Justice Department Drops Criminal Trial against Russian Firms Indicted by Mueller

The Justice Department on Monday abandoned plans to move forward with a criminal trial against two Russian firms indicted by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller for financing efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.The two Russian companies, Concord Management and Concord Consulting, were charged in 2018 with conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by organizing efforts on social media to propagate disinformation and sow discord to affect the 2016 election. Both firms are owned by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a businessman known as “Putin’s chef,” who is also a defendant in the case.Another Russian company, the Internet Research Agency, an apparently Kremlin-funded propaganda arm, and 13 Russian individuals were also charged.At the request of prosecutors, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, dismissed the charge in the two-year prosecution."There is a substantial federal interest in defending American democratic institutions, exposing those who endeavor to criminally interfere with them, and holding them accountable, which is why this prosecution was properly commenced in the first place," wrote Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers and U.S. Attorney for Washington Timothy Shea."In light of the defendant’s conduct, however, its ephemeral presence and immunity to just punishment, the risk of exposure of law enforcement’s tools and techniques, and the post-indictment change in the proof available at trial, the balance of equities has shifted. It is no longer in the best interests of justice or the country’s national security to continue this prosecution," the prosecutors said.Prosecutors added that the indictment would remain, but recommended that the "better course is to cease litigation" and pointed out that Concord has “immunity from just punishment” anyway since it does not do business in the U.S.After the trial was dropped, President Trump on Monday night retweeted another user's tweet mocking the move that read, "How embarrassing for Team Mueller."

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Migrants waiting at US-Mexico border at risk of coronavirus, health experts warn

Coronavirus fears are growing among nonprofits and attorneys who monitor migrants waiting in Mexico for court dates in the U.S.

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The earliest coronavirus cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship likely spread via workers who prepared food, a new investigation found

Even after the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined on February 3, some crew members continued to maintain essential operations.

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'We have a responsibility': Fox News declares coronavirus a crisis in abrupt U-turn

Hosts encourage viewers to practice social distancing after weeks of downplaying the pandemic as an attack on the presidentFox News, the rightwing channel that is a favorite of Donald Trump and conservatives across the US, spent the first weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak downplaying the threat of the virus.Hosts often claimed that those warning of the danger were “panic pushers”, or engaged in “mass hysteria”. Some on Fox News even claimed it was all an effort to try to bring down the president.But in recent days Fox News has performed an abrupt U-turn, and declared coronavirus a crisis.On Tuesday, the three hosts of Fox & Friends, Fox News’ flagship morning program and a known favorite of Trump, co-hosted the show while practising social distancing, appearing on a split screen instead of their usual format of sitting together on a couch.“We have a responsibility to slow down this virus and to think of other people during this time,” Ainsley Earhardt told viewers. “So if you can keep your distance, and prevent someone from getting close to you that might be sick, you can save your family, you can save the elderly, and help our country as a nation.”Three days earlier, Earnhardt struck a different tone, when she suggested people should take advantage of the crisis to take a trip.“It’s actually the safest time to fly,” Earhardt had said. “Everyone I know that’s flying right now, terminals are pretty much dead – ghost towns.”In minimizing the threat, Earhardt and her colleagues had been echoing Trump’s own response to coronavirus, which initially was to repeatedly downplay its impact. Yet one by one, Fox News hosts and personalities have fallen in line with doctors, health experts and science, in judging the coronavirus outbreak to be severe.On 10 March Sean Hannity, Fox News’ most-watched host and a personal friend to Trump, accused the left of creating “hysteria”. He attempted to downplay Covid-19 by comparing it to the flu, and also suggested the Democratic frontrunner, Joe Biden, was using it as an excuse to cancel rallies.Hannity’s outlook had changed by last Friday.“This virus is serious,” Hannity said. “We’ve been telling you that from day one. We need to take the flu seriously. We need to take cancer seriously, this virus seriously. Of course, we all need to prepare accordingly.”There are signs that the shift is supported, or mandated, by Fox News executives. On Friday, Trish Regan’s show on Fox Business, which is owned by Fox News Media and echoes the conservative tone of the Fox News channel, was suspended after Regan offered a particularly strident avalanche of misinformation on air.As the graphic: “Coronavirus impeachment hoax” appeared on screen, Regan claimed Democrats had created “mass hysteria to encourage a market sell-off”.Regan added: “Many in the liberal media [are] using [the] coronavirus to demonize and destroy the president.”She also claimed the left was using “melodrama” in its response, and questioned why there was not the same response to Sars and Ebola, which she said were “far more deadly”. While they did have a higher mortality rate, only 8,000 people contracted Sars and 33,500 Ebola. As of Monday, 167,000 people have contracted Covid-19, in at least 150 countries.“Why the melodrama?” she asked. “I’ll give you two words: Donald Trump.”In a development that illustrates the strange times we find ourselves in, usually-controversial conservative host Tucker Carlson has been credited as one of the few Fox News personalities to treat the coronavirus seriously.Carlson, who in the past has demonized immigrants and described white supremacy as a hoax, criticized those making light of coronavirus more than a week ago, describing it as a “major event”.“People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem,” Carlson told viewers on 9 March, at the same time other Fox News hosts, and Trump, were doing that very thing.“It’s just partisan politics, they say: ‘Calm down. In the end, this is just like the flu and people die from that every year. Coronavirus will pass, and when it does, we will feel foolish for worrying about it.’“That’s their position. But they’re wrong.”The median age of a prime-time Fox News viewer is 66, meaning many viewers fall into the most at-risk category for complications from the coronavirus.Carlson, who with Hannity makes up a cadre of Fox News hosts-cum-informal Trump advisers, reportedly took his concerns straight to the president earlier in March. Trump finally seemed to acknowledge the seriousness of the coronavirus on Monday, just as Fox News did the same. Whether the same sober tone lasts over the coming months remains to be seen.

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Coronavirus: Texas man's execution postponed as LA releases 600 inmates to prevent infections

A Texas death row inmate has had his execution postponed for 60 days by an appeals court that found that simply carrying out his sentence could itself risk spreading the coronavirus.The decision comes as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it had released some 600 prisoners to help keep the virus from sweeping through its jails, and that it would limit the number of people arrested for minor offences.

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White House eyeing $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package

Senate Democrats have prepared their own package that would cost at least $750 billion.

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Amid coronavirus buying, Amazon sold out of bottled water and toilet paper, too

E-tailer now offers free delivery on food items for Prime members, but some products won't be available until mid-April.

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French people ignored officials' warnings to isolate themselves because of the coronavirus. Now they need a form to leave the house.

People in France must have a document justifying why they're outside, even just for a walk or to go to a shop, after they refused to stay indoors.

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Mueller Report: Trump administration looks to drop charges against two Russian firms 'exploiting case' to obtain sensitive information

Donald Trump’s department of justice is seeking to drop charges against two Russian firms indicted by Robert Mueller, amid concerns they are seeking to exploit the process to obtain sensitive information, it has been reported.The firms, Concord Management and Concord Consulting, were among 13 Russians and three entities charged by the special prosecutor in February 2018, claiming they tried to subvert the 2016 election and to support the Trump campaign.

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COVID-19 stay: Execution halted for man who killed family

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus prompted the top Texas criminal appeals court on Monday to stay for 60 days the scheduled execution of a man condemned for killing his family. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected all grounds of John William Hummel's appeal but said it would postpone the scheduled Wednesday execution “in light of the current health crisis and the enormous resources needed to address the execution.” Hummel, 44, was convicted in 2011 of capital murder in the December 2009 fatal stabbing of his pregnant wife, Joy Hummel, 45, and fatal bludgeoning of his father-in-law, Clyde Bedford, 57, with a baseball bat.

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Saudi halts prayers in mosques over coronavirus

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended prayers inside all its mosques except the holiest two sites in Islam as it steps up efforts to contain the new coronavirus, state media reported. Mosques will be temporarily shut for the five daily Islamic prayers as well as the weekly Friday prayers, the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the council of senior scholars -- the kingdom's highest religious body. It said mosques would continue to issue the ritual call to prayer.

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Special Report: 'All is well'. In Italy, triage and lies for virus patients

At that time, doctors in the intensive care unit of Policlinico San Donato phone relatives of the unit's 25 critically-ill coronavirus patients, all of whom are sedated and have tubes down their throats to breathe, to update the families. Lunchtime used to be for visiting hours at this Milan hospital. When the doctors make the calls, they try not to give false hope: They know that one out of two patients in intensive care with the disease caused by the virus is likely to die.

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United Airlines execs wrote a grim letter to employees warning the coronavirus crisis will devastate summer travel and affect worker pay

United Airlines' CEO and president wrote in a letter to employees that they expect demand will decrease into the summer with planes going unfilled.

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Trump admits coronavirus is looking 'very bad,' economy may be headed toward recession

President Trump is starting to sound worried about the coronavirus.During a White House press briefing on the pandemic, the president — who has faced criticism over what many believe to be his casual response to COVID-19 — said "this is a very bad one" because of its "sort of record-setting type contagion," and he's even discussed the severity of it with one of his sons.> Trump says he's actually spoken with his son (didn't say which one) about this, who has asked him "how bad is this," and he has responded, "It's bad. It's bad."> > Very much a change in tone and substance from Trump so far today.> > — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 16, 2020He also sounded more pessimistic about the economy than usual, acknowledging that "it may be" heading toward a recession.Trump also addressed a few other key questions during the briefing — such as why the House coronavirus bill exempts companies with 500 employees or more from the paid sick leave requirement, to which he replied the Senate may address changing that when they vote on the bill.He also said he expects restrictions on daily life, like the government's recommendation people limit gatherings to no more than 10 people, to be the "new normal" until July or August or even later, but Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stepped in to provide a little clarity that those specific guidelines will be reviewed after a 15 day trial. The July or August timeframe, he said, applies to the effects the virus may have on Americans more generally.More stories from theweek.com The conservatives who would sacrifice the elderly to save the economy Trump says he knew coronavirus was a 'pandemic long before it was called' one. Two weeks ago he called it a 'hoax.' The economy is crashing again. This time, let's bail out ordinary Americans.

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Joe Biden decisively beats Bernie Sanders in Illinois and Florida, Fox News projects

03/17/20 5:02 PM

New York bars and restaurants are delivering cocktails.

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Heard About the Pandemic? On ‘Big Brother,’ They Hadn’t

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New York Art Galleries: The Virtual Experience

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U.S. Virus Plan Anticipates 18-Month Pandemic and Widespread Shortages

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Mortgage Lenders Consider Plan to Suspend Payments Amid Crisis

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A major golf tournament is postponed.

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Coronavirus in N.Y.C.: Drastic ‘Shelter in Place’ May Be Next

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