesman for Kinney defended the gathering, telling FOX 11 that the seating at the upscale restaurant north of San Francisco was considered outdoors. “The guests and the restaurant followed all applicable state and county public health guidance," the spokesperson said. "The guests specifically required outdoor seating. And that’s outdoor seating, as confirmed and provided by the restaurant.”  The backlash comes as daily coronavirus cases in the state have doubled in the last 10 days, "the fastest increase California has seen since the beginning of this pandemic," Newsom said Monday. The state surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases last week.

  • Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan talks about the 'exhausted majority' of Americans who are 'fed up with politics'

    While speaking at the Ronald Reagan Institute on Monday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan discussed what he called the “exhausted majority” of Americans who he said are “fed up with politics” and feel ignored by politicians in Washington.

  • Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with white nationalists to commission that preserves Holocaust memorials

    Darren Beattie, a former speechwriter fired from the White House in 2018 for attending a conference at which white supremacists were also present, has been appointed to a commission tasked with preserving Holocaust-related sites across Europe.

  • Cuomo warns law enforcement they have to implement his Thanksgiving Covid restrictions

    Sheriffs told residents not to worry about police checking on them

  • In shock move, U.S. abandons drugs case against ex-Mexican defense minister

    U.S. prosecutors will drop drug charges against ex-Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos and turn over the investigation to Mexico, saying "sensitive" foreign policy considerations outweighed the interest in pressing the case. The surprise decision to dismiss the charges in the politically explosive case was announced in a joint statement on Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Mexico's attorney general's office. "The United States has determined that sensitive and important foreign policy considerations outweigh the government's interest in pursuing the prosecution of the defendant," prosecutors from the U.S. Eastern District of New York said in a court document unsealed on Tuesday.

  • The FBI is reportedly investigating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

    The FBI is investigating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) over allegations from his agency's former top lawyers that he illegally used his office to help a campaign donor and friend, real estate developer Nate Paul, The Associated Press reported late Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of the investigation. Paxton, who is still awaiting trial on criminal securities fraud charges from 2015, has denied wrongdoing and said he won't step down.Eight former top officials accuse Paxton of bribery, abuse of office, and other crimes. Since those aides contacted federal authorities about their allegations between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, four were fired, three resigned, and one was placed on leave. Four of them have filed a whistleblower suit against Paxton in state court.Paxton allegedly helped Paul in at least four ways, including ordering his office to hire an outside lawyer to pursue Paul's claim that the FBI improperly searched his home and office last year. Paul said in a deposition last year he had hired a woman on Paxton's recommendation, but not as a favor — Paxton had reportedly carried out an extramarital affair with the woman. The full scope of Paxton's ties to Paul are not known, AP notes.Before AP revealed the FBI investigation, Paxton said in a statement Tuesday that allegations against him are "overblown, based upon assumptions, and to a large degree misrepresent the facts," the Austin American Statesman reports. "I make no apologies for being a fierce investigator and defender of individual rights in the face of potentially unreasonable and authoritarian actions," he added. "Doing so is not favoritism. It is doing what the people of Texas expect from every law enforcement agency, their attorney general, and the staff of this office."Paxton, it might be noted, is not intervening in accelerating federal land seizures of private property in the Rio Grande Valley to build President Trump's border wall. Last week, for example, government lawyers filed a "motion for immediate possession" of a strip of an elderly landowner's ancestral lands in Mission, Texas, NPR reports. In 2017, Paxton, previously a defender of private property rights against federal infringement, said he was fine with Trump comandeering land for his border wall as long as the Texas landowners are "compensated fairly."More stories from theweek.com The class folly of canceling student loans Let's appreciate how extraordinary the vaccines are Donald Trump's future is a Prairie Home Companion

  • Even with a green card, an immigrant could be denied U.S. citizenship for these reasons

    Less than a week after the announcement of a revised U.S. naturalization test that critics said is harder to pass, the Trump administration updated on Wednesday a policy that could make immigrants who already have lawful permanent resident (LPR) status ineligible for citizenship.

  • Fox News panel erupts at a liberal guest for saying it's 'not time to joke' about COVID-19 as US deaths near 250,000

    After mocking new COVID-19 restrictions and trading memes with the panel, Fox News' Pete Hegseth said, "People ignore them, as they should."

  • Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot three people in the last five years is resigning

    Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah, who had been suspended since July, is resigning from the department.

  • Trump's last-minute foreign policy dumps are reportedly an attempt to overwhelm Biden and drown his agenda

    President Trump is making a lot of lame-duck foreign policy decisions that could further his agenda for months and years to come.Trump fired the defense secretary and other Pentagon officials last week, telling acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to focus on cyber and irregular warfare, particularly in China, an administration official tells CNN. The administration is "contemplating new terrorist designations in Yemen that could complicate efforts to broker peace," CNN continues. And it authorized a huge arms sale to the United Arab Emirates that could heighten tensions throughout the Middle East.All of these moves are plunging the U.S. into tricky territory right before President-elect Joe Biden takes office — and that just may be the point. As one administration official tells CNN, the administration is aiming to "set so many fires that it will be hard for the Biden administration to put them all out." And by forcing Biden into some foreign policy decisions he may have wanted to avoid, Trump could be setting Biden up to follow his agenda even after he's gone from the White House.The strategy "could raise national security risks and will surely compound challenges for the Biden team," CNN writes. But if Biden quickly reverses Trump's decisions, it could also earn him respect and appreciation from foreign adversaries, people close to the Biden transition team say. Other experts noted that some of Biden's foreign policy goals aren't incredibly different from Biden's — withdrawing from Afghanistan, denuclearizing Iran, and managing China's aggression, for example. The two leaders just have very different ways of achieving those goals. Read more at CNN.More stories from theweek.com The class folly of canceling student loans Let's appreciate how extraordinary the vaccines are Donald Trump's future is a Prairie Home Companion

  • The 7 Best Airbnbs in Austin, Texas

    From a vintage trailer to a lush 1950s bungalow, AD has you covered  Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • They had sex off a Florida highway in the middle of the day. Passing drivers interrupted

    Outdoor dining in a pandemic: Acceptable.

  • White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says he 'can't guarantee' the federal government will avoid a shutdown next month

    "Obviously, we want to keep the government funded," Meadows said, per a Capitol Hill pool report. Both parties are negotiating on new spending bills.

  • Delaware Teens Lured a Classmate Into the Woods—Then Murdered Her With a Baseball Bat: Prosecutors

    A Delaware teenager has been charged with murder after allegedly luring her classmate into the woods and beating her to death alongside the girl’s ex-boyfriend, prosecutors said.Annika Stalczynski, 17, was arrested on Monday after a New Castle County grand jury indicted her on several charges—including first-degree murder, possession of a deadly weapon during commission of a felony, and conspiracy—for Madison Sparrow’s Oct. 2 slaying, according to the Delaware Attorney General’s office. Prosecutors allege Stalczynski, along with Sparrow’s ex-boyfriend, 19-year-old Noah Sharp, conspired to lure the teenager to the woods behind Maclary Elementary School, before they ambushed and fatally beat her with a metal baseball bat.The grand jury also indicted Sharp, who was arrested a few days after Sparrow’s death, on the same charges. The teenagers are in custody on $1 million bail.Utah Man Dies in Car Crash After Confessing He Killed His Wife: Authorities“Every murder is an outrage, but the murder of a child strikes at everything we hold dear,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement. “Madison was stolen from her family and friends with her life and her dreams still ahead of her. A life has been taken and a cruel trauma has been inflicted on hundreds of people who knew and loved this kind, gentle young woman.”“My heart aches for Madi’s parents, the Sparrow family, and the entire Newark Charter community. We can never replace what these people have lost, but we can—and will—hold her killers accountable,” she added.According to court documents, prosecutors allege Sparrow, a junior at Newark Charter School, was reported missing by her mother at around 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 after she did not return from a trip to the store with a girlfriend.Another Fort Hood Soldier Has Been Arrested for Murder: AuthoritiesThe following day, police issued a Gold Alert for Sparrow—a notification that’s typically sent out when a senior citizen, suicidal person, or a person with a disability has gone missing. Investigators also spoke to friends and family, who revealed the 17-year-old had gone “to an area in Newark where her ex-boyfriend Noah, was located.”When authorities went to the “wooded area,” which was located behind Maclary Elementary School, they found an aluminum baseball bat, droplets of blood, and Sparrow’s clothing, according to court documents.Prosecutors state Sharp used the bat to fatally beat Sparrow to death—and that Stalczynski had planned the murder with the 19-year-old. An autopsy report confirmed Sparrow died of blunt force trauma to the head.It is not immediately clear why Stalczynski assisted Sharp in the grisly crime. But according to State Prosecutor A.J. Roop, Stalczynski and Sparrow were classmates at the Newark high school and had "known each other for some time."“I believe that they had a relationship going back over a number of years,” Roop said, according to Delaware Online. “I won't get into much more than that, or what the status was recently, but they were acquaintances, and they did know each other.”When investigators questioned Sharp on Oct. 5, following his arrest, the 19-year-old admitted he murdered his ex-girlfriend—confirming he used the bat to commit the crime, court documents state. Sharp added that after killing Sparrow, he moved her body to another “wooded area” about 20 minutes away from the elementary school off Route 896. Hours later, authorities found her body.Grand Jury Declines to Charge Officer Who Killed 21-Year-Old Dreasjon ReedSparrow’s death was met with an outcry of support online, where hundreds sent their condolences and shared stories about the 17-year-old and her family. Two vigils were also held in her honor—one in New Jersey and one at her high school—where hundreds of people met to honor the teenager described by her grandfather as “wise beyond her years.”“To think such a bright light is extinguished at such a young age senselessly,” Sparrow's grandfather, Tom Mason, said at one vigil last month. “This was not an illness. This was not even a car accident. It was an act of violence. It’s inconceivable.”Although prosecutors do not state in court documents why Sharp wanted to kill his ex-girlfriend, they do reveal the 19-year-old admitted the crime was premeditated and that he and Stalczynski murdered Sparrow “in the afternoon/evening hours” the day the teenager went missing.On Tuesday, Jennings stressed his office cannot reveal any possible motives or additional details about the grisly crime because prosecutors are “ethically restrained, for good reason.”“We want to make sure that fair trial rights are preserved, and quite frankly, we cannot imagine how painful this is for Madison's family and friends,” Jennings said. “We don't want them to suffer anymore.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Chuck Grassley, Senate's oldest Republican and third in line to president, tests positive for coronavirus

    The 87-year-old senator chairs the Senate Finance Committee and is the president pro tempore of the Senate, making him third in line for the presidency.

  • Biden approaches 80 million votes in historic victory

    President-elect Joe Biden's winning tally is approaching a record 80 million votes as Democratic bastions continue to count ballots and the 2020 election cracks turnout records. Biden has already set a record for the highest number of votes for a winning presidential candidate, and President Donald Trump has also notched a high-water mark of the most votes for a losing candidate. With more than 155 million votes counted and California and New York still counting, turnout stands at 65% of all eligible voters, the highest since 1908, according to data from The Associated Press and the U.S. Elections Project.

  • Finally, Maduro is Listening

    On Monday, Bloomberg broke the news that Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro is inching toward official dollarization. He has ordered the Banco Central de Venezuela to engage in discussions with Venezuelan bankers on the modalities of creating a clearing and settlement system in U.S. dollars. Maduro, in a rare display of good judgment, is taking a necessary step toward what I have been advocating for many years: official dollarization in Venezuela. Indeed, I first proposed this when I was President Rafael Caldera’s chief adviser in 1995.Unlike the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has been recognized as interim president by the United States, the European Union, and others, Maduro has finally received the message about the only way to stop Venezuela’s hyperinflation immediately. If he continues on this path, he will smash hyperinflation and remain in the saddle.Venezuela’s bolivar is worthless, and its annual inflation rate is the world’s highest. I measure it every day, and today it is 2,156 percent per year. Not surprisingly, Venezuelans get rid of their bolivars like hot potatoes and replace them with U.S. dollars. So, Venezuela is, to a large extent, unofficially dollarized.To stop Venezuela’s death spiral, it must officially dump the bolivar and adopt the greenback. Official “dollarization” is a proven elixir. I know because I operated as a state counselor in Montenegro when it dumped the worthless Yugoslav dinar in 1999 and replaced it with the Deutsche mark. I also watched the successful dollarization of Ecuador in 2001, when I was serving as an adviser to the minister of economy and finance.Countries that are officially dollarized produce lower, less variable inflation rates and higher, more stable economic growth rates than comparable countries with central banks that issue domestic currencies. There is a tried-and-true way to stabilize the economy -- a necessary condition before the massive task of life-giving reforms can begin. It is dollarization. Stability might not be everything, but everything is nothing without stability.Just what does the Venezuelan public think of the dollarization idea? To answer that question, I commissioned a professional survey of public opinion that was conducted in March 2017 by Datincorp in Caracas. The results were encouraging. At that time, 62 percent of the public favored dollarization. Today, since more than 80 percent of transactions in Venezuela take place in U.S. dollars, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that the approval rating would now exceed 80 percent. So, it’s not surprising that Maduro has embraced the dollarization idea. After all, the public already does.But, the question I am repeatedly asked is: How do you officially dollarize a place such as Venezuela? To do that, you need a dollarization law. I have drafted such a model law. The model statute is meant to suggest the main features that are desirable for a law on dollarization. Legal technicalities may require an actual statute to be somewhat different.A Model Dollarization Statute For Venezuela 1. The Banco Central de Venezuela shall cease to issue Venezuelan bolivars except as replacements for equal amounts of old currency that become worn out. 2. Except as specified in paragraph 3, wages, prices, assets, and liabilities shall be converted from Venezuelan bolivars to U.S. dollars (“the replacement currency”) at the conversion rate chosen in the law that accompanies this law. By 60 days after this law enters into force, wages and prices shall cease to be quoted in Venezuelan bolivars. 3. 1. Interest rates shall be converted into the replacement currency by the following procedure. The independent committee of experts specified in the law accompanying this law shall choose benchmark interest rates in the Venezuelan bolivar and replacement currency, having similar characteristics with respect to maturity and liquidity insofar as that is possible. The ratio between existing interest rates in Venezuelan bolivars and the benchmark interest rate in the Venezuelan bolivar shall determine the interest rate in the replacement currency, which shall bear the same ratio to the benchmark rate in the replacement currency. 2. In no case, however, shall new interest rates in the replacement currency resulting from the conversion procedure exceed 50 percent a year. 4. The president may appoint a committee of experts on technical issues connected with this law to recommend changes in regulations that may be necessary. 5. Nothing in this law shall prevent parties to a transaction from using any currency that is mutually agreeable. However, the replacement currency may be established as the default currency where no other currency is specified. 6. While Venezuelan bolivars remain in circulation, the government shall accept them in payment of taxes at no premium to the conversion rate with the replacement currency. Acceptance of Venezuelan bolivars shall not be obligatory for any other party. 7. Within five years after this law takes effect, the government shall redeem all outstanding Venezuelan bolivars for the replacement currency or exchange it for government debt bearing a market-determined rate of interest. 8. Existing laws that conflict with this law are void. 9. This law takes effect immediately upon publication.With that, Venezuela has a clear blueprint for how to proceed to smash hyperinflation.

  • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo snapped at reporters at a tense coronavirus press briefing where he learned that NYC schools were closing amid a spike in new infections

    The briefing overlapped with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio running over five hours late to his own COVID-19 news conference.