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News reporting discloses that Special Counsel Robert Muller objected to the ‘public confusion’ resulting from the Attorney General’s incomplete summary of the findings from the investigation into the president and the resulting media coverage. A federal appeals court reinstates a lawsuit against a Black Lives Matter organizer claiming negligence in leading a protest at which someone else became violent, raising serious questions of free expression and protest rights. The New York Times, in considering the publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon, warns of ‘numbness’ to the insidious creep of this bigotry. Read the full text delivered by Ron Chernow, former PEN America president and author of Grant and Hamilton, in defense of press freedom and the First Amendment at the 2019 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and get involved in PEN America’s World Press Freedom Day campaign. -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

U.S.

Mueller Complained to Barr about Russia Report Memo
Special counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to Attorney General William Barr last month complaining that a four-page memo Barr wrote characterizing Mueller’s findings “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the Russia investigation, two senior Justice Department officials confirmed to POLITICO.
POLITICO

Speech Rights for Trump, but Not DeRay Mckesson
When DeRay Mckesson, a high-profile, Baltimore-based Black Lives Matter organizer, was arrested for a protest blocking the highway in front of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police-department headquarters, he and the BLM movement were sued by an officer hurt by a thrown object. The case was dismissed. But last week, without allowing oral argument, the panel reinstated the lawsuit.
THE ATLANTIC

A Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism
“The Times published an appalling political cartoon in the opinion pages of its international print edition late last week. … The appearance of such an obviously bigoted cartoon in a mainstream publication is evidence of a profound danger—not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep.”
NEW YORK TIMES

Opinion: The Urgent Necessity of Public-Interest Journalism
“Today, journalism is under attack from a hostile president and from profit-seeking corporations. In some cases, the public is losing trust in journalists’ integrity. Yet while the media are far from perfect, this year’s Hillman Prize winners remind us that public-interest journalism can still change lives and spur desperately needed reforms.”
WASHINGTON POST

 
Global

Liu Xia Rebuilds Her Career as an Artist *PEN Case List: Learn More
Under confinement, Liu was reduced to a mute symbol of her husband’s struggle. As his political writings were translated and printed abroad, she had minimal exposure in the West. In 2013, the Beijing Public Security Bureau formally forbade her to mount an exhibition of her photography and paintings. Now, in exile, for the first time in decades, she is free to share her work on her own terms.
NEW YORKER

CNN and BBC Pulled off the Air by Venezuela’s Government
CNN was taken off the air by the Venezuelan government on Tuesday moments after the network broadcast a feed that showed military vehicles running over protesters in Caracas. A BBC spokesperson told CNN that BBC Global News had also been taken off the air in the South American country.
CNN

Julian Assange Gets Almost a Year in UK Prison for Skipping Bail
Julian Assange has been sentenced to just under a year in a UK prison on Wednesday after he was found guilty of violating his bail conditions when he entered Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden in 2012.
CNN

What Is Vladimir Putin Afraid Of?
One might think an autocrat who has rigged his nation’s political rules to stay in power would have little to fear from dissidents. But today’s Russian political prisoners include journalists, activists, and lawyers. Some are falsely charged with serious crimes such as murder and embezzlement. Others are in jail for their tweets.
BLOOMBERG

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