TX-SEN: Democrat Chris Bell plans to run for U.S. Senate

Democrat Chris Bell, the former Houston congressman and 2006 gubernatorial nominee, is moving forward with a U.S. Senate run.

On Tuesday, he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission establishing a campaign. Shortly afterward, he told The Texas Tribune that he was "definitely planning to run" but will make a formal announcement at a later date.

Bell revealed in early May that he was considering a Senate bid and launched an exploratory committee last month.

If he runs, Bell will join several Democrats already running to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Among them is former U.S. House candidate MJ Hegar, who raised over $1 million in the second quarter, according to her campaign.

There are also other Democrats still weighing campaigns, including Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards and state Sen. Royce West of Dallas.



https://www.texastribune.org/2019/07/03/democrat-chris-bell-plans-run-us-senate-bid-against-john-cornyn/

NBC News confirms Epstein arrest.

Court to unseal up to 2,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents

A New York federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of up to 2,000 pages of judicial documents that are expected to show evidence relating to whether New York financier Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, were recruiting underage girls and young women as part of an international sex trafficking operation.

The decision comes two days after the Miami Herald urged the court to issue a ruling in the civil case in the wake of last week’s Justice Department announcement in the federal criminal case that it would not void Epstein’s controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement.

Using others as recruiters, Epstein lured underage girls to his waterfront estate in Palm Beach from 1997 to 2006 under the guise that he was hiring them to give him massages. He sexually abused them, the girls told authorities, then paid them to recruit other girls, mostly 13 to 16 years old. Epstein, now 66, was never federally prosecuted, having received immunity in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser charges in state court in 2008.


Maxwell, 57, the daughter of the late publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, has never been charged with a crime and has denied allegations that she acted as a “madam’’ of the operation. She nevertheless fought to keep the records in the New York civil case sealed.

In addition to the Miami Herald, assorted other news organizations, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, filed a brief asking the court to release the documents. Social media blogger Michael Cernovich and Epstein’s attorney, Alan Dershowitz, also sought unsealing of some of the records.

The New York case, filed in 2015, was brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims that she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to wealthy and powerful politicians, lawyers, academics and government leaders when she was underage. Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation after Maxwell publicly denounced her as a liar.




https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232251212.html#storylink=cpy

ME-SEN: Collins tells NYT "I do not regret my vote in the least."

July 6, 2019 at 7:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I do not regret my vote in the least.”

— Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), in an interview with the New York Times, on her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.




https://politicalwire.com/2019/07/06/quote-of-the-day-2288/

Tweet of the Day

Arizona man admits he stabbed and killed teen over rap music that made him feel 'unsafe'

A white Arizona man accused of murdering a teenager has said the killing was over rap music, the Arizona Republic reports.

“The suspect, 27-year-old Michael Paul Adams, admitted to stabbing the teenager at about 1:42 a.m. Thursday after he heard him playing rap music in his vehicle in the Circle K parking lot, according to police records filed in Superior Court,” the newspaper reported.

Adams had been released from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Yuma two days earlier.

“Adams told police rap music makes him feel ‘unsafe’ because he had been attacked by people who listen to rap music in the past, the records state. He also said people who listen to rap music are a threat to him and the community,” the Republic reported.

“Adams used his pocketknife to stab the teen in the back and slit his throat, the records show,” the newspaper explained. “Adams’ criminal history includes theft, shoplifting, marijuana violation, disorderly conduct, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault of a correctional employee, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records.”



https://www.rawstory.com/2019/07/arizona-man-admits-he-stabbed-and-killed-teen-over-rap-music-that-made-him-feel-unsafe-report/

Queens DA Race Headed to Court Next Week

The Democratic primary for Queens district attorney is headed to court.

The campaigns of Tiffany Cabán and Melinda Katz are fighting over the validity of about 114 affidavit ballots lacking information about party affiliation.

Both parties are set to appear before Queens County Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.

Katz's lead over Cabán shrunk to 16 votes, from 20, after the counting Friday of six affidavit ballots that had initially been classified as invalid.

The New York City Board of Elections conducted an initial count of absentee and affidavit ballots Wednesday. Before that, Cabán was in the lead by about 1,100 votes.

Cabán's lawyer filed a lawsuit Tuesday as a precautionary measure.

"We do that as a prophylactic," Jerry Goldfeder said. "Just to make sure that in case there are disputes, there's a judge ready to resolve them."


https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2019/07/05/queens-da-race-headed-to-court-next-week

'Big fat Amazon wedding': Bride spends just $3K on big day by ordering everything online

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ashley Hicks, a newlywed from Raleigh, North Carolina, is making waves on social media with her impressive and gorgeous wedding this past June. The reason? She bought almost every item used in her wedding off of Amazon.

Ashley and Tre Hicks got engaged this past Valentine's Day. With only a couple months to plan their June wedding, the pair reached out to a wedding planner, Natalie Taylor, who suggested using Amazon as a way to get several options for less money. The quick delivery certainly didn't hurt, either.

"We had about 150 guests, and I probably spent about $3,000 total including our food, all the attire, decorations, everything," she told WTVD.

When asked if she would recommend her self-proclaimed "big fat Amazon wedding" to others, Ashley was quick to say yes.

"I still have friends to this day that are engaged and got engaged before we did, but they haven't had a wedding yet because they're still saving money," says Ashley. "You don't have to do that."



http://www.ktvu.com/news/big-fat-amazon-wedding-bride-spends-just-3k-on-big-day-by-ordering-everything-including-dress

Bonus Tweet of the Day

Border Patrol agents forced a gay migrant hold a sign reading 'I like men',

(CNN)US Customs and Border Patrol agents at a migrant processing center in Texas allegedly attempted to humiliate a Honduran migrant by making him hold a sign that read, "I like men," according to emails written by an agent who witnessed the incident.

The emails -- obtained by CNN -- were sent to the agent's supervisor and outlined the March 5 episode in which a Honduran man was forced to hold a piece of paper that said, "Me gustan los hombre(s)," which translates to "I like men," while being paraded through a migrant detention center.

The incident is one of many, per the emails, in which the CBP agent allegedly witnessed several colleagues displaying poor behavior and management's failure to act.

Asked about the incident, a CBP official told CNN, "I am forwarding to the Office of Professional Responsibility, the office charged with looking into these allegations."

CNN has reached out to an attorney for the Honduran man for comment but has not received a response.
According to the emails, the agent, on-duty at the El Paso Processing Center, saw another agent give a handwritten note to a Honduran migrant and instructed him to walk in front of a group of other migrants who had also been apprehended.

An image, also obtained by CNN, shows a note with the words that read, "Me gustan los hombre(s)."
The witnessing agent saw the note, approached an agent responsible for writing it and another agent who was laughing. The witnessing agent told them their behavior was unprofessional, the emails say. Neither agent responded.

Seeing that the Honduran man was upset, the witnessing agent took the note away from him and provided him another without the derogatory phrase on it.



https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/04/us/honduran-migrant-shamed-border-patrol/index.html