‘FBI Lovebirds’: Trump ally bringing Strzok-Page texts to the theater stage


Peter Strzok

Former FBI agents Peter Strzok (pictured) and Lisa Page will be the focus of a new Trumpian stage drama, directed by conservative provocateur Phelim McAleer. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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A dramatic reading sponsored by conservative filmmakers has signed up Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson to play the Trump-Russia investigators.

A new theatrical production in Washington is aiming to be “Hamilton” for the Make America Great Again crowd.

The same documentary filmmakers who convinced the White House to host a recent screening of an anti-abortion movie have planned a live stage reading next month based on thousands of anti-Trump text messages recovered by the FBI last year from the cellphones of the former Trump-Russia investigators Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, three people familiar with the project told POLITICO.

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And they’re hoping President Donald Trump will attend.

“We’re lobbying the White House hard,” said a person directly involved with the production. “We are being told the president loves the idea of exposing this.”

The Trumpian production, entitled “FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers,” will be directed by Phelim McAleer, a conservative provocateur who has co-written and produced a handful of political films about abortion, fracking and environmentalism with his wife, Ann McElhinney. Dean Cain, a Trump supporter who played Superman in the television series “Lois & Clark” and who starred in the anti-abortion film, “Gosnell” has agreed to play Strzok, according to McAleer.

Actress Kristy Swanson, known for her lead role in the 1992 cult film “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” will portray Page, who engaged in an extramarital affair with Strzok during and after the 2016 election when they were colleagues at the law enforcement agency.

Reached by phone on Tuesday, Swanson confirmed her involvement and said she and Cain had already read through a script, which draws verbatim from Strzok’s and Page’s texts, as well as from closed-door testimony that Strzok gave to the House Judiciary Committee last June. A transcript of the interview was released earlier this year by Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the ranking Republican on the House panel.

“We are going to show the mainstream media and Hollywood that they can no longer push the Russia collusion hoax and force them to acknowledge how the Deep State, DC Swamp tried to destroy the Trump candidacy and presidency,” reads a crowdfunding page named after the production that McAleer set up to help cover related costs.

The page aims to raise $95,000 in one month (an event contract reviewed by POLITICO listed McAleer’s theater rental cost as $5,620) and offers “perks” such as a signed playbill or VIP performance pass for different contribution levels.

McAleer, who participated in a White House meeting last fall with other anti-abortion groups and worked closely with Trump aides to screen “Gosnell” in April, declined to say which officials he’s spoken with about his latest project. A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The Studio Theater, a non-profit theater company located just one mile from the White House, confirmed to POLITICO on Wednesday that McAleer had rented one of their four theaters to use for the production on June 13. McAleer in a phone interview said he is willing to take a loss on the project if he fails to reach his fundraising goal, though he cited the prior success of his crowdfunding campaign for “Gosnell,” which raised $2.3 million in 45 days.

Strzok and Page became household names in early 2018, months after Strzok was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team when it became clear that he’d been romantically involved with Page and some of their anti-Trump text messages had surfaced. Both Strzok and Page had been under investigation by the agency’s inspector general for potential political bias, including whether Strzok’s anti-Trump opinions played a role in the bureau’s decision to launch the Russia investigation in 2016.

In one of his messages to Page from 2016, Strzok described the probe as an “insurance policy” in case Trump defeated then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the general election. In another text after Trump won the presidency, Strzok wrote to Page, “OMG I am so depressed.”

Trump and his allies have repeatedly cited Strzok and Page as evidence of a “deep state” scheme inside the Justice Department to subvert his presidency and cast doubt on the 2016 election. “More text messages between former FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are a disaster and embarrassment to the FBI & DOJ,” the president tweeted on Sept. 13, 2018.

During a contentious congressional hearing last July, Strzok said he “very much” regretted his text messages with Page, but maintained that they did not impact his or her work at the FBI. Strzok also played a role in the FBI’s probe of Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Despite Trump’s interest in the pair of ex-FBI investigators, it would be unusual for him to promote the stage reading or attend the event. Though he has previously used his Twitter feed to recommend books by many of his allies, he has rarely endorsed other projects or personally attended controversial events. Trump did not attend the screening of “Gosnell” at the White House, nor did he join several of his top aides and Vice President Mike Pence in publicly praising another anti-abortion film, “Unplanned,” when it was released in late March.

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Lyft finally adds a 911 button for passengers

Almost a year after Uber introduced a 911 button for passengers, its main competitor Lyft is finally doing the same.

Last fall Lyft added an emergency assistance feature to the driver app, but passengers still needed to call  911 or Lyft’s 24-7 response line if they had a problem. Now, in the “coming weeks,” riders will see a button in the app that calls 911.

Uber’s 911 button goes a step further by automatically sharing location data with emergency personnel. Lyft’s driver button requires drivers to tell 911 their location. More details about the passenger version are supposed to come out soon, a spokesperson said.

Lyft is late to the game with its 911 button. Earlier this week, Latin America-based ride-share service Beat, which is owned by BMW and Daimler, added an emergency button for both passengers and drivers. Additionally, Beat customer support is alerted that you made an emergency call and you’re sent an “Are you OK?” email from the company.

Aside from the upcoming 911 button, Lyft shared other app updates, like bigger and more visible license plate info about the car coming to pick you up and mandatory feedback in the app after you take a ride that you rated less than four stars. 

Walk to your ride to save some money.

Walk to your ride to save some money.

Image: lyft

This week Lyft is also adding to six more cities to its “Shared Saver” carpool option, which is essentially Uber Express Pool and often requires a short walk to meet your driver and fellow passengers. Riders in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Miami, Philadelphia, and Atlanta now have the cheaper shared option after it launched in San Jose, Denver, and NYC earlier this year.

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Cody Ko addresses Jake Paul’s failed attempt at canceling him

What happens when Jake Paul tries to start internet drama? Nothing.

Cody Ko, the Canadian YouTuber, just dropped a video in response to Jake Paul’s wildly cringey “confronting internet bully cody ko…” video. Ko’s video, jokingly entitled “i’m a cyberbully,” is a hilarious jab at Paul’s failed attempt at trying to cancel him for being a “hater.”  

“Years and years of being on the sidelines of all the YouTube drama, and now, I’m a starting player,” Ko says. He goes on to describe Paul’s poorly justified ambush, saying, “It was really fucking uncomfortable. Just horribly awkward.” 

Ko, as per usual, brilliantly rips into Paul’s video by highlighting some of its dumbest parts. “I feel like his editor is a fan [of me], or something. ‘Cuz somehow he managed to make me look really good. And himself look really bad.”

And he’s right. Paul did make Ko look good. Good enough to earn 140,000 new followers since dropping the video, according to Social Blade

Jake Paul should star in an autographical movie about his life. After all, the only thing he’s good at is playing himself. Or maybe everyone got played

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Britain loses UN vote over Chagos islands

The UN’s 193 member states on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to demand Britain hand over control of the Chagos islands to Mauritius “as soon as possible”. 

A total of 116 countries voted in favour of a non-binding resolution presented by African countries that urged Britain to “withdraw its colonial administration” from the Chagos Islands within six months.

Only six countries, including Britain and the United States, voted against the measure while 56 others abstained, including Canada, France and Germany. 

The Indian Ocean archipelago has been at the centre of a decades-long dispute over Britain‘s decision to separate it from Mauritius in 1965 and set up a joint military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the archipelago in the 1960s and ’70s to make way for a huge US military base on Diego Garcia, which played a key strategic role in the Cold War before being used as a staging ground for US bombing campaigns against Afghanistan and Iraq in the 2000s. The facility was used as a CIA interrogation centre after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In February, the International Court of Justice handed Mauritius a victory when it said in a legal opinion that Britain had illegally split the islands and should give up control of the Chagos.

After Britain rejected that ruling, Mauritius turned to the UN General Assembly to press for action.

Mauritius argues the Chagos archipelago was part of its territory since at least the 18th century and was taken unlawfully by the UK in 1965, three years before the island nation gained independence.

However, Britain insists it has sovereignty over the archipelago, which it calls the British Indian Ocean Territory. 

Wednesday’s vote was the second time in two years that Britain had to defend its ownership of the Chagos islands at the United Nations.

In 2017, only 15 countries including Britain and the US voted to oppose a request for the ICJ ruling. 

Non-binding measure 

Ahead of the vote, Britain and the United States wrote to all UN missions, urging them to oppose the draft resolution, arguing the fate of the Chagos is a bilateral issue.

“This is not a matter of de-colonisation for the General Assembly,” wrote British Ambassador Karen Pierce. “It is a bilateral sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius.”

US Acting Ambassador Jonathan Cohen argued the court opinion was non-binding and was in no way a legal ruling that decided on the dispute.

In 2016, Britain renewed a lease agreement with the United States for the use of Diego Garcia until 2036.

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Will the Supreme Court take up a Roe v. Wade showdown in 2020?


Protesters

Senator Amy Klobuchar speaks outside the Supreme Court at a pro-choice activist rally on Thursday. Repealing Roe v. Wade amid a presidential campaign could have a dramatic effect on the race. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

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Multiple states have passed strict abortion limits in hopes of sending a Roe v. Wade challenge to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court may well be headed for an election-year fight over abortion rights, but it’s not likely to be a blockbuster showdown over Roe v. Wade.

Courtwatchers anticipate that the justices will agree to take one or more cases related to abortion restrictions in the coming term, drawing attention to the polarizing issue as the 2020 presidential campaign moves into a critical phase.

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Further stoking the speculation is the passage of sweeping new abortion limits in several states that are largely designed to trigger a Supreme Court battle, with Republican lawmakers hoping that a high court transformed by President Donald Trump’s judicial picks will bring down the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed abortion rights nationwide.

These lawmakers have helped pass new laws in Mississippi and Georgia banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected — about six weeks into pregnancy. And just last week, Alabama went even further, passing a near-outright ban on all abortions at any time during pregnancy, even in cases of rape or incest.

The deliberate escalation by the states has led to talk that a head-on challenge to Roe could be before the justices in their next term, which opens in October and typically produces its most hard-fought decisions in the following June. That would be June 2020, weeks before the Democratic and Republican Conventions and just months before Trump and a Democratic nominee are likely to square off at the polls.

A potential repeal of Roe amid a presidential campaign could have a dramatic and destabilizing effect on the race — and that’s at least in part why legal experts on both sides of the abortion divide say they don’t see it happening, at least not in the near future.

“The most likely and correct path is for these bans to be blocked by lower courts and the Supreme Court will not even step in,” said Julie Rikelman of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

“I think Chief Justice John Roberts would probably prefer that they not get into that in the middle of an election,” said Caroline Fredrickson of the American Constitution Society, a liberal legal group.

Pro-life lawyer James Bopp Jr. said he doesn’t think a case squarely aimed at eliminating Roe will ever be taken up by the high court. “I think it extremely unlikely the court will ever take a direct attack on the Roe case,” said Bopp. “The court just doesn’t operate that way….This idea that you’re going to force them to reconsider Roe v. Wade is just absurd.”

Bopp favors overturning Roe, but he’s dismissive of the new laws that seek to ban abortion of a fetus before it has attained viability. “There’s a lot of ill-informed hype on both sides about these measures….They’ll never go into effect,” he said.

Bopp said he believes at least two justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, have no desire to be involved in a frontal attack on Roe. The pro-life advocate noted that last December both men appeared to side with the court’s Democratic appointees in declining to hear a case about the rights of states to curtail funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions as well as an array of other health services.

“Roberts and Kavanaugh refused to take up a case that only involved state funding of Planned Parenthood, so to think from that we’re going to infer that they’re anxious to overturn Roe v. Wade?…That’s light years away,” Bopp said. “Not that I don’t want that [but] there’s no indication whatsoever of that.”

Another obstacle to the Supreme Court considering the new abortion bans anytime soon is the rhythm and pace of the federal court system. Cases typically take months to be decided in a trial court, then proceed to an appeals court, where many more months can pass before a decision is made by a three-judge panel. Sometimes there are efforts to get the full bench of an appeals court to take the case.

At the Supreme Court, cases usually need to be in the pipeline by October to stand a chance of being heard in the spring and decided by June.

“There really isn’t enough time for any of these bans to get to the court in the next term,” Rikelman said.

But the likely absence of the strictest measures from the high court’s docket doesn’t mean abortion will be entirely off the agenda. Abortion-related cases could reach the justices in the form of emergency stay applications, although those don’t usually garner the attention of a fully briefed and argued Supreme Court case. And challenges that don’t squarely attack Roe but involve laws regulating abortion facilities and providers are either currently before the justices for potential review or could be in that position by fall.

Perhaps the most likely issue for the Supreme Court to take up is a case over a Louisiana law requiring physicians who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. In 2016, the court struck down a similar Texas law by a 5-3 vote in a case known as Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

However, one member of the majority in that case — Justice Anthony Kennedy — has since left the court and been replaced by Kavanaugh. And the vacant seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia has been filled by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

It would be unusual for the Supreme Court to take up such a similar case so soon after deciding an earlier one, but in February the justices voted, 5-4, to put the Louisiana law on hold. Usually, when the court steps in under such circumstances, it eventually grants review in the case.

Rikelman says she hopes the court will do that this fall, but will find the case so close to the earlier one that it skips over full briefing and argument and simply reverses the 5th Circuit decision that turned down a challenge to the law.

One thing prompting chatter among courtwatchers is the indecision that seems to have infected the court’s consideration of abortion-related cases in recent months.

Last Friday, the justices had their 14th closed-door conference where they were set to discuss a case challenging an Indiana law regulating disposal of fetal remains and prohibiting abortions based on race, sex or disability of the fetus. Again, the justices punted, putting the case down again for this Friday.

A challenge to another Indiana law requiring an ultrasound test at least 18 hours before an abortion will be on conference for a 2nd time this Friday, while an Alabama law banning what the state calls “dismemberment abortions” was scheduled for five court conferences and pulled each time.

Some lawyers say the unusual delays suggest some horse-trading may be underway among the court’s conservatives. The votes of only four justices are needed to take up a case. Sometimes repeated conferences mean a dissent from the denial of review, or certiorari, is being written. But 15 conferences for the same case is rare.

“It’s puzzling, to be honest,” said Florida State University law professor Mary Ziegler, an expert on the history of abortion law. “If they aren’t going to hear these cases, why don’t they just deny cert. If they are, they’re just pushing it closer and closer to the election and probably engendering maximum controversy….There’s something going on behind the scenes.”

“I think there’s a lot of negotiation going on internally among the right-wing justices about how to do this in a way that doesn’t give those who believe in women’s access to health care a campaign issue,” said Fredrickson.

Fredrickson said she fears the various regulations effectively making abortion impossible without ever triggering the uproar that would accompany overturning Roe. “When you shut down all the clinics in a state, it’s a ban even if it’s not called that,” she said.

Regardless of what the Supreme Court does, litigation over new abortion laws seems certain to continue to play out as the presidential race heats up. Just Tuesday, lawyers were before a federal judge in Jackson, Miss., jockeying over the law that state enacted in March that bans abortion at the time a fetal heartbeat is detected, sometimes as early as six weeks.

U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves said the state’s move “smacks of defiance” against a ruling he issued last year blocking a ban on abortions before 15 weeks, CNN reported. A federal appeals court is likely to hear arguments about that ruling later this summer, keeping attention on the issue even without a high court fight.

A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday shows Americans still divided on the abortion issue, but with a majority appearing to favor maintaining Roe. About 55 percent of voters said abortion should be legal in all circumstances or up to the point of viability, while 42 percent say it should always be illegal or limited to cases of rape, incest or risk to the mother. And roughly half of voters said they think it’s not likely the Supreme Court will overturn Roe.

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Henry Lau’s Journey To Hollywood: It’s A ‘Really Important’ Time For Asian Representation

Henry Lau doesn’t know what time it is. But to be honest, who could blame him? The 29-year-old performer has been living and working across multiple timezones — in Canada, South Korea, China, and the U.S. — since 2007, when the then-teenage Chinese-Canadian singer/violinist debuted as part of Super Junior-M. And after leaving his longtime label, Korea’s SM Entertainment, early last year, he’s added another region to his busy international schedule: Hollywood.

Lau makes his Hollywood debut in A Dog’s Journey, the schmaltzy sequel to 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose. And between promoting the film, auditioning for more big-screen opportunities, and working on new music — he most recently dropped his first independent single, titled “Untitled Love Song” — the ambitious artist is just taking things one day at a time. Any more than that and it gets confusing, especially when you have a schedule as jam-packed as his.

MTV News caught up with Lau during a recent press day for the film, where he talked about his own journey to Hollywood, mixing classical music with dance, and the importance of seeing yourself represented in music and on screen.

MTV News: Where are you based? Are you splitting your time between continents?

Henry Lau: That’s a complicated question because I kind of fly around everywhere. But most of the times I’m based in Korea, China, and now I’m spending a lot more time in the U.S.

MTV News: How do you ever know what time it is?

Lau: I actually have the world clock. Because I have to communicate with everybody from everywhere. It’s pretty crazy.

MTV News: Your body just regulates itself at this point.

Lau: I can just sleep whenever now.

MTV News: Do you like that, though? Do you do like being everywhere, all the time? 

Lau: Yeah, it’s actually unbelievable because I never thought that I would one day be here, filming a movie in Hollywood. Never thought that there’d be such a crazy K-pop craze here, all over the world. I’ve been almost everywhere. And then in some of the craziest places where you wouldn’t imagine anybody knowing you. There’s people at the airport. There’s people everywhere. So it’s actually amazing.

MTV News: I also saw that you can perform Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” on your violin, which sounds incredible by the way.

Lau: I did a cover of that on my Instagram, but I’d never expected such a crazy reaction. I don’t think they expected that melody on a violin. It’s pretty.

MTV News: You’re a multi-instrumentalist and that’s a really fascinating part of your story. Do you remember your first music memory? 

Lau: I first started playing the violin at 6. And then at 7, it was piano. So from then it was just classical music like every day. And then I got to high school. You know how in high school you have those like the B-boys and the poppers, and all that? During our school talent shows, I would perform classical music, and then right after me you’d have the B-boys and all the people doing the pop and lock. And I realized that all the girls were like going crazy for them. The parents would be going crazy for me, and then all my friends and everybody were going crazy for them. So I was like, “Oh man, I’m doing the wrong thing.” So then I started to learn to dance and sing.

MTV News: And then you kind of combined your love of classical music with your newfound love of dance.

Lau: I was actually the head of the violin after-school club. And then I was also the head of the dance club, the popping club. So one day, just by coincidence, we had to hold the two clubs at the same time. I had to go back and forth. And that’s when the idea came up for dancing and playing violin at the same time.

MTV News: I’m sure your parents were thrilled. 

Lau: So where they kind of didn’t agree with me on was when I told them I wanted to go to Korea to become a K-pop star. This was before K-pop was big. So my parents, they’ve been living in Toronto for like the longest time. They didn’t know what was going on in Asia. So when I told them I went to this audition and that [SM Entertainment] had picked me out of like thousands of people, my dad was like, “No, you’re not going.” He was against the whole thing, like any parent would be. At the time it just sounded crazy. Like, “I’m going to be a Korean pop star!” But we went to Korea, my mom and I. We checked it out, and then it all seemed really, really cool. My mom supported me the whole time. It took some convincing for my dad. Now he’s cool with everything.

MTV News: Why was it important to you to take this chance and move to South Korea? 

Lau: At the time I was applying to colleges for classical music. So I was looking at the applications for Julliard and preparing for my college auditions. And then this came up. I love dancing and singing, just as equally. I thought to myself, if I do the classical thing, if I go down the classical road, I’ll have to give up dancing and singing. But then if I go down the K-pop road, I’ll be dancing and singing, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to play the violin anymore or piano. I decided that I had to go down this road because that was the only way I could do pretty much everything.

MTV News: Did you ever want to pursue singing and dancing at home in Canada, or in the U.S.? 

Lau: Back then it didn’t even cross my mind that I could, that any Asian would be able to do anything in the States. Or anywhere outside of Asia. I’d never even thought about it.

Getty Images

MTV News: But now there’s more opportunity for representation. 

Lau: I think that’s why this film is such an important thing. Not only for me, but just for the whole Asian community. Hollywood needs more diversity.

MTV News: When did you decide that you wanted to try acting as well? 

Lau: It sort of found me. I was in a really famous group in Asia [Super Junior-M], but I wasn’t necessarily that famous. Because we had a lot of people in the group. I was just some kid in the group. And then this director wanted to film a movie with me. I don’t know how she found out about me, but I met with her and told her, straight up, “Hey, I don’t act. I’ve never acted before. I don’t think I can do it.” Then she’s like, “But you’re perfect for the role.” So I ended up filming that movie, it was called Final Recipe, by Gina Kim, and it was with Michelle Yeoh from Crazy Rich Asians. Michelle, she really helped me out a lot throughout that film. She kind of took me under her wing, and she taught me all of these things about acting, and she was actually the one that kind of got me really into acting. From there, opportunities just kept coming up.

MTV News: As music and culture become more global, is it a really exciting time for you to be releasing music and to be in the industry? Do you feel that energy? 

Lau: Definitely. I think right now is a really important time for any Asian in the world because it’s all happening. I have more confidence that people will listen to the music that I, as an Asian artist, will put out, and now, I have more confidence in myself. I’m in casting rooms now. Before, Hollywood wouldn’t even be looking at guys like me. And now it’s like, hey, maybe I can be the guy that’s not just like flying around and doing karate on the big screen. Maybe I can be the love interest. Maybe I can just be viewed as a person instead of just being Asian.

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Harriet Tubman won’t appear on the $20 until at least 2028, says Mnuchin

Of course Trump will find a way to block American hero Harriet Tubman from appearing on the $20 bill.
Of course Trump will find a way to block American hero Harriet Tubman from appearing on the $20 bill.

Image: MASHABLE COMPOSITE: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY;UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE / GETTY

By Marcus Gilmer

The new and long-awaited $20 bill design featuring Harriet Tubman won’t be rolling out until at least 2028, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The news dropped during a hearing on Wednesday in front of the House Financial Services Committee, Mnuchin telling Rep. Ayanna Pressley that the new $20 bill probably won’t hit the streets for almost a decade. 

SEE ALSO: ‘SNL’ Weekend Update mercilessly drags Trump’s financial ineptitude

Making matters worse, Mnuchin refused to give Pressley a direct answer as to why, exactly, the new design is delayed, even though new “security feature” (i.e., counterfeit prevention feature) will be ready to go in 2020 as planned. 

The (correct and good) decision to put Tubman on the $20 was announced back in April 2016 by then-Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, alongside plans to include other historic women on redesigns on the backs of the $10 and $5 bills. These new bills were to debut in 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. 

Mnuchin’s refusal to answer, while infuriating, isn’t surprising, sadly. Immediately after Lew’s 2016  announcement, then-candidate Trump called the decision “pure political correctness” and suggested shifting Tubman to the little used $2 bill. Mnuchin followed that in 2017 with words that were as equally vague as Wednesday’s statement. 

Pressley was not at all impressed with Mnuchin’s non-answer.

Neither were many supporters of the Tubman $20 bill, many of who couldn’t help but point out the problematic contradictions in what Trump supports instead of Tubman on a piece of paper, like his ongoing support of Confederate General and traitor to his country, Robert E. Lee.

Trump wants to get Americans on the moon by 2024 but design problems will delay the Harriet Tubman $20 until 2028. Ok https://t.co/6jenzbBhvL

— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) May 22, 2019

The president who thinks Robert E. Lee is a hero has decided to prevent the public celebration of an actual hero: https://t.co/MAQwTOrXTA

— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) May 22, 2019

In more positive news, a new mural of Tubman was recently unveiled at the Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center in Cambridge, Maryland and led to this stunning photo of a young girl reaching out to touch Tubman’s open hand.

Whatever the Trump administration decides to do with the Tubman $20, that mural photo and Tubman’s contributions to America will remain priceless. 

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Giannis, Rudy Gobert, Paul George Headline 2019 NBA All-Defensive Teams

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, right, shoots past Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Aaron Gash/Associated Press

The NBA unveiled its All-Defensive teams for the 2018-19 season Wednesday.

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe made the first team, per The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears:

Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpearsESPN

NBA All-Defensive teams https://t.co/VKYZE5SF8z

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

Get the best sports content from the web and social in the new B/R app. Get the app and get the game.

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Russia condemns ‘US ultimatum’ to Turkey over S-400 missile deal

Turkish President Erdogan says there is 'no question' over the S-400 deal with Russia [Vitaly Nevar/Reuters]
Turkish President Erdogan says there is ‘no question’ over the S-400 deal with Russia [Vitaly Nevar/Reuters]

Russia has condemned an alleged US ultimatum to Turkey designed to force it to cancel a deal to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and purchase American Patriot batteries instead, calling it “unacceptable”.

Moscow on Wednesday was responding to a report by CNBC that said Washington had given Turkey two weeks to scrap the Russian arms deal and do one with the United States instead or risk severe penalties.

Turkey’s push to buy the S-400s has further strained the already tense relations with the US, which has repeatedly warned Ankara of the risks, including sanctions, if it goes ahead with the purchase.

Turkey and the US have been at odds on several fronts, including Ankara’s decision to buy the S-400s, which cannot be integrated into NATO systems. Washington says the Russian deal, if it goes ahead, would jeopardise Turkey’s role in building and buying Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.

‘Unacceptable’

“We regard this extremely negatively,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the CNBC report by reporters. 

“We consider such ultimatums to be unacceptable and we are going on the many statements made by representatives of Turkey’s leadership – headed by President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan – that the S-400 deal is already complete and will be implemented.”

Turkey’s defence minister said earlier on Wednesday that Ankara was preparing for potential US sanctions over its purchase of the Russian missile system, even though he said there was some improvement in talks with Washington over proposals to manufacture and purchase the American F-35 fighter jets.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said the S-400 deal with Russia was done and wouldn’t change.

“There is absolutely no question of [Turkey] taking a step back from the S-400 purchase. That is a done deal,” Erdogan said.

He also said Turkey and Russia would jointly produce S-500 defence systems after Ankara’s controversial purchase of the S-400s from Moscow.

SOURCE:
News agencies

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