House Panel Approves Contempt for Barr After Trump Claims Privilege Over Full Mueller Report

House Democrats moved to hold a contempt vote against Attorney General William P. Barr, who has not released the fuller Mueller report.CreditErin Schaff/The New York Times

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• The vote by the House Judiciary Committee against Attorney General William P. Barr came after he failed to turn over the unredacted Mueller report.
• Hours earlier, President Trump asserted executive privilege to shield the full report. Both moves escalate the drama in an increasingly tense battle.

NY TIMES

Trump Is Now Above the Law

May 7, 2019 ELIZABETH DREW

Since the release of the Mueller report, it has become increasingly clear that US Attorney General William Barr and congressional Republicans will do whatever it takes to protect President Donald Trump from legal or political accountability. If there is one safe prediction about what comes next, it is that it will be very ugly.

ELIZABETH DREW, PROJECT SYNDICATE

Ethics Clouds Hang Over de Blasio as He Weighs Presidential Run

As the mayor nears a decision on the race, new questions have arisen over his efforts to raise money from donors who do business with the city.

NY TIMES

Sandra Bland, It Turns Out, Filmed Traffic Stop Confrontation Herself

In a cellphone video recorded by Sandra Bland, Trooper Brian Encinia could be seen drawing his stun gun and heard saying, “I will light you up. Get out. Now.”CreditInvestigative Network News & Documentaries/WFAA

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• A newly obtained cellphone video shows Ms. Bland’s view of a traffic stop in Texas in 2015, days before she died in jail in what was ruled a suicide.
• The authorities released the dashcam video after Ms. Bland’s death, but the new video undercuts the trooper’s claim that he feared for his safety.

NY TIMES

Mick Mulvaney Tries Letting Trump Be Trump

Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s acting chief of staff, has assumed a central role in Mr. Trump’s circle.CreditTom Brenner for The New York Times

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NY TIMES

Brexit Backlash in U.K. Local Elections as Main Parties Lose Seats

NY TIMES

How Barr Beat Mueller

One of them acted honorably but naively. The other didn’t.

NY TIMES

U.S. Added 263,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate at 3.6%

The economy produced another strong month of growth, and the jobless rate fell to the lowest level of the recovery.

NY TIMES

Wages Are Finally Rising, 10 Years After the Recession

NY TIMES

Barr Defends Handling of Mueller Report Against Withering Rebukes from Dem Senators.

NY TIMES

Democrats Threaten Barr With Contempt After He No-Shows House Hearing

Attorney General William P. Barr pulled out of a Thursday hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, and he has left House lawmakers investigating the president fuming and calculating.

NY TIMES

New York Sues Sackler Family Owners of Purdue Pharma Drug Distributors.

NY TIMES


As investigators closed in on Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, more than a decade ago, members of the family that owns the company began shifting hundreds of millions of dollars from the business to themselves through offshore entities, the state of New York alleged in a lawsuit on Thursday.

Elizabeth Warren Hopes to Erase Student Loan Debt

NEW YORK

Biden Enters Race for President. He Becomes 21st Dem Contender.

NY TIMES

Mueller’s Silence Allowed Openings for Trump and Barr to Shape Perception of Inquiry

NY TIMES

How Robert Mueller Failed Us

The special counsel’s much-praised secrecy turns out to have been a mistake.

By THEODORE J. BOUTROUS JR

SLATE

Yes, We Absolutely Have to Think About the Political Implications of Impeaching Trump

Impeachment will fail in the Senate, and it’s really hard to see how losing—and that’s what a Trump acquittal would be: a Democratic loss—gets converted into winning.

Michael Tomasky

MICHAEL TOMASKY, DAILY BEAST

U.S. Economy Grew at 3.2% Rate in First Quarter

The report indicates that the 10-year recovery retains momentum, despite recent fears that the year was off to a slow start.

NY TIMES

Trump Vows Stonewall of ‘All’ House Subpoenas, Setting Up A Scorched Earth Policy.

POLITICO

Sri Lanka Suicide Bombings Targeting Christians Kill Hundreds

NY TIMES

NBA: Knicks Fans Dream of Durant and Irving. Will The Owner Jim Dolan Screw It up?

The Knicks’ owner, James L. Dolan, reacted to Kevin Knox falling at his feet. Can Dolan make the team successful again?CreditPaul Bereswill/Getty Images

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NY TIMES

IMPEACH TRUMP

ANDREW SULLIVAN, NEW YORK

Reaction to Mueller Report: Warren Advocates Impeachment, Republicans are Mute and Trump Tweets Anger.

NY TIMES

What the Mueller report says about our world. Trump, Russia and WikiLeaks.

DAVID BROOKS, NY TIMES

The missing piece of the report is a counterintelligence investigation that should set off alarm bells about our democracy and security.


NY TIMES