On Politics: Biden Accused of Inappropriate Touching

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/joe-biden-accused-touching.html

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Good Monday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

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• A former Nevada legislator, Lucy Flores, accused former Vice President Joe Biden of inappropriately touching and kissing her during a campaign event in 2014. Mr. Biden scrambled over the weekend to defend himself and contain the crisis, the first of his possible presidential bid. (Here’s a look at the life and career of Ms. Flores.)

• Democratic 2020 candidates are focused on attracting small donors to prove grass-roots appeal. But, privately, some are also courting major donors whose money helps pay campaign bills.

• Senator Elizabeth Warren led the way in rejecting big donors in the 2020 primary. She’s already falling behind her rivals in fund-raising, and her longtime financial director has resigned.

• Russia has alarmed Western officials by steadily expanding its military influence across Africa with arms sales, security agreements and training programs. The effort reflects President Vladimir Putin’s vision of returning Russia to its former glory.

• American campaign consultants, some with ties to President Trump, are increasingly being hired by African candidates to help them win at the polls in still fragile democracies.

• No secretary of state in recent decades has been as open and fervent as Mike Pompeo about discussing Christianity and foreign policy in the same breath. That has raised questions about the extent to which his evangelical beliefs are influencing American diplomacy.

• White House officials are defending Mr. Trump’s threat to end assistance to three Central American countries and to close parts of the border with Mexico, despite evidence showing that smuggling activity largely comes through ports of entry.

• Beto O’Rourke officially kicked off his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination Saturday morning in El Paso, quoting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., raising populist themes and praising the way immigration has enriched the nation.

• The Drug Enforcement Administration secretly collected data in bulk about Americans’ purchases of money-counting machines, before quietly shuttering the program in 2013 amid the uproar over the disclosures by Edward Snowden, an inspector general report found.

• With a near-constant presence on the president’s favorite network and a penchant for own-the-libs outrageousness, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida has become the lawmaker Democrats love to loathe. It is all part of his plan.

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