The Washington Post stories, Page 19
President ordered top clearance for Jared Kushner despite concerns of John Kelly, intel officials
WASHINGTON — President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials. After Kushner, a senior...
Elon Musk’s long-promised $35,000 Model 3 has finally arrived, Tesla says
A Tesla electric car that mainstream drivers can afford has finally arrived, Elon Musk’s automaker said Thursday, finally achieving a long-delayed promise that could help propel the upstart automaker into the American middle-class garage. Tesla’s Model 3 sedan, already the country’s best-selling electric car, will now be offered at a...
Andrew Wheeler, former energy lobbyist, confirmed as nation’s top environmental official
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the Environmental Protection Agency by a vote of 52 to 47, elevating a veteran of Washington political and industry circles who has advanced President Trump’s push to roll back Obama-era environmental regulations. Wheeler, who began his...
Coast Guard officer accused of plotting terrorist attack may face more than 30 years
A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant accused of planning a domestic terrorist attack illegally possessed silencers among the arsenal of weapons prosecutors contend he stockpiled for his plot, according to new court filings. A federal grand jury indicted Christopher Hasson, 49, of Maryland, on Wednesday, adding two new charges related to...
House panel to subpoena Trump administration officials for records on child separation policy
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee will subpoena three Trump administration officials for records on the government’s “zero tolerance” policy of separating migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. The move comes as the administration is facing fierce criticism after acknowledging that many more children may have been...
Mark Harris, GOP candidate in N.C. race tainted by fraud, will not run in new election
Mark Harris, the Republican nominee in a North Carolina congressional race that was tainted by ballot fraud, announced Tuesday that he will not run in the new election for the seat. Harris said in a statement that he has decided not to seek the state’s 9th District seat due to...
Mother and daughter charged in ‘atrocious’ killing of five family membersVideo
MORRISVILLE — No one answered when a social worker knocked on the door. Not Shana Decree or her three children. Not her sister or her three children. All was quiet inside unit S-7 at Robert Morris Apartments — because most of the people who lived there were dead. It’s not...
Your phone could soon recognize you based on how you move or walk
Within 18 months, your phone may be able to identify you based on the gait of your walk, the tension in your hand or the way your thumb moves across the touch screen. That’s the Pentagon’s plan: It’s in the final phase of testing technology that will reduce smartphone users’...
Michael Cohen to be publicly questioned on hush payments and Trump’s truthfulnessVideo
WASHINGTON — House Democrats plan to publicly question Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, on issues including Trump’s business interests and compliance with tax laws, as well as hush-money payments to women during the 2016 election. The scope of the widely anticipated hearing planned for Wednesday by the House...
Trump Organization asks House panel to stop probes, citing alleged conflict of interest
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for the Trump Organization has asked the House Judiciary Committee to cease any investigations related to it, claiming that the panel’s work has been tainted by its hiring of an outside lawyer whose firm has represented Trump’s company. In a letter Monday to House Judiciary Committee...
Anti-vaxxers face backlash as measles cases surgeVideo
The resurgence of measles across the United States is spurring a backlash against vaccine critics, from congressional hearings probing the spread of vaccine misinformation to state measures that would make it harder for parents to opt out of immunizing their children. In Washington state, where the worst measles outbreak in...
Jeremy Corbyn says Labour would back a second Brexit referendum
LONDON — Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, announced on Monday evening that his bloc in Parliament would support a second referendum to stop what he called “a damaging Tory Brexit.” While Labour Party activists have been pushing their leader for months to publicly back another public...
FDA takes fresh look at whether opioids are effective for chronic pain
The Food and Drug Administration will require drug companies to study whether prescription opioids already on the market are effective in quelling chronic pain — another step in the government’s efforts to rein in use of the narcotics that spawned the drug epidemic. Some studies already indicate that opioids are...
‘Target practice’: Critics slam NRA’s headline next to Pelosi, Giffords photo in magazine
WASHINGTON — Next to a photo of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former Arizona lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords were the words “Target Practice.” It was the headline of a story in the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman magazine, where the author, chief NRA lobbyist Chris Cox, criticized newly introduced bipartisan...
Trump accuses Spike Lee of delivering a ‘racist hit’ on him at Oscars
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump struck back Monday at film director Spike Lee, accusing him of delivering a “racist hit” during an Oscar acceptance speech in which Lee referenced the history of U.S. slavery and urged people to vote in the 2020 elections. Lee did not mention Trump by name...
The Big Number: Diet drinks linked to 23 percent increase in stroke risk in women
Swapping regular sodas for diet drinks might seem like a smart way to cut calories. But new research suggests that women who drink a lot of artificially sweetened beverages increase their risk of having a stroke by 23 percent. What’s a lot? At least two diet beverages a day for...
Ex-officials declare ‘no factual basis’ for wall emergency
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials will issue a statement Monday saying that “there is no factual basis” for President Trump’s proclamation of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The joint statement, whose signatories include former Secretary of State...
Schiff vows lawsuit for Mueller report if it’s not released
WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that House Democrats will subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress if his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election is not made public. Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC News’ “This Week” that Democrats...
Priest speaks publicly about how McCarrick allegedly ruined his life
Less than a week after Theodore McCarrick became the first cardinal ever defrocked, a New Jersey priest has for the first time agreed to be interviewed about his accusations that McCarrick sexually abused him in the 1990s and the effect the alleged abuse has had on his life and career....
Pentagon sending another 1,000 troops to the Mexico border
The Pentagon will increase the number of active-duty troops along the U.S.-Mexico border to about 6,000 by the start of next month, a return to the peak force size deployed shortly after the mission began last fall, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. About 1,000 additional personnel will join...
Coast Guard lieutenant ordered held 14 days while prosecutors weigh terror charges
GREENBELT, Md. — The U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant spent hours on end planning a wide-scale domestic terrorist attack, even logging in at his work computer on the job at headquarters to study the manifestos and heinous paths of mass shooters, prosecutors say. He researched how to carry out sniper attacks,...
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan blasts RNC for ‘unprecedented’ steps to shield Trump from a primary
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who is flirting with a 2020 White House run, on Thursday accused the Republican National Committee of taking “unprecedented” steps to shield President Trump from primary challengers. Hogan, who is being courted by Republican dissidents seeking an alternative to Trump, told Politico in an...
Measles outbreak leads lawmakers to rethink religion exemptions for vaccines
Recent measles outbreaks in states such as Washington, New York and New Jersey have cast a spotlight on a group of Americans who receive exemptions from immunizing their children on the grounds that the vaccines violate their religious freedoms. Now the states that suffered outbreaks are taking aim at those...
Mueller appears to be wrapping up 2-year investigation
WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials are preparing for the end of special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and believe a confidential report could be issued in coming days, according to people familiar with the discussions. The special counsel’s investigation has consumed Washington...
Man dragged to his death after clothing gets caught on New York subway train, police say
A man was dragged to his death by a New York City subway train Tuesday evening, authorities said. The man was standing near the edge of the subway platform when the incoming train caught hold of an article of clothing and pulled him into the tunnel, a New York Police...
