CANADA'S EPSTEIN
Fashion mogul Peter Nygard arrested in Canada on sex charges





Canada Fashion Mogul ArrestFILE - In this March 2, 2014, file photo, Peter Nygard attends the 24th Night of 100 Stars Oscars Viewing Gala at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Nygard faces criminal charges in New York after his Canadian arrest on charges alleging that he dangled opportunities in fashion and modeling to lure dozens of women and girls to have sex with himself and others. The 79-year-old Nygard awaited an appearance in a Winnipeg courtroom after his Monday, Dec. 14, 2020 arrest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States. (Annie I. Bang /Invision/AP, File)

ROB GILLIES and LARRY NEUMEISTER
Tue, December 15, 2020
NEW YORK (AP) — Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard was arrested on charges alleging he sexually abused women and girls after luring them into his orbit with opportunities in fashion and modeling over the last 25 years.

Nygard, 79, was detained after a Winnipeg, Canada, court appearance Tuesday following his Monday arrest by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. No date was set for a bail hearing, though he was due to return to court Jan. 13. His lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, declined comment.

His arrest on sex trafficking, racketeering and related charges came after the FBI raided Nygard’s Manhattan offices earlier this year.


The raid came soon after 10 women sued Nygard, saying he enticed young and impoverished women to his Bahamas estate with cash and promises of modeling and fashion opportunities. Several plaintiffs in the suit, filed in New York City, said they were 14 or 15 years old when Nygard gave them alcohol or drugs and then raped them.

Nygard has denied all allegations and blames a conspiracy caused by a feud with his billionaire neighbor in the Bahamas.

In announcing criminal charges, authorities said Nygard used the prestige of an international clothing design, manufacturing, and supply business he founded and headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada, to persuade victims, sometimes with a history of being abused, to submit to his demands.

According to an indictment, he capitalized on the Nygard Group’s influence, using its employees, funds, and resources to recruit women and girls under the age of 18. The indictment alleged that Nygard and his co-conspirators, including Nygard Group employees, used force, fraud, and coercion to enlist the women and girls, who were sexually abused and assaulted by Nygard and others.

The indictment said Nygard offered false promises of modeling opportunities and other career advancement, along with financial support, to lure victims, while restricting their movements to isolate them. It said he forcibly sexually assaulted some victims while others were forcibly assaulted by his associates or were drugged to ensure compliance with sexual demands.

The indictment said he maintained personal and quasi-professional relationships with some victims, referring to them as “girlfriends” or “assistants" while requiring them to travel with him regularly and to engage in sexual activity at his direction with himself, with each other or with others.

It said he also directed them to recruit new women and minor-aged girls to be sexually abused.

Nygard abused some women and girls at his properties in Marina del Rey, California, and in the Bahamas, during so-called “Pamper Parties" where some women, including minors, were drugged to force compliance with his sexual demands, the indictment said. It added that he sometimes paid the women and girls amounts ranging from hundreds of dollars to several thousand dollars.

He also directed and pressured “girlfriends” to have sex with other men at sex and “swingers” clubs in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles and Winnepeg and utilized sexual “swaps” in which male friends and business associates would bring Nygard a “date” for sex in exchange for sexual access to one of Nygard's “girlfriends,” the indictment said.

Meanwhile, 57 women, including 18 Canadians, have joined the lawsuit, which alleges that Nygard used his company, bribery of Bahamian officials and “considerable influence in the fashion industry” to recruit victims in the Bahamas, United States and Canada.

It alleges he kept a database on a corporate server containing the names of thousands of potential victims.

Nygard’s accusers had their passports taken from them when they were flown into the Bahamas, the lawsuit alleges, adding the designer “expected a sex act before he was willing to consider releasing any person” from his estate.

A spokesman for Nygard said earlier this year he was stepping down as chairman of Nygard companies and would divest his ownership interest.

Nygard International began in Winnipeg as a sportswear manufacturer. Its website says its retail division has more than 170 stores in North America.

___

Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies reported from Toronto.

SHARES A ROYAL PAL WITH EPSTEIN

Peter Nygard, fashion tycoon with links to Duke of York, arrested on sex trafficking charges   

Josie Ensor
Tue, December 15, 2020

Watch: Canadian fashion mogul indicted for sex crimes

Peter Nygard, a Canadian fashion designer who has been linked to Prince Andrew, was arrested yesterday on charges of sexually assaulting dozens of teenage girls in the US, Canada and the Bahamas.

Canadian police took Mr Nygard, 79, into custody in Winnipeg after the US requested a warrant that would allow his extradition.

The criminal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering were announced on Tuesday by Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan, as well as by the FBI and New York City police.

Mr Nygard, who headed Nygard International clothing brand, is also facing class-action civil litigation in Manhattan, brought by 57 women accusing him of sexual misconduct over a 25-year period. He has denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Peter Nygard has denied allegations of wrongdoing in previous civil litigation. - Getty

In a statement, Ms Strauss said that since at least 1995, Mr Nygard used his influence and businesses to "recruit and maintain" women and underage girls for his own sexual gratification, and the sexual gratification of friends and business associates.

Mr Nygard is alleged to have thrown “pamper parties” at his California home and his Bahamas properties, where he is accused in a lawsuit of luring young women with the promise of cash and modeling opportunities.

The Duke of York is reported to have stayed at the lavish Caribbean estate in 2000 with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and their children.

Sarah Ferguson (left) and Peter Nygard (right) with Princess Beatrice (bottom right) and Princess Eugenie (bottom second right).

The Times published a photograph of the duchess with Mr Nygard and princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Mr Nygard's website boasts of guests including George Bush, the former US president, Robert De Niro, the actor; Michael Jackson, the late pop singer, as well as the duke and duchess.

There is no suggestion the Duke knew of Mr Nygard's alleged criminality.

Born in Finland, Mr Nygard grew up in Manitoba, eventually running his own namesake clothing companies. He stepped down in February as chairman of Nygard International after its New York headquarters near Times Square was raided by the FBI.

A lawyer for Mr Nygard declined to comment.

Fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been arrested in Canada on a US warrant, on charges of sex trafficking.
Harriet Alexander
Tue, December 15, 2020

A sign featuring a picture of Peter Nygard outside his Times Square headquarters in New York City(AP)

Fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been arrested in Canada on a US warrant, on charges of sex trafficking.

The 79-year-old Canadian is accused of “a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct” in the United States, the Bahamas and Canada, prosecutors said. He was detained in Winnipeg on Monday.

Prosecutors in Manhattan said that Mr Nygard used the influence of his company and its employees to “recruit and maintain adult and minor-aged female victims” over a 25-year period for the sexual gratification of himself and his associates.

Many of his victims came from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, prosecutors said.

They allege that Mr Nygard sexually assaulted some of the women and girls, while others were assaulted or drugged by his associates “to ensure their compliance with his sexual demands.”

He began his brand 50 years ago, with Nygard International starting out in Winnipeg as a sportswear manufacturer. Its website says its retail division has more than 170 stores in North America.

Yet this year a darker side began to emerge, with allegations of abuse.

He stepped down from Nygard International in February, after federal authorities raided his home in Los Angeles and corporate headquarters in New York, and major customers dropped his fashion lines.

The FBI searched the designer’s Times Square offices less than two weeks after 10 women filed a lawsuit accusing Mr Nygard of enticing young and impoverished women to his estate in the Bahamas with cash and promises of modelling opportunities.

Several plaintiffs in the suit said they were 14 or 15 years old when Mr Nygard allegedly gave them alcohol or drugs and then raped them.

The designer is facing a class action lawsuit in the United States alleging the sexual assault of dozens of women.

Fifty-seven women – including 18 Canadians – have joined the lawsuit, which alleges that Mr Nygard used violence, intimidation, bribery and company employees to lure victims and avoid accountability for decades.

Mr Nygard has denied all allegations and blames a conspiracy caused by a feud with his billionaire neighbour in the Bahamas.

His lawyer in New York, Elkan Abramowitz, declined to comment on the charges.

THIRD WORLD USA

Birth on a riverbank: Woman's ordeal shows risks at border

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY




Immigration Border Birth 

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2020, file photo, a young girl plays in her family's tent at a camp of asylum seekers stuck at America's doorstep, in Matamoros, Mexico. Increasing numbers of parents and children are crossing the border, driven by violence and poverty in Central America and growing desperation in migrant camps in Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday, Dec. 14, 2020 that it made 4,592 apprehensions of unaccompanied immigrant children in November, more than six times the figure in April.(AP Photo/Eric Gay File)

NOMAAN MERCHANT
Tue, December 15, 2020

HOUSTON (AP) — The Honduran woman walked alone through the dark brush of the South Texas borderlands after being pushed across a nearby river in a tire.

Her labor pains were getting worse. From the other side of the river, the smugglers yelled at her to keep moving.

Finally, she fell to the ground and screamed for help.

Merín gave birth to her daughter next to the Rio Grande, attended to by two Border Patrol agents, showing how lives routinely end up at risk at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Increasing numbers of parents and children are crossing the border, driven by violence and poverty in Central America and growing desperation in migrant camps in Mexico. While crossings have not reached the levels seen in previous years, facilities that hold migrants are approaching capacity, which has been reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday that it made roughly 4,500 apprehensions of unaccompanied immigrant children in November, more than six times the figure in April. In South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, children and their parents are usually taken to a small station where some young people report having to use old masks and being detained in cramped quarters.

Merín and her daughter are safe after she gave birth on Nov. 22.

“They treated me well, thank God,” said Merín, who didn't want her last name used because she fears retribution if she's forced to leave the country.

Agents Chris Croy and Raul Hernandez were called to help by another agent who found her. Merín said the first agent told her to get up and keep walking, but she couldn’t. She says he accused her of lying.

“When I look, I see the head of a child,” Croy said. “I just kneel down to go ahead and support the child’s head.”

Hernandez saw that Merín's clothing was obstructing the baby’s head. He pulled out a small knife and carefully cut it away. Croy kept hold of the baby’s head.

“She had another big contraction and out came the baby,” he said.

It took another 10 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. Croy and Hernandez took clothes from Merín's bag to keep the baby warm in the meantime.

Mother and child were hospitalized for three days, then processed at a Border Patrol station before being released to Catholic Charities. They soon boarded a bus to join family in the U.S.

Hundreds of people die each year trying to cross the border. Photos last year of a father and daughter who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande — not far from where Merín made her journey — were shared worldwide.

“There’s so many women in great danger,” said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. “They must really think before they do what they do and risk the life of their unborn child.”

Why would a woman cross the river in labor? Law enforcement and human rights groups give sharply different answers.

The Border Patrol blames smugglers for using people in medical distress as decoys, drawing attention from others trying to sneak into the country. In Merín's case, agents said, the smugglers who pushed her across the river then brought through a group of five people. When agents chased the group, they went back across the river into Mexico.

The agency also said in a statement that U.S. birthright citizenship laws “could lead some to cross illegally as they are giving birth.” It didn't have numbers on how often that happens.

Under President Donald Trump, the Border Patrol has been criticized for its treatment of immigrant parents and children. Since 2017, six children have died shortly after being detained. Agents separated thousands of families in 2017 and 2018 and have been accused of refusing entry to pregnant women or forcing them to return to Mexico under government policies restricting asylum.

The Border Patrol defends how it treats immigrants and the medical care they receive. Its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said in a statement that agents’ priority in emergencies “is the preservation of life of everyone they encounter regardless of citizenship or background. The enforcement of laws becomes secondary.”

Advocates say government policies to deter migrants push desperate people into more dangerous situations.

Having fled Honduras with her teenage son when her then-husband threatened to kill her, Merín said she lived for several months in southern Mexico before trying to report drug dealers to police. That made her a target, and she fled again.

She settled in the northern city of Monterrey with her now-partner. Her son went to the border city of Matamoros and crossed a bridge in January as an unaccompanied child.

Thousands of other migrants are waiting in Mexican border cities for a chance to enter the U.S. — some for years. The Trump administration has turned away tens of thousands at legal border crossings, first citing a shortage of space and then telling people to wait for court dates under its “Remain in Mexico” policy.

So Merín used the river. Smugglers are known to control crossings on the Rio Grande and attack migrants who don't obey.

Merín reported one threat: “If you don’t pay and you try to cross, you’re going to die. We will cut your head off.”

Aside from the first agent, she said she was grateful for how she was treated in the U.S. She hoped to find work and support relatives in Honduras. She still could face deportation if she loses her case in immigration court.

Since the pandemic, the government has expelled more than 200,000 people within hours or days, citing a public-health declaration. In its final days, the Trump administration is formalizing new restrictions on asylum and other immigration protections that would take months or years for President-elect Joe Biden to unwind.

Pimentel, of Catholic Charities, wants reforms to allow people to enter the U.S. safely and pursue their immigration cases, reducing the chance that desperate families will risk their lives in the hands of smugglers.

“There needs to be a process for that, and it doesn’t exist at this point,” Pimentel said.

TEAMSTERS UNION & TRUCKING EMPLOYERS ASSOC.

CONGRATULATE BUTTIGIEG AS TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

International Brotherhood Of Teamsters

Hoffa: Looking Forward To Partnering With Buttigieg As Next DOT Secretary

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on President-elect Joe Biden's nomination of former South Bend, Indiana mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as the next U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

"For too long, the nation's transportation needs have been overlooked. That's why the Teamsters are pleased to see that President-elect Biden is making such a high-profile pick to lead the U.S. Transportation Department in his administration with his choice of Pete Buttigieg.

"I got a chance to meet Pete during the Teamsters' presidential candidate forum last December and spoke to him again today. Both times I was left impressed by what I heard. He is a problem-solver that we require at a time when elected officials in the nation's capital have talked a big game about upgrading the nation's infrastructure but gotten little done.

"We need a strong voice to lead the effort to improve the nation's transportation networks so they can handle the needs of a 21st century economy. Pete Buttigieg is solid choice to do so.

As the largest transportation union in North America, we look forward to working with Pete to improve the lives of workers, and I urge the Senate to promptly confirm him as Transportation Secretary once lawmakers are sworn in next month."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.


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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

ATA Congratulates Pete Buttigieg on Nomination to be Transportation Secretary


ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear issued the following statement regarding reports President-Elect Biden intends to nominate former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation:

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight.Trucking Moves America Forward. (PRNewsFoto/American Trucking Associations)More

"Transportation is an issue that touches all Americans – urban, rural, coastal and in the heartland of our nation. Having served as a mayor, Pete Buttigieg has had an up close and personal look at how our infrastructure problems are impacting Americans, and how important it is to solve them.

"On behalf of the trucking and freight transportation industry, I'd like to congratulate Pete Buttigieg on his nomination to lead the Department of Transportation. We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and working with him to begin the important work of rebuilding our nation's infrastructure."

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter, Facebook, or at Trucking Moves America Forward.
CisionMore

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Biden taps Pete Buttigieg for transportation post 

and Jennifer Granholm for energy


Daniel Strauss and Vivian Ho
Tue, December 15, 2020, 

Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Joe Biden has picked Pete Buttigieg, his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, to be his transportation secretary, in a move which would make the former South Bend mayor first out gay person to be confirmed by the Senate to a cabinet post.

The nomination came as more picks for senior positions in Biden’s incoming administration emerged on Tuesday, including Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, to run the energy department.

Buttigieg confirmed he had been tapped as transportation secretary in a tweet on Tuesday evening, saying he was “honored”.

This is a moment of tremendous opportunity—to create jobs, meet the climate challenge, and enhance equity for all.

I'm honored that the President-elect has asked me to serve our nation as Secretary of Transportation.

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) December 16, 2020


Biden said in a statement that Buttigieg was a “patriot and a problem-solver who speaks to the best of who we are as a nation”.

“I am nominating him for secretary of transportation because this position stands at the nexus of so many of the interlocking challenges and opportunities ahead of us,” Biden said, “Jobs, infrastructure, equity, and climate all come together at the DOT, the site of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better.”

Biden’s decisions comes as he rounds out his cabinet of top officials to run federal agencies, having already selected former Obama adviser Tony Blinken as his secretary of state, retired Army Gen Lloyd Austin as his secretary of defense and former Fed chair Janet Yellen as his treasury secretary. He’s also picked former agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in the Biden administration, and Ohio representative Marcia Fudge to serve as housing secretary.

Buttigieg is one of the few white men Biden has picked to serve as a cabinet secretary.

Granholm’s selection as energy secretary was widely reported on Tuesday and confirmed to the Associated Press by four people familiar with the plans, although Granholm has yet to comment publicly.

Granholm served two terms as Michigan’s governor and defeated the husband of the US education secretary, Betsy DeVos, to win her second term. In November, she penned an op-ed for the Detroit News calling for Michigan’s auto industry to invest in a low-carbon economy, stating that “the time for a low-carbon recovery is now”.

“She’s really a student of the [energy] transition,” Skip Pruss, who directed the Michigan department of energy, labor, and economic growth under Granholm, told Politico. “If you were to ask me what was a limitation in Michigan, I would say that she was slightly ahead of her time.”

Buttigieg, 38, ran an upstart presidential campaign and proved to be a competitive candidate with a knack for building a notable warchest. After he dropped out of the Democratic primary for president, he quickly endorsed Biden.

Buttigieg’s name had floated around lists for multiple cabinet positions. He was often mentioned as a possible candidate for ambassador to the United Nations, a position that some of his supporters noted could help improve his international relations credentials and give him an opening to New York donors. But Buttigieg was passed up for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran American diplomat.

His name had been mentioned for other positions including secretary of Veterans Affairs. But Buttigieg, a navy veteran, was not interested in that job, according to multiple Democratic supporters. Buttigieg’s team has denied any report or suggestion that he turned down an offer to run that department. He had also been mentioned as a possible secretary of commerce.

Jennifer Granholm speaks during the the Democratic national convention in 2016. 

Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

Throughout his presidential campaign, Buttigieg struggled to get any traction among African American voters. He will probably face similar questions on how his tenure as mayor of South Bend affected African Americans. Still, as transportation secretary Buttigieg will be involved in a part of the Biden administration that affects African Americans across the country.

Buttigieg’s appointment was met with praise by some high-profile Democrats.

“As a former mayor, he knows the importance of investing in safer, more efficient interstate roads and bridges, and in the connections provided by a secure rail network,” New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, said in a statement. “President-elect Biden has chosen the right person to lead on delivering the promise of clean energy and electric vehicles, on creating new union jobs, and on investments in environmental justice – all of which are inextricably intertwined within our transportation infrastructure.”

Biden’s selection of Buttigieg for transportation secretary drew praise from LGBTQ rights groups, with one calling it “a new milestone in a decades-long effort” to have LGBTQ representation in the US government.

“Its impact will reverberate well-beyond the department he will lead,” added Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute.

The South Bend chapter of Black Lives Matter, however, denounced Buttigieg‘s impending nomination. The group had made their displeasure of Buttigieg known during his presidential campaign, following the 2019 South Bend shooting of a Black man by a white police officer.

“We saw Black communities have their houses torn down by his administration,” said Jorden Giger, BLM’s South Bend leader, in a statement, referring to Buttigieg‘s effort to tear down substandard housing. “We saw the machinery of his police turned against Black people.”

Biden also plans to tap the former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy to become his domestic climate czar, spearheading Biden’s ambitions for a massive, coordinated domestic campaign to slow climate change. Her counterpart in climate efforts will be the former secretary of state John Kerry, earlier named by Biden as his climate envoy for national security issues.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Biden's agriculture secretary pick disappoints

Black farmers

By Christopher Walljasper

Fri, December 11, 2020

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden has promised to address racial inequality in agriculture. But some Black farmers aren't so sure he picked the right man for the job after settling on former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary.

Vilsack led the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under former President Barack Obama. His likely return to the post comes at a time of racial reckoning in the United States, and Black voters won't soon forget they helped deliver Biden's victory.

Biden's transition team has said Vilsack's prior experience as USDA chief offers a head start in addressing issues facing the new administration.

"With how many farmers are struggling, the president-elect has been prioritizing experienced leaders – people he knows can hit the ground on day one to get things done," said Sean Savett, spokesman for the Biden transition team.

But Black farmers, who have long viewed the department suspiciously, say Vilsack comes back to his old job carrying plenty of baggage.

"USDA has historically not demonstrated a commitment to racial justice, and we particularly see the track record of Vilsack in the past," said Dara Cooper, co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance.

"That’s what caused a great concern," said Cooper, whose organization focuses on equitable access to food and land for Black farmers and communities.

Cooper's group, as well as the National Black Farmers Association, say alleged discriminatory practices continued at the USDA while under Vilsack's leadership, including the denial of loans to Black farmers and a decrease in the percentage of dollars loaned to minority farmers.

Vilsack declined to comment but said during the announcement of his nomination Friday he was committed to "rooting out inequities and systemic racism in the systems we govern and the programs we lead."

Many groups representing Black farmers endorsed Biden, who has pledged to "close racial wealth gaps – including for rural Americans of color."

But John Boyd Jr., a farmer and president of the National Black Farmers Association, voiced surprise that Biden picked Vilsack for the USDA over someone like Ohio congresswoman Marcia Fudge, a vocal proponent of increased nutrition funding for black communities and addressing racial discrimination.

"In my one-on-one meeting with him (Biden), he committed that there would be change at USDA for Black farmers," Boyd said.

Fudge, who would have been the first Black woman to lead the agency, reached out to Boyd in late November to discuss issues critical to Black farmers, he said. Vilsack contacted him on Thursday, he added, after the announcement of his selection.

Biden's transition team has announced Fudge will run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Among other past issues, Vilsack forced Shirley Sherrod, a Black woman, to resign from her position as Georgia state director of rural development for the USDA in 2010, due to an edited tape of a speech that misconstrued Sherrod’s statements as prejudicial against white farmers.

Vilsack later apologized and offered Sherrod a new position, which she declined.

Vilsack's nomination follows Georgia lawmaker David Scott’s selection as the first African American to chair the House Agriculture Committee. Scott has pledged to back a proposal from U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren that would provide grants to Black farmers to purchase farmland and protect them from further losses.

Discriminatory lending practices, often at local USDA offices, denied Black farmers access to funds needed to operate, maintain and purchase farmland, leading to a loss of $120 billion in farmland value, according to a 2018 analysis by Melissa Gordon of Tufts University.

"We talk about the wrongs of the USDA as if it were in the past, but the reality is that they still continue, so there has to be some drastic overhaul," said Cooper.

(Reporting by Christopher Walljasper; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and To

Biden Picks Former Michigan Governor Granholm to Lead Energy


Jennifer Epstein, Jennifer Jacobs and Ari Natter
Tue, December 15, 2020



(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of the politically pivotal state of Michigan, to lead the Department of Energy, three people familiar with the matter said.

The agency is expected to play an enlarged role in the battle against climate change.

Granholm served as energy adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and has been credited with expanding Michigan’s clean energy industry during her two terms as governor.

She served as Michigan’s attorney general from 1999 to 2003, has been an adviser to the Pew Charitable Trusts’ clean energy program and is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

A Granholm representative didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. The Biden transition team declined comment.

If confirmed, Granholm, 61, will take over an agency with an annual budget of $35 billion and a sprawling mission that includes maintaining the nation’s nuclear warheads, its emergency stockpile of oil and researching subjects as varied as super computers and carbon dioxide emissions.

Under Biden, the department is expected to have a role in Covid-related economic stimulus that the president-elect has said will be one of his top priorities. The department was instrumental in dispensing some $90 billion in clean energy stimulus spending under the Recovery Act in 2009 under President Barack Obama.

The Biden administration is expected to restart the department’s energy efficiency standard shop, which ground to a halt under Trump, as well as reinvigorate the agency’s loan programs which holds billions of dollars in loan authority for clean energy projects.

Exclusive-Biden taps former EPA chief for White House climate coordinator role -sources

FILE PHOTO: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy speaks during a news conference, accompanied by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in Washington

Tue, December 15, 2020, 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President-elect Joe Biden will name Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration to a new role leading domestic climate policy coordination at the White House, two sources familiar with the process said on Tuesday.

McCarthy will lead inter-agency efforts to coordinate domestic climate change policy and serve as a counterpart to John Kerry, who Biden appointed as his special envoy on climate change.

McCarthy is currently the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group. As EPA administrator to Obama she crafted some of the Obama administration's signature climate policies, including the Clean Power Plan to slash emissions from power plants.
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She is expected to play a key role carrying out the incoming Biden administration's planned actions to tackle climate change and address environmental justice.

Biden has called for a net zero emission target for power plants by 2035, as well as an aggressive push to shift to electric vehicles and expand the production of renewable energy.

Biden is also expected to name Jennifer Granholm as his energy secretary, Pete Buttigieg as his transportation secretary and New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Valerie Volcovici and David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)

Deb Haaland Is Joe Biden's 'Leading Candidate' For Interior Secretary

Jarrett Renshaw and Valerie Volcovici
Tue, December 15, 2020, 

WILMINGTON, Del./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico appears to be President-elect Joe Biden's top choice to head the Interior Department, three informed sources said, a pick that would make her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

The position would give her authority over a department that employs more than 70,000 people across the United States and oversees more than 20% of the nation's surface, including tribal lands and national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite.

She has told Reuters she would seek to usher in an expansion of renewable energy production on federal land to contribute to the fight against climate change, and undo President Donald Trump's focus on bolstering fossil fuels output.

Two of the sources familiar with the proceedings said Biden's team was close to finalizing the decision on Haaland but weighing concerns about the loss of a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrats are hanging on to a slim majority. The third source said the decision was made and that an announcement was imminent.

Biden is also in the process of finalizing other key energy and environment picks, including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and Secretary of Energy - all of which will be crucial to his sweeping climate change agenda.

Two sources said Biden currently favors Jennifer Granholm to run the Department of Energy. Granholm, 61, was Michigan's first female governor and pushed for a transition to green technologies in the longtime car-manufacturing state.

Progressive activists and tribal leaders waged a pressure campaign over the past few weeks for Biden to select Haaland for Interior, sending letters to the Biden transition team and launching a #DebforInterior campaign on social media.

Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, has said she believes the fact that she was being considered for the Interior post was good news for Native American areas.

"I'm glad our country's progressed to a place where an idea like this is a consideration," she said.

The Trump administration had used the Interior Department as a key tool in its "energy dominance" agenda, which prioritized deregulation and fastracking of fossil fuel projects to maximize domestic oil, gas, and coal output.

About a fifth of U.S. oil production comes from federal leases.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Valerie Volcovici with additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Howard Goller and Mark Heinrich)

Deb Haaland Is Joe Biden's 'Leading Candidate' For Interior Secretary

Jennifer Bendery
·Senior Politics Reporter, HuffPost
Tue, December 15, 2020, 2:10 PM MST

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) is the front-runner to be President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for interior secretary, a source familiar with the selection process tells HuffPost.

“Haaland is the leading candidate,” said this source, confirming a Reuters report that came out earlier Tuesday. “She is great and has strong support.”

The challenge, though, is that if Haaland is offered the job and confirmed to it, she would leave her House seat open at a time when Democrats already have a slim majority. Two other House Democrats, Marcia Fudge (Ohio) and Cedric Richmond (La.), are planning to take administration jobs. If Haaland leaves too, Democrats would have a 219-213 majority until each of those House seats could be filled in special elections.

“There is mounting pressure and increasingly vocal concern not to pull anyone else from the House,” said this source, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely.

No final decisions have been made. And Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill declined to say whether Pelosi supports Haaland potentially taking the interior secretary post.

“We have an existing policy of not commenting on private conversations concerning the transition,” said Hammill. “I am also not in a position to comment on any possible announcements not yet made by the transition.”

But if Biden does pick Haaland for interior secretary, it wouldn’t actually take that long to fill her seat. Per New Mexico’s rules, Haaland could continue being a member of Congress until the Senate confirmed her to the Interior post. That’s when she’d have to resign her House seat, and the New Mexico Secretary of State would have 10 days to set the date of the election. The election would have to occur within 77-91 days of the seat becoming vacant.

So all told, the maximum amount of time from her resignation to a special election is roughly three months. There would only be a general election, between a Democrat chosen by the state Democratic Party and a Republican chosen by the state GOP. And Haaland’s district, New Mexico’s 1st congressional district, is solidly Democratic: Biden won it by 23% in November.

In terms of timing of an interior secretary announcement, the source familiar with the selection process said it will happen “ideally very soon,” but couldn’t say if it would be this week.

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) would make history as the first-ever Native American Cabinet secretary if President-elect Joe Biden picks her for interior secretary. (Photo: Bill Clark via Getty Images)

If Haaland is chosen, it will be historic. She’d be the first-ever Native American cabinet secretary. She would bring her experience as chairwoman of a House Natural Resources subcommittee with oversight authority for the Interior Department. Her selection would also reflect the will of tribes all over the country, who have been privately and publicly urging Biden to nominate her.

The Interior Department is responsible for managing the country’s natural resources and honoring the federal government’s commitments to Native American tribes, which it has failed to do time and time again. It also oversees the Bureau of Indian Education and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the latter of which manages over 55 million acres of land held in trust for Native Americans by the government. Both agencies are notoriously underfunded and have failed to adequately serve Indigenous communities.

The seismic shift of putting a Native American woman in charge of the department with oversight of public lands ― from which Indigenous people were forcibly removed by the U.S. government ― is not lost on Haaland.

“The symbolism alone, yes, it’s profound,” she told HuffPost last month.

Related...

A Record Number Of Native Candidates Are Heading To Congress

Tribes Want Deb Haaland For Interior Secretary. Some Biden Advisers Are Trying To Thwart Her.

After A Smooth Start, Biden Faces Frustration Over Cabinet Picks

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Report: Of the hundreds of people invited to Mike Pompeo's indoor holiday party, a few dozen showed up


Catherine Garcia
Tue, December 15, 2020



Secretary of State Mike Pompeo found out what happens when you send out 900 invitations to an indoor holiday party during a pandemic that has killed at least 300,000 Americans: not that many people show up.

The Tuesday event for the families of diplomats in high-risk locations was hosted by Pompeo and his wife, Susan, in Washington, D.C. As of Monday night, only about 70 people had accepted their invitations, and even fewer showed up, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post. Pompeo had been scheduled to speak, but canceled his address and had someone else deliver a message in his place, the Post reports.

Government health officials have urged people not to attend indoor gatherings amid the pandemic, and several lawmakers and the American Foreign Service Association, a nonpartisan union representing diplomats, asked Pompeo to cancel the party over concerns it would be a super-spreader event. The State Department had said masks would be required and social distancing enforced; photos obtained by the Post show a masked Santa greeting children, with maskless people sitting down to eat around him.


One woman, the wife of a diplomat now overseas, told the Post she RSVPed no on her invitation over worries that if she became sick, there wouldn't be anyone to take care of her children. "It was a completely irresponsible party to throw," she

ICC prosecutor sees 'reasonable basis' for crimes against humanity in Philippine drug war


Tue, December 15, 2020, 

MANILA (Reuters) - The office of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor said there is a "reasonable basis" to believe that crimes against humanity were committed during Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

Since taking office in 2016, Duterte launched a bloody anti-narcotics crackdown in which thousands have been killed, sparking global outrage and criticism from rights groups.

Duterte has at times lashed out at what he said were international efforts to paint him as a "ruthless and heartless violator of human rights" and unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the ICC's founding treaty in 2018.


The presidential office on Tuesday dismissed the report as speculative and legally erroneous.

"They can do what they want to. We do not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC," Harry Roque, Duterte's spokesman, told a news conference.

The report issued on Monday said "the office is satisfied that information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm as other inhumane acts were committed" between 2016 and 2019.

Many people targeted had been on a drug watch lists compiled by authorities or had previously surrendered to police, while a significant number of minors were victims, the report said.

Government data show that 5,942 suspected drug dealers have been killed as of the end of October, though rights groups suspect the death toll is much higher and say thousands more have died in shadowy circumstances.

Rights groups accuse police of systematically executing suspected drug dealers and users. Police deny this and say those killed violently resisted arrest during sting operations.

Philippine police spokesman Ysmael Yu declined to comment, saying his office has yet to receive a copy of the ICC report.

The Hague-based ICC started its preliminary examination of the Philippines drug campaign in 2018 and is due to reach a decision on whether to seek authorisation to open a formal investigation in the first half of next year.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Ed Davies and Jacqueline Wong)