Oct 3, 2019

Former N.C. GOP chair pleads guilty to making false statement to FBI

Robert "Robin" Hayes. Photo: Douglas Graham/Roll Call/Getty Images

Robert "Robin" Hayes, a former North Carolina congressman and state Republican Party chairman, pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a false statement to the FBI during a federal campaign finance probe, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The big picture: Hayes, 74, was indicted previously along with 3 other men for alleged bribery. They promised to spend "millions of dollars" on the North Carolina insurance commissioner's re-election "if he would remove an insurance regulator that oversaw companies" under the control of a business executive also indicted, Reuters notes.

  • Per the Washington Post, Hayes reached a plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors and could potentially testify against the others.

Go deeper: Chairman of North Carolina GOP indicted in federal campaign finance probe

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Axios
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Report: Goldman to settle DOJ probe into Malaysia's 1MDB for over $2B

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

Goldman Sachs has agreed with the Department of Justice to pay over $2 billion for the bank's role in Malaysia's multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB, Bloomberg first reported.

Why it matters: The settlement, expected to be announced within days, would allow Goldman Sachs to avoid a criminal conviction in the U.S. over the bribery and money laundering scandal that saw three of its former bankers banned for life from the banking industry by the Federal Reserve Board.

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Axios
Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Politics: Americans feel Trump's sickness makes him harder to trust — Florida breaks record for in-person early voting — McConnell urges White House not to strike stimulus deal before election — Republican senators defend Fauci as Trump escalates attacks.
  2. Health: The next wave is gaining steam.
  3. Education: Schools haven't become hotspots — University of Michigan students ordered to shelter-in-place.
  4. World: Ireland moving back into lockdown — Argentina becomes 5th country to report 1 million infections.
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Axios
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump threatens to post "60 Minutes" interview early after reportedly walking out

Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, Oct. 19. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he was considering posting his interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" prior to airtime in order to show "what a FAKE and BIASED interview" it was, following reports that he abruptly ended the interview after 45 minutes of taping.

Why it matters: Trump has escalated his war on the media in the final stretch of his re-election campaign, calling a Reuters reporter a "criminal" this week for not reporting on corruption allegations about Hunter Biden and disparaging CNN as "dumb b*stards" for the network's ongoing coronavirus coverage.

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