Oct 2, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Manafort used Trump position to impress Russian oligarch

Paul Manafort at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP

Paul Manafort was told that his campaign work for President Trump would "hugely enhance [his] reputation" with a billionaire Russian oligarch he'd previously worked with, according to email exchanges obtained by The Atlantic.

Think back: The Washington Post dropped a scoop a few weeks ago that Manafort promised "private briefings" to Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska, who has close ties to Vladimir Putin. The emails obtained by The Atlantic make clear the full scope of Manafort's conversations with one of Deripaska's acquaintances, which include surreptitious references to a New York meeting to discuss "the guy who gave [Manafort his] biggest black caviar jar."

Go Deeper: How the Russia probe closed in on Manafort.

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Barak Ravid, author of from Tel Aviv
56 mins ago - World

Countries waiting to see if Trump wins before moving on Israel normalization

The delegation lands at Israel's Ben Gurion airport. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty

The White House is attempting to leverage momentum from Israel's normalization deals with Bahrain and the UAE to get more Arab countries on board before the U.S. election.

Driving the news: President Trump wants Sudan's removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list to be accompanied by a pre-election announcement on Israel.

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Orion Rummler
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Poll: 92% of battleground state voters are "extremely motivated to vote"

Voters stand in line at the Metropolitan Multi-Services Center in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 13. Photo: Mark Felix for The Washington Post via Getty Images

91% of likely voters nationally say they are "extremely motivated to vote," including 92% in battleground states Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to a Change Research/CNBC Poll.

Why it matters: The 2020 election could see record-breaking levels of voter turnout. Voters last week cast ballots at nearly five times the rate they did at this point in the 2016 election, per the U.S. Elections Project. Over 39 million ballots have been cast in early voting states as of Wednesday.

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Caitlin Owens, author of Vitals
2 hours ago - Health

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead guilty to 3 criminal charges

Members of P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) and Truth Pharm staged a rally and die-in last year outside New Yorks Southern District Federal Court in White Plains, where Purdue Pharmaceuticals' bankruptcy hearing was being held. Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges Wednesday as part of a more than $8 billion settlement with the Justice Department, AP reports.

Why it matters: "The settlement is the highest-profile display yet of the federal government seeking to hold a major drugmaker responsible for an opioid addiction and overdose crisis linked to more than 470,000 deaths in the country since 2000," AP notes.

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