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Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, already facing an invasion-of-privacy trial next month in connection with an extramarital affair, was charged separately on Friday with felony computer tampering tied to his political fund-raising. The new case was brought by the same St. Louis prosecutor two days before the statute of limitations deadline for the charge, which stems from Greitens' alleged theft of a donor list from the military veterans charity he created and ran for several years. Greitens, a Republican under mounting pressure from Missouri politicians of both parties to resign since the sex scandal broke earlier this year, called the latest case part of a "smear" campaign orchestrated by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Democrat.

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 22:13:41 -0400

By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An internal CIA review in 2011 cleared U.S. President Donald Trump's choice to head the agency, Gina Haspel, of wrongdoing in the destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of an al Qaeda suspect, according to a memorandum that the CIA declassified and released on Friday. The spy agency released the memo in response to demands by U.S. lawmakers for more details on Haspel's career and as part of its effort to bolster her nomination. Haspel's bid to be the first woman CIA director faces scrutiny on Capitol Hill due to her involvement in a discontinued interrogation program that many regarded as using torture.

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:11:47 -0400

Southwest Airlines Co clashed with engine-maker CFM over the timing and cost of proposed inspections after a 2016 engine accident, months before the explosion this week of a similar engine on a Southwest jet that led to the death of a passenger, public documents showed. The proposed inspections would have cost $170 per engine for two hours of labor, for a total bill to U.S. carriers of $37,400, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in its August 2017 proposal, citing the engine manufacturer. The documents reveal that airlines including Southwest thought the FAA had "vastly understated" the number of engines that would need to be inspected - and therefore the cost.

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 19:27:23 -0400

The new case, referred to prosecutors by Missouri's attorney general, was filed by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, according to her office, which also brought the privacy charge against Greitens in February. The criminal complaint in the computer tampering case, a copy of which was furnished by prosecutors, said the alleged computer offense occurred in April 2015.

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 19:17:28 -0400

The Democratic Party sued the Russian government, U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign and WikiLeaks on Friday, charging that they carried out a wide-ranging conspiracy to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In its federal lawsuit in Manhattan, the Democratic National Committee said that top officials in Trump's campaign conspired with the Russian government and its military spy agency to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and tilt the election to Trump by hacking Democratic Party computers.

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 19:13:24 -0400