Michael Cohen allegedly paid off a small technology company to try to manipulate online polls in President Trump’s favor — with a Walmart bag filled with cash and a boxing glove, The Wall Street Journal reported. John Gauger, owner of company, RedFinch Solutions LLC, told the Journal he was owed $50,000 and was surprised by…
Internet troll Chuck Johnson, who has said he doesn’t believe in Auschwitz and its gas chambers, met with two Republican lawmakers in Congress on Wednesday — to talk about genetics, the The Daily Beast reported. Representatives Andy Harris and Phil Roe were spotted walking with Johnson, HuffPost reporter Matt Fuller first noted Wednesday on Twitter….
(JTA) — The first four Aaron D. Panken Professorships have been named. The professors, who serve on each of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s four campuses in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, will be funded by a $12 million endowment contributed by nearly 1,000 donors in memory of Panken. Panken, who served…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The architect who designed the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem was among the winners of the 2019 Wolf Prize. Moshe Safdie, 80, chosen for architecture, was one of five recipients honored Wednesday at the president’s residence in Jerusalem. The Wolf Prize is given by the president of Israel on…
(JTA) Richard Sackler and other members of his family are accused of directing their pharmaceutical firm Purdue Pharma to mislead doctors and patients about the dangers of the opioid painkiller OxyContin produced by the company. The Massachusetts attorney general on Tuesday filed internal company communications that provide the first evidence that the Sacklers made company…
A Jewish commissioner from South Florida accused Representative Rashida Tlaib of being an anti-Semite who might “blow up Capitol Hill,” the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Hallandale Beach Commissioner Annabelle Lima-Taub signed an online petition seeking to remove Tlaib, an American of Palestinian descent, from office five days after the Michigan congresswoman said she wanted…
A jet-setting Orthodox rabbi who spent five days in North Korea described hiding his religion as a terrifying experience, Insider reported. Meir Alfasi is a rabbi, photographer and former photojournalist from Israel who has traveled to 80 countries wearing the traditional Lubavich black hat and bekishe, a long black coat. “I travel with the uniform…
As the government shutdown reaches its fourth week, the Flushing Jewish Community Council in Queens, New York, has started feeding federal employees and their families, donating boxes of food items and hot dinners, Queens News and Community (QNS) reported. The council is distributing food at a local synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom. Paul Engel, executive director…
Representative Ilhan Omar claimed in an interview on Sunday that she didn’t hide her support for BDS during her election campaign — even though she went from saying it was “not helpful in getting that two-state solution” during a debate to announcing her personal support for it after the election. MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin asked Omar…
(JTA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state would take action against Airbnb for its decision to remove listings of rooms and homes for rent in West Bank Jewish settlements. Airbnb announced in November 2018 that it would remove the listings of some 200 apartments and homes for rent in Jewish settlements in the…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In 2010, Sen. Joe Lieberman fretted that the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE might be spying on Americans. Nearly a decade later, Lieberman as a lobbyist is working for ZTE to see how the company can alleviate the kind of concerns raised by the then-senator. The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that Lieberman, then…
