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Rudy Giuliani has a rough day; deadly dust storms rip through India, killing more than 100.
Hired to do damage control, Rudy Giuliani is just doing damage
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- Last night, Rudy Giuliani went on Sean Hannity’s Fox show and let slip a very, very interesting detail. And so began the latest snafu in the Trump White House. [BuzzFeed / Hazel Shearing]
- Giuliani said that Trump paid back his personal attorney Michael Cohen for the $130,000 in hush money Cohen had paid porn actress Stormy Daniels. (Daniels says this money was to keep her quiet about a Trump affair; Trump denies the affair ever took place). [NYT]
- Trump paid Cohen back the $130,000 and then some; he reportedly paid Cohen $460,000 from a personal family account, Giuliani said. This directly contradicts claims Trump made that he had no knowledge of the Daniels payment. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
- Trump, per usual, went on Twitter on Thursday to spout some legalese and specify that Cohen never received money from the Trump campaign to stop “false” claims by Daniels about the affair. [Donald Trump via Twitter]
- The revelations from Giuliani sent the White House into full damage control mode. It seemed that Giuliani was trying to bat away speculation that Cohen was paid with campaign funds (an obvious campaign finance law violation), but he opened up a bunch more questions that the White House definitely wasn’t commenting on Thursday. [Politico / Louis Nelson and Josh Gerstein]
- So just how bad is this for Trump legally? It gives investigators more questions to look into, and more proof that Trump has trouble with the truth. [Vox / Sean Illing]
Deadly dust storms hit India
- A powerful dust storm ripped through India yesterday, killing at least 125 people, injuring 200 more, and destroying buildings. [Washington Post / Lindsey Bever]
- Officials in northern India, where the storm hit, said it was the worst in nearly 30 years. Meteorologists believe unusually hot weather drove the storms’ formation. [NYT / Suhasini Raj and Kai Schultz]
- Many of the dead were killed when their homes collapsed after being struck by lightning. Falling trees were also a big factor in the death and injury toll. [BBC]
- Vicious storms like this often occur around the start of India’s monsoon season, which is likely to begin soon. However, this particular storm was much more intense than in past years. [CNN / Swati Gupta and Ben Westcott]
Miscellaneous
- Treadmills originated in British prisons, where they were known as “atonement machines.” Honestly, I feel the same way every time I go to the gym. [JSTOR / Diane Peters]
- DC Good Samaritan alert: all the people who basically shepherded a lost mama duck and all her ducklings across a busy street intersection. [Brad Plumer via Twitter]
- Leakers gonna leak: One of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s top aides has reportedly been shopping damaging leaks about Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke, to try to take the heat off his own scandal-plagued boss. Now that’s loyalty. [ Atlantic / Alaina Plott]
- The Boston Marathon is changing its rules after three top female finishers were denied prize money because of differing regulations for male and female runners. Yay for the ladies! [BuzzFeed / Julia Reinstein]
Verbatim
“Your Brotherhood cat is doing a terrible job as President.” [Egyptian veteran Sayyid, speaking about a cat named Morsi, to the New Yorker / Peter Hessler]
Watch this: Why sports sound better in your living room
Audio engineers are the unsung heroes of the live sports broadcast. [YouTube / Joss Fong and Dion Lee]
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