TV News LIES

n 1988, in an elevator at a film festival in Havana, the director Oliver Stone was handed a copy of On the Trail of the Assassins, a newly published account of the murder of President John F. Kennedy. Stone admired Kennedy with an almost spiritual intensity and viewed his death on November 22, 1963 — 60 years ago this month — as a hard line in American history: the “before” hopeful and good; the “after” catastrophic. Yet he had never given much thought to the particulars of the assassination.

“I believed that Lee Oswald shot the president,” he said. “I had no problem with that.” On the Trail of the Assassins, written by the Louisiana appellate judge Jim Garrison, proposed something darker.

In 1963, Garrison had been district attorney of New Orleans, Oswald’s home in the months before the killing. He began an investigation and had soon traced the contours of a vast government conspiracy orchestrated by the CIA; Oswald was the “patsy” he famously claimed to be. Stone read Garrison’s book three times, bought the film rights, and took them to Warner Bros. “I was hot at the time,” Stone told me. “I could write my own ticket, within reason.” The studio gave him $40 million to make a movie.

Viewers of the third 2024 Republican presidential primary debate in Miami Wednesday night may have noticed some differences from past debates.

Most notably, it was the smallest slate of candidates onstage yet. Just five candidates met the Republican National Committee's qualifying rules this time around: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was in the first two debates, did not qualify. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who appeared in the first debate, didn't qualify either. And former Vice President Mike Pence recently dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden have been subpoenaed Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee, which took the remarkable step of seeking depositions from family members of President Biden amid its impeachment inquiry.

As part of the request, the committee asked for James Biden’s wife, Sarah Biden, as well as Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen, to sit for transcribed interviews. The panel also asks for interviews with Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden, and her sister Elizabeth Secundy.

Ivanka Trump testified Wednesday that she had no role in her father’s personal financial statements, echoing her adult brothers about documents central to the civil fraud trial that could reshape Donald Trump’s family business.

The former president’s elder daughter, who has been in his inner circle in both business and politics, rounds out a major stretch in the trial. Her father took the stand on Monday, and her brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. testified last week.

Unlike her father and brothers, Ivanka Trump is no longer a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. It alleges that Donald Trump’s asset values were fraudulently pumped up for years on annual “statements of financial condition” that helped him get loans and insurance.

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A ballot measure seeking to enshrine abortion protections into Ohio’s state constitution is projected to pass, according to Decision Desk HQ, delivering a major win for Democrats and abortion rights advocates ahead of 2024.

The proposed constitutional amendment would protect access to abortion up until fetal viability, with exceptions for the life and health of the patient beyond that point. It’s the first time that abortion rights advocates have been able to pass abortion protections in a state that’s trended increasingly red in recent years.

Abortion is legal up until 22 weeks, while the Ohio Supreme Court is weighing a six-week ban that is on hold right now. Ohio became a flashpoint after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year when a 10-year-old rape victim was forced to travel out of state to receive access to the medical procedure.

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Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was projected to win reelection in Kentucky, according to Decision Desk HQ, fending off a challenge from his former President Trump-backed Republican challenger.

Beshear, who has seen strong approval despite being the Democratic governor of a red state, defeated Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron after a competitive race, winning his second term in the governor’s mansion.

He will hold onto the seat he flipped blue back in 2019, when he beat then-Gov. Matt Bevin (R).

Polls generally showed Beshear holding onto a lead ahead of Tuesday’s elections — but an Emerson College Polling survey released last week found Beshear and Cameron tied at 47 percent each.

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