By Robert A. Vella
In the news for this Wednesday, we’ll examine an admission by the former Ecuador president that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange colluded with Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election won by Donald Trump, impeachment and contempt votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, the public release of prosecutorial evidence in the criminal conviction of former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen, how President Trump’s public statements can and have been used against him in court, CNN gets slammed for giving air-time to a white supremacist, the criminal sentencing of Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, another study showing the positive effects of gun control laws, and other important international news.
From: Ex-Ecuadorian president confirms Assange meddled in US election from London embassy
Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Tuesday his country was aware that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was interfering in the 2016 US presidential election from the safety of Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he lived under political asylum until this year.
[…]
Correa’s comments came one day after CNN published an exclusive report about surveillance reports that describe how Assange transformed the Ecuadorian embassy into a command center and orchestrated a series of damaging disclosures that rocked the 2016 presidential campaign in the United States.
The report cited hundreds of surveillance documents detailing Assange’s time inside the embassy. The documents describe how Assange met with Russians and world-class hackers at critical moments and acquired powerful new computing and network hardware to facilitate data transfers just weeks before WikiLeaks received hacked materials from Russian operatives.
From: What Comes Next Now That Articles Of Impeachment Have Been Filed In The House Of Representatives?
A House Representative who has been openly vocal about launching impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump filed them Tuesday evening. Rep. Al Green filed the articles of impeachment, and the House is expected to vote on it by the end of the week.
Green made the introduction in the House after Tuesday’s vote to condemn recent remarks by Trump against women of color, a resolution that passed largely along party lines. The president said that four Democratic lawmakers who have become known as “The Squad” should “go back” to the countries “from which they came.”
[…]
According to The Hill, only 84 House Democrats currently support impeachment of Trump.
From: House to vote on criminal contempt for Barr, Ross over census dispute
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt over a dispute related to the Trump administration’s efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
The latest escalation in tensions between House Democrats and the administration comes after the House Oversight Committee approved a resolution last month recommending that the House find Barr and Ross in contempt “for refusal to comply with subpoenas” issued as part of the panel’s investigation into the push to include a question about citizenship in the upcoming census.
From: Judge orders release of docs tied to Cohen’s hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to release the unredacted search warrants related to Michael Cohen’s campaign finance case now that the investigation has concluded.
Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, is serving a three-year prison sentence for a slew of crimes, including breaking campaign finance laws by hiding payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump.
“The campaign finance violations discussed in the materials are a matter of national importance,” Judge William Pauley III said in court papers, denying the government’s request for limited redactions. “Now that the government’s investigation into those violations has concluded, it is time that every American has an opportunity to scrutinize the materials.”
Here Are the Republicans Who Voted to Condemn as Racist Trump’s Remarks (and Other Things to Know)
‘His ideology is racism’: Former top Texas judge says she’s leaving GOP over Trump [i.e. Elsa Alcala]
Trump’s racist comments can be used against him in court as judges cite them to block policies – by Fred Barbash of The Washington Post
CNN slammed for having white nationalist Richard Spencer on to talk about Trump’s tweets
Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ to spend life behind bars: U.S. judge
Fewer kids die from guns in states with stricter laws, study says
3 Iranians charged with exporting tons of substance with military, nuclear uses
Ex-Peru president wanted for corruption arrested in US [i.e. Alejandro Toledo]
The Secular Jurist 