Former FBI Director James Comey didn't have very many complimentary things to say about President Trump, Attorney General William Barr, and outgoing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein during a CNN town hall Thursday.
Barr and Rosenstein have both ruined their reputations, he said, due to their inability to push back against Trump. Looking at the way Barr handled the delivery and rollout of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice, Comey felt he "acted in a way that's less than honorable." Barr "continues to talk as if he's the president's lawyer," he added, while Rosenstein is "very bright, but not strong enough. I think people like that, like Rod Rosenstein, who are people of accomplishment but not real sterling character, strong character, find themselves trapped."
Trump fired Comey in May 2017, an event that led to Mueller's appointment. Comey has read the public, redacted version of the Mueller report, and he was asked about 10 incidents of potential obstruction by Trump described in the document. It "sure looks like" Trump had criminal intent to commit obstruction of justice, he said, with one "flaming example" being Trump ordering former White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller in June 2017.
"The president is not above the law, and I don't accept the notion that because the president is the head of the executive branch he can't ever obstruct justice in connection with executive branch activities," Comey said. "That's just crazy and a recipe for lawlessness." He said he believes that during a future administration, the Justice Department "will have to take a serious look at" charging Trump once he is out of office. Read more about Comey's reaction to the Mueller report, and how the former Republican is trying to help Democrats win in 2020, at CNN. Catherine Garcia
Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded not guilty to a new misconduct charge as prosecutors now say as many as 12 accusers could testify against him.
The Oscar-winning actor, who is charged with forcible touching and sexual abuse in the third degree, entered his plea Tuesday after being charged over two incidents, USA Today reports. Gooding was initially charged in June after a woman accused him of groping her at a nightclub in New York.
But prosecutor Jenna Long said Tuesday that as many as 12 accusers could testify against the actor during his trial, The Associated Press reports, with misconduct allegations reportedly stretching back to 2001. These are in addition to the two accusers in the cases the actor is being charged over, with the newest one relating to a woman who alleges Gooding pinched her on the behind at a nightclub in October 2018, The New York Times reports.
The New York Daily News reported Monday that three more accusers have shared their misconduct allegations against Gooding with police, and after Gooding's arrest in June, the New York Police Department said a woman who alleges he groped her at a Manhattan club in 2008 had filed a police report.
Gooding has maintained his innocence, with his lawyer claiming Tuesday this is all a "distorted overreaction pandering to the current hypersensitive climate where an innocent commonplace gestures are now misperceived and mischaracterized as offensive." The indictment alleges Gooding's behavior "shows that he routinely approaches women while at bars or nightclubs with whom he has limited or no prior interaction, and touches them inappropriately."
Another woman has come forward to accuse Matt Lauer of sexual misconduct in Ronan Farrow's new book.
Ahead of the Tuesday release of Catch and Kill, excerpts last week revealed that Lauer was fired in 2017 after an NBC News employee accused him of rape, a detail that had not been previously revealed. But Farrow's book also describes an allegation from Melissa Lonner, a former booker on Today who accuses Lauer of exposing himself to her in an empty office at a company party in 2010, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Lonner alleges she attempted to get away but that Lauer became angry, calling her a "tease" and telling her, "You led me on," Deadline reports. Although she did not make a formal complaint at the time, Farrow reports Lonner told Ann Curry, who then told two senior executives that Lauer had a "problem with women." Lonner upon leaving NBC News in 2013 reportedly signed an agreement that prevented her from filing a legal claim, and she was reportedly reminded by an NBC lawyer in 2018 about the "enforceability of her pact."
Lauer's attorney denied the allegation in a statement, saying "Matt never exposed himself to anyone" and calling the claim "ridiculous."
NBC has denied knowing anything about Lauer's alleged misconduct prior to his firing in November 2017, with NBC News President Noah Oppenheim writing in a letter to staff this week that the agreement Lonner disclosed was "standard for departing employees at the time" and was "not drafted to prevent an employee from reporting misconduct." Oppenheim has also accused Farrow of being "clearly motivated not by a pursuit of truth, but an axe to grind." Farrow stands by his reporting, saying it's "indisputable" that "there was a chain of secret settlements at this company that were covered up." Brendan Morrow
Former Vice President Joe Biden apparently took the last debate beyond the stage — and beyond his fellow candidates.
During September's Democratic primary debate, Univision's Jorge Ramos went after Biden for the Obama agenda he's constantly praising, specifically its deportation of 3 million migrants. Biden was visibly unhappy with the question, and apparently confronted Ramos about it after the debate in a "contentious" discussion, Yahoo News reports.
Biden has unapologetically campaigned by promising he'd effectively provide a third term for former President Barack Obama. But that's come back to bite him in Democratic debates as first former Housing Urban and Development Secretary Julián Castro, and then Ramos, questioned Biden on Obama's immigration policy. Ramos asked in September why Latinos should trust Biden, and if the former vice president was "prepared to say tonight that you and President Obama made a mistake about deportations." Biden gave a stuttering response that didn't answer the question.
But after the debate, Biden reportedly decided to take another crack at the question. He "approached" Ramos to tell him the questions were a "low blow" in what a Univision source called a "contentious" exchange, Yahoo News reports. Biden reportedly also relayed "that he fought for 'Dreamers' as vice president," and that the administration eventually made the right decision on deportations, Yahoo News continues. The Biden campaign didn't dispute that the conversation happened. Read more at Yahoo News. Kathryn Krawczyk
The 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees have arrived, but at least one prospective inductee may not be thrilled.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Tuesday the nominees for its 2020 ceremony, with the list of 16 including Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Whitney Houston, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., and Soundgarden.
Funnily enough, Birth. Movies. Death.'s Scott Wampler points out, Nine Inch Nails picking up a nomination comes just a year after founder Trent Reznor publicly slammed the organization, saying he doesn't care about being snubbed and that he actually hopes not to get inducted.
"I don't give a f—k!" Reznor told Sterogum in October 2018. "You know what I mean? I don't ... the worst would be if we did [get inducted] and then what? We'd have to f—in' show up and jam? I can't even imagine what that would be."
Reznor in the interview also asked "what could be less rock and roll than the f—in' Hall Of Fame" and said that while it's "nice to be appreciated," it's "nicer when it feels like that's coming from a place that you care about." At the time, Nine Inch Nails hadn't been nominated for two years in a row, though the band was nominated for the 2015 and 2016 ceremonies. Reznor inducted The Cure into the Hall of Fame earlier this year, suggesting in his speech their induction made him take the ceremony more seriously.
Fans can vote on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees online, and the "top five vote-getters in the public poll form one ballot, which is weighted the same as the rest of the submitted ballots" from industry professionals and historians, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says. But with Reznor last year sounding so decidedly not jazzed about getting inducted, he may well organize a "don't get out the vote" campaign. Brendan Morrow
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has more than small donor money in her pocket.
After South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg attacked Warren and other candidates for relying on "pocket change" to fund their 2020 campaigns, Warren issued a typically outsized response. She didn't call out Buttigieg by name, but instead pledged to avoid another segment of big-money donors and revealed a proposal to root out corporate influence in politics, essentially setting up a fight for Tuesday night's primary debate.
Buttigieg on Monday defended his acceptance of big-money donations by saying "we're not going to beat Trump with pocket change." Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) issued a blatant rebuttal, but Warren took a more subtle approach in her Tuesday blog post by reminding readers she'd pledged not to take donations from federal lobbyists or PACs throughout her entire presidential run. In addition, Warren said she wouldn't take "take any contributions over $200 from executives at big tech companies, big banks, private equity firms, or hedge funds."
Warren then called on her fellow candidates to disclose if they'd given special titles to big-money donors — an attempt to expose if they'd been "hobnobbing with the rich and powerful," she wrote. And beyond these "voluntary changes," Warren discussed how, if elected, she'd stop foreign and corrupt influence in U.S. elections, "expand disclosure of fundraising and spending," and establish public financing for federal campaigns. Find all of Warren's proposal here. Kathryn Krawczyk