Democrats blast ‘politics of fear’ after Trump’s claims against Obama, top aides

Angling to move beyond the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, President Donald Trump has escalated his push to enact revenge on political foes with unfounded allegations of intelligence tampering against Barack Obama and top members of the 44th president’s administration — triggering new alarms from Democrats.

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters on Wednesday criticized Trump and his team for a deploying a strategy that he said “breeds conspiracy theories and misinformation.”

“Our Republican colleagues are failing to conduct independent oversight of the administration,” added Peters, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who is retiring next year.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Judiciary Committee member, said the administration has been evasive since announcing earlier this month that it would not release documents related to Epstein, the deceased and convicted sex offender. Trump’s team has been “stonewalling and stalling and concealing, and the American people are rightly asking, ‘What do they have to hide?’” the Democrat said.

—CQ-Roll Call

What the rise of democratic socialists in Minneapolis means for the state’s Democratic Party

MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic socialists in Minnesota just notched one of their biggest victories yet.

The Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer Labor Party’s endorsement of state Sen. Omar Fateh in the city’s mayoral race could give the Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate a significant boost as he seeks to unseat the more moderate Jacob Frey this November.

Frey’s campaign is challenging the endorsement, but it represents a milestone for the party’s far left flank after nearly a decade of making electoral and policy gains at the state Legislature and in local politics.

“People are hungry for authentic, progressive candidates who proudly stand with working people,” Fateh said in a statement. While local DSA chapters operate separately from the DFL, there’s some overlap in membership and policy positions.

—Star Tribune

‘We did our job’: Idaho prosecutor justifies plea deal in Kohberger murder case

BOISE, Idaho — Just days after sentencing in the most closely watched and scrutinized case of Bill Thompson’s decades-long legal career, he acknowledged that prosecuting Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students, might not have been possible if the killer had not left his DNA at the crime scene.

Without that “critical” piece of evidence, Thompson told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview, the state could have struggled to bring charges, let alone make an arrest of its only suspect.

“From our perspective as prosecutors, the DNA was critical to the strength of the case for trial purposes,” Thompson said.

After sentencing, lead investigator Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne expressed confidence that law enforcement would have ultimately arrived at Kohberger, who drove his white Hyundai Elantra to commit the stabbings with a large, fixed-blade knife.

—The Idaho Statesman

Israel says aid deliveries enter Gaza for fourth consecutive day

TEL AVIV, Israel — Humanitarian aid has entered the Gaza Strip for a fourth consecutive day, as Israeli authorities face mounting pressure to ease the catastrophic conditions for Palestinians there.

The Israeli military body COGAT said 220 aid trucks crossed into the sealed-off coastal strip Wednesday and were awaiting distribution. More than 200 truckloads had entered Gaza on Tuesday, where they were handed over to the United Nations and other aid organizations for distribution.

On Sunday, Israel permitted large-scale aid deliveries for the first time in months. Since then, an average of about 200 trucks per day have entered Gaza — a significant increase, but still far below what humanitarian groups say is needed.

According to the United Nations, the current volume of aid meets less than half the needs of a population that international experts warn is facing famine. Before Israel tightened its blockade in March, around 500 trucks were entering Gaza daily.

—dpa