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Gaetz Ethics Report Is Released

Gaetz Ethics Report Is Released

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
December 24, 2024

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Good Tuesday morning! Merry Christmas Eve! Tonight's Mega Millions lottery drawing will have an estimated $944M jackpot, so grab a ticket while doing your last-minute shopping. We will be off tomorrow and Thursday; see you on Friday!

In Today’s Brief

California: Wharf collapse
Sweden: China claim
Nebraska: Governor injured
Nordstrom: Going private
Christopher Nolan: Next film

... and more

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1) Bombshell revelations

The House Ethics Committee's long-awaited report into ex-Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz landed with a bang.

The headline: There is "substantial evidence" that the failed Attorney General nominee "violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct," according to the scathing 37-page summary. Gaetz resigned from the House when nominated and has signaled he will not take the oath of office in January despite winning re-election; he is set to work for far-right cable news network OANN.
The findings: The committee found Gaetz committed statutory rape, paid for sex, used illegal drugs and obstructed Congress. There was "credible" evidence Gaetz slept with a 17-year-old girl. The report also concluded the Department of Justice failed to pursue criminal charges despite the overwhelming evidence and impeded the House Ethics probe.
How it happened: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson tried to suppress the report once Gaetz resigned. But two Republican committee members relented and voted for its release with Democrats.
Big picture: The report is damning, but it does not necessarily mean Gaetz's political career is over. He has been both defiant and claimed he behaved embarrassingly in the past. And allies of President-elect Donald Trump are reportedly encouraging him to fight on, seizing on the fact DOJ never charged him.

2) More clemency

President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of almost every federal death row inmate.

The news: Biden said 37 of 40 federal inmates facing execution have had their sentences reclassified. They will now serve life in prison with no possibility for parole. Biden said the commutations are consistent with his administration's moratorium on federal executions.
The exceptions: Biden's policy is to proceed with death sentences for prisoners convicted of hate crimes or terrorism. The three inmates that did not receive a commutation are Robert Bowers and Dylann Roof, who respectively committed mass shootings at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The timing: Biden's move comes as he prepares to meet Pope Francis on his final state visit to Rome after the new year. The pontiff has called for an end to the death penalty. Biden is also preventing President-elect Trump, who has called for expanding the federal death penalty, from carrying out the sentences. His previous administration oversaw an unprecedented 13 federal executions.

3) Vote upheld

Mozambique's top court confirmed its controversial recent election results.

What happened: The African nation's Constitutional Council ruled that the ruling Frelimo party won October's elections in a landslide and Daniel Chapo is the president-elect. Mozambican opposition parties allege the vote was rigged. Western observers said there is evidence of election fraud, but have cast doubt on whether it impacted the outcome.
Catch up: Frelimo has ruled the country since Mozambique earned independence from Portugal in 1975, ultimately prevailing in a long-running civil war. Mozambique has transitioned from single-party rule to a multi-party system as Frelimo has moved from Marxist policies to democratic socialism.
Big picture: Deadly protests have rocked the country for weeks and should continue. Presidential runner-up Venancio Mondlane has claimed victory and threatened to incite chaos that shuts down the country of 34M people. The country is also reeling from Cyclone Chido, which killed close to 100 people.

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U.S. News

California's Santa Cruz Wharf partially collapsed. Three people fell into the ocean and suffered minor injuries; two were rescued and the third managed to reach land on their own (More)
A notorious Colombian drug lord was deported after 25 years in federal prison. Fabio Ochoa, who was an operator for the Medellin cartel, was informed he is a free man by Colombian officials when he arrived in Bogota (More)
A former Washington D.C. police officer was convicted of assisting the leader of an extremist group before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Shane Lamond corresponded with and supported the Proud Boys' Enrique Tarrio; he argued it was part of his Metropolitan Police intelligence role (More)

World News

Sweden said China denied full access to a ship suspected of sabotaging fiber-optic cables under the Baltic Sea. The Yi Peng 3 has moved on toward Egypt after being held for over a month; Beijing had pledged full cooperation in the probe (More)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said North Korea has suffered over 3K casualties fighting alongside Russia. South Korea said it expects Pyongyang to send more troops to the front lines (More)
Bangladesh has formally requested ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's extradition from neighboring India. The former strongwoman entered exile in New Delhi after student-led anti-government protests turned violent; she will face criminal charges if repatriated (More)

Political News

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries after being bucked off a horse. The Republican broke seven ribs and suffered a partially collapsed lung, a minor vertebrae fracture and minor kidney and spleen lacerations (More)
Former President Bill Clinton was hospitalized yesterday. An aide said the 78-year-old developed a fever and was undergoing observation and testing at Georgetown University Medical Center (More)
President-elect Trump will reportedly pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization. He began the withdrawal process during his first term, citing a slow response to curb the spread of Covid-19 (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed higher yesterday. The Nasdaq jumped almost 200 points (Dow +0.16%, Nasdaq +0.98%, S&P 500 +0.73%).
Nordstrom is going private with a $6.25B buyout deal. The department store chain's founding family will own 50.1% of the business; Mexican company El Puerto de Liverpool will own the rest (More)
The Container Store filed for bankruptcy. The organizational and storage goods retailer is grappling with mounting debt and cash flow issues (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Christopher Nolan will direct a film adaptation of The Odyssey. The Academy Award winner's next movie will hit theaters in 2026; Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway are among the star-studded cast (More)
Texas is suing the NCAA to block transgender athlete participation in women's sports. Attorney General Ken Paxton claims the college sports governing body's policies violate a state consumer protection law; he is seeking an injunction for Texas teams and events contested in Texas (More)
New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is the final player to join Unrivaled. She reportedly received a significant deal to join the upstart women's 3-on-3 basketball circuit; it is believed WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark turned down the new league (More)

Quick Hitters

Fun Stuff: Some gifts can literally change the world. Here are a few examples over the years, including the Statue of Liberty and Elvis Presley's first guitar.
New Idea: Seaweed has become a popular resource to produce sustainable goods. Scientists in Norway are now working to apply it to antibiotics development.
Go Deep: If you plan to partake in the Feast of the Seven Fishes tonight -- or love chicken parmesan -- you may want tothank Marcella Hazan. The cooking writer transformed how Americans interact with Italian food.
Take Note: You know those sound button boards that supposedly allow your dog to "talk" to you? A new study concluded pooches understand what they are communicating when they use them.
Life Hack: The price of bitcoin broke the $100K mark earlier this year. Experts say it is not too late to start investing in the cryptocurrency, but you must be educated and have a solid plan.

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