An Arizona man was sentenced to six years behind bars for smuggling pregnant women into America as part of an illegal adoption scheme that operated in three states and helped to bankroll his luxurious lifestyle trib.al/A5jT6vX
During his sentencing hearing, Paul Petersen denied knowing that his employees in the adoption fraud operation had coerced these women by threatening to take away their passports if they tried to back out of the deal trib.al/A5jT6vX
“I did treat everyone in their situation, on all sides of the adoption, with respect,” Petersen told the court. “I got into adoptions because quite simply I loved the Marshall Islands and the Marshallese people.” trib.al/A5jT6vX
But U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks wasn't buying it.

“Your side hustle in the adoption business was a criminal livelihood,” he said.

“You became complicit in selling babies.” trib.al/A5jT6vX
Read the full story by @kbriquelet: trib.al/A5jT6vX

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More from @thedailybeast

2 Dec
NEW: The New York Young Republican Club doesn’t plan to let a little thing like a deadly pandemic stand in the way of its annual gala in Manhattan—and already, there are questions about the group’s plans to adhere to public health restrictions trib.al/L72WHxs
In a statement to The Daily Beast, club president Gavin Wax claimed the soirée headlined by Sarah Palin and Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe would comply with what he called New York’s “capricious” guidelines trib.al/L72WHxs
Those guidelines include a 50-person limit on indoor gatherings–but a Facebook event for the gala with 68 people marked attending would suggest otherwise trib.al/L72WHxs
Read 5 tweets
1 Dec
Two Trump-appointed judges struck down a ban on juvenile gay conversion therapy in South Florida, arguing that therapists were having their freedom of speech violated by being banned from practicing trib.al/18DMZd6
Two survivors spoke to @TimTeeman about their experiences in gay conversion therapy and their reactions to the 11th Circuit ruling.

This is the first of a two-part series. trib.al/18DMZd6
Justin Utley was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, within the Mormon Church.

It wasn’t until he was 22 and went on a Mormon mission to recruit for the church that he realized he was gay. trib.al/18DMZd6
Read 7 tweets
1 Dec
Does Trump even want Republicans to win in Georgia?

“It's better for him and better for his ego if they lose,” George Conway (@gtconway3d) tells @therickwilson and @mollyjongfast on @newabnormalpod.

Spotify: trib.al/CCohWpW
Apple: trib.al/OND3D8b
As George explains, Trump has a problem.

“Republicans did better than he did” in the general election. Not only does “that undercut his claim of fraud… it means that there were significant numbers of Republicans who couldn't stomach him.”
trib.al/K4H6lvu
Baratunde Thurston—host of the new podcast How to Citizen—joins Molly for a frank discussion about what led to Trumpism, and how we avoid falling for it again
trib.al/K4H6lvu
Read 5 tweets
30 Nov
On Monday morning, he blasted the “hapless” Kemp on Twitter, demanding to know why he didn’t use his “emergency powers” to find what he alleged was a “goldmine” of fraud, the discovery of which would immediately hand him the win in the state, he said
trib.al/3tzsS4a
Trump’s attempt to rescind the very endorsement that powered Kemp through a tough GOP primary in 2018 amounts to a healthy splash of lighter fuel on what was already a combustible situation for the sitting governor
thedailybeast.com/trumps-tantrum…
Since Trump’s defeat in the Nov. 3 elections, national Republicans have had to weigh how much collateral damage is acceptable in validating Trump and his supporters’ angst and anger over the result in hopes of saving their Senate majority
thedailybeast.com/trumps-tantrum…
Read 4 tweets
29 Nov
Alec Baldwin already knows what it’s like for people to hate his guts, just for playing the president on SNL—“They say things like, ’I don’t know who we want to get rid of first, Alec Baldwin or Trump.’”

Apple: trib.al/0KmTnJ6
Spotify: trib.al/j8FEZFX Image
So it comes as no surprise that Baldwin has given serious thought to running for office. He credits his strong political leanings to his dad, a schoolteacher who “was a very progressive guy.” trib.al/6BtMg0R Image
But when @MollyJongFast asks: “Do you ever think of Baldwins in office?” He quickly replies no.

“My wife doesn’t want that kind of lifestyle,” says Baldwin, who is the father of five kids under the age of 7.

“The life I have right now, I’m very happy.” trib.al/6BtMg0R Image
Read 5 tweets
25 Nov
NEW: Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election has created a fissure within his own ranks, as top campaign officials and allied donors seek distance from a legal effort that they increasingly view as a pointless laughingstock. trib.al/atpu1fd
Staff in campaign leadership roles have disappeared from public view. Others, including Bill Stepien, have had limited involvement in the legal campaign to challenge vote results, and have privately said they want nothing to do with it trib.al/atpu1fd
Trump and GOP mega-donor Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar is pulling out of the fight to overturn the results.

“The president is entitled to whatever legal defense he wants to have... but I am not going to contribute any funds to that." trib.al/atpu1fd
Read 5 tweets

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