Harry Dunn's mother says UK must 'stand up to US' and refuse extradition requests

The mother of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn has urged the British government to “stand up to” the US amid a continuing diplomatic row.Donald Trump’s administration has refused to extradite suspect Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence official, for prosecution over Mr Dunn’s death.

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Sanders says his supporters will vote for Biden but he needs to court them

Sanders: Biden should focus on student debt relief, health insurance coverage, a living wage, climate change and racismFormer Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has said he thinks his supporters will vote for Joe Biden in November’s US election, despite a former aide’s warning that Biden was not consolidating Sanders supporters.In a memo released last week, former Sanders adviser Jeff Weaver said Sanders supporters were “currently unsupportive and unenthusiastic” about Biden and “there is a real and urgent need to help Biden consolidate Sanders supporters”.Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, said on ABC News’ This Week program on Sunday that Biden was “beginning” to make overtures to his supporters “And I think at the end of the day they will be voting for Joe Biden.”“I think, at the end of the day, the vast majority of the people who voted for me who supported me will understand and do understand that Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country, he is a pathological liar, he’s a racist and a sexist, a homophobe, etcetera,” said Sanders.“But I think what Joe is gonna have to do – and he’s beginning to move in that direction – is to say to those working class people, say to those young people, say to those minorities, ‘Listen, I understand your situation’.”Sanders said Biden’s message should focus on student debt relief, health insurance coverage, a living wage, climate change policy and racism in the criminal justice and immigration systems.Biden, who has run on his record as Barack Obama’s vice-president, is regarded as a moderate who appeals to more centrist Democrats, and his policy platform has been criticized by some progressive groups who see it as overly cautious and lacking ambition.“I think they are going to reach out to our supporters and come up with an agenda that speaks to the needs of working families, of young families and minority communities,” Sanders said.Sanders withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary race in April and conceded to Biden, the presumptive nominee.An analysis by CNN on Sunday of the latest state polls found Biden holding a national lead over Trump of about eight points and also leading Trump in key swing states.Democrats had difficulty corralling Sanders supporters behind the 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, with about 12% of Sanders supporters that year voting instead for Trump, according to a 2017 Cooperative Congressional Election study.Sanders supporters in the 2020 cycle appear much less likely to back Trump in the general election, however, according to polling. A Suffolk University/USA TODAY survey conducted last month found that 4% planned to vote for Trump.The Sanders and Biden campaigns have been working together to encourage supporters to join the common cause of defeating Trump. In a joint campaign memo released last month, they announced that the Biden camp would appoint some Sanders supporters as delegates at the national convention and invite the Sanders camp to help craft the official party platform.The 2020 Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held in late August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the party has made contingency plans for a virtual convention if warranted by coronavirus concerns.

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'No-knock' searches plus stand-your-ground laws: A deadly combo for civilians and police

To keep suspects from flushing drugs down the toilet, police says they need to conduct no-knock searches. Is it worth the cost in injuries and deaths?

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Immigration agency asks for emergency funds, will raise fees

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Coronavirus: Hospitals in Brazil's São Paulo 'near collapse'

Public hospitals in São Paulo have reached 90% capacity for emergency beds, the city's mayor warns.

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Coronavirus: European countries set to further ease lockdowns

Italy, Spain and Portugal are among the countries that will relax their restrictions from Monday.

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One dead after Canadian Snowbirds acrobatic jet crashes into home

The Snowbirds jet was on a mission to boost the morale of Canadians fighting the spread of Covid-19.

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Coronavirus: They grabbed my breasts and said, 'You're not a woman'

Panama's lockdown allows men and women out on alternate days - but for trans people it's been tough.

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Afghan maternity ward attack: The woman nursing the babies of murdered mothers

Firooza Omar volunteered to nurse newborns after a deadly attack on an Afghan maternity ward.

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Coronavirus: Heath workers face violent attacks in Mexico

While in many countries doctors and nurses are being praised for their work on the coronavirus front line, in Mexico dozens have been attacked.

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Coronavirus: Why Africans should take part in vaccine trials

Scientists in Africa explain that any trials would be properly regulated and so the scare stories should be ignored.

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The man who bought 60,000 oil and gas wells

Rusty Hutson Jr is the boss of fast-growing US energy firm Diversified Gas & Oil.

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Coronavirus: Why Taiwan won't have a seat at the virus talks

As the world meets to tackle the coronavirus crisis, one of the most successful countries is not invited.

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Coronavirus: Are Italians losing faith in the EU?

As Italy slowly emerges from coronavirus lockdown many citizens feel let down by the EU.

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Gedhun Choekyi Niyima: Tibetan Buddhism's 'reincarnated' leader who disappeared aged six

Twenty-five years after the Panchen Lama disappeared, Tibetans abroad urge China to reveal his fate.

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Plinofficial: The downfall of a Russian rapper who loved dollars

How did a young Russian rapper become accused by the FBI of working with global cybercriminals?

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How Covid-19 is threatening Central America's economic lifeline

Many communities rely heavily on remittances but these are drying up due to coronavirus lockdowns.

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Letter from Africa: Spare a thought for stranded migrants

Ismail Einashe writes that migrants are facing a tougher time since the outbreak of coronavirus.

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One every eight minutes: India's missing children

Many of those who vanish are trafficked and exploited, but there's little public outrage.

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Actor Leslie Jordan on his lockdown Instagram fame

The Emmy Award-winning star's videos have helped him to hit more than four million followers.

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Coronavirus: Two Americas in the nation's capital

Social and racial divides play out in Washington DC as the city, and nation, grapple with Covid-19.

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Coronavirus leaves Gulf migrant workers stranded

For decades, migrant workers built the economies of the Gulf, but Covid-19 has left them stranded.

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Coronavirus in Nigeria: The child beggars at the heart of the outbreak

Tens of thousands of Koranic school children were recently sent home, unwittingly helping to spread coronavirus.

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Coronavirus: Why “shark attacks” won’t go down as Covid deaths

Infowars claims about testing, the viral body bag video in Brazil and other claims fact-checked.

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Week in pictures: 9-15 May 2020

A selection of news photographs taken around the world this week.

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NBC’s Chuck Todd Apologizes On-Air for Using Misleading Clip of Attorney General

MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd on Tuesday apologized on-air for playing a clip of Attorney General William Barr that was edited in a misleading way during his Sunday show, saying he is "very sorry" for the mistake while stipulating "that was not our edit."During Sunday's edition of Meet the Press, Todd played a partial clip of Attorney General Bill Barr defending the Justice Department's controversial decision to drop the case against former national-security advisor Michael Flynn.The attorney general was asked during a CBS interview how he thinks the history will be judge his decision to drop the charges against Flynn, who pled guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI regarding his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He withdrew his guilty plea earlier this year.“Well, history is written by the winner,” Barr responded. “So it largely depends on who’s writing the history."In the longer clip that the show did not play, Barr continues, "But I think a fair history would say it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law, it upheld the standards of the Department of Justice, and it undid what was an injustice.”During the commentary period after playing the clip on his show, Todd claimed that the attorney general did not make the case that he was upholding the rule of law, which he said is close to admitting that "this is a political job.”"We did not edit that out. That was not our edit," Todd said during his apology, adding that the show did not include Barr's additional remarks because "we only saw the shorter of two clips that CBS did air.""We should have looked at both and checked for a full transcript, a mistake that I wish we hadn't made and one that I wish I hadn't made," Todd continued. "The second part of the attorney general's answer would have put it in the proper context, and had I seen that part of the interview, I would not have framed the conversation the way I did. And I obviously am very sorry for that mistake."The Twitter account for Meet the Press issued an admission of the error later on Sunday in a reply to a tweet from DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec criticizing the "deceptive editing" of the Barr clip."You’re correct," the show's account wrote. "Earlier today, we inadvertently and inaccurately cut short a video clip of an interview with AG Barr before offering commentary and analysis. The remaining clip included important remarks from the attorney general that we missed, and we regret the error.”

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Taiwan says WHO has 'forgotten' neutrality by barring island

The World Health Organization (WHO) has "forgotten" its professionalism and neutrality in locking Taiwan out of the body for political reasons, Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen said on Thursday. Taiwan says China and the WHO have conspired for political purposes to keep it out of key meetings, that the WHO has not responded to requests for coronavirus information and has misreported the number of its infections. The WHO and China have strongly dispute the accusations, saying Taiwan has been given all the help it needed, but that only China, which claims democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, has the right to fully represent it in the WHO.

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Trump Calls for Obama to Be Hauled Before Congress for Massive Crimes He Declines to Outline

If President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed is an indication of where his head is at, his thoughts on Thursday morning were far from the 84,000 Americans that have died from COVID-19. The president’s morning obsessions included Barack Obama, a government whistleblower, his 22-0 record on congressional endorsements, and unspecified “good numbers” coming out of states that have begun to wind back pandemic-related shutdowns. In a tweet tagging Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Trump called for former President Obama to be brought before Congress to testify about unspecified crimes that Trump thinks constitutes the biggest scandal in history.Bill Barr Can’t Investigate Barack Obama. Who Says So? Bill Barr.“If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama,” he wrote. “He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!”Trump has been loudly complaining about “OBAMAGATE!” in recent days, first amplifying the allegations in a stream of 120 tweets and retweets on May 10. But he has conveniently declined to say what crimes Obama is supposed to have committed.Asked by a Washington Post journalist this week, Trump responded: “Obamagate. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s been going on from before I even got elected. And it’s a disgrace that it happened.”When pressed to say what offense was committed, Trump said: “You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.”Trump and his allies have long claimed, without evidence, that the investigation into Russian election meddling, started by the FBI in 2017, was a hit job by the outgoing Obama administration. Since the Department of Justice sensationally moved to drop its case against Trump’s one-time National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with Russian officials, Trump’s “Obamagate” conspiracy theories have reached fever pitch. Richard Grenell, Trump’s acting director of national intelligence, released a declassified list on Tuesday of Obama administration officials who sought to “unmask” Flynn—a fairly common practice by senior officials who want to know the names of people under government surveillance. (Under privacy laws and intelligence regulations, the names of Americans picked up on foreign wire taps are concealed unless officials ask that they be unmasked.)Trump and his supporters claimed the list shared by Grenell, which included Trump’s likely 2020 opponent Joe Biden, was more proof that the Obama administration sought to sabotage the incoming Trump administration.Graham, whose panel is investigating the origins of the Russia probe, is unlikely to take up Trump’s call to bring Obama before Congress. “I don’t think now’s the time for me to do that. I don’t know if that’s even possible,” he told Politico on Thursday, reiterating his comments from earlier in the week that he was not anticipating calling Obama. “I understand President Trump’s frustration, but be careful what you wish for,” he added.Attorney General William Barr also launched a separate investigation into the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation, but the prosecutor he put in charge has not interviewed at least five key potential witnesses or targets, multiple sources told The Daily Beast.While Trump’s call for Obama to participate in a quasi-show trial seems outlandish, some presidents and former presidents have been called to testify before Congress on rare occasions.After tweeting about “OBAMAGATE!” on Thursday, Trump pivoted to trashing the reputation of Rick Bright, a government scientist-turned-whistleblower who is testifying before Congress on Thursday. Bright claims he was ousted from his job overseeing coronavirus vaccine research after questioning the efficacy of an anti-malarial drug favored by the president.By Wednesday, at least 84,239 Americans had died of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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One of Ahmaud Arbery's alleged killers had a confrontation with him 2 weeks before his death, neighbor says

The neighbor said Ahmaud Arbery had been walking around a construction site when its property owner got an alert from a motion-sensor.

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GOP's Garcia wins California special election and flips House seat

Garcia flips California seat from Democratic to Republican, defeating Christy Smith to fill vacancy left by Representative Katie Hill's resignation.

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A growing number of universities aren't coming back to campus this fall — here's the list so far

Cal State schools are staying online. Other universities are likely to follow, since evidence shows the coronavirus may make a major fall resurgence.

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Storm Arthur: First named storm of 2020 could form this weekend in US

Hurricane season may kick off early, with the potential for the year's first named storm to form off the coast of Florida and the Bahamas.Tropical (or, potentially, Subtropical) Storm Arthur, as it will be called if conditions develop into a named storm system - has a 70 per cent chance of forming over the next five days, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

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Sanofi says COVID-19 vaccine will be available worldwide simultaneously

Sanofi will ensure that a potential vaccine against COVID-19, if approved, reaches all regions of the world at the same time, the chairman of the French drugmaker said on Thursday. "There will be no particular advance given to any country," Serge Weinberg told France 2 television. Sanofi operates 73 industrial locations in 32 countries.

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Nebraska health officials stop reporting COVID-19 confirmations at meatpacking plants as case counts continue to rise

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that state health officials would no longer share numbers of infected at each plant, according to The Washington Post.

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UK voters more critical of government over COVID: poll

Support for the British government's handling of the coronavirus crisis has fallen, leading to a drop in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's standing in the eyes of voters, a survey showed on Wednesday. Forty-nine percent of respondents in the survey by polling firm Kantar thought the government was doing fairly or very well on coronavirus, down from 61% in April, while 43% said its handling was fairly or very poor, up from 30% in April. Worries about the economy grew and four in 10 people said coronavirus had hit their personal income.

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Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

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Reward for return of Colorado woman who went missing on Mother's Day increased to $200,000 as FBI join search

A woman who disappeared while riding her bike on Mother's Day is still missing, and the FBI is joining the search.Suzanne Morphew, 49, of Colorado, disappeared on Sunday while riding her bike, triggering a major search effort by more than 100 people and numerous dogs.

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NASA researcher arrested over alleged secret China connections

A university professor funded by NASA has been arrested for allegedly keeping connections to the Chinese communist government a secret from US authorities.The FBI arrested University of Arkansas professor Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 63, for allegedly defrauding NASA and the university "by failing to disclose that he held other positions at a Chinese university and Chinese companies".

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Highlights of Democrats' $3 trillion-plus virus relief bill

Democrats controlling the House have unveiled a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief bill — the fifth coronavirus response legislation so far — and are planning to pass the measure on Friday. The legislation replenishes existing accounts to respond to both the COVID-19 health care crisis and to try to ease the economic impact of the pandemic, which has produced record job losses and fears of a depression. The Democratic bill provides more than $900 billion to states ($500 billion), local governments ($375 billion), as well as Indian tribes and territorial governments ($40 billion) to help prevent layoffs of public workers, cuts to services, or tax hikes.

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France requires face masks but still bans Islamic face coverings

All citizens must wear a mask — but women in face-covering Islamic garb could be punished.

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Russia now has the 2nd most coronavirus cases in the world

Russia now has the second most confirmed coronavirus infections in the world, though its 232,000-plus confirmed cases is still far fewer than the United States.The country's cases continue to rise significantly day-to-day, although the rate is mostly stable. BBC News notes that there have now been 10 consecutive days with new infections above 10,000, most of which are in Moscow, which is home to around 12 million people.Despite the high number of cases, Russia has reported only 2,116 COVID-19 fatalities, giving the country a low death rate. The Kremlin attributes that success to a mass testing program, but many people are skeptical of the figure, believing the true total to be much higher, BBC reports.There are some high profile cases within the government, including President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who is hospitalized with the virus.None of this news has deterred Putin from beginning to ease lockdown measures, however — factory and construction workers were allowed back on the job Tuesday, although the president granted regions the authority to set their own restrictions depending on their status. Read more at BBC News.More stories from theweek.com Coronavirus will win. America needs to make a plan for failure. White House reportedly trying to lower coronavirus death rates by changing counting method 1 of these 7 women will likely be Joe Biden's running mate

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Gregory McMichael, who is charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, worked for years in DA Jackie Johnson's office without required gun training

In a 2014 letter, DA Jackie Johnson called his longstanding lapse of training a "great embarrassment to me and to Investigator McMichael."

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California State University system announces plans for a virtual fall semester

Most classes across the 23 state campuses will be held online, though there will be few exceptions for in-person activity, Chancellor Timothy White.

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Joe Biden assault claim: What does 'believe women' mean now?

The rallying cry of the MeToo movement has been tested by allegations against Joe Biden.

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China cuts Australian beef imports after warning against virus probe

China suspended imports from four major Australian beef suppliers Tuesday, just weeks after Beijing's ambassador warned of a consumer boycott in retaliation for Canberra's push to probe the origins of the coronavirus. Analysts said the move raised concerns of a possible standoff between Australia and its most important trading partner that could spill over into other crucial sectors as it struggles to navigate the disease-induced economic crisis. Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said shipments of meat from four abattoirs had been suspended over "minor technical" breaches related to Chinese health and labelling certificate requirements.

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Officials from the Bay Area county where Tesla reopened its factory say they're aware the company violated its lockdown rules and hope it will comply 'without further enforcement'

Officials said in a press release that they're working with Tesla to develop a plan for the factory to reopen safely.

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Germany's coronavirus reproduction rate dips below critical threshold

The reproduction rate for the coronavirus pandemic in Germany fell below the critical threshold of 1 to an estimated 0.94 on Tuesday after a 1.07 reading on Monday, the Robert Koch Institute for public health and disease control said. "So far, we do not expect a renewed rising trend," the RKI said in its daily report, adding the overall number of cases in Germany was diminishing, meaning local outbreaks had a greater impact on 'R' than with higher case numbers. Confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased over the latest 24-hour period by 933 to 170,508, RKI data showed.

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Iran raises death toll in friendly fire missile strike to 19

The friendly fire incident happened on Sunday near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran.

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Venezuela detains 40 suspects after failed Maduro 'kidnap attempt'

* Three captured west of Caracas are latest ‘terrorists’ arrested * Advisers to opposition leader Juan Guaidó linked to raid resign Nicolás Maduro’s security forces have continued their roundup of alleged participants in last week’s botched attempt to capture him, with the arrest of three Venezuelan men just west of the capital.The trio was reportedly seized in Carayaca, 35 miles from Caracas in the early hours of Monday, taking the number of detentions to more than 40. The official Twitter account of Venezuela’s Bolivarian national guard claimed the men were “terrorists who entered the country intending to provoke violence”.On Sunday the army chief, Remigio Ceballos, announced the capture of another eight “enemies of the fatherland” who were pictured kneeling down before a cluster of rifle-toting troops.Eight people were reportedly killed when a group of about 60 mercenaries, including two United States citizens, launched their botched sea raid on 2 May.One of the captured American attackers, Airan Berry, last week claimed, possibly under duress, that the group had been tasked with raiding Maduro’s presidential palace and seizing a local airport in order to spirit him out of the country. Many of the group are reportedly being held in El Helicoide, Venezuela’s most notorious political prison.The failed raid has proved a propaganda boon for Maduro, who has long claimed he was the subject of an imperialist, US-sponsored assassination plot.Maduro has spent the last 16 months fighting off a challenge from the young opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who more than 50 foreign governments recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate interim leader.For Guaidó, who for a time last year looked poised to topple Maduro, recent events threaten to permanently derail his push for political change.Guaidó has denied any involvement in the failed mission to capture Maduro. But two of his advisers, the Miami-based strategist Juan José Rendón and the opposition lawmaker Sergio Vergara, are alleged to have signed a $212m contract with Jordan Goudreau, the former Green Beret behind the raid.Vergara and Rendón – who has admitted meeting Goudreau last year and paying him $50,000 in expenses – resigned from Guaidó’s team on Monday.In his first interview since the incident, Guaidó tried to put on a brave face, insisting his campaign continued. “What happened last weekend,” Guaidó said, “was regrettable.”But some suspect the opposition leader, from whom support has been gradually draining away, is running out of steam.“I’m sure Maduro and his people are quite thrilled about the way this turned out. This really works for them,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America.“It just adds into this continual erosion of people’s perception of Guaidó as an effective leader, and they are thinking: ‘Well, maybe Maduro is not actually as much of a rube as we thought.’”

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Virus symptoms multiply as pandemic deepens

Every week, it seems, the list of coronavirus symptoms -- ranging from disagreeable to deadly, from "COVID toes" to toxic shock -- grows longer. What began as a familiar flu-like cluster of chills, headaches and fever has rapidly expanded over the last three months into a catalogue of syndromes affecting most of the body's main organs. The new coronavirus can also push the immune system into overdrive, unleashing an indiscriminate assault on pathogens and their human hosts alike.

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Second virus wave 'very unlikely' in Denmark, says expert

Denmark is "very unlikely" to be hit by a second wave of coronavirus, the country's chief epidemiologist said on Tuesday, after the government laid out plans for increased testing and a contact tracing system. The Nordic country, which has 533 coronavirus-related deaths, was the first in Europe to relax its coronavirus lockdown almost a month ago. "But with the knowledge we have today, I find it very unlikely that we'll see second wave," he said.

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Afghan forces to resume offensive after infants, mourners attacked

Afghanistan's floundering peace process appeared further in peril Tuesday, with security forces ordered to resume offensive operations after attacks targeted a maternity ward and mourners at a funeral. At least 14 people were killed -- including newborns and nurses -- when gunmen stormed the maternity hospital in Kabul early in the morning, officials said. Shortly after, a suicide blast in the country's restive east left two dozen mourners dead.

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Biggest US solar project approved in Nevada despite critics

The Trump administration announced final approval Monday of the largest solar energy project in the U.S. and one of the biggest in the world despite objections from conservationists who say it will destroy thousands of acres of habitat critical to the survival of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise in Nevada. The $1 billion Gemini solar and battery storage project about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas is expected to produce 690 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 260,000 households — and annually offset greenhouse emissions of about 83,000 cars. It will create about 2,000 direct and indirect jobs and inject an estimated $712.5 million in the economy as the nation tries to recover from the downturn brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said.

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New York will start allowing low-risk businesses to reopen and permit recreational activities like tennis on May 15, Cuomo says

Gardening, landscaping, and drive-in movie theaters are some of the businesses that will be able to start up again on Friday.

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Fauci contradicts Trump's death toll prediction as Rand Paul slams top White House doctor

The US government’s leading infectious disease expert told a Senate committee on Tuesday that if states open too quickly, they could be dealing with new Covid-19 outbreaks "that you cannot control.""There is no doubt when you pull back on mitigation, you will see cases appear," Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pension Committee.

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Asia latest: China's ground zero reports new cases, virus pauses long-running cartoon

China reported a new cluster of coronavirus cases in the city of Wuhan. Five new infections were confirmed in one district of Wuhan, the city believed to be ground zero for the global pandemic. Officials reported 35 new infections, taking the total to 10,909, after recording only single-digit increases for eight of the preceding 12 days.

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In abrupt move, Connecticut replaces health commissioner amid pandemic

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Coronavirus: South Dakota Sioux refuse to take down 'illegal' checkpoints

Tribal officials say the checkpoints are the only way to ensure the virus does not enter their land.

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Advocates were mobilizing LGBTQ people everywhere for the 2020 census. Then the coronavirus pandemic erupted.

Advocates had been rallying the LGBTQ community for full census participation in 2020. Now, a global health crisis has complicated outreach efforts.

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Flynn's Exoneration Was the Latest in a Life Full of Reversals

WASHINGTON -- There have always been two sides to Michael Flynn. There was the rebellious teenager who surfed during hurricanes and spent a night in juvenile reformatory. Then there was the adult who buckled down, joined the Army and rose to become a three-star general.Flynn was a lifelong Democrat who served President Barack Obama as a top intelligence officer. He also called Obama a "liar" after being forced out of the job and reinvented himself as a Republican foreign policy adviser.Flynn criticized retired generals who used their stars "for themselves, for their businesses." He appeared to do the same thing as a consultant.But the two sides of Flynn were perhaps never so stark as in the criminal case against him that ended abruptly on Thursday to the astonishment of much of official Washington.After pleading guilty in 2017 to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with a Russian diplomat, Flynn cooperated with the special counsel, saying he was "being a good soldier" and earning prosecutors' praise. Then he recanted his confession and began what some allies saw as a reckless gamble to recast himself as an innocent victim of a justice system run amok.That gamble paid off this past week when, in an extraordinary reversal, the Justice Department abandoned his prosecution, saying he never should have been charged. Current and former federal law enforcement officials expressed disbelief and dismay, calling the move an unprecedented blow to the Justice Department's integrity and independence. Obama, in remarks to former members of his administration, said he feared that "not just institutional norms, but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk."Flynn transformed his case into a political cause that resonated in the conservative echo chamber. Led by his lawyer, Sidney Powell, and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. and a close ally of the president's, Flynn's backers worked to wipe away the mistrust of some Republicans over his cooperation with law enforcement and turn him into a right-wing hero. Powell dug up documents she insisted showed that her client was as much of a victim of malfeasance by the FBI as Trump had been.Ultimately Attorney General William Barr joined the battle, granting Flynn another turnabout in a life filled with them.A maverick in the military Michael T. Flynn, 61, grew up in Middleton, Rhode Island, the sixth of nine children. His father was an Army sergeant who became a banker. His mother ran a secretarial school before earning a law degree at age 63.The family was squeezed into a three-bedroom, one-bathroom oceanfront cottage. Finances were tight."I was one of those nasty tough kids, hellbent on breaking rules for the adrenaline high and hard-wired just enough not to care about the consequences," Flynn wrote in his 2016 book, "The Field of Fight." "Some serious and unlawful activity," he wrote, led to his arrest.He nearly flunked out of his freshman year at the University of Rhode Island, earning a 1.2 grade-point average. But the ROTC awarded him a three-year scholarship, and he found his calling in the military.For much of Flynn's career, former colleagues said, his mentors and superior officers let his talents flourish and kept his disruptive tendencies in check. In his book, he described himself as a rebel at heart. "I'm a maverick, an atypical square peg in a round hole," he wrote.As a young officer in 1983, he talked his way onto the military force that invaded Grenada. There, he dove off a 40-foot cliff to rescue two soldiers foundering in waters off the coast. He was scolded for the unauthorized rescue, but also earned respect.His boldness later translated into strategies that seemed fresh and welcome when the military was mired in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan, he championed new ways to fuse intelligence gathering and military operations.His partnership with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of American-led forces in Afghanistan at the time, shielded him from critics. McChrystal also acted as a brake, ensuring that Flynn's most outlandish ideas were confined to brainstorming sessions.By the time Flynn arrived at the Defense Intelligence Agency as a three-star general in 2012, cracks were beginning to show. Obama had fired McChrystal, a move that deeply distressed Flynn.He executed a reorganization of the agency that is still in effect. But his chaotic management style and increasingly hard-edged views about counterterrorism gave colleagues pause, and his superiors viewed him as insubordinate, former Pentagon officials said. His defenders said the Obama administration bristled at his tough line on Iran.His two-year term was not extended, thrusting him into the civilian world at age 55, an embittered man.Flynn had flourished with the special operation forces in Iraq where his colleagues could "tolerate, adjust, and manage what was functional and dysfunctional with Mike Flynn," said Douglas Wise, a former CIA officer who became Flynn's deputy at the Defense Intelligence Agency."In the political arena," Wise said, "he no longer had this kind of adult supervision."Pivoting to the rightAs a military man, Flynn seemed oblivious to wealth, un-self-consciously parking his 1986 Buick Park Avenue in a Pentagon parking lot dotted with Cadillacs and Lexuses.But as a civilian, he founded a consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, that attracted high-paying clients. In a decision that appalled some friends, he agreed to give a speech in 2015 to RT, Russia's state-controlled television network, for about $45,000. He was seated at the head table next to President Vladimir Putin of Russia.The next year, he pulled in at least $1.8 million from private intelligence and security services, consulting and speeches. About $530,000 came for work to discredit an enemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Flynn did not register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, as required under lobbying disclosure laws, until the following spring, when he was under federal scrutiny.Flynn's politics seemed to shift even more than his finances. He heavily criticized the Obama administration, especially over Iran policy.His pragmatic approach of old gave way in private conversations with reporters and students to almost hostile views to Islam. In his book, he called for the destruction of the Iranian government. Publicly, he sneered at Obama for avoiding the term "radical Islam"and implied that Obama was a secret Muslim."I'm not going to sit here and say he's Islamic," he told one of the country's largest anti-Muslim groups, ACT for America, in 2016. But, he said, the president "didn't grow up as an American kid," and held values "totally different than mine."Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, called Flynn "right-wing nutty." But his views resonated with Trump. Their initial mid-2015 meeting, scheduled for a half-hour, lasted 90 minutes and prompted Flynn to begin advising the campaign.He enthralled conservatives at the Republican National Convention in July 2016 when he led a chorus of "Lock her up!" chants against Hillary Clinton.Within weeks, Flynn became the subject of an FBI counterintelligence inquiry into the Trump campaign's links to Russia. His code name was "Razor."By January 2017, with Trump's inauguration imminent, the FBI had decided that insufficient evidence existed that Flynn conspired with the Russians, wittingly or unwittingly.But the FBI's interest was rekindled when agents learned that in late December during the presidential transition, Flynn had advised the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, that the Kremlin refrain from reacting to the Obama administration's imposition of sanctions for Russia's election interference. Flynn also asked that Russia delay or defeat an upcoming United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel.Those phone calls were problematic because Flynn was attempting to intervene in foreign policy as a private citizen, a potential violation of a federal law -- albeit one rarely enforced.Flynn also told the incoming vice president, Mike Pence, that he had not discussed sanctions with Russia. Pence repeated that assertion on television, raising concerns at the Justice Department that Flynn had lied to him and that the Russians could use the truth to blackmail Flynn.At the FBI, his file had lingered in abeyance, not yet formally closed. "Our utter incompetence actually helps us," Peter Strzok, an FBI counterintelligence agent, texted a bureau lawyer. Because of a bureaucratic oversight, agents would not have to justify a reopening of the inquiry.Four days after the inauguration, the FBI sent two agents to question Flynn at the White House. Caught off-guard, Justice Department officials "hit the roof" when they found out, one said.Flynn told the agents he had not asked Russia to act in any specific way in response to the U.N. resolution or the imposition of sanctions. Those denials did not save his job: He was soon forced to resign.Even then, Trump tried to protect him from further investigation. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," he told James Comey, then the FBI director whom Trump later fired.That December, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his conversations with the Russian official and pledged to cooperate with the inquiry by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, into Russia's 2016 election interference.Rebellion and resurrectionAbout a year later, Flynn had second thoughts. After a federal judge warned that he might not be sentenced to probation, he fired his legal team. His legal bills had amounted to nearly $3 million, forcing him to sell his Alexandria, Virginia, house and move to his Rhode Island homeIn a court filing, Flynn said he had only pleaded guilty because his lawyers advised him to. "One of the ways a person becomes a three-star general is by being a good soldier, taking orders, being part of a team and trusting people who provide information and support," he wrote.Even before she formally took over Flynn's defense last June, Powell put together a public relations and legal campaign to exonerate him, making the case on Capitol Hill and in conservative media.In appearances on Fox News, Powell linked her client's plight to other examples of what she saw as government overreach. She also stitched Flynn's story to conspiracy theories about career government officials' efforts to undermine Trump, both in court filings and conversations with journalists.Nunes, a longtime friend of Flynn and close ally of Trump, joined Powell in a full-throated defense. Together, they reoriented the view of Flynn on the right from an object of suspicion for cooperating with the special counsel into a conservative cause."Sidney Powell brilliantly shifted the narrative and shrewdly found new allies in the House Freedom Caucus and Fox News commentators," said Michael Pillsbury, an informal adviser to Trump and a scholar at the Hudson Institute.In a letter to Barr, Powell accused prosecutors and investigators of withholding documents, improperly leaking to the media and seeking to entrap her client.Her evidence included what Flynn's backers called a smoking gun: handwritten notes from Bill Priestap, then the head of FBI counterintelligence. "What is our goal?" he asked before the White House interview. "Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"The bureau's defenders said the notes proved the FBI's impartiality, not its bias. But they provoked a fresh wave of indignation from the right.The campaign shifted Trump's thinking, as well. Initially he seemed inclined to believe that Flynn had done something wrong -- at least by lying to Pence. More recently, he has privately voiced regrets about firing him.By the time the Justice Department dropped the charges against Flynn on Thursday, Trump was calling the investigators who pursued Flynn "human scum." The next day, he praised Nunes' relentless efforts to take them on."Devin Nunes, he wouldn't stop," Trump said. "He saw it before anybody."The president has begun musing about rehiring Flynn. But some advisers to Trump said they viewed Flynn as too much of a loose cannon for the campaign trail or the White House.In the end, that side of Flynn may prevent him from finding that final bit of redemption.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

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