Biden–Harris Economy Lurches into Negative Territory for 1st Time Since COVID Lockdowns

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Biden–Harris Economy Lurches into Negative Territory for 1st Time Since COVID Lockdowns

(Headline USA) America’s employers added just 12,000 jobs in October, a total that fell well short of the projected 110,000 and resulted in a net deficit for the first time since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly four times as many job losses in the manufacturing sector.

The report may only add more fuel to the growing momentum of GOP nominee Donald Trump’s campaign for re-election, in which he has touted his own pre-COVID economy and heavily emphasized his plan to revitalize American industry through foreign tariffs and domestic tax incentives.

Last month’s hiring gain was down significantly from the 223,000 jobs that were added in September. But some economists claimed that Hurricanes Helene and Milton, combined with strikes at Boeing and elsewhere, caused up to 100,000 jobs to be dropped. Reflecting the impact of the strikes, factories shed 46,000 positions in October.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate remained at 4.1% last month.

In a cautionary sign for future hiring, however, temporary job placement firms lost 49,000 jobs last month. Companies often take on temporary workers before committing to full-time employees.

“The cooling of the jobs market is still ongoing,’’ said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “Overall, the jobs market—it’s not falling apart, but it’s too early to say that conditions have stabilized.’’

Healthcare companies added 52,000 jobs in October, and state and local governments tacked on 39,000. But because both sectors include large amounts of taxpayer-subsidized labor, their growth cannot be factored into the overal economic health of the country, as measured by its gross domestic product and other factors.

In fact, the additional government spending to buoy the employment rate may contribute to the inflationary factors that have plagued Democrats since the start of the Biden–Harris administration.

The employment report for October also revised down the government’s estimate of the job gains in August and September by a combined 112,000, indicating that the labor market wasn’t quite as robust then as initially thought—after having used the fraudulent data on economic health to sway the Federal Reserve’s decisions surrounding interest-rate cuts.

“The big one-off shocks that struck the economy in October make it impossible to know whether the job market was changing direction in the month,’’ Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, wrote in a commentary. “But the downward revisions to job growth through September show it was cooling before these shocks struck.’’

As voters choose between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, large numbers of Americans have said they are unhappy with the state of the economy. Prices quickly surged under the Biden administration’s watch and remain about 20% higher on average than they were before inflation began accelerating in early 2021.

The Fed’s 11 rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 managed to help slow inflation without tipping the economy into a recession. But with the rate of the dollar’s devaluation now approaching its historic norms, the Fed is set to cut its benchmark interest rate next week for a second time, and likely again in December.

In the meantime, there have been signs of a slowdown in the job market. This week, the Labor Department reported that employers posted 7.4 million job openings in September. Though that is still more than employers posted on the eve of the 2020 pandemic, it amounted to the fewest openings since January 2021.

And 3.1 million Americans quit their jobs in September, the fewest in more than four years. A drop in quits tends to indicate that more workers are losing confidence in their ability to land a better job elsewhere.

For employers, a softer job market is easing the labor shortages that left many of them struggling to find and keep workers over the past few years.

Jon Abt, co-president of Abt Electronics in Chicago, said it has become somewhat easier to hire, and his company has felt less pressure to raise wages this year. Still, finding qualified installers and service technicians remains a challenge.

The electronics retailer, which employs 1,750, including 200 part-timers, runs its own training program, works with trade schools to find workers and also receives applicants by referral.

If the job market deteriorates further, Abt said, “it will be easier to find quality people we are looking for.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Lawyers Spar over Whether NYC Subway Samaritan Went ‘Too Far’ in Chokehold

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Lawyers Spar over Whether NYC Subway Samaritan Went ‘Too Far’ in Chokehold

(Headline USA) Prosecutors and defense lawyers agree on this about Marine veteran Daniel Penny’s encounter last year with a distressed, angry man making ominous remarks on a New York subway: Penny didn’t mean to kill him.

But a prosecutor told jurors Friday that Penny “went way too far” in trying to neutralize someone he saw as a threat and not as a person, while a defense attorney said Penny showed “courage” and put others’ welfare ahead of his own when he placed Jordan Neely in a chokehold that ended with Neely limp on the floor.

Both sides gave opening statements Friday in the manslaughter trial surrounding Neely’s death. The case has rattled fault lines surrounding race, homelessness, perceptions of public safety and bystanders’ responsibility.

It also has become a symbol of the two-tiered justice system under race-baiting, George Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has been accused of pursuing it only due to the racial undertones, while ignoring simliar cases in which black subway assailants have committed even worse acts of violence.

Penny’s critics have accused him of being a white vigilante killer of a black man who was behaving erratically and making dire statements but wasn’t armed and hadn’t assaulted or even touched anyone in the subway car.

Supporters credit the 25-year-old Penny with taking action to protect frightened riders—action that he has said was meant to defuse, not kill.

Prosecutor Dafna Yoran told jurors the case isn’t “a referendum on our society’s failure to deal with mental illness and homelessness on the subway,” nor on police response, on whether Penny had a right to intervene before officers arrived or even on whether his initial decision to use a chokehold was appropriate.

Rather, she claimed, “He used far too much force for far too long. He went way too far.”

She accused Penny of showing “indifference” toward Neely and claimed the combat veteran “didn’t recognize his humanity.”

Not so, said defense lawyer Thomas Kenniff.

Penny applied only as much force as needed to contain a “seething, psychotic” man who had lunged toward a woman with a small child and declared, “I will kill,” Kenniff told jurors.

“In that moment, Danny could look away and pray, or he could summon the courage to put the safety of his neighbors above that of himself, to protect those who could not protect themselves,” Kenniff said.

He chose the latter, the defense attorney added. “It doesn’t make him a hero. But it doesn’t make him a killer.”

Jurors, who were quizzed earlier about their subway experiences, later saw police body camera video of officers trying to revive Neely on the subway floor and Penny calmly explaining he had “put him out.”

The case has been absorbed into the fractious U.S. politics, with Republican officials speaking up for Penny and Democratic ones attending Neely’s funeral. Both supporters and critics of Penny have held demonstrations; Penny arrived at the courthouse Friday to critical chants from a small group of protesters.

Once in court, Penny sat straight up in his seat at the defense table, mostly looking directly ahead. A member of Neely’s family who was in the audience sometimes sniffled with tears.

“We know who the victim is in this case, and we know who the villain is,” family lawyer Donte Mills said outside court.

Neely’s life was tattered by mental illness and drug use after his mother was murdered and stuffed in a suitcase when he was a teen, his family has said.

By 30, he sometimes entertained subway riders as a Michael Jackson impersonator, but he also had a criminal record that included assaulting a woman at a subway station.

Penny, an architecture student who served four years in the Marines, was going from a college class to a gym when he encountered Neely on a subway May 1, 2023.

Neely was begging for money, shouting about being willing to die or go to jail, and making sudden movements, according to witnesses. Yoran said Neely talked about hurting people.

Penny put his arm around the man’s neck, took him to the floor and held Neely there, with Penny’s legs around him.

With a bystander recording some of the encounter on video, Penny held Neely for about six minutes, Yoran said. The hold continued as the train stopped at a station, all but two fellow riders got off, those two helped restrain Neely, and another warned Penny, “If you don’t let him go now, you’re going to kill him,” according to her statement and court papers.

Kenniff said Penny was pleading with fellow passengers to call police and that he kept holding Neely because the man periodically flailed or tried to get up.

Penny ultimately released Neely nearly a minute after his body went limp, prosecutors said. He waited for police, but Yoran noted that although Penny was trained in first aid, he didn’t check Neely’s breathing or pulse or try to revive him.

Penny later told police that he had simply wanted to “de-escalate” the edgy situation and wasn’t trying to injure Neely but rather “to keep him from hurting anyone else.”

City medical examiners determined that Neely died from compression of the neck. Penny’s lawyers question that finding.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Unintended October Surprise? Anti-Trump Author Reveals Trump as Possible Jeffrey Epstein Whistleblower

Ken Silva
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Unintended October Surprise? Anti-Trump Author Reveals Trump as Possible Jeffrey Epstein Whistleblower

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In what’s been criticized as a last-ditch attempt at an “October surprise,” disgraced author Michael Wolff released on Thursday purported audio of a conversation he had with deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 about Donald Trump.

According to Wolff, he has some 100 hours of audio of him talking with Epstein. Wolff claimed for the first time that Epstein was a source for his error-riddled book Fire and Fury, which was about Trump’s early days in office.

Wolff released a short snippet of his purported audio Thursday on his podcast: “His people fight each other, and then he poisons the well outside,” Epstein said of Trump—assuming that it’s really Epstein, and not artificial intelligence or some other impersonation.

“He will tell ten people ‘Bannon’s a scumbag’ and ‘Priebus is not doing a good job’ and ‘Kellyanne has a big mouth—what do you think? Jamie Dimon [CEO of JPMorgan Chase and Epstein’s former banker] says that you’re a problem and I shouldn’t keep you. And I spoke to Carl Icahn. And Carl thinks I need a new spokesperson,’” Epstein reportedly said, recounting Trump’s alleged comments.

But while Wolff’s disclosure was seemingly designed to damage the Trump campaign, the author revealed that Epstein was “afraid” of Trump up until his final days, when he died in prison. According to Wolff, Epstein believed that Trump caused him to be initially investigated by law enforcement in 2005, after the two had a fight over a property near Mar-a-Lago—an allegation that, if true, could arguably be seen as a heroic move by Trump, regardless of his motives.

Additionally, the author claimed Epstein told him that he and Trump once “shared” the same girlfriend. Wolff claimed he knew the woman’s identity, but declined to name her.

Wolff also reportedly alleged that Epstein showed him photos of Trump with topless young women sitting in his lap—a claim for which he provided no evidence. And when Trump and Epstein had a falling out in 2004 over a bidding war for a mansion near Mar-a-Lago,

Wolff’s apparent October surprise attempt was met with skepticism even by left-leaning outlets such as The Daily Beast, which noted the timing of the release: Oct. 31, mere days before the 2024 election.

“Wolff’s decision to speak about Epstein as his source is likely to raise eyebrows among the author’s critics. Only one other journalist has acknowledged using Epstein as a source, The New York Times’ James Stewart, who wrote about it immediately after the pervert’s death,” The Daily Beast admitted.

Wolff’s Fire and Fury book was widely picked apart by critics for its baseless claims, including that Trump had an affair with Nikki Haley.

Even CNN’s Jake Tapper said Wolff’s reporting “should be met with skepticism” as it was “riddled with errors and rumors.”

The Trump campaign, for its part, vociferously denied Wolff’s allegations.

 “He waited until days before the election to make outlandish false smears all in an effort to engage in blatant election interference on behalf of Kamala Harris. He’s a failed journalist that is resorting to lying for attention,” a spokesperson for Trump said, according to The Daily Beast.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

White House Altered Record of Biden’s ‘Garbage’ Remarks, Despite Stenographer Concerns

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White House Altered Record of Biden’s ‘Garbage’ Remarks, Despite Stenographer Concerns

(Headline USA) White House press officials altered the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden compared millions of U.S. citizens to “garbage” due to their support of GOP presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump.

The potentially illegal alteration drew objections from the federal workers who document such remarks for posterity, according to two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained Thursday by the Associated Press.

It is one of several instances in which the Biden administration has been suspected or accused of making stealth-edits to the transcripts, including some that it has previously acknowledged.

Biden created an uproar earlier this week with his remarks to Latino activists after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” during Trump’s weekend rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Several reports, including those of government agencies and environmental activist organizations, have previously called attention to the island’s waste-management issues, stemming, in part, from a lack of landfills and the aftermath of two major hurricanes.

Biden, according to a transcript prepared by the official White House stenographers, told the Latino group on a Tuesday evening video call, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters—his—his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”

The transcript released by the White House press office, however, rendered the quote with an apostrophe, reading “supporter’s” rather than “supporters,” which aides said pointed to Biden criticizing Hinchcliffe, not the millions of Americans who are supporting Trump for president.

The change was made after the press office “conferred with the president,” according to an internal email from the head of the stenographers’ office to White House communications director Ben LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and other press and communications officials.

The authenticity of the email, obtained by the AP, was confirmed by two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

“Regardless of urgency, it is essential to our transcripts’ authenticity and legitimacy that we adhere to consistent protocol for requesting edits, approval, and release,” the supervisor wrote.

According to the email, the press office had asked the stenographers to quickly produce a transcript of the call amid the firestorm.

The two-person stenography team on duty that evening—a “typer” and “proofer”—said any edit to the transcript would have to be approved by their supervisor, the head of stenographers’ office.

The supervisor was not immediately available to review the audio, but the press office went ahead and published the altered transcript on the White House website and distributed it to press and on social media in an effort to tamp down the story.

White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates also posted on X the edited version of the quote and wrote that Biden was referring ”to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”

The press office’s handling of the matter constituted “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices,” the stenographers’ supervisor said in the email.

“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” the email added. “Our Stenography Office transcript—released to our distro, which includes the National Archives—is now different than the version edited and released to the public by Press Office staff.”

The edit of the transcript came as the White House scrambled to respond to a wave of queries from reporters about Biden’s comments.

The president’s remarks clashed with Vice President Kamala Harris’s near-simultaneous speech outside the White House, in which she called for treating Americans of differing ideologies with respect—despite having herself spent much of the past two weeks calling Trump a “Nazi” and a “fascist.”

The Trump campaign quickly moved to fundraise off the Biden gaffe, and the next day, Trump himself held a photo op inside a garbage truck to try to capitalize on Biden’s criticism.

Without mentioning or condemning the specific remarks, Harris on Wednesday sought to distance herself from Biden. “Let me be clear,” she told reporters, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who [sic] they vote for.”

Biden likewise attempted to do damage control via his personal X account, claiming that he he was not calling all Trump supporters garbage but was referring specifically to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally.”

The supervisor declined to comment to The AP and referred questions about the matter to the White House press office.

Asked to comment, Bates did not address the alteration of the transcript and said: “The President confirmed in his tweet on Tuesday evening that he was addressing the hateful rhetoric from the comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. That was reflected in the transcript.”

House Republicans, meanwhile, were debating launching an investigation into the matter. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday accused White House staff of “releasing a false transcript” of Biden’s remarks.

In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel on Wednesday, they called on the administration to retain documents and internal communications related to Biden’s remarks and the release of the transcript.

“White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message,” the lawmakers wrote to Siskel.

Stefanik and Comer said the action could be in violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

That same act was at the heart of the Florida lawfare case against Trump, in which the Justice Department claimed that Trump had mishandled classified documents, while his defense maintained that he had the authority to retain the records from his administration as his own.

The case was dismissed after Judge Aileen Cannon determined that special counsel Jack Smith had been illegitimately appointed.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Cruz Weighs In On Harris Campaign’s ‘Attack The Voter’ Strategy

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Cruz Weighs In On Harris Campaign’s ‘Attack The Voter’ Strategy

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, weighed in on Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s campaign strategy of attacking the voter on Friday’s episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz.

The Harris campaign was forced on defense in the final week of the 2024 election after President Joe Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” on Tuesday during a Zoom call with Voto Latino.

On Thursday, Harris surrogate and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban added gasoline to the dumpster fire when he suggested on The View that women voting for Trump lack strength and intelligence.

Cruz slammed Harris’s lackluster response to reporters when she was asked to condemn Biden’s trash talk.

The senator reached the conclusion the vice president must also think Trump supporters are “garbage,” adding that former President Bill Clinton would have handled it differently.

“Think how Bill Clinton would have answered that question,” Cruz began. “He would have understood.”

Cruz noted the former president would have more than likely praised Americans, instead of attacking them.

“You can disagree with your political opponent, but not the voters,” he continued. “The voters should not be the enemy, and the Democrats, as they get desperate, they’re lashing out at the voters.”

Cruz commented that Cuban must have thought it wasn’t enough to insult Trump voters when he decided to go after women surrounding and supporting the former president.

“Again, it’s the same strategy of ‘attack the voters’ that is spectacularly foolish,” Cruz said.

Cruz compared last-ditch insults lobbed by the Harris campaign to failed 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorable” remark.

The senator pointed out that Democrats like former President Barack Obama look down at American citizens as “bitter and angry” people who are “clinging to their God and their guns.”

“They expect every woman in America to vote for her, even while they insult you and say, ‘If you’re a woman and you’re voting for Trump, you’re stupid, you’re weak,’” Cruz continued. “I gotta say that that is not the strategy of a winning campaign.”

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Secret Service Classifies Trump Shooting Investigation, Keeping Findings Hidden

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Secret Service Classifies Trump Shooting Investigation, Keeping Findings Hidden

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Secret Service has completed its internal investigation into its security failures leading to the July 13 assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania—announcing Friday that the agency has a report that “provides a comprehensive evaluation of the agency’s operational failures surrounding the event.”

However, the Secret Service is keeping the report secret on the grounds that it’s classified. Instead of the full report, the Secret Service released a seven-page summary of its investigation, which reveals hardly any new information of substance. The synopsis rehashes the well-documented security failures at Butler, including the poor communications, lack of rooftop coverage, and lack of coordination with local law enforcement.

The synopsis did reveal that the Secret Service has yet to discipline its agents who were responsible for the various failures. The agency’s Office of Integrity still must review the classified report.

“The findings of the Mission Assurance Inquiry will be reviewed by the Secret Service’s Office of Integrity. The Mission Assurance Inquiry identified several instances of behaviors and acts by multiple employees that warrant review for corrective counseling and, potentially, disciplinary action … All individuals found in violation of policies will be held accountable,” the synopsis insisted.

The synopsis closed by listing the reforms the Secret Service has implemented since the July 13 shooting, including the decision to give Donald Trump the same level of protection as President Joe Biden—though recently Trump has had to reorganize his schedule due to the dearth of Secret Service resources.

Despite the lack of disciplinary actions and the secrecy of the internal review, the House Task Force investigating the Trump assassination said the Secret Service is seemingly “headed in the right direction.”

“The Secret Service’s Mission Assurance Review offers answers that align with the Task Force’s own investigation into the agency’s security failures on July 13. Many of the steps to improve security outlined in the Review appear to be headed in the right direction.

“However, the Secret Service still needs to take additional steps to create accountability and ensure that the mistakes that occurred on July 13 are not repeated.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Democrats Brace Themselves for ‘Mad Dash to Assign Blame’ If Trump Wins

Julianna Frieman
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Democrats Brace Themselves for ‘Mad Dash to Assign Blame’ If Trump Wins

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Democrats are reportedly bracing themselves for a “mad dash to assign blame” if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris come Nov. 5.

Several Democrats flocked to The Hill in an article released Thursday to explain that frustration and finger-pointing at both Harris and President Joe Biden is rampant behind the scenes.

“People are nervous and they’re trying to cover their ass and get a little ahead of Election Day,” one Democrat strategist told the outlet.

The Democrat strategist, who remained anonymous, said members of the party were forced to “fall in line” as no democratic primary process was implemented to elect Harris.

The strategist added that “it is not surprising” the blame game has begun and said “there will be a mad dash to assign blame” if Harris loses.

One former Obama aide said in hindsight, Harris will look “real silly” for picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., as her running mate instead of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn.

One Democrat donor agreed, admitting Walz’s selection was a poor judgment call.

“I’m not sure Walz got her anything,” the Democrat donor said. “A lot of people I’m talking to say he seems like a great guy.

The donor added it “wasn’t a great choice” by Harris.

Axios reported on Sunday that the Harris campaign has soft-blocked Biden from appearing on the campaign trail with his vice president.

One Biden loyalist told the outlet Biden “should be out there” despite the president calling Trump supporters “garbage” on Tuesday in a Zoom call with Voto Latino.

Businesses in Washington, D.C. have reportedly begun bracing themselves for potential violent riots following the results of the 2024 election.

The windows and doors on some businesses have already been boarded up in preparation for expected attempts at damage, videos and photos shared by photojournalist Andrew Leyden on Thursday showed.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Kentucky ‘Glitch’ Switches Trump Votes to Kamala

Jacob Bruns
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Kentucky ‘Glitch’ Switches Trump Votes to Kamala

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) In a remarkable electoral coincidence in the state of Kentucky, a computer glitch switched voters’ Trump votes to Harris votes, Zero Hedge reported.

The incident occurred in Laurel County, Kentucky and was noticed earlier this week.

According to Laurel County residents, clicking the button to vote for Trump on occasion triggered a vote for Harris instead.

Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown admitted that the incident occurred in a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday.

Initially Brown denied the incident, but later stated that the incident “did occur,” even upon trying to test the ballot marking device for more “glitches” afterwards.

“The Attorney General’s office has been to the vote center to check the device that has been shown across social media today,” Brown wrote in the post, noting that an even slightly inaccurate button click on the screen would register a vote for Harris rather than Trump.

“In full disclosure, after several minutes of attempting to recreate the scenario, it did occur,” Brown continued. “This was accomplished by hitting some area in between the boxes.”

Many Facebook commenters pointed out the absurdity of the situation, noting that if there were video footage of people clicking the Harris box, but registering a vote for Trump, the corporate media would go wild.

As it is, the incident went largely unreported by major news sources, though some local news sources have picked up the story.

Louisville Public Media, for instance, reported that a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams called the incident “voter error.”

Ultimately, Brown tried to reassure voters that the Laurel County election is safe and secure, despite the disturbing warning signs to the contrary.

“I hate that this has occurred here in Laurel County,” he noted. “We strive to have accurate, secure and safe elections that we are proud to provide to our citizens.”

Resentencing Hearing for Menendez Bros. in 1989 Killings of Their Parents Set for Dec. 11

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Resentencing Hearing for Menendez Bros. in 1989 Killings of Their Parents Set for Dec. 11

(Headline USA) Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearing has been set for Dec. 11, when a judge will decide whether they will have a shot at freedom after spending 34 years behind bars for the shotgun killings of their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills home.

The date was decided Wednesday by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic after prosecutors submitted a recommendation for the brothers’ resentencing last week.

After an initial mistrial with a hung jury for each of the brothers, they were convicted of killing their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, and sentenced to life without parole in prison.

The brothers’ attorneys never disputed the pair killed their parents, but argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.

Much of the evidence related to abuse was excluded from their second trial.

Soros backed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said his office would recommend the brothers be given a sentence of 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole since they were under the age of 26 when the crime was committed.

If the judge approves the resentencing, the brothers will still need a state parole board to grant their release.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom then has 150 days to review its decision.

Gascón said he took several factors into consideration when making his recommendation, including the brothers’ rehabilitation in prison.

In documents filed by his office, prosecutors pointed to the brothers’ educational achievements—both have attained several degrees—and contributions to the community, such as a prison beautification program started by Lyle Menendez.

Multiple generations of family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez have pleaded for the brothers’ release from prison, saying they deserve to be free because they had been “brutalized” and sexually abused by their father.

However, not everyone in Gascón’s office agreed with his decision.

One of the brothers’ uncles also wants them to remain in prison. Those opposed to resentencing will likely have an opportunity to argue their case in front of the judge.

Their attorneys said the brothers will also have a hearing Nov. 25 regarding a habeas petition filed last year that asks the court to look at new evidence not previously introduced at their second trial. This could still potentially be another pathway to freedom.

The brothers also submitted a request to Newsom for clemency earlier this week. Gascón said Wednesday that he supports the request and that his office has sent letters of support to the governor.

“They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates,” Gascón said in a statement.

Newsom mentioned the case on iHeartRadio’s Politickin‘ podcast recently and said he was reviewing the matter.

He noted that the Netflix drama Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Story had brought attention to the case, with even his kids asking him about it, and that his team had examined Gascón’s decision.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

LA County Sues Pepsi, Coca-Cola over Plastic Bottles

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LA County Sues Pepsi, Coca-Cola over Plastic Bottles

(Headline USA) Los Angeles County is taking on Pepsi and Coke for their role in plastic pollution.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the county alleged PepsiCo and Coca-Cola companies have misled the public about the recyclability of their plastic bottles and downplayed the negative environmental and health impacts of plastic disposal.

“Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing,” LA County supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. “Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.”

Coca-Cola owns brands like Dasani, Fanta, Sprite, Vitamin Water, and Smartwater, while PepsiCo owns Gatorade, Aquafina, Mountain Dew, and more.

The two companies have been ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for five consecutive years, and Coca-Cola has taken the number one spot for six years, according to global environmental group Break Free From Plastic.

PepsiCo produces approximately 2.5 million metric tons of plastic and Coca-Cola produces approximately 3.224 million metric tons of plastic annually, according to Break Free from Plastic.

A European Union consumer protection group and environmental organizations filed a legal complaint against Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Danone last November, accusing them of being misleading when representing packaging as 100% recycled or 100% recyclable.

The LA lawsuit said Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have employed “disinformation campaigns” for consumers to purchase single-use plastic, believing them to be recyclable and less harmful to the environment.

It alleged that both companies promised to create a “circular economy” for its bottles, in which plastic bottles can be recycled and reused an endless number of times, while in reality plastic bottles can only be recycled once, if at all.

The American Beverage Association, which PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are a part of, denied the lawsuit’s accusations about their plastic bottle recycling labels.

“The allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true,” the group’s spokesperson William Dermody said in a statement.

Dermody said California had a 71% bottle recycling rate in 2023, one of the highest in the country, and that their bottles are “designed to be recycled and remade and can include up to 100% recycled plastic.”

In 2022 alone, an estimated 121,324 to 179,656 tons of plastic waste leaked into the land and ocean in California, and plastics make up seven of the top 10 litter products found on beaches, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit is seeking a court order to stop the companies’ “unfair and deceptive business practices” as well as restitution for consumers and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.

In February 2020, environmental nonprofit Earth Island Institute filed a lawsuit in California asking for damages and an order for Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle USA, Procter & Gamble and six other companies to clean up the plastic waste they should be held responsible for.

New York state also sued PepsiCo last November for its role in creating the plastic waste that littering the Buffalo River, which empties into Lake Erie and supplies the city of Buffalo’s drinking water.

A judge dismissed the case Thursday, stating in a court filing that there was no “failure to warn” the public on plastic-related dangers and that there was no cause of action to punish the companies for the actions of a third party—people who litter.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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