Aug 6, 2019

Former Tinder exec sues Match and ex-CEO, alleging sexual assault

Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images

A former Tinder executive filed a lawsuit Monday against the dating app's parent companies and its former CEO, alleging he sexually assaulted her and that she was fired for going public with her claims, The Verge reports.

The big picture: Rosette Pambakian, Tinder's former VP of marketing and communications, claims in the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, that former Match Group and Tinder CEO Gregory Blatt made a lewd overture to her before later groping and kissing her without consent during a company holiday party at an LA hotel in 2016, per AP.

A 2018 lawsuit against Tinder's owner, IAC, and its subsidiary Match Group brought by Tinder's founders, which alleges financial information manipulation, also claims that Blatt sexually harassed and groped Pambakian. Match Group denies the claims.

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Mike Allen

19 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Ben Sasse emerges as GOP Trump critic ahead of November

Sen. Ben Sasse walks to the Senate from the subway to vote in June. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) has dialed up his spicy slams of President Trump, including this swipe at yesterday's signing ceremony: "The pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop."

Why it matters: Trump increasingly looks — to business and to fellow Republicans — like a loser in November. So they're more likely to create distance to save their own skins. Sasse also won his May primary, further freeing him.

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Fadel Allassan

52 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Pelosi: "States don't have the money" for Trump's unemployment order

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed on "Fox News Sunday" that states don't have the funds to comply with the executive order President Trump signed on Saturday, which requires them to cover 25% of an additional $400 in weekly unemployment benefits.

Why it matters: Many state and local governments have had their budgets devastated by the economic impacts of the coronavirus, which have caused expenses to soar and revenues to plunge.

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Fadel Allassan

2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Kudlow says he regrets claiming Trump couldn't use executive order for unemployment

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that he regrets suggesting this week that unemployment benefits can only be extended by Congress.

Why it matters: President Trump's decision to bypass Congress to sign four executive actions, including one that provides $400 per week in extra unemployment benefits, has prompted outcry from Democrats and even some Republicans who believe he is overstepping his constitutional authority.