Cartoon

The Angry Mob

Written by SK Ashby

(Cartoonist - Tim Eagan)

In other news, the indictment against Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova for interfering in the 2018 midterm election says her team of paid trolls amplified messages that question the integrity of special prosecutor Robert Mueller. They called Mueller a tool of "the establishment."

Meanwhile, Turkish officials told ABC News that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heard the infamous audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's death, but the State Department is denying it.

Finally, Twitter has reportedly suspended a network of bots that we spreading anti-Khashoggi smears and conspiracy theories.

Twitter became aware of some of the bots on Thursday when NBC News presented the company with a spreadsheet of hundreds of accounts that tweeted and retweeted the same pro-Saudi government tweets at the same time. [...]

A Twitter spokesperson, who asked not to be identified because the spokesperson was not authorized to speak publicly, said the company was aware of the influence operation and had already suspended even more pro-Saudi government accounts before they were caught by researchers.

Here are some other stories I didn't get to this week:

Documents obtained by American Oversight show Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has had numerous secret meetings with industry executives while he was making decisions that effect them.

Moody's Analytics is projecting that economic growth will slow to just 0.9 percent in 2020 with a possibility for recession.

An investigation by Pro Publica found that the Trump family, including Ivanka and Don Jr, has routinely lied to investors about their properties. Trump himself has also been more involved in these projects that he claims publicly.

Buzzfeed News reports that United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been hiring former American soldiers to carry out assassinations and targeted killings. We found the "rogue killers."

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who is Indian American, says Trump asked her if she was from the "same tribe" as Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The Interior Department inspector general that was fired this week has been un-fired.

Former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny has been arrested and charged for tampering with evidence related to the Larry Nassir sexual abuse case.

The indictment alleges Penny ordered the removal of documents from the Karolyi Ranch relating to Nassar’s activities at the ranch, near Huntsville. It alleges Penny acted after learning that Texas Rangers and Walker County authorities were investigating the ranch, which was being managed by USA Gymnastics.

The indictment states the documents were delivered to Penny at the USA Gymnastics headquarters in Indianapolis, they have not been recovered and their whereabouts are unknown to authorities.

The board of Trump Tower in Manhattan is suing the family of the man who was killed in a fire at Trump Tower. Really.

Documents show former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spent a lot of money on private flights on military planes, including trips that were explicitly recorded as "personal travel."