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Civil rights nominee fails to win in Senate
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division was blocked by bipartisan Senate opposition Wednesday in an emotional postscript to the long-ago murder of a Philadelphia policeman and the legal help his killer received.
The vote against advancing Debo Adegbile toward confirmation was 47-52, shy of the majority needed under new procedures Democrats put in place late last year to overcome Republican stalling tactics.
Obama swiftly condemned the action. In a statement, he called it a “travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant.”
Army general to admit guilt on lesser charges
RALEIGH, N.C. – A U.S. Army general accused of sexually assaulting a junior officer will admit guilt on three lesser charges but maintains his innocence on more serious charges stemming from her claim that he forced her to perform oral sex, his lawyer said Wednesday night.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair is set to enter the plea this morning before opening statements for his court-martial at Fort Bragg. The primary accuser in the case is a female captain who claims Sinclair twice forced her to perform oral sex and threatened to kill her family if she told anyone about their three-year affair.
Sinclair’s lawyer Richard Scheff said the general will plead guilty to having improper relationships with two other female Army officers and to committing adultery with his mistress, which is a crime in the military. He will also admit violating orders by possessing pornography in Afghanistan and to conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Safety agency seeks details about recall
DETROIT – U.S. safety regulators are demanding that General Motors turn over reams of documents and other data showing what the company knew and when it found out about a dangerous ignition problem that has been linked to 13 car-crash deaths.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating how GM handled the problem, which triggered the global recall of 1.6 million older-model compact cars. GM has acknowledged it knew of the ignition troubles a decade ago but didn’t recall the cars until last month.
Associated Press
