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My mistake (lemmy.world)
164
submitted 3 weeks ago by fpslem@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

...

As bitter adversaries, the Trump administration and Maduro regime didn’t agree on, well, anything. Except for the fact that the US government wanted Maduro gone.

After that UN meeting, the Trump administration amped up its efforts around the world to isolate and depose the Venezuelan leader, including by levying additional punishing sanctions against his regime. Much of that diplomatic maneuvering played out in public. But the administration also put into motion another, very much secret prong to the US’s regime-change campaign: a covert CIA-run initiative to help overthrow the Venezuelan strongman.

That campaign would pull off at least one disruptive digital sabotage operation against the Maduro regime in 2019. But the CIA-led initiative—alongside the Trump administration’s wider efforts to get rid of Maduro—would fall well short of its ultimate goal. The story of that secret anti-Maduro effort also lays bare the tensions between an administration with hardliners laser-focused on deposing the Venezuelan autocrat and a CIA deeply reluctant, yet nevertheless obligated, to follow White House orders. It shows the limitations of covert, CIA-assisted regime change schemes, particularly when they are not aligned with larger US foreign policy objectives. And it provides new insights into how a second Trump administration—or a Harris presidency—might still try to dislodge the Venezuelan strongman, whose latest sham reelection in July 2024 has again thrust his country into chaos.

The details of that covert CIA-assisted campaign, told exclusively to WIRED by eight Trump administration and former agency officials with knowledge of the anti-Maduro operation, are reported here for the first time.

...

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 75 points 1 month ago

I know that the state is trying to manufacture standing so it can bring the claim, but this is a deeply cynical and unethical argument that I would be embarrassed to make.

213
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by fpslem@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Days before the 2016 election, Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen made a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with the Republican presidential candidate. It did not quite go as planned. When Trump was in the White House, Daniels’s claims about their relationship (which Trump denies) went public. Years later, in May 2024, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the payoff.

Trump has been trying to get his conviction thrown out or at least delay his sentencing (maybe forever). But we’ve already learned plenty of lurid details about the alleged relationship. So why would Trump make a second attempt to silence Daniels ahead of the 2024 election?

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported on Wednesday that Trump’s attorney recently made another offer to Daniels. In 2018, years before the Manhattan DA brought charges against Trump, Daniels filed a defamation suit over a Trump tweet attacking her for claiming that she was threatened by a stranger to stay quiet about their affair. A federal judge dismissed the suit months later, and Daniels was ordered to pay Trump’s legal fees. As of this summer, the two camps were still haggling over the final amount: Team Trump had asked for $652,000 at one point, while Team Daniels said it should be closer to $600,000, per Maddow. Then in July, Trump’s lawyer sent a letter to Daniels’s representative saying that a payment of $620,000 was too low, but that they would agree to it if Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement. According to MSNBC, the letter said this:

We disagree that a payment of $620,000.00 would be in full satisfaction of the three judgement. However, we can agree to settle these matters for $620,000.00, provided that your client agrees in writing to make no public or private statements related to any alleged past interactions with president Trump, or defamatory or disparaging statements about him, his businesses and/or any affiliates or his suitability as a candidate for President.

Daniels’s lawyer rejected the offer. Eventually, Trump’s attorney said that after speaking to “my client and co-counsel,” they would agree to $635,000 — with no mention of Daniels remaining silent. Daniels’s attorney said they eventually settled on $627,500 with no NDA.

...

349
455
Interrogation (lemmy.world)
617
Costume (lemmy.world)
854
submitted 1 month ago by fpslem@lemmy.world to c/til@lemmy.world
[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 76 points 1 month ago

I don't like how every news story about the layoffs uncritically parrots the company excuse about the strike, as if decades of regulatory capture, short-term business strategy, and poor engineering and supply chain decisions by successive waves of over-paid executives didn't sink the company.

974
Air show (lemmy.world)
69

MADRID, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Operators of rental e-scooters will have until Oct. 25 to remove all their mobility devices from the streets of Madrid, the mayor's office said on Tuesday, following an outcry against reckless driving and chaotic parking by their users.

After withdrawing their licences last month, the mayor's office said the three foreign operators - Lime, Dott and Tier Mobility - had failed to implement limits on their clients' circulation or control their parking to regain the licences. Amsterdam-based Dott, Germany's Tier Mobility and U.S.-based Lime, whose scooters are available via the Uber have around 2,000 e-scooters each throughout Madrid.

...

909
Put that in writing (lemmy.world)
664
submitted 1 month ago by fpslem@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

With the Federal Emergency Management Agency reeling from major staffing and funding shortages amid the impact of Hurricane Helene, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refused on Sunday to commit to reconvening the House before Election Day to aid recovery efforts. In response to a letter from President Biden urging congressional leaders back to replenish federal disaster loan funding, Johnson said during a Fox News Sunday interview that he’d only do so after the election—all but ensuring the funds will run out.

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509
A crazy theory (lemmy.world)
[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 66 points 1 month ago

Miranda’s two sons and Halfkenny’s son, neither of whom were Boston Public School students

This alone is kinda messed up. It's easier to functionally steal from other students when your kids don't even go to that school system.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 64 points 2 months ago

For the record, while the Supreme Court justices have refused to hold themselves to the same standards as lower court judges, a U.S. District Court judge like Cannon is indeed bound by the Code of Conduct for United States Judges and the policies of the Judicial Conference, which do require disclosure of such gifts and trips.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 88 points 2 months ago

Not a surprise, but still somehow crushing. It's a loss for us all.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 84 points 3 months ago

Phil Williams, the investigative reporter in this article, is an absolute treasure in Tennessee. This dude has broken open more corruption, fraud, conspiracies, government waste, etc. in his career than I can even list. As an elected official or business owner, the sight of Phil Williams with his microphone and camera crew is the thing you fear the most, but he's very measured and patient.

TL;dr: support your local journalism!

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 66 points 3 months ago

While we're over-hauling doping punishments, we have to confront the deeply broken doping testing system and widespread contaminations of many foods and medications. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its country-level entities (UKADA, USADA, etc.) don't like to talk about how laughably bad their systems are, and how often the pop false positives. It wasn't as well known until cyclist Lizzy Banks challenged a false positive last year and spent €40,000 in legal fees and testing fees to get a "no fault or negligence" ruling. And that wouldn't have been possible at all if Banks didn't have a medical background (she went pro just before finishing a medical degree) and was able to read the faulty reports herself and challenge the claims of UKADA. Thanks to her, we now know that WAY more common foods and over-the-counter medications have contaminations with banned substances, which produces positive results with trace-amounts of banned substances.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/i-felt-that-my-life-was-over-british-rider-reveals-nine-month-anti-doping-nightmare

I'm all for cracking down on dopers and cheaters, so long as we fix the system so it doesn't create false-positives.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 65 points 3 months ago

For starters, it can not arrest the bartender that punched a nazi after that nazi started a fight.

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/dont-just-stand-by-man-recounts-being-hit-by-neo-nazi-protesters/

My dude didn't deserve to be arrested, he deserved to drink for free throughout Lower Broadway!

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 68 points 5 months ago

I had one of these plans for over a decade. It was fun while it lasted—I won't be staying with the company after this.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 110 points 6 months ago

tab grouping

Sure, okay.

vertical tabs

To each their own.

profile management

Whatever, it's fine.

and local AI features

HOLLUP

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 73 points 6 months ago

I really wish there was a better alternative to push my friends to. I do use Bandcamp, so at least I know more of my $$$ are going to the artists and I can take the music with me, but I'm not sure about the platform long-term.

[-] fpslem@lemmy.world 116 points 11 months ago

Non-paywalled article here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/20/gay-bar-pm-st-louis-police-crash-owner-arrest/71986781007/

Officers arrested one of the bar's owners because he refused to show them ID? The officers just crashed into his bar in the middle of the night, he gets out of bed to see what that loud noise was, and they arrest him because he won't show them ID? In Missouri police can only ask to see ID if there is a reasonable suspicion of some wrongdoing, and I can't see that a building owner is doing anything wrong when he checks on the probationary cops that just plowed into his building because they suck at driving or were driving too fast.

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fpslem

joined 11 months ago