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Initial reports after the October 2 assassination include claims that Khashoggi was allegedly “cut into pieces” then moved out of the consulate, with some saying it was recorded to prove the mission had been completed. CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly listened to an audio recording from a “listening device” the Turkish government had inside the consulate, detailing that Khashoggi was killed within moments of entering.
After tempers were flaring between President Donald Trump and CNN reporter Jim Acosta at the White House during a post-midterm election press conference, a fracas between the reporter and a White House staffer ensued, with Trump reprimanding Acosta in the process and suspending his press pass hours later. Federal Judge Timothy Kelly has ruled that CNN’s Acosta will get his press pass back on Fifth Amendment grounds, with the Trump Administration working to establish a set of “rules” for reporting.
Experts and advocates for the program claim it will increase voter participation among the public, provide a better variety of candidates for elected office, and reduce levels of political tribalism.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said American markets will have to come to terms with rates rising in 2019 as the U.S. central bank works to control inflation. The Fed is expected to raise rates an additional quarter-point before the end of the year, despite having three quarter-point raises earlier this year when forecasts showed gross domestic product (GDP) increases were far above four percent.
After being praised by the NYU School of Law’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center for his work including fighting the Trump’s Administration’s EPA for their proposal to roll back vehicle emissions standards from the Obama-era, fighting Virginia’s offshore drilling plans, promoting the Clean Power Plan, and pledging to remain committed to the Paris climate accords, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is hit with a lawsuit for his alleged efforts and the legality of bringing aboard climate litigators into the state government funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg to prosecute more Virginia environmental offenses.
“I never thought the day would come when I would run for political office,” said Arash Ebrahimi as he announced that he would run in the 33rd State Senate district’s yet-to-be-scheduled special election. “However, inspired by my father’s courage to leave behind his home country for the promise of our ‘shining city on a hill,’ I cannot simply sit by and watch as government regulations and spending expands.”
“When I formed the Select Committee on School Safety I promised that our final product would be comprehensive and consensus-driven,” said head of the committee Speaker of the House of Delegates Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) following Wednesday’s authorization of a 24-point priority recommendation plan to increase security in schools, which includes realigning the role of school counselors, statewide mental health and suicide prevention efforts, increasing funding for school resource officers, and bolstering school security grants.
Already with almost 100 targets, the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives begins to reveal their “hit list” for the 116th Congress.
Approximately 31 percent of registered voters aged 18 to 29 cast ballots during the midterm elections. The results were well above the midterm election turnout of 2014, and the highest for any midterm in the past 25 years.
Congressman Jerry Nadler (NY-10) said there is an effort to remove President Trump’s pick from the Supreme Court “through further investigation of the uncorroborated allegations against him,” that were brought forth during his now-infamous Senate confirmation hearing. He added that 2019’s House Judiciary Committee would be “all in” on an impeachment effort against Trump.
