.By Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a search warrant for his phone as part of an ongoing insider-trading investigation tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move, saying he and Burr had agreed it was in the Senate's best interests.
FBI officials showed up at Burr's home with the warrant on Wednesday, marking a significant escalation into the Justice Department's investigation into whether Burr broke the law with a well-timed sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet,
The Justice Department declined to comment. His attorney did not respond to phone and email messages, but said last month that the law is clear that any senator can participate in stock market trading based on public information "as Sen. Burr did."
A new bill in New Jersey, if passed through the state legislature, would immediately release anyone in jail for non-violent marijuana crimes and expunge their records. Jake Hudnut, chief prosecutor for Jersey City, calls it the most progressive social justice bill in the nation.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to reduced charges Friday morning and agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller's investigation.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
With claims that the official Puerto Rico death toll was inflated to make him look bad, the president "just put a bullet in Rick Scott's senate campaign," said Rick Wilson, GOP consultant and author of "Everything Trump Touches Dies." The Floridian Governor had worked hard to gain the support of Puerto Ricans in his state.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Diana Henriques, financial journalist and author, said that a decade after the financial crisis, the country is not even close to prepared for another economic collapse of similar magnitude or whatever could follow.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
The actress-turned-activist, and Democratic candidate for New York Governor, said that she isn't worried about trailing incumbent Andrew Cuomo, because polls don't capture the progressive movement that could bring voters to the polls for the primaries this Thursday.
Something different looms over this year's annual Apple keynote: an escalating trade war with China, a country on which the company is so dependent. What will that mean for the consumer? Plus, could there be some surprises in store at Wednesday's event?
