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.)
Hillary Clinton Opened Up At New York Festival
The former Democratic presidential candidate, secretary of state and U.S. senator attended OZY Fest in New York on Saturday, and in conversation with Laurene Powell Jobs, Clinton discussed a number of topics. This included the recent Helsinki summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which she called “alarming on many, many levels.” Clinton added that “hardly anybody who believes in freedom gets along with” Putin, and that Trump “wants to be friends with Putin for reasons that we’re all still trying to figure out.”
According to Clinton, it’s also a “mystery” why Trump “has not spoken up for our country,” as the Russian interference in the 2016 election was “a direct attack on our democracy.” The foreign meddling doesn’t appear to be over, either. Clinton said the US is still “very vulnerable” to interference. “Several of the intelligence professionals, including Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, have said the Russians are still at it,” she said. “They are still looking for ways to steal information about voter registration, for example.”
Clinton continued, “there are some tech experts in Silicon Valley with whom I have met who say that maybe what they’ll do this next time is to really disrupt the actual election — shut down the servers that you send results to, interfere with the operation of voting machines because still too many of them are linked to the internet. We are still very vulnerable and we don’t have leadership from the administration.”
Regarding what she’s been up to, Clinton said she’ll be announcing more information soon about helping organize transportation for immigrants trying to reunite with their families after being separated at the US border due to the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy.Â
The FBI Released The Warrant Documents On Trump Associate Carter Page
On Saturday, following a Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI released a redacted version of its surveillance warrant application on Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page. The warrant was initially approved in 2016, granting the FBI permission to conduct surveillance on Page. This, for many Republicans, is proof of their claim that the Justice Department has purposely abused its power and targeted the Trump campaign.Â
“The FBI believes that Page has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government,” the application reads. Also included are the FBI’s beliefs that “Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government” and that “there is probable cause that such activities involve or are about to involve violations of the criminal statutes of the United States.”
BREAKING: Here’s the Carter Page FISA materials, obtained by NYT and several other organizations via Freedom of Information Act litigation.https://t.co/SdFCV6Lyvb
— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) July 21, 2018
A number of officials have released statements on the warrant release, including Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. According to him, the applications “underscore the legitimate concern FBI had about Page’s activities as it was investigating Russia’s interference.” Trump took to Twitter, citing the release as evidence that his campaign was “illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.”Â
.@jaketapper: “I’m just asking you a straight question. Do you have relationships with government officials?” https://t.co/xkBTp2fKrQ
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 22, 2018
Page defended himself in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “I’ve never been an agent of [a] foreign power by any stretch of the imagination,” Page said, calling the allegations “spin,” a “ridiculous smear campaign,” and “literally a complete joke.” However, Page admitted that he worked as an informal adviser to the Russian government in 2013.Â
More Than 100 Former Ohio State Students Have Accused A Professor & Team Doctor Of Sexual Misconduct
After numerous former Ohio State University wrestlers came forward to say they were abused by Dr. Richard H. Strauss — a former wrestling team physician and assistant professor of medicine who also worked at the student health center — more than 100 former students of the school have accused Strauss of sexual misconduct. Strauss killed himself in 2005, but a number of accusers are pursuing legal action against the university as they claim officials knew of the abuse and did nothing to stop it.
Two separate class-action lawsuits were filed last week with this notion. Together, they allege that Ohio State officials received at least three complaints about Strauss: “in 1978, after the captain of the wrestling team told a doctor at the university’s health center that Mr. Strauss had fondled him; in 1993, when a wrestler complained to the team’s head coach, Russ Hellickson; and in 1994, when two wrestlers confronted the university’s athletic director,” The New York Times reported. One of the lawsuits even mentions Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan was the wrestling team’s assistant coach throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the suit accused him of ignoring wrestlers’ complaints about Strauss’ abuse.
Independent investigators hired by Ohio State University have been looking into the allegations against Strauss since April. “We are grateful to those who have come forward and remain deeply concerned for anyone who may have been affected by Dr. Strauss’ actions,” said Ohio State President Michael V. Drake in a statement. “We remain steadfastly committed to uncovering the truth.”
What to look for…
More information about some of the weekend’s tragic events. Investigations are still underway in the Trader Joe’s hostage situation and Missouri tour boat accident.Â