PBC News & Comment: Senate Moves to Strengthen Barr’s Watchdog

As AG Bill Barr dodges allegations of abusing his office to help Trump, Senate Judiciary expands IG powers by huge majority…--after State Dept IG was fired for investigating arms sales to Suadi Arabia, White House moves to bypass Congressional approval process
--minutes before midnight deadline, Trump administration filed briefs at Supreme Court to dismantle Obamcare, with no alternative in sight
--former super lobbyist Jack Abramoff faces another stretch in prison after taking guilty plea in Bitcoin scam; our priceless interview with Jack from 2011 is here
--de-fanged Federal Elections Commission had a legal quorum for about a month, but is inactive again after commissioner resigns to work for Koch lobby
--House passes bill for DC statehood
--we have a new correspondent in Seattle, Jonah Lehto files CHOP Report
--national police lobbyist worked with Sen. Tim Scott to water down Senate policing bill, just like his predecessor did with Sen. Joe Biden in the 1990’s
--based on leaked documents, The Intercept exposes the hysterical reports from federal agencies that may have driven police violence in Minneapolis
--former FBI agent Mike German tells the truth about FBI bias toward blacks in new op-ed
--obscure federal agency Wildlife Services kills thousands of predator animals every year, but gets almost no oversight
--web security firm Symantec warns of ransomware attacks by Evil Corp and says it’s a Russian operation
--our Covid-19 update, edited by Linda Lewis; the French academic paper about drug profiteering is here JournalOfSociology
--NY Times editorial slams Justice Dept. and Bureau of Prisons for Covid prison crisis
--scientists are studying the impact of reduced air pollution during lockdown
--as advertiser boycott expands, Facebook changes polices on hate speech
--while Biden gets lots of pressure to name a black woman VP, poll shows Americans don’t see VP’s race as deciding factor
--is “black” the right term to use for African-Americans”? Should it be Black?
--at The Grayzone, part 2 of excellent investigation into efforts to force out AMLO in Mexico