Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Justice Department’s Inspector General Sends McCabe Findings to U.S. Attorney’s Office For Possible Charges
The Justice Department’s Inspector General (IG) has sent the finding on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible charges associated with lying to federal investigators, CNN reports.
According to the IG’s report, McCabe “lacked candor” on four occasions with internal investigators when discussing a Wall Street Journal article on the FBI’s investigation on the Clinton Foundation. Furthermore, the IG determined that the former FBI second-in-command was not authorized to disclose or discuss the investigation as it did not meet the department’s “public interest” rule regarding the disclosing of investigations, CNN reports.
While it is not a crime to disclose non-classified information, it is a crime to lie to federal investigators.
In the report it states that McCabe’s disclosure of the Clinton Foundation investigation was made “in a manner designed to advance his personal interests at the expense of department leadership.”
However, McCabe’s attorney, Michael Bromwich, believes that no charges will be filed.
“We were advised of the referral within the past few weeks. Although we believe the referral is unjustified, the standard for an IG referral is very low,” Bromwich said in a statement.
“We have already met with staff members from the US Attorney’s Office. We are confident that, unless there is inappropriate pressure from high levels of the Administration, the US Attorney’s Office will conclude that it should decline to prosecute,” Bromwich added.
Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani is Joining President Trump’s Legal Team
President Donald Trump has added his longtime friend and former New York City (NYC) Mayor Rudy Giuliani to his legal team, ABC News reports. Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow confirmed Giuliani’s hiring in a statement.
“Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country,” Trump said in a statement released by his attorneys.
“It is an honor to be a part of such an important legal team, and I look forward to not only working with the President but with Jay, Ty, and their colleagues,” Giuliani said in a statement.
Giuliani’s hiring comes after several shake-ups on the president’s legal team, ABC News reports. The president’s lead attorney John Dowd resigned in March, alluding to the fact that the president was not accepting his advice.
For the past few months, Trump’s legal team has been negotiating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller on a potential interview, ABC News reports.
The legal team also announced the hiring of Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin on Thursday.
“Jane and Marty are highly respected former federal prosecutors with decades of experience. They have a nationwide practice and reputation for excellence and integrity,” the legal team said in its statement.
The former NYC Mayor was a strong advocate for Trump during the 2016 presidential election, often standing by Trump’s side.
Jordan Peele’s Obama PSA is a Warning Against Fake News
Former President Barack Obama has stayed relatively quiet on the never-ending happenings in Washington, so when a video of him speaking very candidly about current political topics and figures surfaced many were shocked, to say the least.
“We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point in time,” Obama explains. “They could have me say things like… ‘Ben Carson is in the sunken place.’ Or how about this, simply, ‘President Trump is a total and complete dipsh*t.’”
Obama proceeds to say that he would never say these sort of things, but that someone else would. It is then revealed that the person who would say those things is actually actor, writer and director Jordan Peele, PopSugar reports.
It all is a little confusing until we find out that the video is actually a “deepfake,” a type of video featuring realistic face swapping that makes you think that a particular person is doing something, when in reality they are not, PopSugar reports.
The PSA was created in partnership with Buzzfeed using video technology such as Adobe After Effects and artificial intelligence program FakeApp, both of which are available to the public.
This PSA shows that it could be very easy for individuals to create fake news videos like this one, tricking people into believing something that is just not true or real. And with the possibility of technology that can fake audio, making it completely unnecessary for voice acting, this could become a big problem.
Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti says the video shows how easy it was to make this video and that these sort of video will inevitably become common.
“We’ve covered counterfeit news websites that say the pope endorsed Trump that look kinda like real news,” Peretti said. “Now we’re starting to see tech that allows people to put words into the mouths of public figures.”
At the end of the video, Peele warns us about this technology and urges us to not let this become a reality.
“It may sound basic. But how we move forward in the Age of Information is gonna be the difference between whether we survive or whether we become some kind of f*cked-up dystopia,” Peele says.
What to look out for…
With today being the infamous 4/20, here are some memes to make you laugh, even if you aren’t celebrating.