Iran and Russia have both obtained information about
American voter registrations and are trying to influence
the public about the upcoming U.S. presidential election,
national security officials said Wednesday night.
“Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence
public opinion related to our elections,” said Director of
National Intelligence John Ratcliffe at a hastily scheduled
press conference.
“First we have confirmed that some voter registration
information has been obtained by Iran and separately by
Russia,” Ratcliffe said at the briefing, which comes less
than two weeks before Election Day.
“This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to
communicate false information to registered voters that
they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine
your confidence in American democracy.”
Created by
vangelis.bouzoukas@pwc.com
Updated by
vangelis.bouzoukas@pwc.com
President Donald Trump is struggling to find a compelling
rationale for his reelection ahead of the final
presidential debate, firing off wild, scattershot attacks
against an expanding list of perceived political enemies.
On a day of vitriol and stunts, the President's
base-stoking narrative of anger and personal persecution
targeted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Lesley
Stahl of “60 Minutes,” the Commission on Presidential
Debates, the Supreme Court and Dr. Anthony Fauci. At an
evening rally in Pennsylvania, he even took a shot at
“Crooked Hillary.” He also intensified pressure on Attorney
General William Barr to launch criminal probes into Biden.
Created by
vangelis.bouzoukas@pwc.com
Updated by
vangelis.bouzoukas@pwc.com
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has reached a supposedly $8
billion settlement with the federal government in which it
pleads guilty in a criminal investigation over its role in
the opioid epidemic, the US Department of Justice announced
Wednesday.
As part of the settlement, Purdue will plead guilty to
three counts related to its misleading marketing of opioid
painkillers and faces a $3.5 billion criminal fine, $2
billion in criminal forfeitures, and a $2.8 billion civil
settlement.
Purdue admits it illegally and misleadingly marketed its
opioids, including “to more than 100 health care providers
whom the company had good reason to believe were diverting
opioids” for misuse; illegally paid doctors to prescribe
more opioids; and took part in other fraudulent and illegal
practices. Purdue says it did all of this between 2007 and
at least 2017 — after a separate guilty plea in 2007 forced
the company to pay more than $600 million in fines.
But no one — neither the company’s executives nor members
of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue — will go to jail
or prison as a result of the settlement.
Despite the settlement, it’s unclear how much Purdue will
actually pay. The company is in the middle of bankruptcy
proceedings, with claims from other people to whom it
effectively owes money. The federal government is only one
of many entities that Purdue’s holdings will likely be
divvied up among.
The Justice Department also threw its support behind a deal
that would turn Purdue into a public benefit company
overseen by new leadership, with proceeds from OxyContin
and other drugs purportedly going to help victims of the
opioid crisis. Purdue previously proposed the deal to
settle thousands of lawsuits against it, including from
local and state governments, over its role in the opioid
crisis.
Dozens of states have rejected that deal. They argue that
it lets the Sacklers off the hook, since they’d remain very
wealthy and out of prison, and that using revenue from
OxyContin sales to fund efforts to stop the opioid crisis
presents a conflict of interest.
Created by
vangelis.bouzoukas@pwc.com
Updated by
vangelis.bouzoukas@pwc.com