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PBC News & Comment: Amid Distractions, GOP Senate Screws Consumers

While Flake and Corker posture against Trump, they joined McCain in killing new rule allowing consumer lawsuits, maintaining binding arbitration….–despite recent Wells Fargo scandals, VP Pence cast tie-breaking vote to protect banks and corporations from pesky lawsuits by consumers they’ve defrauded

–Sen. Jeff Flake’s heroic words are undermined by his weak poll numbers, and his “complicity” in almost all of Trump’s policies and nominees; commentary in The Guardian is here

–in PBS interview, Sen. John Thune displays the spineless, cowardly view of Trump by most Repubs: they value tax cuts over the damage to our republic

–House GOP-led committees launch new investigations into Clinton-email investigation, and the Uranium One deal in 2010, The Hill reopens latter story

–lawyer for Clinton campaign and DNC admits he paid Fusion GPS for Steele dossier

–and Robert Parry analyzes this development

–Kaspersky Labs blames NSA leak on contractor who had classified data on home computer and tried to pirate Microsoft Office

–a few more details have surfaced about the ambush in Niger that killed 4 US soldiers

–after order by appeals court, undocumented teen in custody gets an abortion

–Trump refugee ban has expired, new order sets tighter rules for 11 unnamed countries

–as Iraq aligns with Iran and Turkey to stifle Kurds, US goes neutral in effort to avoid civil war

–after series of incidents, NAACP warns African Americans not to fly on American Airlines

–FBI releases 1,500 pages from Sandy Hook investigation