Trump's new Mexico envoy stirs hornet's nest with Frida Kahlo jab

The new U.S. ambassador to Mexico has taken aim at Mexican icon Frida Kahlo for her support of Marxism, stirring up a fierce social media debate with a tweet asking if the painter had not been aware of atrocities committed in the name of that ideology. Few Mexicans have enjoyed greater global recognition than Kahlo, who spent long periods bedridden after a traffic accident in her youth, attained international fame following her death in 1954 and became a feminist symbol in the 1970s. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Landau, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and sworn in last month, must navigate a volatile bilateral relationship.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2LfE5nb

US offered millions in cash to captain of Iranian tanker

A senior US official personally offered several million dollars to the Indian captain of an Iranian oil tanker suspected of heading to Syria, the State Department confirmed Wednesday. The Financial Times reported that Brian Hook, the State Department pointman on Iran, sent emails to captain Akhilesh Kumar in which he offered "good news" of millions in US cash to live comfortably if he steered the Adrian Darya 1 to a country where it could be seized. "We have seen the Financial Times article and can confirm that the details are accurate," a State Department spokeswoman said.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2LmOKgh

'I'm a victim of a drive-by tweet': Kentucky pastor mistakenly flamed by miffed Trump

Trump's tweet on Hurricane Dorian initially mentioned Jonathan Carl, a Baptist pastor in Hodgenville, Kentucky, instead of ABC News' Jonathan Karl.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MPw0rH

Former Chicago Police Sergeant: Today's shooters are tomorrow's victims

Retired Chicago Police Sgt. Peter Koconis on Chicago crime wave, recent shootings on 'The Story.'

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PLOT0N

Chris Hayes and Progressives’ Lack of Respect for the Constitution

Last week, conservatives in the Twitterverse had a good chuckle at the expense of MSNBC host Chris Hayes for something he said about the Electoral College on his show.“The weirdest thing about the Electoral College,” he offered, “is the fact that if it wasn't specifically in the Constitution for the presidency, it would be unconstitutional.”This is one of those things that sound a lot better in your head than they do coming out of your mouth! We’ve all been guilty of saying something similarly dumb, and most of us have probably been subjected to some good-natured ribbing over it. Hayes didn’t appreciate the ribbing, though, and took to Twitter a few days later to blast the entire conservative movement:> These days, conservatism is a movement deeply paranoid and pessimistic about its own appeal, increasingly retreating behind counter-majoritarian institutions: the senate, the courts, the electoral college.> > -- Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 1, 2019> And so they are increasingly focused, as a matter of tactical and tribal fidelity, on ways to uphold minority rule. It’s a sad place for a movement to be.> > -- Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 1, 2019I certainly agree that the Republican party needs to focus on broadening its appeal. But here’s the catch: Hayes’s armchair psychoanalysis notwithstanding, he is just plain wrong about the Constitution. And by that I do not mean that his breezy, clever-sounding point is actually a tautological non-sequitur. I mean that his underlying reasoning is false.Here’s his full original assertion:> The weirdest thing about the Electoral College is the fact that if it wasn't specifically in the Constitution for the presidency, it would be unconstitutional. Here’s what I mean by that. Starting in the 1960s, the Supreme Court started developing a jurisprudence of one person, one vote. The idea is that each individual vote has to carry roughly the same amount of weight as each other individual vote, which is a pretty intuitive concept, but is not a reality. There are all sorts of crazy representational systems that were created that would not give one person one vote, and that would disenfranchise certain minorities.If Hayes hadn’t been so glib, he might have said that the Electoral College runs contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. But, as I said, that is not true, either.The Supreme Court’s one-man-one-vote rule applies to state legislative elections and the House of Representatives, which makes sense in the constitutional scheme. The House of Representatives is the national institution of representation in our government. But our system is not wholly national. Here’s James Madison in Federalist No. 39:> The House of Representatives will derive its powers from the people of America; and the people will be represented in the same proportion, and on the same principle, as they are in the legislature of a particular State. So far the government is NATIONAL, not FEDERAL. The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the States, as political and coequal societies; and these will be represented on the principle of equality in the Senate, as they now are in the existing Congress. So far the government is FEDERAL, not NATIONAL. The executive power will be derived from a very compound source. The immediate election of the President is to be made by the States in their political characters. The votes allotted to them are in a compound ratio, which considers them partly as distinct and coequal societies, partly as unequal members of the same society.For these reasons, as well as others, Madison concludes, “The proposed Constitution . . . is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both.”So, Hayes is right in a very narrow sense: Neither the Senate nor the Electoral College would make any sense in a strictly national government where the states no longer had any sovereign function. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, this is what Madison wanted, more or less: to strip the states of their power in national affairs. But it just could not pass muster, and the Convention embraced the compromise pushed by small-state delegates: a compound republic embracing both national and federal modes.This is really Civics 101, and I’m not at all sure how many pundits on the left fully understand it. I rarely if ever see prominent progressives seriously engage with The Federalist Papers or Madison’s notes on the Constitutional Convention. Sometimes I wonder if they even know to look in those places for explanations of our constitutional structure. I get the impression that they think the whole design is a product of simple-minded men who lacked their sophisticated views on government. Yet when you read through the original debates about the Constitution, it becomes clear that the Founders often thought through these issues more carefully than contemporary intellectuals.Why are they so intent on attacking the Constitution in this case, anyway? There are, after all, other ways to ameliorate the problem of divergence between the popular vote and the Electoral College. Each state’s apportionment is the sum of its House and Senate delegates. The size of the House of Representatives is not fixed at 435. That number could be expanded, which would be completely consistent with the Constitution — probably more so, as the founding generation was skeptical that large districts could actually be representative. An expanded House would alleviate the frustrations of the large states, and it might also mitigate the problem of money in politics.Moreover, why are states given a pass for allocating electors on a winner-take-all basis? Again, it is not required under the Constitution, and in the early days of the republic electors were often allocated on a proportional basis. If the 2016 election had been conducted on that basis, Hillary Clinton’s Electoral College haul would have gone from 227 to about 255 — not enough for her to win the required absolute majority under a 538-vote Electoral College, but perhaps enough to win such a majority of the larger electoral-vote total created by an expanded House.I do not like it when the Constitution is attacked in this way, but not because the Constitution is perfect. It is far from perfect. Nobody understood that better than Madison, who was at first deeply frustrated by the finished product. Yet when he started to see the criticisms of it, he noticed that they were scattershot, parochial, and sometimes even contradictory. He realized that the choice facing the country was not between the Constitution and some other alternative, but between the Constitution and chaos leading toward disunion.I think the same holds true today. We should respect the Constitution if for no other reason than that it may be the last thing still holding us together. Such respect does not necessitate that we blindly accept the institutions it bequeathed us as they are. But we should thoroughly understand it before we criticize it, because it deserves better than facile straw-man attacks — especially when, as in the case of the Electoral College, there are alternative remedies that could be pursued within its framework.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2N0ie5F

Tropical Storm Fernand makes landfall in Mexico as Gabrielle spins in the Atlantic

Tropical Storm Fernand made landfall along the Mexico coast just south of the U.S. border, and Tropical Storm Gabrielle is spinning in the Atlantic.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PEqav9

Explainer: How important is Hong Kong to the rest of China?

Concerns over Hong Kong's political and economic future are growing as pro-democracy protests drag on and turn increasingly violent, and China makes clear that forceful intervention is possible.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2ZOnriT

La intensidad incomparable de Rafa Nadal

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/34oGdRd

82-Year-Old Slipped by Doormen to Steal $400,000 in Jewelry, Police Say

By BY KIMIKO DE FREYTAS-TAMURA AND EDGAR SANDOVAL from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2ZEpZ73

Mets Rebound to Beat Nationals and Win Series

By BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/34iZROF

House panel subpoenas DHS over alleged Trump pardon offers

The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Wednesday subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for documents that could shed light on President Donald Trump's alleged offer of pardons to officials implementing U.S. immigration policy. The committee, which is considering whether to recommend impeachment against Trump, cited press reports that the president offered pardons to officials should they face legal action for following his instructions to close a section of the U.S.-Mexico border, aggressively seize private property and disregard environmental rules in erecting a border fence. "The dangling of pardons by the president to encourage government officials to violate federal law would constitute another reported example of the president's disregard for the rule of law," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrod Nadler said in a statement.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PIn1e0

San Francisco Labels NRA a ‘Domestic Terrorism Organization’

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday declaring the National Rifle Association a “domestic terrorism organization” due to its opposition to more stringent gun-control legislation.The resolution accuses the NRA of not only resisting legislative reforms that its drafters believe would help curtail the country's "epidemic of gun violence,” but also of "incit[ing] gun owners to acts of violence.”“All countries have violent and hateful people, but only in America do we give them ready access to assault weapons and large-capacity magazines thanks, in large part, to the National Rifle Association’s influence,” the resolution says.The resolution also declares the Board's intent to "limit those entities who do business with the City and County of San Francisco from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization.” It was drafted following a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival last month that resulted in the deaths of three people, according to local Fox affiliate KTVU.The NRA responded to the provocation by accusing the Board of seeking to distract from the city's shortcomings.“This ludicrous stunt by the Board of Supervisors is an effort to distract from the real problems facing San Francisco, such as rampant homelessness, drug abuse and skyrocketing petty crime, to name a few,” the statement said, according to KTVU. “The NRA will continue working to protect the constitutional rights of all freedom-loving Americans.”The partisan battle over gun control has escalated in recent weeks due to mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio and, most recently, Odessa and Midland, Texas.Congressional Democrats and their colleagues seeking the presidency continue to demand universal-background-check legislation. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, remains hesitant to endorse any specific legislation but said Tuesday that he would be eager to support any reforms backed by the White House.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2UvsMKY

Iran has released seven crew members of seized tanker Stena Impero: Sweden foreign minister

LONDON/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Iran has released seven of the 23 crew members of the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero that was seized earlier this summer, Sweden's foreign minister said on Wednesday. The Swedish-owned Stena Impero was detained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz waterway for alleged marine violations, two weeks after Britain detained an Iranian tanker off the territory of Gibraltar. Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement that the Swedish embassy in Tehran had confirmed that seven of the 23 members had been released.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2UxZ6ge

Johnson Gets Boxed In Over Brexit With Election Only Way Out

(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson was humiliated by Parliament for a second day running, with his do-or-die Brexit strategy derailed and even his plan for a general election rejected. But having bet everything on getting Britain out of the European Union by Oct. 31, he can’t back down. The U.K. prime minister has lost all authority in the House of Commons and must find a way to win its support for an election so he can get a shot at commanding a majority. If he can’t, he will be trapped in office, compelled by law to request a further delay to Brexit.Johnson is the third Conservative leader to be undermined by the intractable task of delivering Brexit more than three years after the fateful 2016 referendum. Unlike his two predecessors, though, he was a key architect in persuading the British public to vote for it. That decision was meant to settle the European question in British politics that had been lurking for decades. Instead, it’s torn the Tories apart and left a nation that was once the benchmark for stability and pragmatism on the cusp of a third election in just over four years. There’s also no guarantee it will break the deadlock that’s paralyzed a country of almost 70 million people. As European Union leaders monitored events, the chaos that has engulfed the U.K. establishment was brought to life in a charged House of Commons. Earlier in the day, the grandson of Winston Churchill was close to tears in an emotional farewell to his colleagues after getting thrown out of the party for siding against Johnson. He had been a Tory member of Parliament for 37 years.And the mood only got worse as the hours wore on. In a dramatic series of evening votes on Wednesday, members of Parliament moved to stop Johnson forcing the U.K. out of the bloc without a deal next month, effectively wrecking his mission to deliver Brexit by Oct. 31.When he angrily responded with a desperate appeal for a snap general election, Parliament rejected that, too.“You can’t negotiate with Boris Johnson,” said John McDonnell, one of the leading figures of the opposition Labour Party, adding that the prime minister has a “passing relationship with the truth.” Good will and trust in Parliament are in short supply, adding to impasse.Johnson, who exploited Parliament’s Brexit deadlock to depose Theresa May and become prime minister, has now found himself a victim of the same forces that destroyed her.He was the face of the Leave campaign and has sold himself to his party as a tough negotiator who would force EU leaders to back down by threatening to take Britain out of the EU without a deal. Yet he shown himself unable to get his way even in his own party.After he threw 21 MPs who voted against him out of the Conservatives on Tuesday night, the rebels turned up on Wednesday and refused to sit on the opposition benches, staying in their old seats behind the prime minister in a show of defiance.“It is completely impossible for government to function if the House of Commons refuses to pass anything that the government proposes,” the prime minister told a noisy parliament. “In my view and the view of the government, there must now be an election on Tuesday 15 October.”His appeal didn’t work as Labour is divided. Some in the party argue it’s a chance to grab power, something that seemed an impossible idea only a few years ago. Others fear that Johnson would win a majority and be able to seek a no-deal Brexit. Timing -- before or after Oct. 31 -- is the key for them.“We want an election because we look forward to turfing this government out,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said. “The offer of the election today is a bit like the offer of an apple to Snow White by the wicked queen -- because what he’s offering is not an apple or even an election, but the poison of no deal.”Corbyn said he would back an election once the bill to stop a no-deal Brexit had become law. Johnson accused the Labour leader of being too scared of losing to fight a contest.A person familiar with the matter said Johnson plans to keep pushing. And while Johnson is a talented campaigner -- as the 2016 surprise outcome proved -- going to the polls in the current, highly volatile climate is a huge gamble for the Conservatives.Two years ago, May called a snap election expecting to win a landslide. Instead, she lost the majority she started with, a failure that resulted in the chaos and confusion that has defined British politics ever since.Meanwhile, British politics never sleeps. Over in House of Lords, the unelected peers are pulling an all-nighter. Johnson is hoping a band of Tories will be able to sustain a three-day filibuster to stop the bill getting onto the statute book.It’s a desperate ploy, but these have become desperate times.To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net;Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Rodney JeffersonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZFQLMm

'My Heart Aches.' Simone Biles Addresses Charges Her Brother Killed 3 People

Simone Biles addressed her brother's murder charges in a short statement, saying her "heart aches for everyone involved."

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PFalEM

7 fatally shot, 34 wounded in Chicago during Labor Day weekend gun violence

Gun violence over the Labor Day weekend has left seven people dead and another 34 wounded in Chicago.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Lk88u9

Full U.S. pullout from Afghanistan could ignite 'total civil war': ex-U.S. envoys

Nine former U.S. ambassadors on Tuesday warned that Afghanistan could collapse in a "total civil war" if President Donald Trump withdraws all U.S. forces before the Kabul government and the Taliban conclude a peace settlement. The nine, including five former ambassadors to Kabul, a former special envoy to Afghanistan and a former deputy secretary of State, issued their warning a day after U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad announced a draft accord with the Taliban for an initial drawdown of nearly 5,000 U.S. troops.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2zLn4Lp

'Bigger picture, it's climate change': Great Lakes flood ravages homes and roads

Depths of lakes that hold about 90% of US’s freshwater spiking to record levels, from 14in to nearly 3ft above long-term averages ‘There’s no doubt that we are in a region where climate change is having an impact,’ said Richard B Rood, a University of Michigan professor. Photograph: Colter Peterson/APThis summer, as rain relentlessly poured down on the Great Lakes region, Detroit declared a rare state of emergency. The swollen Detroit River had spilled into the low-lying Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood – an event not seen near this scale since 1986.Volunteers sandbagged the area as the city’s overwhelmed sewer system spilled raw sewage into the river, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Across the channel from Jefferson Chalmers, water damaged the historic boathouse on Belle Isle, a 982-acre island park that remains partly shut down because of flooding.Meanwhile, in Duluth, Minnesota, the city is rebuilding after a powerful storm over Lake Superior damaged a popular pedestrian path, eroded acres of lakefront property and ravaged infrastructure along the shore.About 800 miles to the east, floods hit Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie in two of the last three years, while Lake Michigan’s historically high waters inundated parts of Chicago throughout the spring and summer months.The havoc wreaked on communities bordering the Great Lakes is a result of their water level steadily rising over the last five years and spiking to record levels this spring and summer. In 2019, the lakes’ depths ranged from 14in to nearly 3ft above long-term averages, according to data from the US army corps of engineers. In June, water in the Lakes St Clair, Ontario, Superior and Erie set records for monthly mean levels, while Lake Michigan-Huron rose to 1in from its recorded peak.That is leading to widespread damage in coastal cities, eroded shorelines and beaches and many other issues. The record levels come just five years after the lakes experienced historically low levels in 2014, and climate scientists say it is clear what’s fueling the drastic swing: the Earth’s rising temperatures.“Bigger picture, it’s climate change,” said Richard B Rood, a professor in the University of Michigan’s department of climate and space sciences and engineering. “There’s no doubt that we are in a region where climate change is having an impact.”Rood said the Great Lakes basin, which holds 90% of the nation’s freshwater, can expect similar shifts in the coming decades as world temperatures increase.Climate scientists say a confluence of climate crisis-related issues resulted in this year’s levels. Warmer air over the Gulf of Mexico caused more evaporation, and that moisture pushed into the region during the spring and summer. Higher temperatures give the atmosphere more capacity to hold evaporated water, Rood said, which is why storms are dumping more rain than 50 years ago.“When you’re in wet periods, you start to get persistent, basin-wide extreme precipitation,” he said.The numbers back that up. By May, Cleveland, Ohio on Lake Erie’s shore saw more rainy days than any year since 1953. Muskegon, on Lake Michigan’s shore, experienced 7.45in more rainfall than average throughout the first eight months, while Sault Ste Marie on Lake Superior tallied about 9in more than average for the same period. Buffalo saw 34% more rain than typical.The moisture rained down on ground and lakes already more saturated than usual because a January polar vortex brought frigid temperatures that prevented wintertime evaporation crucial to keeping water levels in check. Meanwhile, a heavy snow pack melted. pushing up levels even further.“We’re seeing all these things that have an effect on the water cycle converge, which is why we’re having these enormous water volumes,” Rood said.Though the region finally dried out a bit in August and water levels are slightly receding, the Great Lakes’ fall storm season is fast approaching. Fall is a time of high winds and the agency’s six-month forecast predicts levels will remain very high, thus there’s a strong likelihood for even more damage this year.Coastal communities need to give the storms and fluctuating lake levels stronger consideration when building near the shoreline, said Richard Norton, an urban and regional planning professor at the University of Michigan. There’s still an inclination to build as close to the water as possible, which was especially a problem as levels began dropping in the early 2000s.“People want to build in the most beautiful, fragile and dangerous places, and that’s challenging because of the way the lakes go up and down over time in a weird way … and it’s not a good idea,” Norton said.The changes have an impact on the lakes’ ecosystems and natural environment, but it’s a mixed bag. While erosion is an issue, the basin is resilient and has withstood similar variability in the past, said Mark Breederland, an extension director with the environmental agency Michigan Sea Grant.He said extreme fluctuations can benefit the coastal wetlands and some species, while other species, such as the endangered piping plover, face new threats. Meanwhile, the impact of continued climate change on the Great Lakes’ ecosystem is still unknown, Breederland said.However, there is more certainty with water levels. Long-term, as temperature increases continue, the region will see levels “bouncing from low extreme to high extremes”, Rood said, though the lakes will eventually start to disappear if temperatures aren’t brought under control.“If we don’t mitigate our emissions … and the temperature gets to a certain level, then it does become evaporation dominant,” he said.• This article was corrected on 3 September 2019 to situate Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie rather than Lake Ontario.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34mq8eI

Hong Kong Leader Withdraws the Extradition Bill That Sparked Weeks of Unrest

The embattled leader of Hong Kong, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, has formally withdrawn a divisive bill that sparked the worst political crisis the Chinese enclave has seen in decades.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PIBQ01

Trump displays incorrectly altered map of Hurricane Dorian path

Trouble is raining down on US President Donald Trump, who appears to have given Americans incorrect information on Hurricane Dorian's trajectory. During an Oval Office press conference Wednesday, Trump displayed a map from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) showing the devastating storm's initial predicted path. As he held up the poster board to give the journalists present a better view, it became clear the map had been edited: Dorian's cone had been extended with what appeared to be black marker to include the state of Alabama.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Ljk7rH

Erdogan says it's unacceptable that Turkey can't have nuclear weapons

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday it was unacceptable for nuclear-armed states to forbid Ankara from obtaining its own nuclear weapons, but did not say whether Turkey had plans to obtain them. "Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, not one or two. "There is no developed nation in the world that doesn't have them," Erdogan said.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZyO0gJ

‘Hundreds of People’ Could Be Named in Epstein-Related Documents: Lawyer

REUTERS“Hundreds of people” could be named in sealed documents in a lawsuit by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers against the disgraced financier’s alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, lawyers said in court Wednesday.Maxwell’s lawyer, Jeffrey Paglica, revealed to U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska that “hundreds of other people” might be implicated if the new documents were unsealed without proper vetting. The filings pertaining to the 2015 federal defamation case between Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre and the British socialite. In the suit, Giuffre accused Maxwell of procuring young girls for sexual abuse by Epstein and his powerful friends and says Maxwell recruited her when she was 16 years old and working at Mar-a-Lago. (The two sides settled in 2017 and Maxwell denied all allegations.) “There are hundreds of other people implicated,” Paglica said on Wednesday, adding the docket in the case contains “over 900 filings” and includes an address book with “about 1,000 names.”Epstein Victim Says He Forced Her to Marry Female RecruiterPreska was set to rule Wednesday on whether to unseal the new documents from the civil case, but both parties admitted they had not come into court with an agreement on how to screen them. The 45-minute hearing concluded after Preska asked both parties to come up with a tentative plan in two weeks to create a system to categorize the thousands of pages of documents. While it is not immediately clear who could be named in the documents, Paglica stated the filings include information about Epstein’s alleged victims and his friends. The materials also includes video depositions of 29 people, he said.  “In these 29 depositions there are dozens if not hundreds of names of other people,” said Jeffrey Pagliuca, an attorney for Maxwell. “There are hundreds of pages of investigative reports that mention hundreds of people.”The hearing came one day after an anonymous man urged Preska not to release his name and the identities of others accused or named in the documents—claiming the exposure may tarnish their reputations. Last month, a federal appeals court unsealed more than 2,000 pages of documents related to the defamation case, which included accusations against political leaders and celebrities. (The men named in those documents have not been charged with a crime and all denied the allegations.)“[John] Doe is not, and has never been, a party of any judicial proceeding involving Ghislaine Maxwell or Virginia Giuffre, or in any proceeding relating to Giuffre's allegation that Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her,” the letter states, adding that the anonymous client does not have any knowledge about the allegations against Epstein. The man’s lawyers, who were in court Wednesday, warned in their letter that a media frenzy could follow if the names were released. The documents, they claim, could detail a “range of allegations of sexual acts” between Giuffre and friends of Epstein’s, “some famous, some not” and reveal “the identities of non-parties who either allegedly engaged in sexual acts with [Giuffre] or who allegedly facilitated such acts.”Doe’s lawyers attended the hearing along with an attorney for Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz and legal counsel for the Miami Herald. The Herald and others had asked a federal judge to release all sealed or redacted documents in Giuffre’s case.Giuffre has long claimed that Epstein kept her as his underage “sex slave” and loaned her out to his famous friends, including Dershowitz. Dershowitz has denied the allegations and some of the recently unsealed documents seem to show inconsistencies in Giuffre’s claims against him.Andrew Celli, his lawyer, told the court Wednesday Dershowitz believes there "should be maximum disclosure at maximum speed” and wants all documents to be unsealed. “I don't care,” Judge Preska replied, earning laughter in the court. Epstein, 66, was found dead by suicide in his jail cell at Manhattan Correction Center last month. The sex offender was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges for allegedly abusing dozens of underage girls over two decades. Prosecutors have said they are planning to continue to investigate his alleged co-conspirators, including Maxwell. 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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HJdeOi