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Hacker Obtains 'Damaging' Gaetz Info

Hacker Obtains 'Damaging' Gaetz Info

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
November 20, 2024

Good Wednesday morning. A team of scientists in South Korea have literally reinvented the wheel. Have a great day!

In Today’s Brief

Ohio: Home explosion
Hong Kong: Activists sentenced
House: Bathroom brouhaha
Comcast: Cable spinoff
Netflix: Paul-Tyson numbers

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Leak looming?

The Matt Gaetz saga has taken a new, and potentially explosive, turn.

The news: A hacker gained access to legal documents tied to the various investigations into the former Florida House member and current Attorney General nominee. The materials are part of a civil defamation case filed by a Gaetz associate, but some of the contents are reportedly also in the hands of the House Ethics Committee. The New York Times, which broke the story, called the material "damaging" to Gaetz.
Catch up: Gaetz was under federal investigation for sex trafficking, but the Department of Justice declined to file criminal charges. He was then the subject of a House ethics probe for sexual misconduct and drug use. That investigation technically ended when he resigned, but the committee was well down the road and was finalizing a report. It reportedly met with several witnesses who testified Gaetz paid them for sex and/or had sex with a 17-year-old woman.
Big picture: The House Ethics Committee will meet today to discuss the Gaetz probe. The body has an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, so it will only take one GOP vote to compel the report's release to either senators or the public. But even if the report's release is blocked, the chances of the hacked materials leaking would seem high. Whichmeans the odds President-elect Trump can get his most controversial cabinet pick approved remain long.

2) Strategy change

The U.S. is taking a different approach to Venezuela's contested presidential election.

The news: President Joe Biden's administration has begun referring to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the South American country's president-elect. It is a small shift -- the Department of State has previously said Gonzalez received more votes than strongman Nicolas Maduro in the July election -- but a significant one.
Catch up: Voting data suggest Gonzalez defeated Maduro by a significant margin. But Maduro claimed victory without proof and his regime has so far been able to maintain its hold on power. Gonzalez entered exile in Spain in September after being threatened with prosecution; he has said he was coerced into signing a document saying Maduro won.
Big picture: Maduro continues to have the backing of the Venezuelan military and has outlasted previous challenges to his rule. But Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump's Secretary of State nominee, is considered a Venezuela hawk. And the fact the shift happened during the G20 Summit in Brazil signals the Biden Administration wants to pressure regional powers like Brazil and Colombia to push Maduro into talks.

3) Holiday road

It is going to be a busy time from coast to coast.

The news: A record-setting 80M Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving next week. The projection comes from AAA. The travel group said it expects about 1.7M more people will be in transit by air, car, cruise of train from Tuesday, Nov. 26 to Monday, Dec. 2 -- a roughly 2% increase YoY.
Some numbers: About 72M of travelers will do so by car. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen over 18M people during the timeframe with a record-setting 5.8M flyers.
Things to note: Gas is cheaper today than it was a year ago -- and promotions could send it even lower. But experts believe air traffic delays are likely due to aircraft and staffing shortages.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

An Ohio home explosion killed two people and injured one. The cause of the blast in Bethel, which is about 30 miles southeast of Cincinnati, was undetermined; it sent debris flying and caused minor damage to some nearby homes (More)
Wyoming's near-ban on abortion and total prohibition on abortion pills was struck down in a state court. Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens ruled the laws violate women's rights under the state constitution (More)
The long-running but politically fraught push to ban menthol cigarettes is expected to remain stalled. The Biden administration is unlikely to act before he leaves office, despite renewed calls from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (More)

World News

Several dozen Hong Kong pro-democracy activists received jail sentences of up to 10 years. They were convictedunder a controversial national security law imposed by China in 2021; the sentences were condemned by foreign governments (More)
Ukraine hit Russian territory with long-range U.S. missiles for the first time, exactly 1K days after the Kremlin invasion began. President Vladimir Putin formally lowered Russia's threshold to use nuclear weapons in response to the change in American policy (More | More)
Haiti's National Police said it killed close to 30 gang members in clashes inside Port-au-Prince, the capital city. Armed citizens reportedly supported security forces as the Caribbean nation continues to be gripped by violence (More)

Political News

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution barring transgender women from using female bathrooms in the Capitol. The Republican acknowledged the effort is aimed at incoming Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride, a Democrat who will be the first openly transgender member of Congress (More)
President-elect Trump nominated Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary. Former WWE executive and Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon was tabbed as Secretary of Education; Dr. Mehmet Oz is the pick to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (More | More | More)
Former Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn launched a non-partisan political action committee. The independent outran Vice President Kamala Harris by 14 points in the state and was competitive against incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed mixed yesterday. The Nasdaq jumped almost 200 points (Dow -0.28%, Nasdaq +1.04%, S&P 500 +0.40%).
Comcast will announce plans to spin off its cable networks today. Bravo will remain under the NBCUniversal umbrella; the new entity could lead CNBC and MSNBC to end collaboration with NBC News, which will stay under Comcast control (More)
The Department of Justice will reportedly ask a federal judge to force Google to sell its Chrome web browser. The tech giant was ruled to have a digital search monopoly earlier this year; it is expected to fight any forced divestment on antitrust grounds (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Netflix said the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match drew 108M viewers worldwide, making it the most-watched streamed sporting event in history. The Amanda Serrano-Katie Taylor co-main event fight averaged 47M domestic viewers to become the most-watched women's sporting event in U.S. history (More)
Rafael Nadal's tennis career has come to an end. The 22-time major tournament champion will retire after losing his final competitive match as part of Spain's loss to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinal round (More)
Pep Guardiola has reportedly signed an extension to remain Manchester City's manager. He has led the Premier League club to five championships, including the last four, and 15 major trophies; the team is currently in second place behind Liverpool (More)

Quick Hitters

Fun Stuff: Poor Bowser. The giant dog is a good boy who keeps getting stuck everywhere he goes.
Chow Down: It's getting cold outside and busy everywhere else. So check out a few easy soup recipes to throw together for dinner.
Go Deep: Striving for perfection often comes with real downsides. Here are some tips on overcoming the urge and avoiding unnecessary anxiety and procrastination.
Take Note: Long flight layovers stink. But they can be less miserable if you are lucky enough to have one at these sleep-friendly airports.
Life Hack: This easy trick can make your silverware look like it did when you first got it or what you would use at a fancy restaurant.

Watch This

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