Andrew Blake

Bill Maher, HBO risk defamation suit over comments about Covington high school student

A lawyer for Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student made famous by a viral video filmed near the Lincoln Memorial last month, said Thursday he is considering suing HBO host and comedian Bill Maher for defamation.

February 21, 2019

Julian Assange granted new passport by Australia amid ongoing international impasse: Report

Julian Assange has been issued a new passport by his native Australia, regional media reported Thursday, clearing one of several hurdles keeping the wanted WikiLeaks publisher from exiting the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and returning home.

February 21, 2019

Illinois, Connecticut governors tout marijuana legalization in unveiling of state budget proposals

The governors of Illinois and Connecticut each suggested legalizing recreational marijuana while pitching state budget proposals Wednesday.

February 20, 2019

North Korean hackers shift focus for the first time toward Russian targets: Report

Hackers linked to the North Korean government have surprised researchers by shifting their attention toward targets in Russia, an Israel cybersecurity company reported Tuesday.

February 20, 2019

California reports far less tax revenue from first year of marijuana sales than initially projected

Recreational marijuana sales generated fewer than $350 million in tax revenue for the state of California during 2018, regulators announced Tuesday -- a far cry from the billion dollars in annual revenue previously projected.

February 20, 2019

Detroit blocks ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ stunt at car show over Confederate flag license plate: Report

Confederate imagery has complicated plans for kickstarting an annual car show in Detroit, Michigan, where the city council voted Tuesday against letting the event's organizers recreate a scene from the film "Smokey and the Bandit."

February 19, 2019

Federal judge refuses to quash subpoenas seeking internet records in ‘Unite the Right’ suit

A federal judge on Tuesday paved the way for Twitter and GoDaddy to provide records to plaintiffs suing individuals involved in the deadly 2017 "Unite the Right" rally attended by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

February 19, 2019

Russian hackers eight times quicker than North Koreans, need under 20 minutes to wreak havoc: Report

Victims targeted by Russian state-sponsored hackers typically have less than 20 minutes to prevent an initial intrusion from becoming a full-blown breach, a leading U.S. cybersecurity firm warned Tuesday.

February 19, 2019

New Jersey leaders near deal to legalize marijuana, tax sales by weight: Reports

Marijuana legalization in New Jersey is nearer than ever as the result of a broad agreement tentatively reached among leading state Democrats, local outlets reported Friday.

February 16, 2019

Senate panel probing meetings between Russians and Obama economic officials

The Senate Finance Committee is probing meetings reportedly held in 2015 between two of former President Barack Obama's top economic officials and Maria Butina, a Russian national who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to covertly influence U.S. foreign policy, the panel said Friday.

February 16, 2019

FBI doubles reward for ‘Beltway Bank Bandit’ blamed with string of robberies around D.C.

The FBI on Friday doubled the reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of the so-called "Beltway Bank Bandit" accused of more than a dozen successful bank robberies in and around Washington, D.C.

February 16, 2019

Twitter limits Khamenei account over tweet threatening Salman Rushdie

Twitter took action Friday against an account connected to Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, for posting a message threatening author Salman Rushdie.

February 16, 2019

Bill offered to keep U.S. in compliance with collapsing Cold War-era weapons treaty

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Democrat and 2020 presidential hopeful, urged her congressional colleagues Friday to pass a bill blocking President Trump from abandoning the faltering Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the U.S. and Russia.

February 15, 2019

MIke MIlls, R.E.M. bassist, blasts use of band’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ in video tweeted by Donald Trump

R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills was not pleased, by any reckoning, with a video shared by President Trump on Friday featuring the band's 1993 single "Everybody Hurts."

February 15, 2019

Ryan Jaselskis ordered held over arson of ‘Pizzagate’ restaurant Comet Ping Pong

Ryan Jaselskis, a California man accused of starting a fire inside the restaurant at the center of the baseless "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory, was ordered held without bond Thursday by a federal magistrate in Washington, D.C.

February 15, 2019

Trump voters rate Infowars as trustworthy as The New York Times, The Washington Post: Poll

Americans who voted for President Trump in 2016 trust the nation's leading newspapers about as much as Infowars, the website published by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the results of a poll revealed Wednesday.

February 15, 2019

Tricia Newbold, White House official, seeks whistleblower protection over Kushner complaint: Report

Tricia Newbold, a longtime member of the White House Security Office, is seeking whistleblower protection after being disciplined on the heels of protesting a supervisor's decision to grant a top-secret clearance to Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, a report said Wednesday.

February 14, 2019

Bipartisan bill reintroduced abolishing fees for accessing federal court filings

Lawmakers rekindled a bipartisan effort Wednesday to stop the federal government from selling access to public court filings, potentially eliminating lucrative fees otherwise putting millions of dollars annually in the country's coffers.

February 14, 2019

Eric Gerard McGinnis sentenced for using 3D printer to build gun, violating protective order

Federal prosecutors secured an 8-year prison sentence Wednesday for Eric Gerard McGinnis, a Texas man who used a 3D printer to bypass a court order banning him from owning guns.

February 14, 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she’s fine with a sitting president smoking marijuana

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would not mind a sitting president using marijuana, the New York Democrat said in an interview Wednesday.

February 14, 2019