
Key impeachment witness sues Pompeo over $1.8 million in unpaid legal fees
CNN
President Donald Trump's former ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, is suing former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the US government to cover $1.8 million in unpaid legal fees he incurred during the House impeachment probe.
The lawsuit claims that Pompeo personally told Sondland -- who was denied a government lawyer -- that the US government would be able to reimburse him for his legal fees but ultimately reneged on that promise upon learning about Sondland's explosive 2019 testimony. Specifically, it claims that Pompeo's about-face came after Sondland's became the first impeachment witness to confirm there was a quid pro quo that came from Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the "express direction of the President."
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.

Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid outrage over immigration agents’ tactics
Immigration agents carrying out a sweeping operation in Minnesota can’t deploy certain crowd-control measures against peaceful protesters or arrest them, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order follows widespread outrage over a fatal shooting, reports of US citizens getting detained and Minnesotans getting asked for documents for no clear reason.

The smell of wet grass from the recent atmospheric river rains, mud and gasoline wafts through the warm Southern California air as Alec Derpetrossian works the chainsaw with a foreman, Randy Magaña, who helps him guide where to put the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning how to adequately use the large tool.










