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GM CEO Barra’s pay dipped slightly to just under $22 million in 2018

FILE PHOTO: General Motors Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra announces a major investment focused on the development of GM future technologies at the GM Orion Assembly Plant in Lake Orion,
FILE PHOTO: General Motors Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra announces a major investment focused on the development of GM future technologies at the GM Orion Assembly Plant in Lake Orion, Michigan, U.S. March 22, 2019./File Photo

April 18, 2019

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co’s top executive, Mary Barra, received a compensation package worth just under $22 million in 2018, slightly less than the previous year, according to the No. 1 U.S. automaker’s proxy statement released on Thursday.

GM also said two members of the board of directors – former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, retired Admiral Michael Mullen and the former CEO of ConocoPhillips , James Mulva – will not stand for re-election. The Detroit company did not name replacements, meaning the number of board members will drop to 11.

GM and the rest of the auto industry are facing an expected decline in U.S. demand this year, slowing sales in the world’s largest auto market in China and potential costly tariffs that could be imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump as it negotiates new trade deals with China, Europe and Japan.

GM is also investing heavily in developing electric and self-driving technologies.

Barra’s total compensation package was valued at $21.87 million, slightly below the $21.96 million she received in 2017. Barra, GM’s chairman and chief executive, was paid $22.58 million in 2016. GM said Barra’s pay was 281 times that of the median company employee.

Barra’s pay package included a salary of $2.1 million, unchanged from 2017; stock awards worth almost $11.1 million; options worth more than $3.4 million and a performance award worth almost $4.5 million, according to the proxy.

Barra is GM’s highest paid executive. Chief Financial Officer Dhivya Suryadevara received slightly more than $5.5 million in total compensation, and Chuck Stevens, who she replaced last September, received just under $7 million, according to the proxy.

Former President Dan Ammann, who now heads GM’s Cruise automation unit, received just under $9 million, while Mark Reuss, who replaced Ammann as president, received almost $7.4 million, according to the proxy.

GM’s annual investor meeting is scheduled to be held online on June 4.

One shareholder proposal requests the board adopt as policy the naming of an independent board chairman, a proposal that at the 2017 annual meeting received 41 percent voting support. GM opposes the proposal.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: OANN

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Former Counsel May Have Saved Trump From Himself

Don McGahn was barely on speaking terms with President Donald Trump when he left the White House last fall. But special counsel Robert Mueller's report reveals the president may owe his former top lawyer a debt of gratitude.

McGahn, who sat with Mueller for about 30 hours of interviews, emerged as a central character in Mueller's painstaking investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice and impeded the years-long Russia investigation. In one striking scene , Mueller recounts how Trump called McGahn twice at home and directed him to set Mueller's firing in motion. McGahn recoiled and threatened to resign instead.

Mueller concluded that McGahn and others effectively halted Trump's efforts to influence the investigation, prompting some White House officials and outside observers to call him an unsung hero in the effort to protect the president.

John Marston, a former Washington, D.C. assistant United States attorney, said McGahn appeared to help Trump "both in real time with his actions and then as well as being forthcoming."

McGahn's relationship with the president was turbulent. A prominent Washington attorney, he joined Trump's campaign as counsel in 2015 and followed him to the White House, but the two men never developed a close rapport. His departure last fall came as little surprise.

Still, it was McGahn who Trump turned to on June 17, 2017, when he wanted to oust Mueller. According to the special counsel report, McGahn responded to the president's request by calling his personal lawyer and his chief of staff, driving to the White House, packing up his belongings and preparing to submit his letter of resignation. He told then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus that the president had asked him to "do crazy s---."

Mueller said McGahn feared Trump was setting in motion a series of events "akin to the Saturday Night Massacre," the Nixonian effort to rein in the Watergate investigation.

William Alden McDaniel, a lawyer who represented targets and witnesses in the Ken Starr investigation, as well a high-ranking officials in the Iran-Contra scandal, said McGahn appeared to be "one of the few people in the administration to stand up to the president" and that "takes a certain amount of principle."

Mueller's report shows there were a handful of other aides who rebuffed orders and suggestions from the president, helping save him from the consequences. Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski resisted an effort by Trump to convince Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself from the investigation and to limit the scope of Mueller's probe. Priebus and McGahn repeatedly resisted Trump efforts to force out Sessions so that Trump could replace him and install a new person to oversee Mueller's work.

McGahn also tried in other ways to keep the president in line, advising him that he should not communicate directly with the Department of Justice to avoid the perception or reality of political interference in law enforcement and reminding him that their conversations were not protected by attorney-client privilege.

Trump responded by questioning McGahn's tendency to take notes and draft memoranda outlining his advice to the president for the historical record.

"Why do you take notes? Lawyers don't take notes. I never had a lawyer who took notes," Trump said, according to Mueller's report. The special counsel said McGahn responded that he keeps notes "because he is a 'real lawyer' and explained that notes create a record and are not a bad thing."

Exchanges like those appear to have led Mueller to conclude that McGahn was "a credible witness with no motive to lie or exaggerate given the position he held in the White House."

McGahn did not respond to a request for comment Thursday and nearly a dozen friends and former colleagues mostly spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting him, describing him as a private person.

They largely characterized McGahn's time in the White House as unhappy and defined by his frequent clashes with the president.

"Don is an experienced lawyer who's dealt with difficult clients in the past," said Jason Torchinsky, an election law attorney who has known McGhan for 20 years.

The White House declined comment.

In a campaign and White House staffed largely by novices and bootlickers, McGahn was a rare establishment figure, despite his longer hair and 80s cover band dabbling. He served as commissioner and chairman of the Federal Election Commission and had deep roots with the Republican party, including spending a decade as general counsel of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

At the White House, he earned praise from conservatives for helping confirm a series of conservative judges, including, in his final act, shepherding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation. He was also instrumental in fulfilling long-held conservative priorities, including leading the White House's systematic effort to cut government regulations and weaken the power of administrative law judges.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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China’s services activity quickens in March: official PMI

FILE PHOTO - A waiter prepares a table for service at Haidilao's new artificial intelligence hotpot restaurant in Beijing
FILE PHOTO - A waiter prepares a table for service at Haidilao's new artificial intelligence hotpot restaurant in Beijing, China, November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

March 31, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – Growth in China’s services industry quickened in March, an official survey showed on Sunday, offering some respite for a slowing economy.

The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.8 in March from 54.3 in February, well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.

The fast-growing services sector accounts for more than half of China’s economy and has helped buffer the impact of slowing manufacturing. But it softened late last year amid a cooling property market and faltering consumer demand for products from cars to mobile phones.

The composite PMI, which covers both manufacturing and services activity, edged up to 54 from February’s 52.4.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: OANN

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Brazil’s president calls Nazis leftists after Israel Holocaust museum visit

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks at an event with Israeli and Brazilian business people, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks at an event with Israeli and Brazilian business people, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

April 3, 2019

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said “there is no doubt” that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

Bolsonaro’s remarks directly contradicted information on the museum’s website saying Germany’s Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism.

In Tuesday’s televised comments, the Brazilian president echoed previous remarks by his country’s foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, also claiming the Nazis were leftists.

Asked by reporters if he agreed with Araujo, Bolsonaro said, “There is no doubt, right?”

He went on to say that the Nazi party’s name was the National Socialist Party of Germany, which includes the word “socialist.” The official name was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Despite their name, the Nazis followed a fascist and anti-Semitic – rather than a socialist – ideology.

Bolsonaro leaves Israel on Wednesday to return to Brazil. His four-day visit came just one week before Israel’s election in which right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking re-election.

The visit had initially been seen as potentially boosting Netanyahu’s election prospects but fell short of the Israeli prime minister’s expressed hope that Brazil would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Bolsonaro suggested soon after his inauguration in January that he would move the embassy, but his government later walked back the comments. Brazilian officials instead announced during his Israel visit that the country would open a trade office in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu has said he hopes the trade office is a step toward moving the embassy there as well.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who Bolsonaro regards as an ally, recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and ordered the American Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which took place last May.

Israelis and Arabs dispute the status of Jerusalem, which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Israel regards the city as its “eternal and indivisible” capital but that is not recognized internationally. Palestinians want Jerusalem to be the capital of an eventual Palestinian state.

Jerusalem is home to Yad Vashem, which documents the Holocaust and is a memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War Two.

(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Israeli election may have dimmed hopes for 2-state solution

Is the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dead?

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coasted to another victory in this month's Israeli election, it sure seems that way.

On the campaign trail, Netanyahu ruled out Palestinian statehood and for the first time, pledged to begin annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. His expected coalition partners, a collection of religious and nationalist parties, also reject Palestinian independence.

Even his chief rivals, led by a trio of respected former military chiefs and a charismatic former TV anchorman, barely mentioned the Palestinian issue on the campaign trail and presented a vision of "separation" that falls far short of Palestinian territorial demands.

The two Jewish parties that dared to talk openly about peace with the Palestinians captured just 10 seats in the 120-seat parliament, and opinion polls indicate dwindling support for a two-state solution among Jewish Israelis.

"The majority of the people in the state of Israel no longer see a two-state solution as an option," said Oded Revivi, the chief foreign envoy for the Yesha settler council, himself an opponent of Palestinian independence. "If we are looking for peace in this region, we will have to look for a different plan from the two-state solution."

For the past 25 years, the international community has supported the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — as the best way to ensure peace in the region.

The logic is clear. With the number of Arabs living on lands controlled by Israel roughly equal to Jews, and the Arab population growing faster, two-state proponents say a partition of the land is the only way to guarantee Israel's future as a democracy with a strong Jewish majority. The alternative, they say, is either a binational state in which a democratic Israel loses its Jewish character or an apartheid-like entity in which Jews have more rights than Arabs.

After decades of fruitless negotiations, each side blames the other for failure.

Israel says the Palestinians have rejected generous peace offers and promoted violence and incitement. The Palestinians say the Israeli offers have not been serious and point to Israel's ever-expanding settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, now home to nearly 700,000 Israelis.

The ground further shifted after the Hamas militant group took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 and left the Palestinians divided between two governments, with one side — Hamas — opposed to peace with Israel. This ongoing rift is a major obstacle to negotiations with Israel, and has also left many Palestinians disillusioned with their leaders.

Since taking office a decade ago, Netanyahu has largely ignored the Palestinian issue, managing the conflict without offering a solution for how two peoples will live together in the future.

After clashing with the international community for most of that time, he has found a welcome friend in President Donald Trump, whose Mideast team has shown no indication of supporting Palestinian independence.

Tamar Hermann, an expert on Israeli public opinion at the Israel Democracy Institute, said the election results do not necessarily mean that Israelis have given up on peace. Instead, she said the issue just isn't on people's minds.

"Most Israelis would say the status quo is preferable to all other options, because Israelis do not pay any price for it," she said. "They don't feel the outcome of the occupation. ... Why change it?"

While the two-state prospects seem dim, its proponents still cling to the belief that the sides will ultimately come around, simply because there is no better choice.

"Either Israel decides to be an apartheid state with a minority that is governing a majority of Palestinians, or Israel has to realize that there is no other solution but two states," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh told The Associated Press. "Unfortunately the Israeli prime minister is politically blind about these two facts."

Shtayyeh noted the two-state solution continues to enjoy wide international backing. Peace, he insisted, is just a matter of "will" by Israel's leaders.

Dan Shapiro, who served as President Barack Obama's ambassador to Israel, said the two-state solution "is certainly getting harder" after the Israeli election but is not dead.

Getting there would require leadership changes on both sides, he said, pointing to the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt 40 years ago, reached by two leaders who were sworn enemies just two years earlier.

"We know what's possible when the right leadership is in place," he said. "So that puts us supporters of it in a mode of trying to keep it alive and viable for the future."

That may be a tall task as the Israeli election results appear to reflect a deeper shift in public opinion.

According to the Israel Democracy Institute, which conducts monthly surveys of public opinion, support for the two-state solution among Jewish Israelis has plummeted from 69% in 2008, the year before Netanyahu took office, to 47% last year. Just 32% of Israelis between the ages of 18-34 supported a two-state solution in 2018. The institute typically surveys 600 people, with a margin of error of just over 4 percentage points.

Attitudes are changing on the Palestinian side as well. Khalil Shikaki, a prominent Palestinian pollster, said 31% of Palestinians seek a single binational state with full equality, a slight increase from a decade ago. His poll surveyed 1,200 people and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Although there was no breakdown by age group, Shikaki said the young are "clinging less to the two-state solution because they lost faith in the Palestinian Authority's ability to provide a democratic state" and because the expanding settlements have created a new reality on the ground.

Amr Marouf, a 27-year-old restaurant manager in the city of Ramallah, said he maintains his official residence in a village located in the 60% of the West Bank that Israel controls, just in case Israel annexes the territory. That way, he believes, he can gain Israeli citizenship.

"I think the one state solution is the only viable solution," he said. "We can be in Israel and ask for equal rights. Otherwise, we will live under military occupation forever."

Netanyahu is expected to form his new coalition government by the end of May, and he will come under heavy pressure from his partners to keep his promise to annex Israel's West Bank settlements.

Such a step could extinguish any hopes of establishing a viable Palestinian state, particularly if the U.S. supports it. American officials, who have repeatedly sided with Israel, have said nothing against Netanyahu's plan.

There is also the Trump administration's long-delayed peace plan, which officials have signaled could finally be released this summer. U.S. officials have said little about the plan, but have indicated it will go heavy on economic assistance to the Palestinians while falling far short of an independent state along the 1967 lines.

Shtayyeh said such a plan would be a nonstarter.

"This is a financial blackmail, which we reject," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Bernie opposes court packing


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On the roster: Bernie opposes court packing - Time Out: Black hole IRL - White House scramble to blunt border closure costs - House Dems green light subpoena for Mueller report - Mimosa Capri Sun or nah?

BERNIE OPPOSES COURT PACKING
WaPo: “Packing the Supreme Court remains as radical and unrealistic an idea in 2019 as it was when Franklin Roosevelt tried it in 1937, derailing the start of his second term, but several of the liberals running for president have jumped on this bandwagon… Not Bernie Sanders. The senator from Vermont might be the only Democrat running for president who doesn’t need to pander to the left to be able to win the nomination. He has credibility with the base, he's near the top of the early polls, and he doesn’t need to climb out on limbs to get coverage in a crowded field. … Sanders was one of eight presidential candidates who appeared on Monday at a forum in Washington that was sponsored by a coalition of labor, immigration, environmental and abortion rights groups. … [Sanders said,] “My worry is the next time the Republicans are in power, they will do the same thing. So I think that’s not the ultimate solution.”

Two more women talk of Biden’s uncomfortable ‘touches’ - NYT: “But the political ground has shifted under Mr. [JoeBiden, and his tactile style of retail politicking is no longer a laughing matter in the era of #MeToo. Now, as he considers a run for president, Mr. Biden is struggling to prevent a strength from turning into a crippling liability; on Tuesday alone, two more women told The New York Times that the former vice president’s touches made them uncomfortable. For Mr. Biden, 76, the risks are obvious: the accusations feed into a narrative that he is a relic of the past, unsuited to represent his party in the modern era, against an incumbent president whose treatment of women should be a central line of attack. … So far, no prominent Democrat has suggested he not run, and the women complaining about him have not claimed sexual harassment or assault.”

‘Yang Gang’ raises $1.7 million - Axios: “2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang raised $1.7 million from 80,000 individual donors in the 1st quarter of 2019, The Daily Beast reported. By the numbers: Donors to Yang gave an average contribution of $17.92, with 99% of donations coming in at less than $200. Having passed the minimum threshold of 65,000 donors, Yang has qualified to participate in the Democratic primary debates.”

Black leaders call on Dems to abandon war on super PACs - Politico: “Top black donors and operatives are calling on fellow Democrats to abandon their push against super PACs, arguing that one of Democrats’ most popular 2020 talking points will ultimately cut off much-needed resources for candidates of color. In a letter obtained by POLITICO, The Collective PAC — which helps elect black candidates to office — asked major liberal groups like Indivisible and Democracy for America to stop calling for Democratic presidential contenders to distance themselves from single-candidate super PACs. Such groups play an important role in electing candidates of color, they argued, especially in primaries, when the Democratic establishment has often overlooked black contenders and left it to outside donors to bolster their campaigns.”

Second Democratic presidential debate will be held in Detroit - Detroit Free Press: “Detroit will play host to the second televised debate among a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates in late July, the Free Press has learned. The Democratic National Committee told the Free Press on Tuesday that the debate — which could include as many as 20 candidates vying to take on President Donald Trump next year —- will be held over two nights, July 30 and 31, if both nights are deemed necessary as expected. … ‘Detroit embodies the values and character of the Democratic Party,’ said DNC Chairman Tom Perez.” 

Klobuchar out with a dozen years of tax returns - Politico: “Amy Klobuchar released a dozen years worth of tax returns Monday, joining a handful of other 2020 contenders who are making their financial disclosures public. The Minnesota Democrat posted her family's tax returns, from 2017 to 2006, when she was first elected to the Senate. Klobuchar, on a webpage devoted to her tax documents, said that ‘transparency and accountability are fundamental to good governance.’ In 2017, Klobuchar and her husband, Jonathan Bessler, an attorney and law school professor, earned just under $300,000, and they paid just over $62,000 in federal taxes, the documents show.”

THE RULEBOOK: SOLID GROUND
“A FIRM Union will be of the utmost moment to the peace and liberty of the States, as a barrier against domestic faction and insurrection.” –Alexander HamiltonFederalist No. 9

TIME OUT: BLACK HOLE IRL 
USA Today: “They've captured our imaginations for decades, but we've never actually photographed a black hole before – until now. Next Wednesday, at several press briefings around the world, scientists will apparently unveil humanity's first-ever photo of a black hole, the European Space Agency said in a statement. Specifically, the photo will be of ‘Sagittarius A,’ the supermassive black hole that's at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. But aren't black holes, well, black, and thus invisible, so none of our telescopes can ‘see’ them? Yes – therefore the image we're likely to see will be of the ‘event horizon,’ the edge of the black hole where light can't escape. Even that will be challenging, however, as the black hole at the center of our galaxy is ‘shrouded in a thick cloud of dust and gas,’ according to Science Alert. … (Black holes are actually collapsed stars, with gravity so strong that even light cannot escape their grasp.)”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval:
 42.6 percent
Average disapproval: 52.8 percent
Net Score: -10.2 points
Change from one week ago: down 0.6 points 
[Average includes: NBC/WSJ: 43% approve - 53% disapprove; Pew Research Center: 41% approve - 55% disapprove; NPR/PBS/Marist: 44% approve - 50% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 39% approve - 55% disapprove; Fox News: 46% approve - 51% disapprove.]

WHITE HOUSE SCRAMBLE TO BLUNT BORDER CLOSURE COSTS
WaPo: “Senior White House officials are exploring ways to exempt commercial trade from President Trump’s threat to shut down the U.S. border with Mexico, three people briefed on the discussions said, amid warnings that blocking the flow of goods between the two countries would have severe consequences for the U.S. economy. In brief remarks, Trump on Tuesday again threatened to close the border but would not definitively say whether he would do so, and he has not divulged his plans even to some of his closest aides. But the White House is bracing for the possibility and internal planning has reached an advanced stage, according to the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the deliberations. Trump plans to visit the Mexico border in California on Friday, where some aides are bracing for a possible announcement.”

Dems pounce - Politico: “House Democratic leaders are considering a vote to condemn President Donald Trump’s calls to shut down the southern border, in a clear attempt to force Republicans into a difficult political spot, according to several lawmakers. Top Democrats discussed the measure at a meeting in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office Tuesday evening. … The vote would be strictly symbolic, but it would dare Republicans to oppose the White House on its signature issue. The measure would reaffirm that Trump’s immigration policies are ‘not in the economic interest of the United States of America,’ according to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, who has seen the draft. … The measure could also include language backing asylum seekers, amid the White House’s threat to cut off support. Though Thompson said he believed that Democrats should move quickly on the measure, a senior Democratic aide with knowledge of the meeting said no timeline had been set.”

HOUSE DEMS GREEN LIGHT SUBPOENA FOR MUELLER REPORT
WaPo: “A House panel voted Wednesday to authorize subpoenas to obtain special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s full report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, laying down a marker in a constitutional power struggle that could end up in the courts. The House Judiciary Committee voted, 24-17, along party lines, to authorize its chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), to subpoena the report and underlying documents of Mueller’s probe from Attorney General William P. Barr. The panel, which has jurisdiction over impeachment, also voted to subpoena five former White House officials they believe may have received documents relevant to the special counsel’s probe. ‘This committee has a job to do,’ Nadler said. ‘The Constitution charges Congress with holding the president accountable for alleged official misconduct. That job requires us to evaluate the evidence for ourselves — not the attorney general’s summary, not a substantially redacted synopsis, but the full report and the underlying evidence.’”

House Dems release spending bill instead of budget plan - WaPo: “House Democrats formally punted on releasing a budget blueprint on Tuesday, instead unveiling a bill that would increase military and domestic spending caps by more than $350 billion over the next two years. The proposal frustrated fiscal hawks on both sides of the aisle and Democrats on the party’s left flank who balked at the prospect of increasing military spending. It also meant that House Democrats, without a blueprint to counter the one the Trump administration released last month, had effectively opted out of outlining their own budget priorities in the face of a divided government and division within their caucus. Several Democratic lawmakers and aides argued that with a Republican-controlled Senate and White House, it would be futile to release a budget resolution…”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
McConnell re-election looking safe, no call for challenger so far - McClatchy 

Democrat, Navy vet Pam Iovino wins Pa. Senate seat Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lori Lightfoot elected as Chicago mayor - Chicago Tribune

Rep. Ben Ray Luján Senate run opens opportunities for future leadership shake-up - Politico

AUDIBLE: THE MORE YOU KNOW
“The smell was God-awful.”– Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reminiscing about an event he did with a California congressman in a raisin factory. He shared the memory while speaking at the Forward Janesville’s annual dinner [in Wisconsin] Tuesday night. The former speaker apparently really dislikes raisins. 

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Chris, I am puzzled by which polls you choose to include and which you do not.  I do not recall (nor have I found when going back to search through quite a few Halftime Reports) results from Rasmussen or Economist/YouGov (both of which were among the closest to the final results in their pre-election polling) being included. These two, in my opinion, are among the most respected and ‘fair and balanced’ pollsters; they often show the most favorable results for the President.  Some of the polls you use regularly seem to be the ones that give President Trump the least favorability ratings. Is there an intent on your part to skew the President’s favorability rating downward?” – Max Bushman, Morgan Hill, Calif.

[Ed. note: Oh, Mr. Bushman… If you really thought that I was really choosing polls based on negative results for your preferred political party I can’t imagine that you would be a reader, let alone writing in to ask about polling practices. But I do want you to understand that we have a rigorous, fair standard for which polls to include. We only accept polls that follow the standards for industry best practices. Neither Rasmussen nor YouGov meet our methodological standards. Rasmussen uses robo calls and can’t therefore call cell-phone users. This renders them essentially useless in the digital era. YouGov has the opposite problem. As an online poll, they leave out voters who tend to be older and/or less fluent with technology. We only use polls that use human beings to make live phone calls to both cellphones and landlines. You also may find useful this handy list of the most predictive pollsters from 2016. Thank you for reading and taking the time to write.]

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

MIMOSA CAPRI SUN OR NAH?
WTNH: “Lunchables is looking to move into the breakfast market. The iconic snack food line is set to debut a new product called ‘Brunchables.’ There will be three varieties to choose from, including bacon and cheese, breakfast ham and cheese and breakfast sausage and cheese. Lunchables teased the announcement on April Fool’s Day, causing many fans to be suspicious. But according to an announcement made Tuesday by the Kraft-Heinz company, Brunchables are a real thing. They should be available in stores next month.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“The beginning of every new presidency they are always given the benefit of the doubt. And the great irony is that Congress has become so dependent on following the lead of a president in general, allowing its powers to be usurped. One presidency after another.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) speaking on “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Feb. 22, 2017.  

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Illinois woman held 33 Guatemalans in basement, forced them into labor, threatened deportation, authorities say

An Illinois woman was arrested after she held 33 Guatemalan immigrants, including children, in her basement, forcing them to work and threatening them with deportation, federal authorities said.

Concepcion Malinek faces forced labor charges following a Tuesday morning raid at her Cicero home, where they discovered 19 adults and 14 children, all believed to be from Guatemala, in the basement, a 12-page complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois stated.

It’s unclear if the Guatemalans were in the country legally, however a victim told authorities he believed a majority of them had claimed political asylum. He claimed at least two of them were in the country illegally, the complaint stated.

Federal authorities began investigating Malinek in March after a person who worked with one of the victims contacted the FBI about potential human trafficking occurring at the residence.

LARGE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GROUPS CROSSING US-MEXICO BORDER PUSHING AGENTS TO ‘BREAKING POINT’

Malinek helped the immigrants travel to the U.S. in 2018 and 2019, but then accused them of owing her thousands of dollars once they were on American soil, the complaint stated. To pay her back, Malinek allegedly forced them to work in a factory in Romeoville and took them to and from their workplace in a white passenger van.

The 49-year-old kept track of the Guatemalans’ debts in a ledger, which appeared to contain signatures and “contract-type language regarding the debts owed to Malinek,” authorities said. One of the “contracts” stated the victim was “free to leave or stay” after the debt was settled.

The immigrants received a minuscule amount of the money they earned, according to the complaint, because the majority of it went to Malinek to pay the debt they owed, authorities said.

DOUBLE-AMPUTEE RESCUED FROM ISLAND IN MIDDLE OF RIO GRANDE RIVER WHILE TRYING TO CROSS INTO US

One of the victims told authorities Malinek claimed he owed her $18,000 for letting him use her name and home address on his immigration paperwork. He said Malinek allowed his 15-year-old daughter to live on the first floor of the house, but left him and other people in the basement. He would only be able to see his daughter “for limited periods of time” and had to ask for permission to leave the basement, according to the complaint.

Another victim, who allegedly agreed to pay Malinek about $37,000 to get him and his family into the U.S., said he lived in the basement with his wife, 12-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

Malinek allegedly kept her captives quiet about the scheme by threatening deportation and dared them to call immigration officials.

“They already know you are here, so go ahead and call them,” she told them, according to the complaint.

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She allegedly told one person, “immigration knows how many people live in this house, you guys are poor and I have all the money.”

Malinek is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s lawyers on Friday are set to ask a Florida judge to toss out hidden-camera videos that prosecutors say show the 77-year-old billionaire receiving sexual favors for money inside a Florida massage parlor.

The owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions plans wants the video to not be used as evidence against him as he contests two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with some two dozen other men.

His legal team is fresh off a win on Tuesday, when they successfully persuaded Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser to block prosecutors from releasing the hidden-camera footage to media outlets, which had requested copies under the state’s robust open records law.

Kraft, who has owned the franchise since 1994, pleaded not guilty, but has issued a public apology for his actions.

His attorneys have argued in court papers that the surreptitious videotaping of customers, including Kraft, inside a massage parlor was governmental overreach and the result of an illegally obtained search warrant.

The warrant, Kraft’s lawyers claim, was secured under false pretenses because police officers cited human trafficking as a potential crime in their application. Prosecutors have since acknowledged that the investigation yielded no evidence of trafficking.

Palm Beach County prosecutors in a court filing on Wednesday said Kraft’s motion should be rejected because he could not have had any expectation of privacy while visiting a commercial establishment to engage in criminal activity.

That prompted an indignant response from Kraft’s attorneys, who said the prosecution’s position on privacy was “unhinged.”

“It should go without saying that Mr. Kraft and everyone else in the United States have a reasonable expectation that the government will not secretly spy on them while they undress behind closed doors,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)

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