Month: December 2020

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued 20 pardons and commutations as his term in the White House comes to an end.

George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was pardoned after pleading guilty to making false statements to federal officials as part of the Mueller investigation. Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2018.

Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter received a pardon after he and his wife, Margaret Hunter, pleaded guilty last year to misusing more than $250,000 of his campaign re-election funds for personal expenses between 2009 and 2016. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins was pardoned after pleading guilty in October 2019 to insider trading.

Also pardoned were Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slaten, four former employees of the military contracting firm Blackwater Worldwide who were sentenced for their roles in a massacre in Iraq in 2007 that resulted in the deaths of 14 unarmed Iraqis.

Trump pardons former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, ex-GOP congressmen, and others

Via www.nbcnews.com

Trump also pardoned four ex-Blackwater contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians.

12/22/2020 8:58 PM

 

Editorial credit: Michael Candelori / Shutterstock.com

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 slid on Tuesday amid growing COVID-19 concerns. The Dow ended the day down 200.94 points, or 0.67%, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.21% as Tesla stock dropped 1.46% in its second day on the index, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.51% with Apple stock rising 2.85%.

Travel-related stocks struggled as the United States surpassed 18 million cases, and news of a new strain of the virus having already arrived in the country. American Airlines dropped 3.85% and United Airlines slid 2.46%, while Norwegian Cruise Line fell 6.86%, Carnival declined 5.94% and Royal Caribbean dipped 2.83%.

Tuesday’s losses came despite Congress passing a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill including direct stimulus payments of $600 to individuals.

S&P 500, Nasdaq open higher on Apple boost, stimulus optimism

Via www.reuters.com

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq opened higher on Tuesday, propped up by Apple on an exclusive…

12/22/2020 1:43 PM

 

Editorial credit: Pavel Ignatov / Shutterstock.com

The state of Virginia has taken back the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that it contributed to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol over 100 years ago. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced in a statement Monday that workers removed the statue of the Confederate commander of the Army of Northern Virginia overnight. The statue of Lee had stood in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol, as one of two statues each state is entitled to display since 1909. Lee’s statue stood with Virginia’s other contribution to the collection, a statute of America’s first president George Washington. 

Earlier this month, the state’s Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol selected Barbara Rose Johns to replace the statue of Lee. Johns played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement, according to historians. “I look forward to seeing a trailblazing young woman of color represent Virginia in the U.S. Capitol, where visitors will learn about Barbara Johns’ contributions to America and be empowered to create positive change in their communities like she did,” Gov. Northam said.

Robert E. Lee statue removed from U.S. Capitol

Via www.nbcnews.com

Confederate general’s image to be replaced by civil rights icon Barbara Johns, whose 1951…

12/21/2020 1:51 PM

 

Editorial credit: Artem Avetisyan / Shutterstock.com