Good morning.
The US Department of Justice has asked a judge not to release the affidavit that gave the FBI probable cause to search Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, worsening distrust among top Trump aides casting about for any insight into the intensifying criminal investigation surrounding the former president.
The affidavit should not be unsealed because that could reveal the scope of the investigation into Trump’s unauthorized retention of government secrets, the DoJ argued, days after the Mar-a-Lago search warrant showed it referenced potential violations of three criminal statutes.
A week ago, FBI agents seized about 20 boxes of material – including documents marked top secret – executing a search warrant that referenced the Espionage Act outlawing the unauthorized retention of national security information that could harm the US or aid an adversary.
What did the DoJ say? “The affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course,” the department said, adding that it did not oppose unsealing a cover page and a sealing order that would not harm the criminal investigation.
What has Trump been saying? He is demanding the return of some of the documents that were seized – apparently under the impression that posts on his Truth Social platform carry legal weight.
Republicans rue price of fame as celebrity Senate candidates struggle
In Mehmet Oz, Herschel Walker and JD Vance, the Republican party has three celebrities running for Senate in November.
The only problem? At the moment, each of them looks as though they may lose.
Oz, a television stalwart better known as Dr Oz to millions of Americans, is trailing his opponent in Pennsylvania by double digits.
Vance, a bestselling author and conservative commentator, is behind in his race in Ohio, an increasingly red state that many expected the Republicans to win. So far the most notable point of his campaign was when Vance appeared to suggest women should stay in violent marriages.
In Georgia, Walker, a former NFL running back, is running close against Raphael Warnock, the incumbent Democrat. But Walker’s campaign has been characterized by a series of gaffes, and this week, more seriously, his ex-wife recalled in a campaign ad how he once held a gun to her head. Walker has said he struggled with mental health problems during the marriage, and has said he is “accountable” for violence in the relationship.
The three men’s travails spell out a problem in selecting outsider, celebrity candidates. Each brings name recognition, but in some cases have been unexposed to the media’s glare.
McDonald’s workers say sexual harassment and retaliation persist
Workers at McDonald’s, the largest fast-food chain in the world, are highlighting sexual harassment and retaliation against workers at its stores, problems they say persist despite claims of reforms and changes by McDonald’s in recent years.
There are countless examples, many of which have resulted in legal action. In 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s in the US over systemic sexual harassment issues in restaurants, representing 5,000 women at more than 100 McDonald’s locations. A judge denied the company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in 2021.
In April, McDonald’s reached a $1.5m settlement over a separate class-action lawsuit filed in 2019 over sexual harassment issues in Michigan. On 28 July, a worker at a McDonald’s in New Orleans, Louisiana, filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s for sexual harassment they experienced on the job and retaliation they experienced for reporting it to management in late 2020 and early 2021.
Workers say they have been fired and written up after reporting sexual harassment to corporate HR.
What has McDonald’s said? A spokesperson said in an email: “McDonald’s has been clear that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Everyone who works under the Arches should be able to confidently show up to work each day in a place that is safe, respectful and inclusive.”
In other news …
Actor Ezra Miller has broken their silence amid a growing list of legal issues and allegations of erratic behaviour, saying they are seeking treatment for “complex mental health issues”. In a statement, the 29-year-old non-binary actor apologised for any alarm they may have caused.
A metal object believed to have fallen from a transatlantic jet came crashing down outside the Maine state house, landing with a loud bang just feet from a police worker, officials said yesterday. The FAA says it believes the metal sleeve weighing 6 to 7lb came from a wing flap of a large passenger jet.
Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to five additional ministries while Australia’s prime minister, in what his successor has labelled an “unprecedented trashing of the Westminster system”. Morrison now faces calls to resign from parliament over the revelations.
The number of femicides in Italy has risen by almost 16% over the past year, with the vast majority taking place in a family context. Data published by the interior ministry showed 125 femicides between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022, compared with 108 during the same period in the previous year.
Don’t miss this: the fight to save a thriving Black school
Opened in 2002, the National Teachers Academy had become one of Chicago’s best public schools, one of the very few to be high-percentage minority, high-percentage low-income and also have the district’s top performance rating. Yet despite its success – a rare beacon for Black students in the Chicago public school system – the district announced, in spring 2017, a plan to transition NTA into a high school that would serve predominantly white families that had moved into Chicago’s gentrifying South Loop neighborhood. Let the Little Light Shine is a riveting documentary on one community’s fight to preserve their grade school.
Climate check: weeks of heat above 100F will be the norm in much of US by 2053, study finds
Vast swaths of the continental US will be experiencing prolonged and dangerous heatwaves by the middle of the century, with the heat index in some areas above 100F (38C) for weeks on end, according to an alarming study. Almost two-thirds of Americans, who live in mostly southern and central states, will be at risk from the critical temperature increases, according to a Washington Post analysis of data. Analysis suggests that by 2053, the record heat being experienced this year in several states will have become normal.
Last Thing: expert makes rare find on museum opening day in the UK
A 180m-year-old fossil has quickly become one of the star exhibits at the UK’s newest museum, after it was identified as probably the oldest known example of a vertebrate embryo found in Britain. The Yorkshire Natural History Museum in Sheffield opened on Saturday, the ribbon cut by the palaeontologist and ichthyosaur expert Dean Lomax using a claw. To add to the excitement of the day, Lomax was able to identify that one of the objects on display was far more interesting and important than it might first have seemed.
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