Month: August 2022

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US

Flash floods close roads into Death Valley National Park

Flash floods close roads into Death Valley National Park

In this photo released by the National Park Service, is the damaged intersection of Kelbacker Road and Mojave Road in the Mojave National Preserve, Calif., Sunday, July 31, 2022. Roads in and out of Death Valley National Park were closed after lanes mud and debris inundated lanes during weekend flash floods in eastern California, western Nevada and northern Arizona. Storm cells dumped localized heavy rain across the region, prompting closures of highways and campgrounds. (National Park Service via AP)
In this photo released by the National Park Service, is the damaged intersection of Kelbacker Road and Mojave Road in the Mojave National Preserve, Calif., Sunday, July 31, 2022. Roads in and out of Death Valley National Park were closed after lanes mud and debris inundated lanes during weekend flash floods in eastern California, western Nevada and northern Arizona. Storm cells dumped localized heavy rain across the region, prompting closures of highways and campgrounds. (National Park Service via AP)
In this photo released by the National Park Service, is the damaged intersection of Kelbacker Road and Mojave Road in the Mojave National Preserve, Calif., Sunday, July 31, 2022. Roads in and out of Death Valley National Park were closed after lanes mud and debris inundated lanes during weekend flash floods in eastern California, western Nevada and northern Arizona. Storm cells dumped localized heavy rain across the region, prompting closures of highways and campgrounds. (National Park Service via AP)

In this photo released by the National Park Service, is the damaged intersection of Kelbacker Road and Mojave Road in the Mojave National Preserve, Calif., Sunday, July 31, 2022. Roads in and out of Death Valley National Park were closed after lanes mud and debris inundated lanes during weekend flash floods in eastern California, western Nevada and northern Arizona. Storm cells dumped localized heavy rain across the region, prompting closures of highways and campgrounds. (National Park Service via AP)

In this photo released by the National Park Service, is the damaged intersection of Kelbacker Road and Mojave Road in the Mojave National Preserve, Calif., Sunday, July 31, 2022. Roads in and out of Death Valley National Park were closed after lanes mud and debris inundated lanes during weekend flash floods in eastern California, western Nevada and northern Arizona. Storm cells dumped localized heavy rain across the region, prompting closures of highways and campgrounds. (National Park Service via AP)

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Some roads in and out of Death Valley National Park have been closed after they were inundated over the weekend with mud and debris from flash floods that also hit western Nevada and northern Arizona hard.

Officials on Sunday provided no estimate on when the roads around Death Valley would be reopened.

Motorists were also urged to avoid Southern California’s Mojave National Preserve after flooding buckled pavement on some roads. The rain also prompted closures of highways and campgrounds elsewhere, but no injuries were reported

The storms produced torrential downpours and the National Weather Service reported that more than an inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain fell in 15 minutes Sunday near Kingman, Arizona, which is close to the stateline with California.

In a mountainous area east of Los Angeles at the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, mudslides sent trees and large rocks onto roads, blocking them near the city of Yucaipa.

Forecasters said more thunderstorms were possible on Monday.

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Categories
US

Man arrested outside Iranian writer’s Brooklyn home with AK-47 a year after kidnapping threat

Man arrested outside Iranian writer's Brooklyn home with AK-47 a year after kidnapping threat

A man arrested with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle outside the Brooklyn home of an outspoken Iranian writer is due in federal court Monday amid questions about his intent.

Khalid Mehdiyev was charged with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number after he was seen lurking outside the home of Masih Alinejad, who was targeted last year in a kidnapping plot allegedly organized by Iranian nationals, according to the Department of Justice.

Over two days last week, Mehdiyev was seen in a gray Subaru Forester with an Illinois license plate in front of Alinejad’s home for several hours, according to the criminal complaint. In those hours, the complaint said, Mehdiyev “behaved suspiciously” by approaching the residence, attempting to look inside the windows of the residence and attempting to open the front door.

Police later pulled him over for failing to stop at a stop sign. He was arrested for driving with a suspended license, according to the complaint.

In the rear seat of the Subaru, police found a suitcase containing a Norinco AK-47-style assault rifle loaded with a round in the chamber and a magazine attached, according to the complaint. He also had $1,100 in cash and two other license plates issued from other states besides Illinois.

PHOTO: Khalid Mehdiyev was charged with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number after he was seen lurking outside the home of journalist Masih Alinejad.

Khalid Mehdiyev was charged with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number after he was seen lurking outside the home of journalist Masih Alinejad.

Southern District of New York

Mehdiyev initially told police he was in the area of ​​the Brooklyn home because he was looking for a place to rent and was going to knock on the woman’s door asking to rent a room. He also claimed he did not know there was an assault rifle in the suitcase, according to the complaint. He later changed his story and admitted the gun belonged to him and he was “looking for someone.” He then asked for a lawyer and stopped talking, according to the complaint.

The complaint did not identify Alinejad but she posted video of the suspect outside her house on Twitter.

“My crime is giving voice to voiceless people,” she wrote. “The US administration must be tough on terror.”

Last July, a federal court unsealed an indictment charging four Iranian nationals with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad for “mobilizing public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the regime’s laws and practices.”

PHOTO: Masih Alinejad, an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime, was targeted for kidnapping in July 2021.

Masih Alinejad, an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime, was targeted for kidnapping in July 2021.

abcnews

Federal prosecutors said the suspects were directed by the government of Iran to conduct surveillance on Alinejad and lure her to a third country to be captured and brought back to Iran.

“You go to my beautiful country, you will be beaten up because you’re unveiled. … I launched a campaign against compulsory hijab, and that is why, actually, I’m receiving death threats,” Alinejad told ABC News Live last year after the kidnapping plot was revealed. [thing] that they were going to kidnap me, but that shows that they [are] frightened [of] me and millions of other Iranian women, Iranian men, who got united this time loudly sending videos to me saying ‘no’ to the Islamic Republic. That’s why they sent someone here in New York to kidnap me.”

ABC News’ Andrea Amiel, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Allie Yang contributed to this report.

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US

Stewart and veterans slam Republicans over stalling bill to help those affected by toxic burn pits

Stewart and veterans slam Republicans over stalling bill to help those affected by toxic burn pits

“They’re allowed to stay open past five,” Stewart said on the US Capitol steps Monday morning, joining burn pit protesters who have remained there over the weekend as the bill remains in limbo. “So my suggestion to this Senate would be when you come back, if all the members aren’t here, keep the lights on. Keep the doors open. And don’t leave here tonight, until you do the right thing by these folks .”

While Senate Democrats voted unanimously for the measure last week, Republicans voted against a procedural step to advance the legislation, effectively stalling the Honoring Our PACT Act, which aims to provide assistance to veterans who have become ill after being exposed to burn pits during their military service.

Matt Zeller, a major in US Army Reserves and senior adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, also told CNN’s Kate Bolduan that Republicans should move to support the PACT act now, with no time to waste.

“We’re going to stay here until this gets done because we’re doing this for the people who have died. We’re doing this for the people who are dying,” Zeller said. “And we’re going to do this most importantly for the people who will die if we don’t do this now.”

A new vote is expected to occur early this week but not Monday night, according to a senior Democratic aide familiar with the matter.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to bring the procedural vote — which requires 60 senators to advance — back up to consider early this week and offer two amendments sought by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania for a vote at a 60-vote threshold. If Republicans accept that offer, it could pass early this week — though any one senator can object and slow the process down.

Stewart has knocked the GOP for holding up the bill’s progress and for misinterpreting the proposal. He traded online barbs with Republican senators’ newfound opposition to the bill that they both voted for in June.

On Monday, Stewart addressed the feud.

“You can attack me all you want, and you can troll me online,” he said. “But here’s the beautiful thing. I don’t give a shit. I’m not scared of you. And I don’t care. These are the people that I owe a debt of gratitude to and we all owe a debt of gratitude to, and it’s about time we start paying it off.”

“Can we please not force veterans, disabled from their heroism and sacrifice, to stand outside the Capitol building, days on end, waiting on this Congress to do the thing they already did on June 16? It passed 84 to 14. Nothing changed in it,” Stewart said Monday.

He added: “Ask any senator, any one of the senators that changed their votes point to the section of the bill that changed that made your vote go from desk to no point to the section of the bill that’s filled with pork point to the section of the bill that is not being spent on veterans.

Toomey was one of a few Republicans who voted to block the bill designed to help US military veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. I defended his vote for him Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying he blocked the bill because of an accounting provision in the language.

Toomey said the bill as written would “allow our Democratic colleagues to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree.” He has said he wants a vote on his amendment to change the spending categorization before he agrees to allow the bill to come to a vote. It’s unclear as of early Monday whether Schumer’s proposal will be enough to assuage Toomey’s concerns.

CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this report.

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Categories
US

Judge rejects terrorism sentencing penalty in Jan. 6 case

Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia, became the first Jan. 6 defendant to go before a jury and was convicted on all five felony charges he faced. Evidence and testimony at the trial showed he drove to Washington with an acquaintance the day before the riot, bringing two AR-15 rifles and a pistol along with him. The jury found that he had the pistol on his hip as he engaged in a tense standoff with police at the West Front of the Capitol. Reffitt was pelted with less-lethal weapons and tear gas as he tried to advance up the steps, waving the crowd forward, but he never entered the building himself.

As the sentencing hearing stretched into its fourth hour Monday, Friedrich had yet to announce a sentence in the case. In theory, Reffitt could receive up to 60 years, but defendants are typically sentenced under federal guidelines to terms well below the maximum.

Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said Reffitt’s discussions before and after Jan. 6 make clear that he was intent on carrying out his repeated threats to drag Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from the Capitol building by force. In discussions caught on video, Reffitt was recorded referring to his desire for him to listen to the lawmaker’s heads bouncing down the Capitol steps.

“He was planning to overtake our government. He wasn’t just trying to stop the certification,” Nestler said. “He wasn’t done. Jan. 6 was just a preface. … Mr Reffitt is in a class all by himself.”

However, Friedrich said prosecutors had urged much shorter sentences in cases involving people who were directly involved in actual violence against police.

“You’re making recommendations that are way different than you’re making in this case — way different,” said the judge, an appointee of President Donald Trump.

Friedrich also said she worried that Reffitt would not be unduly punished for deciding to go to trial, rather than enter into a plea bargain with prosecutors.

“His decision to exercise his constitutional right to go to trial should not result in a dramatically different sentence,” she said.

Nestler also noted that Reffitt was convicted of having a handgun on his hip while on the Capitol grounds, which Friedrich conceded that was an important distinction from the other cases to reach sentencing thus far.

“Huge, huge… and does the firearm deserve three times the sentence if it was not brandished or used in any way?” the judge asked.

Another unusual aspect of Reffitt’s case is that he was convicted of threatening to injure his two children if they discussed his actions on Jan. 6 with authorities. One of those children, Peyton Reffitt, spoke briefly during Monday’s hearing to her urgent leniency for her father. She suggested that Trump was more responsible for the events that day than her father was.

“My father’s name was not on all the flags that were there that day that everyone was carrying that day,” Peyton said. “He was not the leader.”

Several times during Monday’s hearing, Friedrich suggested she thought Reffitt suffered from delusions of grandeur and that his decision to go to trial earlier this year was part of his effort to posture as a leader of those fighting the certification of the election.

“He wants to be the big guy — the first to try to storm the Capitol, the first to go trial,” the judge said. “Clearly, that’s what he wants.”

Reffitt’s lawyer Clinton Broden acknowledged that, at times, his client was at the forefront of the crowd on the West Front of the Capitol. However, the defense attorney argued that the angry crowd was determined to arise towards the building whether Reffitt waved them on or not.

“Those people would have come up the stairs regardless of Mr. Reffitt and I think we all know that,” Broden said.

Categories
Sports

Dons punish depleted Roos to continue strong late-season form

Dons punish depleted Roos to continue strong late-season form

IF PART of Essendon’s struggles this season can be attributed to the injury-affected absence of Jake Stringer, then Sunday was a reminder of what the Bombers can be with their gamechanger at his best.

In the first quarter alone, Stringer booted three goals from the midfield in a ballistic burst that set the tone in Essendon’s 48-point win over North Melbourne.

BOMBERS V KANGAROOS Full match details and stats

The 28-year-old bookended his day with two last-quarter goals to finish with five majors as the Bombers steadily built on their lead through the game to claim the 17.12 (114) to 9.12 (66) victory.

Stringer remains Essendon’s chief matchwinner and his performance also included 14 disposals and six tackles in a damaging display for the Bombers, who recorded their highest score of the year.

It was their fourth win from five games in a turn of form that has lifted them slightly up the ladder and also raised spirits about a season that had otherwise been an ugly backwards step.

Despite losing in-form midfielder Dylan Shiel to a hamstring injury pre-game, the Bombers got on top around the ball, with Zach Merrett excellent with 38 disposals, 10 tackles and a goal, defender Mason Redman collected 32 disposals off half-back. Dyson Heppell, too, was consistent, while James Stewart returned to the Bombers’ line-up with three goals.

Jy Simpkin tried valiantly in the midfield for the Roos with a career-best 41 disposals, while Cam Zurhaar was a threat throughout, finishing with four goals for the last-placed Kangaroos.

Stringer was sharp early. He kicked the first of the day from the goal line and had three by quarter-time, including a set shot and a clever snap.

Starting in the center and pushing forward, Stringer was back to some of his brilliant 2021 form when he kicked 41 goals from 19 games and won several matches off his own boot for his team.

The Bombers’ efficiency going forward made them dangerous in attack to hand them a 15-point lead at the first change.

North’s own raging bull Zurhaar was standing in the way of a heavy defeat. He booted a goal to start the second term, his second of the day, and caused some headaches within 50 for the Roos.

The Roos star kicked his third in the dying moments of the half to keep his side within reach of the Bombers, who had stretched their lead to 30 points just before the main break.

DON EARNS PRAISE In-form Redman lauded, Roos rue missed chances

But Peter Wright got involved in the third quarter with two goals as the Bombers stretched their lead to 33 points at the final change, as Essendon ran away with its eighth straight win over North Melbourne dating back to 2016.

Redman’s star continues to rise
Mason Redman was in doubt to face the Kangaroos after being sent to hospital last week after coughing up blood against Collingwood. But he played, and played very well, as a crucial member of the Bombers’ win over the Roos. Redman picked up 32 disposals, including 19 in the first half, and continued his brilliant form off half-back. His run and carry from him has been consistent throughout the year even when the Bombers were struggling, and his goal from him from long range in the second quarter added to his highlights from him. He should be leading the club’s best and fairest.

McKay and Wright in tight battle
In his 50th AFL game, North Melbourne full-back Ben McKay emerged as one of North’s best in his battle with Peter Wright. Wright had entered the game with 45 goals for the season after 19 games, but he met his match in McKay, who was less interceptor than usual but instead spoiled many of Wright’s marking attempts in the first half. Wright was better after the main break, kicking two goals and being more involved, but it was an even contest.

And at the other end…
The emergence of Brandon Zerk-Thatcher has been a good find for the Bombers in the past month. The key back has played five games in a row since coming into the side against the Swans in round 16 and grown with every game. On Sunday he took on Kangaroos key forward Nick Larkey, who managed just seven disposals and three behinds. Zerk-Thatcher has been on the fringe of selection in recent seasons but has improved to find his spot in Essendon’s back half and had 14 disposals himself.

ESSENDON 5.1 9.5 13.6 17.12 (114)
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 5.6 7.9 9.12 (66)

GOALS
Essendon: Stringer 5, Stewart 3, Jones 2, Langford 2, Wright 2, Guelfi, Merrett, Redman
NorthMelbourne: Zurhaar 4, Anderson, Coleman-Jones, Goldstein, Scott, Turner

BEST
Essendon: Redman, Merrett, Stringer, Zerk-Thatcher, Hind, Ridley
NorthMelbourne: Simpkin, Zurhaar, Anderson, Stephenson, McKay, Scott

INJURIES
Essendon: Caldwell (calf)
NorthMelbourne: nil

LATE CHANGES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel (hamstring) replaced by Archie Perkins
NorthMelbourne: Lachie Young, Jack Mahony (health and safety protocols) replaced by Phoenix Spicer, Kayne Turner

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Jye Caldwell in the third quarter)
NorthMelbourne: Josh Walker (unused)

Categories
US

Manchin will talk to Sinema about supporting climate, tax deal

Manchin will talk to Sinema about supporting climate, tax deal

Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) says he will talk to fellow centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) about supporting a broad tax reform and climate bill he’s negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) that would reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

Sinema has kept silent about whether she will support the deal, which needs the votes of all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to pass.

The Arizona senator expressed opposition last year to closing the carried interest tax loophole for asset managers, something that Manchin insisted be part of the deal.

Manchin said he didn’t keep Sinema in the loop during his talks with Schumer because he didn’t know if a deal was possible, but he said he plans to speak with her Monday afternoon, when the Senate is scheduled to vote on a judicial nominee to Virginia’s eastern district court.

“I’m sure we’ll get a chance to speak today because she usually comes in [on Monday]and we’ll speak on the floor,” he told reporters.

Manchin said last week that he was “adamant” about keeping a proposal to close the carried interest loophole, which lets money managers pay a capital gains tax rate on the income they earn from profitable investments.

Sinema’s staff said the senator is reviewing the legislation.

Manchin indicated that he would likely vote to protect the budget reconciliation package from amendments that would alter it significantly, arguing that he and Schumer have struck the right balance after months of difficult negotiations.

“I’m just saying, we have a good balanced piece of legislation. It’s taken me eight months to get here. We’ve listened to everybody along the way,” he said when asked whether he would vote for amendments to change the bill, which would raise $739 billion in new revenue and reduce the deficit by more than $300 billion.

Manchin said he kept his conversations with Schumer close to the vest.

“I haven’t had any conversations with anybody during the process because I wasn’t ever sure that we would get to a finale,” he acknowledged. “I never thought that could happen. I wasn’t sure.”

He said he “never quit” on the talks, but added that he “didn’t want to put people in the situation where their anticipations and hopes would go up and back down again.”

“It really unfolded last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” he added.

Manchin pushed back at Republican claims that the bill would cause Americans across income brackets to pay slightly more in taxes.

An analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation, for example, shows people earning between $50,000 and $75,000 would see their taxes increase by 0.8 percent in 2023.

Bloomberg reported Sunday the bill would increase a lapsed tax on crude and imported petroleum products to 16.4 cents per barrel.

“We have to agree to disagree. My Republican colleagues are my friends and I’ve worked with them tremendously and I’ll continue to work with them in any way, shape or form,” he said. “But these are things we have all talked about in bipartisan groups. How can we start paying down our debt and take our finances seriously?”

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Categories
Technology

Apple offers $50 gift card with Apple TV 4K purchases

Appletvsiri

appletvsiri

Faster processor, better picture and all-new remote control

The risk Apple ran when it made its TV+ service compatible with so many third party devices was that people would find less reason to purchase an Apple TV. That seems to be what’s happening as the company offers $50 Apple Gift Cards to anyone who does purchase its box.

Room for improvement?

When most television sets already run 4K natively, the purpose of Apple’s box has changed. The fact that content rich systems (such as Amazon’s or Roku’s hardware) can also provide access to TV+ content also reduces the appeal of these systems, I think.

What’s negative about this is that Apple’s made some big investments in creating a developer friendly environment for its TV box, with Arcade making these systems an alternative to console games. The challenge is that gamers are loyal to their console platforms and like to play the games they enjoy.

What is the deal?

Apple has extended its Apple TV 4K gift card offer outside the US to many other nations, including the UK and Australia. Under the deal, you get a $50 Apple Gift Card rebate (or the equivalent in local currency) on up to two units of Apple TV – buy two, get $100.

The offer is available until mid-August. It may be interesting to note that Disney+ recently added 4K support to Apple TV 4K.

One can’t help but wonder what happens after that?

What’s that coming over the hill?

The Apple TV 4K seems a little long in the tooth at this point. Some of its main reasons for existence have become diluted, and until Apple hits us (as it I think inevitably will) with AR-based and 6K content to beef up the package, the only deal has to be priced. We’ve all heard the speculation of a lower cost Apple TV stick, and it is possible Apple wants to put all its entertainment system eggs inside its AR goggles basket.

We do think a new Apple TV is on the way and this will likely feature an upgraded A14 (M1?) chip and more RAM.

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Categories
Sports

Fernando Alonso signs two-year deal to remain in Formula 1 with Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso smiles

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will extend his Formula One career by joining Aston Martin next season.

The 41-year-old Spaniard will replace Sebastian Vettel, who announced his retirement last week.

Aston Martin said on Monday that it signed Alonso to a multi-year deal.

“No one in Formula One today is demonstrating a greater vision and absolute commitment to winning, and that makes it a really exciting opportunity for me,” Alonso said of Aston Martin.

“I still have the hunger and ambition to fight to be at the front, and I want to be part of an organization that is committed to learn, develop and succeed.”

Alonso will be going into his 20th season in F1.

He won his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006. He took two years off in 2019 and 2020 to race in other series, including runs at the Indy 500.

Fernando Alonso celebrates F1 title win in Brazil
Fernando Alonso twice won the Formula 1 drivers world title for Renault.(Reuters)

“I have witnessed the excitement in the engineering team and throughout the whole organization at the opportunity to work with Fernando,” Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said.

“We know that nearly everyone can learn from someone of Fernando’s caliber and experience. We are confident that he will inspire everyone to lift their game.”

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Categories
Australia

Teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants offered six per cent wage rise over two years

Teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants offered six per cent wage rise over two years

Western Australian teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants have been offered a six per cent wage rise over the next two years as a buffer to rising inflation.

The Western Australia government has increased its pay offer for 150,000 workers to three per cent annually for the next two years, along with an additional $2,500 cost of living payment.

Premier Mark McGowan said the move was in response to peaking inflation and would cost the budget an extra $634 million over the next four years.

“Given the current economic climate we’ve listened and reviewed our wages policy,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.

“This is a reasonable and generous policy, but also responsible in these volatile economic times.”

The changes will immediately flow through to industries that have already accepted the government’s previous 2.75 per cent pay increase offer, including teachers and public hospital doctors.

Some workers’ wages will be increased more than the three per cent annual rate, with a patient care assistant who earns just over $55,000 a year set to effectively get a 7.5 per cent wage rise over the first year.

Perth’s consumer price index jumped 1.7 per cent in the June quarter, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, pushing its annual inflation rate well above the national average to 7.4 per cent.

Health workers and other WA public servants were lobbying for a pay rise above 2.75 per cent, with some holding stop-work meetings outside Perth hospitals in recent weeks.

The McGowan government banked a $5.7 billion surplus in this year’s state budget, which included a one-off $400 electricity credit for every household.

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Categories
US

Trump told Cruz sorry for attacks on wife, dad in 2016 primary

Trump told Cruz sorry for attacks on wife, dad in 2016 primary

Former President Donald Trump apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz for insulting his wife’s looks of him, suggesting his father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and questioning whether the Texas Republican could legally run for president if he was born in Canada, according to a forthcoming book by Paul Manafort.

“On his own initiative, Trump did apologize for saying some of the things he said about Cruz, which was unusual for Trump,” the 45th president’s onetime campaign chairman writes, according to the Guardian.

During the bruising 2016 Republican primary race, Trump called Heidi Cruz “ugly,” suggested Ted’s father, Rafael, had ties to Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, publicly cast ​doubt on Cruz’s eligibility to run for president and bestowed the nickname “Lyin’ Ted ”upon the senator.

Former President Trump apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz for comments he made during the 2016 election regarding his wife and father-in-law.
Former President Donald Trump apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz for comments he made during the 2016 election regarding his wife and father of him.
AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File
and suggesting his father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Donald Trump apologized to Ted Cruz for insulting his wife’s looks and suggesting his father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP

According to Manafort, the real estate tycoon approached Cruz prior to the Republican National Convention that July to secure the Texan’s endorsement.

​Cruz, who had finished runner-up to Trump in the nominating contest, responded to the overture by saying he would work with Trump but not endorse him “because his supporters didn’t want him to.”

​“It was a forced justification for someone who is normally very logical. Trump didn’t buy it,” Manafort reportedly writes.

Manafort resigned as Trump campaign chair that August after news reports detailed under-the-table payments he received.
Manafort resigned as Trump campaign chair that August after news reports detailed under-the-table payments he received.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File

Despite Cruz’s cool reception, the author goes on, Trump apologized and told his rival that he “considered him an ally, not an enemy, and that he believed they could work together when Trump was president.”

Cruz notably did not endorse Trump in his convention remarks, outraging the delegates and leading his wife being escorted out of the hall over fears for her safety.​​

During Cruz’s remarks, Manafort recalls, Trump groused, “This is bulls–t” and walked to the back of the arena, “effectively pulling the attention away from Cruz and undercutting his speech.”

Cruz notably did not endorse Trump in his convention remarks, outraging the delegates and leading his wife being escorted out of the hall over fears for her safety.​​
Cruz notably did not endorse Trump in his convention remarks, outraging the delegates and leading his wife being escorted out of the hall over fears for her safety.​​
AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, Fil
During the bruising 2016 Republican primary race, Trump called Heidi Cruz "ugly," suggested Ted's father Rafael had ties to Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
During the bruising 2016 Republican primary race, Trump called Heidi Cruz “ugly” and suggested Ted’s father, Rafael, had ties to Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Cruz was initially upset by Trump’s display of petulance.

“It took months to bring that relationship back,” Manafort writes. “But eventually Cruz came around to support Trump, and Trump harbored no ill will.”

Manafort, now 73, resigned as Trump campaign chair that August after news reports detailed under-the-table payments he received for lobbying work on behalf of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych.

Ultimately, Manafort was sentenced to seven years in prison for tax fraud and other crimes related to his work in Ukraine — charges that emerged from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump pardoned Manafort in December 2020.

Manafort’s book, “Political Prisoner: Persecuted, Prosecuted, but Not Silenced,” is due out Aug. 16.

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