Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper sues Defense Department over memoir redactions and "unusual" delay
CBSN
Washington — Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper is suing the Pentagon over its redactions of a memoir he has written about his time as Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense under former President Donald Trump. The former president announced that he was firing Esper in a tweet less than a week after he lost the 2020 election to President Biden.
Esper claims in his lawsuit that he submitted his manuscript, which relates his role during what he describes as "an unprecedented time," to the Department of Defense for review in May. He says he did not receive the redactions from the Pentagon until October 7, which he called in his filing an "unusual" length of time for a review of a memoir by a former defense secretary.
The lawsuit also notes that passages on 60 pages of the manuscript were redacted and claims "no written explanation was offered to justify the deletions." There was no assertion, according to the suit, that the deleted material posed a national security threat or contained classified information.
Pennsylvania was a pivotal state in the 2020 presidential election, sealing Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump after four days of vote counting. So it's no surprise the Keystone State is again front and center this election cycle, with both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump investing time and resources there ahead of Election Day.
Reporter killed in restaurant she owns hours after journalist shot dead in separate attack in Mexico
The U.N. human rights office in Mexico said Wednesday journalists in Mexico need more protection, after gunmen killed a journalist whose Facebook news page covered the violent western Mexico state of Michoacan. Then less than 24 hours later an entertainment reporter in the western city of Colima was killed inside a restaurant she owned.