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Crime

Justice Department Charges Russian National for 2018 Election Meddling

Matt Zapotosky, Rachel Weiner, Ellen Nakashima, and Devlin Barrett report Justice Dept. charges Russian woman with interference in midterm elections: Elena Khusyaynova, 44, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors said she managed the finances of “Project Lakhta,” a foreign influence operation they said was designed “to sow discord in the U.S. political system” by…

Foolishness of Vanity

Monica Hesse observes that Maria Butina was the ultimate NRA Cool Girl: Spend an hour or three scrolling through Butina’s prodigious social media presence, and certain themes emerge. Her Instagram is a series of strategic fitness selfies — a sculpted deltoid, a Lycra’d thigh — showcasing both strength and femininity. In photos snapped outside the…

An Interesting Question

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti asks a simple, interesting question: If you were asked to testify that someone you knew committed a federal crime, would you have any testimony to offer? Most of us don’t have inside knowledge of a criminal scheme. That’s why the fear within Trump’s camp that Cohen will flip is so…

The Disorder of (Alabama) Republicans

At the Washington Post Stephanie McCrummen, Beth Reinhard and Alice Crites report that Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32: Leigh Corfman says she was 14 years old when an older man approached her outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Ala. She was sitting on a wooden bench…

Captured: Joseph Jakubowski

This community – and many others – will be able to enjoy Easter weekend without concern over Jakubowski as a continuing threat: “RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. – Joseph Jakubowski was captured early Friday morning in western Richland County, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s department told WRCO radio in Richland Center they got a…

He Knew

Raquel Rutledge reports that Eric Haertle knew the medical products he sold were infected: The former co-owner and chief operating officer of a Hartland pharmaceutical company — once among the nation’s largest manufacturers of alcohol wipes — has pleaded guilty to shipping a product he knew was contaminated with dangerous bacterium. Eric Haertle, who owned Triad…