With impeachment over, critics see Trump 'retribution tour'

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the week since his acquittal on impeachment charges, a fully emboldened President Donald Trump is demonstrating his determination to assert an iron grip on government, pushing his Justice Department to ease up on a longtime friend while using the levers of presidential powers to exact payback on real and perceived foes.

Trump has told confidants in recent days that he felt both vindicated and strengthened by his acquittal in the Senate, believing Republicans have rallied around him in unprecedented fashion while voters were turned off by the political process, according to four White House officials and Republicans close to the West Wing who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Since then, Trump and his aides have moved with haste to clear his administration of those he sees as insufficiently loyal, reaching all the way back to the time of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Democrats and outside analysts are raising red flags that Trump is exhibiting a post-impeachment thirst for vengeance that’s gone beyond bending norms and could potentially cause lasting damage to institutions.

Some Republican senators, including Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, said they found Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inappropriate. But they also expressed hope following his acquittal that Trump had learned a lesson from the episode.

___

Some Democrats fear fallout from Sanders atop the ticket

DENVER (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders' robust start in the race for the presidential nomination is triggering alarm among congressional Democrats, with many warning that a ticket headed by the self-declared socialist could be devastating to the party's chances of winning the Senate and holding the House in November.

In anxious huddles around the Capitol, apprehensive Democrats are sharing their worries that Sanders' socialist label and unyielding embrace of controversial proposals like "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal will repel voters in the affluent, moderate districts that flipped House control in 2018 and in closely divided states where Republican senators are vulnerable.

The Vermont independent narrowly won New Hampshire Tuesday on the heels of a strong showing in Iowa and is widely seen as a front-runner, along with former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

“I'm a proud capitalist,” said freshman Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, in pointed contrast with Sanders. McAdams, who is supporting former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and whose Salt Lake City district will be among the toughest for Democrats to defend, said having a liberal like Sanders atop his party's ticket “would probably give me more opportunities to show my independence” from the party.

Another freshman from a competitive district, Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., said Democrats need a presidential nominee who “doesn't scare all those future former Republicans more than Trump scares them." And while acknowledging that Republicans plan to tar all Democrats with the socialist label, ”There's one candidate for whom that would not be a lie.”

___

Cruise ship turned away in other ports anchors off Cambodia

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) — A cruise ship turned away by other Asian and Pacific governments due to virus fears anchored Thursday off Cambodia, which is checking the health of its 2,200 passengers and crew.

The Westerdam was unwelcome elsewhere even though operator Holland America Line said no cases of the COVID-19 viral illness have been confirmed among the 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members on board.

The ship is anchored a kilometre (.6 miles) from the main Sihanoukville port and a team of health officials will conduct health checks and determine the disembarkation process, Preah Sihanoukville Gov. Kouch Chamrouen told The Associated Press.

Some 20 passengers have reported stomachaches or fever, Cambodian health officials said. The ship's health staff considered them to be normal illnesses, but the ill passengers were being isolated from others, health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said.

She said if tests show any passengers have the disease, they'll be allowed to get treatment in the country.

___

Jussie Smollett's image takes new hit with revived charges

CHICAGO (AP) — He's stopped posting to his Twitter account, his last Instagram post was eight months ago, and his acting and singing careers appear to be at a standstill.

Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has all but vanished from public view in the year since Chicago detectives accused him of paying two brothers to stage a racist and anti-gay attack on him because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career.

But Smollett was thrust back into the spotlight on Tuesday after a grand jury indicted him for a second time on charges of lying to the police, in a case that drew worldwide attention.

David E. Johnson, the CEO and founder of Strategic Vision PR Group, an Atlanta-area public relations firm that has no ties to the case, said the new charges couldn't be worse news for Smollett if he had any hopes of reviving his career.

“It brings everything back,” said Johnson. “Nobody was really talking about it. ... Now, unless he's acquitted and totally vindicated, this is the end of his career.”

___

After New Hampshire surge, Klobuchar turns to Nevada, beyond

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — It took a year of campaigning, countless stump speeches and an especially strong night on the debate stage for little-known Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar to break into the top tier of the 2020 campaign in New Hampshire.

Now she has less than two weeks to make it count.

The Minnesota senator began working Wednesday to turn her better-than-expected third-place finish — and a surge of fundraising — into enough momentum to be competitive in next-up Nevada, South Carolina and beyond. For Klobuchar, that means consolidating establishment and moderate voters, picking up traction with black and Latino Democrats and introducing herself to most everyone else.

Her campaign launched two new television and digital ads in Nevada, and she was heading to Las Vegas to hold a Thursday campaign rally and speak at a town hall sponsored by a major Latino rights group. She also plans to stump over the next week in states that vote in the March 3 “Super Tuesday” contests, and is staffing up with help from the more than $6 million she's raised since Friday's debate.

“We really shocked a lot of the pundits,” Klobuchar said at a New York fundraiser Wednesday night. “I have had people count me out every single time, and I've come roaring back.”

___

Official: Puerto Rico govt loses $2.6M in phishing scam

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's government has lost more than $2.6 million after falling for an email phishing scam, according to a senior official.

The finance director of the island's Industrial Development Company, Rubén Rivera, said in a complaint filed to police Wednesday that the agency sent the money to a fraudulent account.

Rivera said the government agency transferred the money on Jan. 17 after receiving an email that alleged a change to a banking account tied to remittance payments, according to a police statement.

Manuel Laboy, executive director of the agency, told The Associated Press that officials found out about the incident earlier this week and immediately reported it to the FBI.

“This is a very serious situation, extremely serious,” he said. “We want it to be investigated until the last consequences.”

___

Barr agrees to testify as Democrats question his leadership

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee next month, appearing for the first time before the panel as questions swirl about whether he intervened in the case of a longtime ally of President Donald Trump.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., released a letter Wednesday to Barr “to confirm your agreement to testify” on March 31. In the letter, Nadler and committee Democrats write that they have concerns that Barr has misused the criminal justice system for political purposes.

“In your tenure as attorney general, you have engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns for this committee,” Nadler and the Democrats wrote.

The Justice Department confirmed Barr would testify. His appearance will be the first before the House Judiciary panel since he became attorney general a year ago, and since he declined an invitation to testify about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report after it was released.

The Democrats said they plan to ask Barr about the department’s decision this week to overrule four federal prosecutors and lower the amount of prison time it would seek for Trump’s confidant Roger Stone. The four prosecutors immediately quit the case, in which Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign co-ordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election.

___

Police still searching for missing South Carolina girl, 6

CAYCE, S.C. (AP) — Hundreds of police officers continued to look Wednesday for a 6-year-old girl who hasn't been seen since shortly after getting off her school bus near her South Carolina home Monday.

Investigators have no evidence that Faye Marie Swetlik was kidnapped, but also have not ruled an abduction or that she walked away from her home or was harmed by someone she knew in the central city of Cayce, authorities said.

“We’re still exploring every possibility to bring Faye home," Cayce Public Safety Officer Sgt. Evan Antley said.

Police on Wednesday released a video of the girl getting off her school bus Monday. Her family discovered her missing about 3:45 p.m. and called 911 after looking for her for about an hour, authorities have said.

“Her mother, her mother’s boyfriend and her father have all been co-operative with us," Cayce Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said.

___

2 Ohio State football players dismissed amid rape charges

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two Ohio State University football players were kicked off the team Wednesday after being charged with rape and kidnapping.

Defensive backs Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint, both 21, were booked into jail earlier in the day after they were charged with sexually assaulting a woman on Feb. 4 at the players' shared apartment.

“I am not making any statement on the criminal charges, but it is clear they did not live up to our standards and my expectations,” coach Ryan Day said in a statement. “The athletics department will make sure they both continue to have access to the health and well-being resources available to students and student-athletes.”

Day said he would not comment further on the case.

The men were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning. It was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys.

___

Snoop Dogg apologizes to Gayle King for rant over Bryant

NEW YORK (AP) — After days of blistering criticism, Snoop Dogg has finally apologized to Gayle King for attacking her over her interview with former basketball star Lisa Leslie about the late Kobe Bryant.

“Two wrongs don't make no right. when you're wrong, you gotta fix it," he said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“So with that being said, Gayle King, I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions of me being angry at a question you asked. Overreacted," he said. "I should have handled it way different than that, I was raised way better than that, so I would like to apologize publicly for the language that I used and calling you out your name and just being disrespectful.”

Snoop Dogg was furious that the “CBS This Morning” anchor brought up rape allegations from Bryant's past in her interview with Leslie, a friend of Bryant. The retired Lakers star was killed in a helicopter crash last month along with his young daughter and seven others.

Snoop Dogg went on Instagram and called King crude names. He also said she better back off “before we come get you,” and posted a slew of insulting photos and memes about her.

News from © The Associated Press, 2020