NEWS BRIEFING
Cohen entity offers to rescind hush-money pact with Daniels
An attorney for Essential Consultants said the company wants Daniels to repay the $130,000 she was paid as part of the nondisclosure agreement, which was signed days before the 2016 presidential election, according to a letter included in a Friday night court filing.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies, and was suing to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement.
The development could kill a plan by Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, to try to compel the president to provide testimony under oath, if the agreement is rescinded and a judge dismisses the case.
Essential Consultants was set up by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty in federal court last month to campaign-finance violations and other charges. Cohen told the judge that he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.
Avenatti said that Friday’s development is “a stunt by Michael Cohen trying to fix it so that Donald Trump is not deposed.” Avenatti said he did not have to accept the offer and would not settle the case “without the depositions,” which he said would include Trump.
Report: U.S. officials met with plotters of Venezuela coup
The U.S. had at least three meetings with Venezuelan military officers before deciding not to help them overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing unidentified U.S. officials and a former Venezuelan military commander.
No joint operation was ever proposed, the Venezuelan source said, according to The Times. When approached for comment by The New York Times, the White House said it was important to engage in “dialogue with all Venezuelans who demonstrate a desire for democracy” to “bring positive change to a country that has suffered so much under Maduro.”
In August, Maduro escaped unharmed after an attack by explosive-laden drones during a military parade. The country’s security forces subsequently made a wave of arrests.
Swedish premier calls far-right party racist on eve of election
The parliamentary election Sunday will be Sweden’s first since 163,000 migrants were allowed into the country of 10 million in 2015.
The Sweden Democrats, a party rooted in a neo-Nazi movement, has played a role in breaking down taboos on what Swedes could say openly about integration without being shunned as racists.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said of the Swedish Democrats: “Again and again, they show their Nazi and racist roots and they are trying to destroy the EU at a time when we need that cooperation the most.”
Bill Daily, sidekick on hit 1960s and 1970s sitcoms, dies at 91
Daily died of natural causes in Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, at his home where he had been living with his son. He was 91.
Daily played Maj. Roger Healy on “I Dream of Jeannie” from 1965 to 1970. Healy was the astronaut partner to Larry Hagman’s Maj. Anthony Nelson as both men tried to contain the antics of Jeannie, played by Barbara Eden.
Two years later he landed a similar role on “The Bob Newhart Show,” playing aviator Howard Borden behind Newhart’s psychologist Dr. Bob Hartley for 140 episodes between 1972 and 1978.
U.S. cuts $25M in aid for east Jerusalem hospitals
The move follows the State Department’s late August announcement that the administration is slashing more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians following a review that President Donald Trump ordered to ensure the spending was aligned with U.S. national interests.
The Palestinians had held out hope that the hospital money would be spared because it was not included in the previously announced cut. On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority denounced the administration’s move as “an act of political blackmail.”
The State Department did not identify the projects to which the $25 million would be redirected.
Apple faces Trump’s ire for saying tariffs would up costs
In a tweet, Trump said there’s an “easy solution” to Apple’s potential woes that also came with a tax break: “Make your products in the United States instead of China. Start building new plants now. Exciting!”
Apple declined comment.
Last week, Apple said in a regulatory filing that, “Our concern with these tariffs is that the U.S. will be hardest hit, and that will result in lower U.S. growth and competitiveness and higher prices for U.S. consumers.”