I’m so tired of writing about sexual harassment and assault! How are you?
Here’s all the shit we couldn’t cover today:
- Earlier today, Donald Trump seemed to endorse Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused by multiple women of offenses ranging from inappropriate contact to sexual assault. “He says it didn’t happen,” Trump said. “And, you know, you have to listen to him also. You’re talking about, he said 40 years ago this did not happen.” Trump added that Moore was better than Democrat Doug Jones who is “bad on crime, bad on borders, bad with the military, bad for the Second Amendment.” Trump did not answer a question about whether or not he would campaign for Moore. [Public Pool]
- Trump was also asked about his “message to women.” Here is his response in full: “Women are very special. I think it’s a very special time because a lot of things are coming out, and I think that’s good for our society, and I think it’s very, very good for women. And I’m very happy a lot of these things are coming out, and I’m very happy it’s being exposed.” I’m too tired, too sad and too angry to offer a witty observation. [Public Pool]
- Representative John Conyers (D-MI) confirmed that his office settled a sexual harassment complaint but denied wrongdoing. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called for an investigation into Conyers’s behavior after Buzzfeed published a report outlining the sexual harassment settlement between the congressman and a former employee. [Associated Press]
- Paul Ryan called the Conyers report “extremely troubling.” [Talking Points Memo]
- “At least 40 lawmakers – nearly all men – in 20 states have been publicly accused by more than 100 people of some form of sexual misconduct or harassment.” [USA Today]
- Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), announced that the FCC will vote on a proposal to overturn what he described as the “heavy-handed, utility-style” net neutrality rules of the Obama administration. According to the Washington Post, Pai’s proposal would “give Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers can see and use, and at what cost.” The commission is scheduled to vote on Pai’s proposal in mid-December. [Washington Post]
- A dissent memo written by State Department officials alleges that Rex Tillerson violated the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he excluded Afghanistan, Iraq, and Myanmar from a list of nations known to use child soldiers. According to the report, excluding these nations makes it simpler for the United States to provide the countries with military aid. [Reuters]
- Read up on Thomas Brunell, Trump’s likely pick to head the U.S. Census Bureau. [Politico]