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Crunching the numbers
- In 2018, billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated $2.3 billion to political and nonprofit organizations across the country, according to a New York Times analysis. Before his shift to presidential candidate, the former New York mayor built a network of financial influence, spending billions in political and charitable donations. That influence led the liberal think tank Center for American Progress to cut a 4,000-word section from a report over concerns that it wouldn’t fly with Bloomberg. The chapter centered on a New York City police program that monitored Muslims and would have specifically mentioned Bloomberg multiple times.
- The Trump administration has said it doesn’t need permission from Congress to repurpose $3.4 billion from the Pentagon to fund border wall construction. The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, said the decision “is contrary to Congress’s constitutional authority, and I believe that it requires Congress to take action.” Last week, the White House extended a national emergency first declared at the border last year, which allowed the project to receive Pentagon funds.
- About 33,000 students in Mississippi attend a failing school district. Most of those students are black and just 5 percent are white, despite a 1969 Supreme Court order requiring 33 Mississippi school districts to desegregate. The Hechinger Report examined the persistent racial inequality at Mississippi’s schools about 50 years later – and how some school districts are fighting the achievement gap. (This issue isn’t unique to Mississippi. Nationally, the number of segregated schools doubled from 1996 to 2016.)
Eye on local news
- From the Miami Herald: Over four years, the CEO of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence received more than $5 million for paid time off. In addition to that astronomical pay, an investigation from the governor’s office found the coalition had abused state funds and withheld information. The Florida Department of Children and Families contracts with the private nonprofit to oversee the state’s domestic violence programs. This outsourcing arrangement was created under former Gov. Jeb Bush, whose wife previously served on the coalition’s board.
- From KPBS: About 5,000 San Diego County residents have joined the Common Sense Party, a new alternative political party in California. But an estimated 83 percent of those may have been registered as party members without their knowledge or consent.
- From the Dallas Observer: Last year, white supremacists distributed leaflets and flyers in public more than twice as often as the year before, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
New on Big If True
- Fact check: Would the Equal Rights Amendment increase abortion access?
- Last week, YouTube banned white nationalist Nick Fuentes for multiple or severe hate speech violations. We reported in December that dozens of shows, including Fuentes’, use YouTube and audio platforms to spread hate speech. Fuentes remains on Twitter, and his show is still on Spotify and iHeartRadio.
- One of the members of Roger Stone’s jury came under fire from conservatives over anti-Trump social media posts. I wondered if Stone’s attorneys knew the juror had previously run for Congress as a Democrat. It turns out they knew and did not attempt to cut her from the jury. Yet for the second time, Stone’s attorneys have alleged juror bias and requested a new trial.
- On Hard Reset: Co-host Justin Sanders, who works in tech development, explains how the app behind Iowa’s chaotic caucuses malfunctioned. Also: One last impeachment fact check and potential cuts to Medicaid.
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– Mollie Bryant
