Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer, a prosecutor in the overturned Central Park 5 conviction, resigned Wednesday from Columbia Law School where she served as a part-time professor after a group of black students called on her to quit.

Controversy over the conviction of the men has been reignited after the release of an fictionalized version of the events, called “When They See Us," airing on Netflix.

“The mini-series has reignited a painful—and vital—national conversation about race, identity, and criminal justice. I am deeply committed to fostering a learning environment that furthers this important and ongoing dialogue, one that draws upon the lived experiences of all members of our community and actively confronts the most difficult issues of our time,” Dean Gillian Lester told Bloomberg News.

The Black Law Students Association, calling Lederer’s actions "racist,' demanded on Tuesday that the administration dump her from the faculty where she serves as a lecturer in law.

More at https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-central-park-5-lederer-columbia-black-law-students-20190612-a6rqou3hdvhyljpzkzafqtncca-story.html

”Right on,” Ben Labolt, Obama’s 2012 campaign press secretary, said sarcastically of Biden’s call to renew bipartisan cooperation. “Mitch McConnell and [Rep.] Mark Meadows will rush to form the Woke Caucus. And Nelson Rockefeller will be revived from his grave."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rawstory.com/2019/06/obama-team-frustrated-by-bidens-appeals-to-bipartisanship/amp/

When Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Donald, Jr. went on their Irish pub crawl last week and offered free rounds for the house, they failed to pay the tab, according to at least one pub owner.

Caroline Kennedy, the owner of Igoe bar in Doonbeg, where Trump owns a golf course, told the Irish Times that the president’s sons were “lovely and down to earth” but did not have any cash on them when they left her establishment. “I said, ‘Come on lads you have to come in and pull a drink’ so they did,” Kennedy said. “They thanked everyone for their support and for coming out to meet them and said there was a drink for everyone in the house and it was their small gesture.” Still Kennedy isn't worried about getting paid. “I don’t think we’ve to worry about getting paid for that,” she said. “I don’t think they carry cash. We were told it’d be all sorted later so there’s no problem.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/eric-and-donald-trump-jr-still-have-not-paid-irish-bar-tab

Herb Sandler, a banker and philanthropist who with his wife, Marion, provided the initial financing for ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative-reporting organization that seeks to be an alternative model for sustaining vigorous journalism, died on Wednesday at his home in San Francisco. He was 87.

His family announced the death. The cause was not given.

Mr. Sandler and his wife, who died in 2012, made their fortune by building a small bank in Oakland, Calif., into Golden West Financial, a multibillion-dollar lender. They had long supported progressive causes when, in 2007, their Sandler Foundation provided almost all of ProPublica’s initial funding.

ProPublica, which often collaborates with traditional news organizations, including The New York Times, has since won five Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other awards.

Mr. Sandler was its board chairman from its beginning until 2016. In the last several decades, with print advertising evaporating, many newspapers have closed or cut staff, a worrisome development to Mr. Sandler.

“We all know the potential for corruption in city, state and federal government, as well as in major corporations,” he told the Bridgespan Group, which advises nonprofit organizations, in a 2013 interview. “And somebody’s got to be watching. That’s the muckraker tradition.”

ProPublica, which is based in New York and now employs about 75 journalists, is being widely watched in the news business as a possible model for journalism in the future. In a tribute to Mr. Sandler posted on its website, ProPublica said that he had a simple explanation for why he supported such work: “I hate it when the bad guys win.”

More at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/obituaries/herb-sandler-dead.html

LAS VEGAS — Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who as recently as last month cautioned Democrats about the perils of pursuing President Trump’s impeachment, now says the House should open an impeachment inquiry that might or might not lead to a formal effort to remove him from office.

“It’s not the right thing to do nothing,” Reid said in an interview Monday with USA TODAY. “It’s not the right thing to jump into impeachment without doing an inquiry.”

The most important goal, he said, would be to “give the American people a view of what’s going on.”

...Reid acknowledged the potential political blowback and the likelihood that the current GOP-controlled Senate would never vote to remove Trump from office.

“That has been one of the big arguments against the impeachment,” Reid said. “Why make Trump a hero by saying ‘they couldn’t impeach me?’” And remove him from office. But Reid called that “all the more reason why the inquiry is the right thing to do.”

In the end, he said, “I just think that Republicans are going arm-in-arm with Trump, right over the cliff.” But he said public opinion might be affected by a systematic effort to explore allegations that Trump tried to obstruct the special counsel’s investigation and engaged in other wrongdoing.

“I think that that’s one reason an inquiry should go forward, to find out how the public reacts to this,” he said.

More at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/04/pelosi-led-house-should-open-trump-impeachment-inquiry-harry-reid-says/1343009001/

DETROIT — Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Tuesday proposed an economic program of “aggressive intervention on behalf of American workers,” suggesting that as president she would invest $2 trillion in climate-friendly industries over a decade, create a new cabinet-level Department of Economic Development and even manipulate the dollar to promote exports.

Unveiling a campaign theme of “economic patriotism,” Ms. Warren promised to announce further plans under that banner over the next several months, on issues like trade and Wall Street regulation.

By pledging to intervene in markets to support American manufacturing and promote job creation, Ms. Warren laid out a goal that President Trump has also pursued, albeit by different means, like imposing tariffs on imports from China and Mexico.

The new proposals were further evidence that Ms. Warren believes that her policy-first message is helping her stand out in the Democratic presidential primary. Her announcement was timed to coincide with a trip to Indiana and Michigan, where she will hold campaign events this week as she tries to extend her recent political momentum.

...“The bottom line is — if they can make a nickel by sending your job somewhere else, they’ll do it,” Ms. Warren said. “I’ll tell you, these corporations may not fight for American workers, but I’m willing to do it.”

And she said her focus on domestic jobs, particularly through investment in climate change, would help revive American economies.

“We need to be all in to fight this climate crisis,” she said to applause.

More at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-economy-jobs.html?searchResultPosition=4

WASHINGTON — Progressive groups are expressing “deep disappointment” over House Democrats’ unwillingness to start impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump and are calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to act, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The groups said in a letter being released Tuesday that voters gave Democrats control of the House “because they wanted aggressive oversight of the Trump administration.”

They said: “The Trump era will be one that evokes the question — what did you do? We urge you to use your power to lead and to stop asking us to wait.”

...The groups signing onto the letter to Pelosi include Indivisible and Democracy for America.

“As Speaker of the House, you have the power to ensure Congress exercises its constitutional obligation to hold this president accountable,” the groups wrote.


More at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/progressive-groups-want-democrats-pelosi-to-do-more-to-impeach-trump

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn on Monday walked back remarks suggesting that Democrats will impeach President Donald Trump, reversing course to say he’s “farther” from backing impeachment than most of his caucus.

Clyburn’s comments came after a private leadership meeting Monday evening in which Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that she didn’t support launching impeachment proceedings right now despite a growing push within the caucus.

“I’m probably farther away from impeachment than anybody in our caucus,” Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters Monday night. “We will not get out in front of our committees. We’ll see what the committees come up with. I’ve said that forever.”

Asked by POLITICO whether he thought impeachment proceedings were inevitable, Clyburn simply said no.

The No. 3 Democrat’s comments stand in contrast to what he said Sunday, suggesting it was only a matter of time before House Democrats began impeachment proceedings against Trump.

More at https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/03/clyburn-impeachment-comments-1352477

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat, said in a podcast to be released on Wednesday that impeachment hearings for President Donald Trump should “commence immediately.”

Rep. Jeffries, the House Democrat Caucus chair, said in a podcast with Toure that he believes the House Judiciary Committee should begin hearings relating to impeaching President Trump as soon as possible.

Jeffries said:

The Judiciary Committee, on which I sit, should have hearings on three things: obstruction of justice, abuse of power and the culture of corruption that appears to exist at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I’m of the view that those hearings should commence immediately. And we need to present the information to the American people. What you call those hearings — that is a decision that will ultimately be made by Chairman Nadler and Speaker Pelosi.

“At the end of the day we’re charged with the solemn constitutional responsibility of trying to figure out, did this president commit high crimes and misdemeanors? The Mueller investigation has presented at least 11 different instances of serious obstruction of justice that could lead to that conclusion.”

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm