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An excerpt from American Kompromat by Craig Unger, out Jan. 26, details the "epic bromance" between President Donald Trump and accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Vanity Fair reported.
Describing how Trump became friends of Epstein through his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, the story explains that Epstein and Trump would frequently share young women.
<p> "Trump was often the center of Maxwell's attention, and women who entered Trump's orbit sometimes ended up being associated with both Trump and Epstein, spending part of their time living in a Trump Tower condo and part in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago or one of Epstein's homes."</p><p>The book also quoted a September 2016 deposition that Epstein was forced to give. He was asked if he ever socialized with Trump in the presence of girls under the age of 18. Epstein took the Fifth. </p><p>"Trump Model Management allegedly indulged in many of the dubious practices <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/12/jean-luc-brunel-alleged-epstein-accomplice-found.html" target="_blank">that MC2 did</a>, such as violating immigration laws and illegally employing young foreign girls," the book says. "Three former Trump models, all noncitizens of the U.S., <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/" target="_blank">told</a> <em>Mother Jones</em> in 2016 that Trump Model Management profited by using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not allow them to work here. And two of the former models said that Trump's agency suggested they lie on customs forms about where they planned to live. All of which meant they were perpetually scared of getting caught and pretty much at the mercy of the agency."</p><p>The book notes that it's ironic given Trump's immigration stance. To be fair, Epstein and Trump's relationship being ignored by his voters is also ironic given the conspiracy theories his supporters perpetuate about Democrats and underage sex crimes. Perhaps if Epstein operated in the basement of a pizza parlor. </p><p>Epstein even claimed to have introduced Trump to Melania, who ultimately became the first lady. Neither has confirmed or denied the relationship. </p><p>The men had a falling out when Epstein tried to buy a mansion in Palm Beach and Trump decided that he wanted it. Trump outbid Epstein over and over, ultimately paying $125 million for the property. He never even stayed in it and later sold it at a loss to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for a reported <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7313805/Did-Trump-Epstein-fall-Florida-mansion-ironically-named-House-Friendship.html" target="_blank">$96 million</a> in 2008.</p><p><a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/01/jeffrey-epstein-and-donald-trump-epic-bromance" target="_blank">Read the excerpt of the book at Vanity Fair and it will be on sale Jan. 26. </a></p>
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President Joe Biden on Thursday tightened mask wearing rules and ordered quarantine for people flying into the United States, as he got to work on tackling the coronavirus pandemic on his first full day in power.
Signing 10 executive orders in the White House, Biden told the nation that the Covid-19 death toll would likely rise from 400,000 to half a million next month -- and that drastic action was needed.
<p>"We're in a national emergency. It's time we treated it like one," he said, adding that he wants to restore public trust in the wake of the divisive Donald Trump era.</p><p>Scientists, he said, will "work free from political interference" under his administration, and he pledged: "We will level with you when we make a mistake."</p><p>In addition to needing a negative Covid test result before flying, travelers to the US will now need to quarantine upon arrival, Biden said. This toughened existing regulations under Trump.</p><p>Biden's other orders included reenergizing a so far stumbling vaccination program and expanding requirements to wear masks on public transport.</p><p>Wearing masks "has become a partisan issue, unfortunately, but it's a patriotic act," Biden said in a marked contrast to Trump, who for months gave mixed messages about whether or not to encourage the practice.</p><h1>100 million doses</h1><p>Although vaccines were produced at a blistering speed in Trump's final year in power, the rollout has been chaotic.</p><p>"What we're inheriting is so much worse than we could have imagined," Jeff Zients, the new White House Covid-19 response coordinator, told reporters.</p><p>Biden has announced a goal of 100 million vaccines administered in 100 days, with his top experts saying it remains possible. So far, only 16.5 million doses have been injected.</p><p>When asked Thursday if he had been ambitious enough, Biden shot back: "When I announced it, you all said it's not possible. Come on, give me a break, man."</p><p>Biden said the administration was expanding places where Americans will be able to get their doses, with new community centers and extra medical staff to administer the vaccine.</p><p>He has also restored top infectious diseases doctor Anthony Fauci to a leading, visible advisory role in the White House, after Trump complained about the expert's warnings on Covid.</p><h1>Covid overshadows presidency</h1><p>The pandemic has overshadowed the Biden administration from its first moments.</p><p>Only a few spectators were allowed to attend his swearing-in on Wednesday and everyone, from the military band to his wife Jill, looked on from behind face masks.</p><p>Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, began their day on Thursday by participating in a traditional inaugural prayer service which also had to be conducted virtually, because of the coronavirus.</p><p>The flood of executive orders and other directives which Biden began signing immediately on Wednesday has likewise focused mostly on his new national mask and vaccination strategy. </p><p>In addition, he is bringing major firepower to trying to get a massive stimulus bill through Congress to help Americans.</p><p>But in addition, he faces multiple other challenges including the aftershocks of a giant government computer hack blamed on Russia, and searing Trump-era political tensions -- an issue that could soon take center stage in a Senate impeachment trial of the ex-president.</p><p>Other fronts that Biden has opened include new protections for so-called "Dreamers" -- children of illegal immigrants who have now grown up in the country and had been shielded from deportation.</p><p>Yet another big blast at his predecessor's record was to immediately put the United States back into the Paris climate accord.</p><h1>Instant change</h1><p>Although Biden won comfortably at the polls on November 3, Trump's efforts to persuade tens of millions of followers that the election was stolen has left the veteran Democrat with a hostile opposition.</p><p>Democrats now control both chambers of Congress, but the existing majority in the House of Representatives narrowed in the November election. </p><p>In the Senate, the two parties are split 50-50, with a tie-break vote by the new vice president giving Democrats the most razor-thin of margins.</p><p>That landscape ensures Biden's administration an uphill climb to get things moving. Even confirmation of his cabinet nominees risks getting tied up.</p><p>Late Wednesday, the 78-year-old president got his first cabinet-level confirmation: Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence.</p><p>And on Thursday, transportation secretary pick Pete Buttigieg, a former rival of Biden in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, appeared for a Senate confirmation hearing.</p>
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Judge rules against Parler — says their claims are ‘inaccurate and unsupported’
January 21, 2021
A federal judge has denied the social media platform Parler's request to force Amazon Web Services to put its site back online while a lawsuit against the company is ongoing, Forbes reports. According to the court, the platform favored by right-wing users has "fallen far short" of proving the credibility of its legal claims.
"The Court explicitly rejects any suggestion" by Parler that Amazon is obligated "to host the kind of abusive, violent content at issue in this case, particularly in light of the recent riots at the U.S. Capitol," U.S. District Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein wrote in her ruling. "That event was a tragic reminder that inflammatory rhetoric can—more swiftly and easily than many of us would have hoped—turn a lawful protest into a violent insurrection."
<p>Amazon removed Parler from its servers after similar actions were taken by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2021/01/09/apple-suspends-parler-from-app-store-until-dangerous-and-harmful-content-resolved/?sh=302aa765448f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2021/01/09/apple-suspends-parler-from-app-store-until-dangerous-and-harmful-content-resolved/?sh=302aa765448f">Apple</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/01/08/report-apple-tells-parler-to-come-up-with-a-moderation-plan-or-be-kicked-off-app-store/?sh=17baa1aa4ed6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/01/08/report-apple-tells-parler-to-come-up-with-a-moderation-plan-or-be-kicked-off-app-store/?sh=17baa1aa4ed6">Google</a>. </p><p>Read the full report over at <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/01/21/court-strikes-down-parler-request-asking-amazon-to-put-site-back-online/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&fbclid=IwAR0dG8SP3lVl1K1mTKJix1HP8XdKMo1vJR1lbPBVvDYrIJU0yOB3hN22Vxo&sh=5065e1654c11" target="_blank">Forbes</a>. </p>
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