Transcript

1.30.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post or Thursday,
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January thirty, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, RADIOI is
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a reading service intended for people who are blind or
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have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Mark Webster. Today's front page
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headlines from the Washington Post are five White House Office withdrawals,
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order that froze spending, Trump's skirts and sketches laws on
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the civil Service. RFK Junior faces blistering questions on vaccines
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abortion from Democrats. Trump orders thirty thousand bed Guantanamo deporte
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camp buy out proposal highlights must broad influence. Here's the
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first article. Trump White House rescinds order freezing federal spending
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reverse course. The White House Budget Office on Wednesday rescinded
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an order freezing federal grants after the administration's moved to
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halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash. In the
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memo distributed to federal agencies, Matthew J. Vesth Faith, acting
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Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget,
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states that omb Memorandum M twenty five thirteen quote is
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rescinded unquote, that order issued Monday instructed federal agencies to
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quote temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement
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of all federal financial assistance. Close the quote. The White
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House order freezing federal grants caused mass chaos and confusion
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across Washington, appearing to imperil government programs that fund schools,
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provide housing, and ensure that low income Americans have access
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to healthcare. States reported problems accessing money under Medicaid, and
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in early Wednesday, some public housing authorities reported still being
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locked out of their funding portal, though access cleared up later.
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White House spoken in Caroline Levit had said Tuesday that
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assistance for individuals would not be effected. The Trump administration
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withdrew the order a day after a federal judge in
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Washington temporarily halted its implementation until February three, allowing public
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health advocates, nonprofits, and businesses represented by the left leaning
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Democracy Forward more time to challenge the directive's legality. Separately,
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roughly two dozen states attorneys general filed their own lawsuit
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against the administration Tuesday, arguing that the pause in federal
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spending has harmed their residents. That suit continued Wednesday Despite
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the order's recision, Levitt acknowledged that the initial Budget Office
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memo has been suspended, said that the administration's broader effort
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to block spending it opposes remain in effect. She said
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the order was rescinded to make clear that the administration
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will comply with the federal order pausing the freeze and
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to end the court case. Other executive orders approved by
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President Donald Trump but not rescinded, including a pause on
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forward aid and some clean energy funding approved by the
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Biden administration, do appear to have frozen some federal activities,
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including around diversity, equity and inclusion. The EI budget experts
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said the administration issued humanitarian waivers Tuesday, allowing some foreign
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aid to go forward despite that pause. Quote. The executive
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orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in
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full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by
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all agencies and departments. Close the quote, Levitt said, in
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a statement that also blasted quote dishonest media coverage unquote,
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without giving any specific examples. Quote. This action should effectively
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end the court case and allow the government to focus
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on enforcing the President's orders on controlling federal spending. In
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the coming weeks and months, more executive action will continue
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to end the egregious waste of federal funding. Close the quote.
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Speaking at the White House, Trump asserted Wendy that the
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media had quote purposefully unquote created confusion over whether the
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freeze would affect Social Security and Medicare. He characterized the
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pause as a quote short term freeze in certain discretionary
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spending payments for us to quickly look at the scams, dishonesty, waste,
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and abuse that's taking place in our government for too
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long close the quote. Quote the American people strung only
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support these efforts unquote, Trump said, quote we are fighting
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to get the most out of every single tax dollar
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for our great citizens unquote. Republicans in Congress echoed Trump's complaint.
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Hours before the White House rescinded a freeze, Representative Tom
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Emmer from Minnesota, the number three Republican in the House,
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called coverage of the Omb's order quote the first ridiculous
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media hoax of twenty twenty five. The quote the onb
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quote review of certain spending priorities that should be seen
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for what it is good governments governance unquote, Emmer said.
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From the GOP's policy retreat at Trump's golf course outside Miami. Quote, I,
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for one, am glad to have a president in the
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White House who is delivering on his promise to get
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our physical house in order unquote. The fight also spilled
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into Wednesday's confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Junior to
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serve as the nation's top health official, with long makers
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trading barbs over whether Medicaid funding had truly been paused
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as dozens of officials around the country warrantunji, or whether
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it was a media hoax. Will now go back to
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the second article, How Trump is touching the federal government.
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Trump is stretching laws to make the federal government more political.
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Trump's skirts and stretchers laws on the civil Service. Here's
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the article. With a blizzard of executive orders, President Donald
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Trump has jump started an extraordinary plan to transform the
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federal government into a leaner operation packed with his loyalist
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The fine print of those directives reveals how shrewdly the
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new administration is maneuvering and sometimes outright ignoring the arcane laws,
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rules and regulations that have long protected the civil service
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of two zo point three million from a political takeover.
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Trump has skirted Biden era rules by essentially declaring them unlawful,
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used probationary periods to place masses of civil servants in limbo,
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and issued a membo lifting restrictions on hiring temporary political
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appointees to replace thousands of career employees. The White House
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has even declared that Trump could overrule a post Watergate
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law to summarily fire senior executives and career prosecutors, citing
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a sweeping claim of executive authority. Late Friday, when Trump
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ousted seventeen federal watchdogs, he disregarded a statute requiring him
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to first provide thirty days notice and a performance related
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justification to Congress. White House directives have also instructed federal
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agencies to seek ways to bring employees back to the
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office even if union contracts guaranteed work from home protection,
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and announced plans to reinstate assessments for hiring that were
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thrown out by the Carter administration after lawsuits claimed they
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were discriminatory. And acting personnel's officials have widely expanded the
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use of paid leave to push workers out, despite a
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bipartisan law seeking to curtail its use. The executive actions
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absent any legislation from the GOP controlled Congress, already have
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had far reaching effects, even if they face potential legal challenges.
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Thousands of staff members in diversity inclusion programs are facing
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layoffs as soon as this week. Thousands of other job
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offers have been rescinded in a government wide hiring freeze,
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and gaping senior level holes remain at numerous agencies because
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of purchase and an exodus of experienced staff members. These
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sweeping changes reflect Trump's campaign pledge quote to dismantle the
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deep state unquote. By firing bureaucrats he blamed for thwarting
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his first term agenda, his executive orders could transform and experienced,
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merit based federal bureaucracy into one governed by employees with
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political allegiance to the Trump administration. Quote. These actions are
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opening much more of the civil service to be chosen
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by the Trump administration than would be usually seen during
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a change in administration, said Kevin Owen, a Washington area
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employment lawyer who represents federal employees. In Trump's first term,
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inexperience in Chaos showed much of his plan to weaken
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the civil service, but the barrage of eight executive orders
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and as many personnel memorandums in the opening days of
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his second term bears out how carefully his new administration
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prepared for this moment. Since Trump's victory in November, his
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domestic policy team has race to determine which interpretations of
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the law would be novel but legal, which might get
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the administration sued, and which legal challenges they could accept.
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According to people familiar with their thinking, quote, the administration
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is clearly better prepared this time than they were in
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twenty sixteen, said Donald moynihan, a civil service expert who
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teaches public policy at the University of Michigan. Quote. They've
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been waiting for this moment, and their preparation is being
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turned into policy unquote. Caroline Levitt, Trump's Paris press secretary,
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said one on Tuesday that the president's broad executive power
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allows him to fire anyone in the executive branch. Quote
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we will win in court unquote on any legal challenges,
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she added. A senior Trump official, speaking on the condition
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of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly
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about White House policies, said the shakeup is designed to
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hold the civil service accountable, whether for performance, corruption, or
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a failure to carry out the president's agenda. The official
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cited the government's quote many good federal employees unquote, and
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denied critics long held contention that the administration will use
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loyalty to Trump as a litmus test. Quote you work hard,
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and who you give money to doesn't matter unquote, the
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person said, describing two main goals for Trump's government quote
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accountability and efficiency unquote, which will lead to shedding jobs. Quote.
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There's a lot of fat in government to be trimmed, unquote,
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the person said. The White House said voters sent Trump
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back into office in part to reshape the federal workforce
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through bold actions. Quote. President Trump was given a resounding
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mandate from the American people to deliver on the promises
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he made on the campaign trail, including restoring a society
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based on merit, implementing common sense policies, and reigning in
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unelected government bureaucrats unquote. Deputy Press Secretary Cush decide to say,
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he said in a statement, quote he will use his
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executive power to deliver unquote. But critics say that in
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his rush to reshape the government, Trump is trampling on
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the law and quickly eroding more than a century of
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work by Congress to create a nonpartisan, skilled, professional workforce
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that's not beholden to any president. The administration is probably
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counting on many civil servants to leave rather than follow
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through with protracted legal fights around the methods the White
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House is using to force them out. Experts said, quote,
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there is a theme here, unquote, said Rob Shriver, who
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left the Biden administration last week as acting head of
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the Office of Personnel Management before joining Democracy Forward, a
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liberal leaning legal group that launched a new effort to
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defend against Trump's attacks on the civil service. Quote. This
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is a strategy of trying to drive out and sideline
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career experts, freezing hiring so the agencies can't backfill, and
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then surging an unqualified political partisans a. Presidents are always
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able to hire and fire their closest advisers to ensure
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that their vision for the country is carried out. The
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Conservatives have argued that the president should exert more control
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over the workforce, and Trump has accused career staff members
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of deliberately resisting his first term policies and launching investigations
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against him. Hours after Trump took the oath of office
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last week, the White House set its emotion. It's planned
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to upend the career civil service with executive orders that
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ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs, order to return to
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the office and move to strip job protection from thousands
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of employees, from policymakers to budget offers, budget officers to
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public affairs staff. The third article, RFK Jr. Faces blistering
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questions on vaccines, abortion from Democrats. The longtime liberal faces
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deep skepticism over his public health views. Quote frankly, you
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frighten people unquote, one Democrat senator told his former roommate.
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Here's the article. Robert F. Kennedy Junior faced a divided
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panel of Senators Wednesday, with Democrats deeply critical of the
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vaccine skeptic's bid to serve as America's top health official
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and Republicans insisting that the former liberal was the right
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choice to lead a nearly two trillion dollar agency that
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helps shape everyday life. Democrats blistered Kennedy with questions that
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he struggled to answer, such as whether he stood by
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his most controversial claims appearing on podcasts and in books
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and interviews, and how he would oversee the Department of
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Health and Human Services if confirmed as its secretary. They
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pushed him to defend his shifting stance on abortion and
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whether he would simply rubber stand President Donald Trump's agenda
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or if he would use his perch to continue raising
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doubts about vaccines, often quoting Kennedy's own words back att him. Quote,
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unlike other jobs that were confirming around this place, this
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is a job, whether it is life and death, unquote,
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said Senator Michael Bennett, Democrat of Colorado, after asking Kennedy
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whether he had said the coronavirus pandemic may have been
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a genetically engineered bile weapon. Quote. It's too important for
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the games that you're playing, mister Kennedy. Republicans countered that
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Kennedy a formal a former environmental lawyer who led an
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anti vaccine organization, has assured them of his qualifications and
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tried to keep the focus on America's high rate of
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chronic disease, which Kennedy has vowed to bring down. Several
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praised him as a would be reform insisting to Kennedy
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was asking difficult questions about the nature of healthcare industry
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conflicts and suffering a political beating. In response, quote, I
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think I know the personal and political price you paid
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for this decision, unquote, said Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin,
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a staunch supporter of Kennedy. Senator Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas,
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a physician, invoked his faith when praising Kennedy. Senator quote,
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I think that you are the person to lead HHS
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to make America healthy again, and God has a divine
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purpose for you. Unquote, Marshall said, will now go to
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the fourth article. That article, Trump orders thirty thousand bed
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Guantanamo deportee camp. Trump plans to build massed attention camp
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for deportees at Guantanamo Bay. Resident ordered construction of a
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facility with room for thirty thousand migrants on the US
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naval base in Cuba. There's a photograph of that. Here's
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the article. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the construction
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of a detention camp with thirty thousand beds at the
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Guantanamo Bay Naval base in Cuba, outlining plans for a
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site outside US territory where immigrants caught in his expanding
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deportation campaign could be sent. Speaking at the White House
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before signing the Lake and Riley Act, a bill expected
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to expand the number of immigrants held in US custody
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for minor crimes. Trump said the massive sight in Guantano
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would quote detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the
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American people unquote, and be a quote tough place to
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get rid of, a tough place to get out of. Quote.
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Some of them are so bad that we don't even
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trust other countries to hold them, and we don't want
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them to coming back, so we're going to send them
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out to Guntanamo unquote. Trump said, quote this will double
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our capacity immediately. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detention
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capacity for about forty thousand immigrants facing deportation. The largest
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facilities in its network have roughly two thousand beds, so
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the Guantanamo military site Trump described would dwarf any location
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ice overseas within the United States. Defensive Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,
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during an interview on Fox News, said the base was
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a quote perfect place unquote to hold deportees quote beyond
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the facilities used to house terrorists that many are familiar
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with unquote. Hexas said, the base is quote a naval
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station where it has long been for decades. A mission
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of that naval station to provide for migrants and refugees
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and resettlements unquote. Hegseth, who as a soldier in the
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National Guard was station at Guantanamo, said the detainees would
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not be held without terrorism suspects, would not be held
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with terrorism suspects. Rather, the purpose of the camp would
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be for quote temporary transituquote while US officials complete paperwork
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and make travel arrangements to send detainees to third countries
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if their home nations won't accept them, he said, noting
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that a golf course at the base can be used
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to expand detention capacity, with room for six thousand people.
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It was not immediately clear how migrants will be housed,
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how much construction may be necessary, what the operation will cost,
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or what kind of aircraft may be used to transport
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migrants to and from the base. Officials at US Southern Command,
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which oversees operations in Cuba, Central America, and South America
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from a headquarters in Dral, Florida, said they were sorting
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through details Wednesday. Trump officials have said they want immigrants
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living illegally in the United States to quote self deport unquote,
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and the Guantanamo camp was one of several moves that
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appeared aimed at scarring more people into leaving the Department
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of Homeland Security oversees ICE, which was nearing max detention
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capacity when Trump took office and launched a deportation campaign
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he says will be the largest of its kind in
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US history. Since then, teams of ICE officers, backed by
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other federal law enforcement agencies, have made about six thousand arrests,
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taking more than three times as many immigrants into custody
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per day than averaged under Biden. Trump has pledged to
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try to deport quote millions unquote of migrants, but one
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obstacle ICE faces is the reluctance or refusal of some
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countries to accept US deportation flights and large numbers of
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their citizens. Trump said he would overcome their opposition. Quote
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They're going to all take them back, and they're going
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to like it unquote too, he said, to laughter from
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administration officials, lawmakers, and others gathered for Wednesday's bill signing ceremony.
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The base in eastern Cuba has previously been used by
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US authorities to hold rafters intercepted at sea while attempting
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to reach the United States. About thirty four thousand Haitians
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and Cubans picked up at sea were temporary held there
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during the nineteen nineties, but not all at once. After
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the September eleven, two thousand and one terrorist attack, the
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George W. Bush administration created a maximum securities facility for
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terrorism suspects and enemy fighters that became notorious after detainees
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and attorneys denounced torture and rights violations by US interrogators.
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The base has periodically surfaced as a possible overflow site
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for migrants detained along the US southern border during migration surges.
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Is the one Trump faced in twenty nineteen when record
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numbers of Central American families crossed into the United States.
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Is gently viewed as a location of last resort, however,
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given its isolated setting and limited infrastructure. And then now
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we'll go to the fifth article in the and the
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fifth article is I'm going to take a swallow here
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by out proposal highlights musk broad influence. Musk's team pushed
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to gut federal workforce bypassed by Trump officials being there.
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Elon Musk has worked behind the scenes on an initiative
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aimed at depleting the civil service, prompting questions about its legality.
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There's a photo of mister Musk with his son walking
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through the Capitol. Here's the article being there elon musk
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influence over a traditionally nonpartisan agency that oversees the federal
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workforce culminated in the government's stunning proposal Tuesday offering employees
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and inducements to resign. According to four people familiar with
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the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
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describe internal talks, the proposal, emailed late in the day
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to many of the nation's two point three million federal workers,
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blindsighted some advisors to President Donald Trump, including officials in
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the Budget Office and agencies that typically would be consulted
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in advance of such monumental changes to personnel and spending policies,
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the people said. Since Trump took office, Musk has moved
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quickly to exert control over the Office of Personnel Management,
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the small independent agency that acts as a kind of
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human resources department for the federal government, issuing policy for
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agencies to implement. Musk personally visited the OPM's office Friday,
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and several of his longtime surrogates, including Anthony Armstrong, who
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helped Musk by Twitter Brian Bieldi, who ran human resources
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for musk firm SpaceX, and A Manda Scales, who worked
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at musk artificial intelligence firm XAI, have been installed in
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senior leadership roles at its offices in downtown Washington. The
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people said a Musk team also was critical to building
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the system that sent an email from quote hr at
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OPM dot gov unquote to most federal employees across a
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dizzying array of agencies, a capacity that had not existed
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before last week. Musk touted the offer on x soon
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after it hit employees' inboxes, arguing it was a crucial
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first step in reorganizing a federal buroxy he has long
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characterized as lazy and disloyal. The email emphasized the importance
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of a quote reliable, loyal, trustworthy unquote workforce. Musk's role
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in orchestrated what is intended to be the biggest organization
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of federal workers in decades highlights the broad influence he
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now enjoys across several agencies and the White House, as
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his role transcends that of presidential advisor to an executor
25:15
of Trump's vision for the federal government. When Trump tapped
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Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside entrepreneur
25:24
vivak Raamaswami. After the election, it was pitched as a
25:27
panel outside the government that would give non binding recommendations
25:31
to the White House and Congress. All right, now, we're
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going to read just a couple more sentences and take
25:37
a break and then go and continue on. Since then, however,
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Musk has burrowed inside a federal government, a shift that
25:45
already has brought a striking overhaul of the workforce, and
25:48
more measures apparently are underway. All right, we'll go to
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part two. All right, welcome back to the reading of
25:59
the washing and Posts for Thursday, January thirtieth, your readers,
26:03
Mark Webster. We're now going to part two. This is
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These are headlines from inside the A section. The first
26:13
is Mendez settence to eleven years for corruption. Next, as
26:18
wildlife smoke is linked to increased risk of dementia, researchers say. Third,
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after Hawking Whar's Trump's FBI pick has a new pitch. Fourth,
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close Senate confirmation vote expected for d and I nominee
26:34
Tulcy Gabbert. Fifth, how Trump's perceived foals are bracing for
26:39
his revenge, all right. The first one, Former Senator Bob
26:43
Menendez sentenced to eleven years in prison interruption case. The
26:48
longtime New Jersey lawmaker and his wife accepted nearly one
26:50
million dollars in cash, gold bars, and a luxury car,
26:54
a record haul in US bribery cases, prosecutor said. And
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there's a photograph of former US A Mendez leaving federal
27:02
court in New York Wednesday on the day of his sentencing.
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Here's the article. Former US Senator Bob Menendez on Wednesday
27:10
was sentenced to eleven years in prison for operating what
27:14
prosecutors called one of the most brazen corruption schemes in
27:17
the country's history, with bribes totaling nearly one million dollars
27:21
in cash, checks, gold bars, and a Mercedes Benz. The
27:26
longtime New Jersey lawmaker, was convicted of all charges last
27:30
year in Manhattan federal court, forcing his resignation after nearly
27:35
eighteen years in the Senate and a half century in politics.
27:39
A jury found that Menendez took bribes from three New
27:42
Jersey businessmen who sought his help quashing criminal investigations and
27:47
securing lucrative deals with officials from Egypt and cutter. He
27:52
is appealing. Menendez, seventy one, is the first public official
27:56
in the United States to be convicted of acting as
27:59
a foreign agent. Text messages and emails showed how he
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maneuvered to get US military aid and sensitive unclassified information
28:08
to Egypt between twenty eighteen and twenty twenty two from
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his powerful perch as the highest ranking Democratic member and
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later chairman of the Senate Form Relations Committee. Quote you
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stood at the apex of our political system unquote, US
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District Judge Sidney H. Stein said as he imposed the
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sentence Wednesday afternoon. Quote Somewhere along the way, I don't
28:32
know where it was, you lost your way. Quote Somewhere
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along the way, I'm sorry to say, you became a
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corrupt politician unquote, Stein said. Stein ordered Menendez to report
28:44
to prison June sixth, though the judge indicated that he
28:48
would rule before then on a request for Menendez to
28:51
remain free on bail while he appeared while he appeals.
28:55
Menendez held back tears as he told the judge that
28:58
he used his political power for good purposes, such as
29:01
steering funding to hospitals and victims of natural disasters. Quote.
29:06
I believe that in a half century of public service.
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I've done far more good than bad. He's unquote, he said,
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well quote will unquote Hannah, the businessman who connected Menendez
29:19
with Egyptian intelligence officials and real estate development Fred Dabes,
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one of Hannah's business association associates, were convicted alongside alongside Menendez.
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Dabes on Wednesday morning was sentenced to seven years and
29:35
two months in prison in order to pay a fine
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of one point seven million dollars, with the judge noting
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that he is worth more than one hundred and thirty
29:42
four million dollars. Hannah was sentenced later to eight years
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and one month in prison and fined one point two
29:48
five million dollars. After Mendez started meeting and sharing information
29:55
with Egyptian officials, Hannah received an exclusive contract to certify
29:59
b exports to Egypt. He became quote an overnight millionaire,
30:05
overnight multimillionaire unquote, despite having no background in such certifications,
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and he showered Menendez with cash, one ounce gold bars,
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and a sham job for his wife. Prosecutor said Daves
30:19
was under indictment in a federal bank fraud case when
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he began to provide stacks of cash and one kilgram
30:25
gold bars, each worth around sixty thousand dollars to get
30:29
Menendez help defusing the investigation. The Senator also agreed to
30:34
support a congressional resolution praising Cutter for its efforts to
30:38
evacuate refugees from Afghanistan in twenty twenty one, just as
30:43
Daves was seeking an investment from a Cutter Sheikh Shaikh,
30:47
whose fund ultimately approved ninety five million dollar stake in
30:51
his luxury real estate project. According to the trial evidence,
30:56
a third businessman, insurance executive Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty last
31:01
year and testified that he bribed the senator with a
31:04
Mercedes ben convertible for his wife, Nadine Menendez, who faced
31:09
his trial this year. Euribe told jurors that he wanted
31:13
to quote stop and kill unquote a pair of insurance
31:16
fraud investigations by New Jersey authorities into his business associates,
31:21
and that Menindez tried to intercede in both cases, raising
31:25
concerns directly with the state attorney general in a phone
31:28
call and then a meeting. Menendez denied the allegations, saying
31:33
he identified legitimate issues to raise with the same public
31:37
officials who crossed his benefactors. He said many families of
31:42
Cuban heritage like his store their cash at home, but
31:45
insisted he was kept in the dark as his wife
31:48
dangled his influence to collect gold bars and payments from
31:52
several men. He is appealing all fifteen felony convictions for bribery, extortion, conspiracy,
32:01
honored services, wirefraud, obstruction of justice, and acting as a
32:06
foreign agent while holding public office. Euribe is expected to
32:10
reprise his testimony at Nadine Menendez trial and has not
32:13
been sentenced. By the way, there's a photograph of fred
32:17
Dabs arriving for the court appearance on September twenty seven.
32:21
Back to the article, Manhattan federal prosecutors requested a prison
32:26
term of at least fifteen years for Menendez, describing his
32:31
machinations in a sentencing memorandum as quote, an extraordinary betrayal
32:36
of the public trust unquote. They also asked the court
32:39
to impose steep financial sanctions, a two point eight million
32:42
dollar fine and nine hundred and twenty two thousand, one
32:46
hundred eighty eight dollars in restitution, which prosecutors calculated was
32:50
the value of the cash gold bars, Mercedes Benz convertible
32:54
in other bribes. Quote. Very few senators have ever been
32:58
convicted of any criminal defense, and of those, most of
33:02
the senators engaging in bribery accepted the amounts that are
33:05
a fraction of what Menendez reaped, even adjusting for inflation. Unquote.
33:09
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said in
33:12
the court filing, twelve senators in US history have been
33:16
indicted while in office. Seven were convicted. Stein declined to
33:20
impose the two point eight million dollar find saying Menindez
33:24
did not have the same financial resources as Daves and Hannah.
33:27
The judge also signed a forfeiture order that required Menendez
33:32
to repay the nine hundred and twenty two thousand, one
33:34
hundred eighty eight dollars. Menindez assured Hannah that he would
33:39
sign off on a ninety nine million dollars sale of
33:43
tank ammunitions to Egypt that also had support from the
33:47
State Department, according to a twenty eighteen text message shown
33:51
to jurors, and he pushed to release three hundred million
33:54
dollars in US military aid that was held up in
33:57
Congress over concerns with Egypt's human rights record. He sent
34:02
non public information to the Egyptians with the number of
34:05
employees stationed at the US Embassy in Cairo, along with
34:09
their nationalities. Prosecutors said Menindez threw a wrench into the
34:13
delicate world of diplomacy for his private game, cashing in
34:17
on his back channel with Egyptian intelligence officials, while quote
34:21
implicating national security, the foreign relations of the United States,
34:25
and the security US employee station abroad and foreign nationals
34:29
working for the United States abroad. Closed the quote. Attorneys
34:32
for Menendez had requested a sentence of no prison time
34:37
with at least two years of quote rigorous community service unquote,
34:42
or alternatively, a prison sentence of twenty one to twenty
34:45
seven months quote. Despite the talk of cash and gold bars,
34:50
Senator Benindez was convicted for perhaps the most forgettable and
34:54
least impactful bribery scheme in recent memory. Closed the quote.
34:58
Attorneys v Weizman and Adam Fees said in a sentencing brief.
35:04
They argued Menendez deserved leniency after a lifetime of good
35:08
work in public office, and said prosecutors failed to prove
35:11
a trial that the senator's pressure tactics on prosecutors and
35:15
US officials changed any of their decisions. New Jersey federal
35:20
prosecutors testified that they did not heed Menendez's request to
35:24
go easy on Dave's in the bank fraud investigation, and
35:27
the state's former attorney general told the jury he did
35:31
not wade into the open cases Menindez wanted to quash
35:35
at Urebi's behest quote. Senator Menendez has given his life
35:40
to his country and to his community. Unquote Whitesman and
35:43
Fees said in the filing. Quote with this case, his
35:46
political and professional careers have ended, his reputation is destroyed,
35:50
and the latter years of his life are in shambles
35:52
closed the quote. Menendez had been severely admonished by the
35:56
Senate Ethics Committee after going to trial in New Jersey
35:59
on a different set of bribery charges in twenty seventeen.
36:04
The jury deadlocked in that case and he was not convicted.
36:07
The Ethics panel found that Menendez failed to disclose the
36:11
raft of expensive gifts from his top campaign donor. At
36:14
the time, he was advocating for the donor's private interest
36:17
in hearings and meetings around Washington. The prosecutors who obtained
36:22
Menindez convictions, Daniel C. Reichenthal, Paul M. Montalione, Laura Pomerantz,
36:29
Eli J Mark, Catherine Gosh, and Christina A. Clark said
36:33
he broke the law when he agreed to pressure public
36:36
officials in return for expensive gifts, regardless of whether his
36:40
tactics were but some legal experts said the Supreme Court
36:45
has narrowed the definition of bribery in recent cases and
36:48
could reach the opposite conclusion if it reviewed menindez case.
36:53
Having collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold,
36:57
a luxury automobile, and other payments in exchange for his
37:00
promises to affect national security form relations and the rule
37:04
of law, Menindez cannot now be heard to turn around
37:07
and crack no harm, no file because law abiding govert
37:11
officials had the integrity to refuse him, unquote, prosecutors said
37:15
in a court filing. Nadine Menendez trial is scheduled to
37:20
begin March eighteen in the same courtroom overlooking the Manhattan
37:24
Skyline where her husband was convicted last year. She is
37:27
recovering from advanced breast cancer, and her trial date has
37:31
been postponed several times at her attorney's request. Attorneys for
37:35
the former Senator said in a court filing that he
37:38
intends that he quote intends to participate in his wife's
37:42
eminent trial and is committed to vindicating himself on appeal.
37:46
Closed to quote. Now that's the end of that article.
37:49
We'll go back to the second one, wildfire smoke. The
37:53
LA fires are contained, but the harm to people's brains
37:56
may linger. Researchers say that long term expose to the
38:00
high levels of air pollution, particularly wildfire smoke, is linked
38:04
to dementia. There's a photograph of three firemen and a
38:07
helicopter up above fighting fire. The caption says, a helicopter
38:12
flies as smoke billows from the Palisades fire in Mandeville
38:17
Canyon in Los Angeles. Here's the article Smoke from the
38:21
recent Los Angeles wildfires poses a host of well known
38:26
human health risk, particularly to the circulatory and respiratory systems,
38:31
and as climate chage fuels longer wildfare wildfire seasons. Concerns
38:37
over smoke exposure and the health threats of fires are growing,
38:42
but the effects of air pollution on the brain are
38:44
only beginning to be widely recognized. In a recent study,
38:48
researchers found that long term exposure to find particulate matter,
38:53
also known as PM two point five, was linked to
38:56
an increased risk of dementia, but not all air pollutions
39:00
carries the same risk. Wildfire's smoke appears to be especially hazardous,
39:05
according to Joan Casey, the study's lead author, adding that
39:09
the findings highlight the link between climate change and negative
39:13
neurological consequences. Quote we have this aging population and we
39:17
have strengthening climate change, and those may converge for really
39:21
bad neurological health outcomes, quote, said Casey, an associate professor
39:27
of Environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington.
39:32
The study analyzed the health records of more than one
39:35
point two million southern California residents who were at least
39:38
sixty years old and lived in areas routinely exposed to
39:41
wildfire's smoke. Each resident was free of dementia when the
39:45
study began. Researchers then estimated each person's exposure to PM
39:50
two point five based on three year averages of air
39:53
quality and weather data. By the end of the study,
39:57
more than eighty thousand residents had been diagnosed with dementia.
40:00
Older adults who were exposed to higher levels of wildfire
40:04
PM two point five had an elevated risk of developing dementia.
40:08
Non wildfire PM two point five exposure only slightly increases
40:12
the odds of a dementia diagnosis. Casey's research is the
40:16
latest in a growing literature that reveals associations between air
40:21
pollution and harmful cognitive effects. Previous studies have found that
40:30
people who inhale higher concentrations of PM two point five
40:34
from diesel exhaust or other traffic related air pollutants are
40:38
more likely to show signs of Alzheimer's disease in brain tissue.
40:42
The Clean Air Act, enacted in nineteen seventy caused a
40:46
significant decreased and airborne particulate matter concentrations across the country,
40:52
but more recently studies have shown that there was a
40:55
strong uptick in concentrations in twenty sixteen due to increased
40:59
wildfires fueled by climate change. Research published in the Lancet
41:04
Planetary Health found that air pollution continues to be the
41:07
world's largest environmental health threat. Taken together, outdoor and indoor
41:13
air pollution contribute to nearly seven million premature deaths annually.
41:18
According to the World Health Organization, outdoor air pollution alone
41:23
accounted for an estimated four point two million premature death
41:26
in twenty nineteen. Quote We're getting a lot of epidemiological
41:31
evidence that air pollution, particularly high exposure and chronic exposures,
41:36
may be bad for the brain and bad for your
41:38
nerves unquote, said Daniel Pastula, a neurogos at the University
41:43
of Colorado School of Medicine. Quote. Anything we can do
41:47
to reduce the risk of air pollutants, whether from wildfires
41:51
or anything else, seems to be increasingly important for brain
41:54
health unquote, he said. But more research is needed, he said,
41:58
to determine the exact negative cognitive outcomes and air pollution.
42:08
According to Jacques Reese, a neurological and professor of environmental
42:13
medicine at the University of Strasbourg, air pollutants, including fine particles, gases,
42:19
and organic compounds, can cause inflammation in the brain, as
42:23
well as neuron and DNA damage. Rice said the effects
42:28
of particulates on the brain take time to manifest but
42:31
can change people's behavior. Quote. They will trigger a lot
42:35
of modification at the cellular level, and it's why this
42:39
is a risk factor for neurodegenerative disease unquote. While the
42:44
exact time it takes for particulates to affect brain health
42:48
remains unclear, we do know that the length and dose
42:51
of exposure, as well as underlying susceptibility can all play
42:55
a factor. Pastulus said, when fine particulates the heart and
43:00
the lungs, they wreak havoc on cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
43:07
In more severe cases, exposure is linked to heart attacks
43:11
and stroke, as well as lung cancer. Experts say that
43:14
without legislation and regulations to slow climate change and reduce
43:20
exposure to smoke from wildfires and other sources of PM
43:24
two point five, the dire health effects will continue to mount. Quote.
43:29
If nothing else changes, then things for our brains are
43:32
going to get worse because of the increases in pollutant
43:35
concentrations attributed to these big wildfire events unquote, said Marianthi
43:41
Anna Kumutze Glue, a professor of environmental health sciences at
43:46
Columbia University Mailman's School School of Public Health. Kimmut's Glue
43:54
research has found that air pollution, more specifically PM two
43:58
point five, rates the progression of neurological diseases such as
44:03
als Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's to her, the links are
44:08
quote undisputed unquote even if there are quote details to
44:12
be figured out. All right, that's the end of that
44:15
interesting article. We'll try to go back to the the
44:22
third article. The third article is after hawking merch Trump's
44:27
FBI nominee, Cash Patel makes a new pitch vocal ally
44:32
of President Donald Trump and FBI critic will appear before
44:36
the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. There's a photograph President
44:41
Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, Cash Patel, watches Trump
44:44
speak during a rally ahead of his inauguration at Kapitol
44:48
One Arena in Washington on January nineteenth. Here is the article.
44:53
Just months ago, Cash Patel was hawking merchandise on social
44:57
media from the Boutique apparel brand. He co founded, an
45:00
online storefront that sells t shirts emblazoned with Christmas trees,
45:05
made of guns, and decks of playing cards showing former
45:09
FBI Director James B. Comy as a smiling joker. On Thursday, Patel,
45:15
president Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, will appear
45:19
before the Senate Judiciary Committee to make a very different
45:22
sales pitch that he is the right candidate to lead
45:25
the nation's premier law enforcement agency. To Democrats, Patel lacks
45:29
the gravitas to helm the FBI and is an erratic
45:32
national security risk who has spent years denigrating the thirty
45:36
eight thousand person agency he now seeks to lead. Republicans, meanwhile,
45:41
say Patel only plays the provocateur in media appearances and
45:45
can fix an agency they think has unfairly targeted conservatives
45:49
in many years. If all Democrats vote against him, Patel
45:53
would need the votes of all but three Republican senators
45:55
to be confirmed. Thursday's hearing will include questions about Patel's
46:01
public and professional record, which is heavy on public displays
46:05
of loyalty to Trump but light on the management experience
46:08
that recent FBI directors had before they took the job.
46:11
Lawmakers could also focus on Patel's business and charitable ventures
46:15
since working for the Trump administration, and his vows to
46:18
clean house at the FBI. Those pledges have taken on
46:22
new urgency over the last ten days, as the Justice
46:26
Department removed or reassigned key leaders and fired several prosecutors
46:30
who worked on criminal cases against Trump. Patel spokesman Erica
46:35
Knight defended his qualifications, citing government experience that include stints
46:40
as a White House aide during Trump's first term, staffing
46:44
an Intelligence committee on Capitol Hill, and as a Justice
46:47
Department trial attorney. Quote cash Patel's extensive experience in national security,
46:53
law enforcement, and government oversight makes him uniquely qualified to
46:57
lead the FBI and address the critical challenges facing our nation. Quote,
47:01
she said in a statement, quote, he looks forward to
47:04
appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday and demonstrating
47:08
his steadfast commitment to ensuring the FBI operates with integrity
47:12
and excellence unquote. Since leaving government service in twenty twenty,
47:17
Patel has largely made his living off building a personal
47:20
brand as a conservative warrior and launching business ventures tied
47:25
to Trump's political movement. He's earned hundreds of thousands of
47:28
dollars consulting for Trump's leadership pack and the president's social
47:32
media company, for which he also serves as an unpaid
47:36
board member. According to public disclosures, Patel is a regular
47:40
and pugilistic Trump ally on conservative podcasts, cable news, and
47:44
political rallies, and until last month, according to written answers
47:49
he provided to senators questions. He worked as a managing
47:52
member of Based Apparel, a company that includes in its
47:56
catalog shirts, hoodies, and flags emblazoned with the Furrays quote
48:00
fight with Cash Kash unquote. By the way, there's another
48:06
photograph of Cash Battel speaking during the Conservative Political Action
48:09
Conference twenty twenty four in Maryland. Continuing with the article,
48:16
he launched a short lived payment processing firm called Patriots
48:20
Paytriots in twenty twenty one, pitching it as a conservative
48:25
alternative to GoFundMe, which has drawn criticism from the right
48:29
for censuring political fundraising efforts. In twenty twenty two, he
48:33
formed a nonprofit, the Cash Foundation That's Kash, with the
48:38
stated goal of funding veterans scholarships and quote legal defense
48:43
of whistleblowers and defamed American citizens unquote. The nonprofit reported
48:49
raising more than one point four million dollars in its
48:52
first two years. According to its twenty twenty three tax filings,
48:56
the most recent publicly available, Patel's foundation is given less
49:00
than twenty percent of that sum, are just over two
49:02
hundred and sixty thousand dollars away in grants. Some money
49:06
went to pay legal fees for a pair of FBI
49:08
agents who testified at a contentious, contentious Republican led House
49:13
hearing last year on the alleged quote weaponization end quote
49:17
of the Bureau. According to congressional testimony, tax filings showed
49:22
grants of twenty thousand dollars or less also went to
49:26
veterans organizations, a Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Fairfax County, Virginia,
49:31
and other charitable groups. Foundation representatives did not respond to
49:36
requests this week for a full list of its grant
49:40
recipients or updated figures on its giving from twenty twenty four,
49:44
but they pointed to a December statement announcing that by
49:48
the end of last year, the foundation had given away
49:51
more than one million dollars. With his potentially contentious hearing looming,
50:00
Hotel has sought to show a less combative side on
50:03
Capitol Hill. He has worked to shore up vocal Republican support,
50:07
even as other Trump nominees, including Director of National Intelligence
50:11
nominee Tulci Gabbert, whose hearing is also today Thursday, January thirtieth,
50:16
are facing public skepticism jump from some GOP senators. Senators
50:22
attribute Patel's more firm footing to the charm offensive he's
50:26
waged in one on one meetings where he's pledged to
50:29
run the FBI a politically and denied that he has
50:32
unquote enemies list unquote of people he would target in
50:35
a job. He is prepared with mock hearings where allies
50:40
playing Democratic senators pepper him with blistering questions. As a
50:45
former Intelligence Committee staffer, Patel speaks the language of the
50:48
Hill and knows that lawmakers are looking for. His book
50:52
knows what lawmakers are looking for. His boosters say they
50:56
emphasize that the firebrand persona Patel presents and media interviews
51:01
is not the person sitting down with senators. Quote. There's
51:05
a social media, national media persona of who Cash is,
51:10
and then there's who he actually is, unquote, said Senator
51:13
James Langfort, Republican of Oklahoma, adding that Patel impressed him
51:17
in their individual meetings with his commitment to impartial and
51:20
fare law enforcement. Quote. There's this cartoon of him that's
51:24
out there, and that he's this mean, hateful, intense individual
51:28
that when you meet him, you think, where is that
51:30
person that's being described? Unquote? Right, that's the end of
51:35
that article. Our fifth article. We will not have time
51:40
to read, so I'm going to have to cut it off.
51:48
That article is oh, actually, it's the fourth close Senate
51:52
confirmation expected for dan I nominee Tulci Gabbert. I'll read
51:58
just the first two sentence. There's a photograph of her
52:01
getting out of a car on inauguration Day. Tulci Gabbert
52:05
chosen by President Donald Trump to be his intelligence czar
52:08
on Thursday, that's today, January thirty, faces what could be
52:12
the toughest confirmation hearing of any of his top nominees.
52:15
With Democrats and some Republicans preparing to grill the former
52:19
congresswoman on her twenty seventeen trip to Syria, her public
52:23
comments and support of Russia, and her concerns about domestic
52:27
surveillance powers. Her approval by the Senate Intelligence Committee to
52:32
be Director of National Intelligence is far from assured, according
52:35
to two congressional officials who spoke on the condition of
52:38
anonymity to discuss Trump's controversial nominee. Well, unfortunately, this concludes
52:44
the two readings of The Washington Post for today, Thursday,
52:47
January thirty, twenty twenty five. Your reader's ben Mark Webster
52:51
if you have any questions, comments, suggestions concerting this program,
52:55
please feel free to call us at eight five nine
52:57
four two two sixty three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
53:00
and now please stay tuned for continuing programming on RADIOI