RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
March 11 toMarch 17
Featured Investigation As House Republicans concluded that there was no evidence of collusion between President Trump and Russia during the 2016 election, a new book reveals the key role Obama administration figures played in promoting the conspiracy theory. According to "Russian Roulette," by veteran reporters Michael Isikoff and David Corn, senior Obama State Department official Victoria Nuland gave the green light to an FBI agent in 2016 to meet with Christopher Steele, a central figure in compiling and disseminating a 35-page dossier accusing Trump and his associates of potentially treasonous crimes and lewd acts. This revelation comes after reports of another State Department official, Jonathan Winer, serving as middleman to bring Steele together with Sidney Blumenthal, a fierce Hillary Clinton defender; and John Brennan, Obama's CIA director, working behind the scenes before the election to get his suspicions about Trump and Russia into the news media. "Russian Roulette" also reports thatPresident Obama's 2012 re-election campaign hired Fusion GPS- the opposition research firm that hired Steele - to dig up dirt on Obama's Republicanopponent,Mitt Romney. In fact, the Obama campaign seems to have created the template for dark-money funding of Fusion's opposition research, hiding its payments to Fusion GPS as legal fees paid to the firm of PerkinsCoie- the same tactic Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee used in 2016 to finance the dossier. Other articles this week plumbed available records toargue that the Trump-Russia investigation is driven less by national security concerns than the Washington establishment's abhorrence of Trump. Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist revealed text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, two anti-Trump figures at the FBI, discussing how to influence a surveillance court judge. Michael Doran's extended narrative in National Review,"The Real Collusion Story,"shows how Fusion GPS and the Obama administration worked together to sell the idea of Trump-Russia collusion to the rest of the government and the media. Lee Smith's articlein Tablet,"Robert Mueller's Beltway Cover-Up,"points to serial leaks of classified material and the reliance on unverified information to argue that the special counsel "certainly knows that most of the case he has regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election was built by abuses of the foreign intelligence surveillance apparatus and other related crimes that are punishable with jail time." As with almost everything else in this investigation, we still have more questions than answers. But "Russian Roulette," and the information pulled together by Hemingway, Doran and Smith remind us of all the intriguing evidence that too many members of the media have considered unfit to print. Other Noteworthy Articles and Series Book Excerpt: The Kerry and Biden Boys' Shady Equity Firm
New York Post
The son and stepson of Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry run a private equity firm that secured a series of exclusive deals with foreign governments. PeterSchweizerreports in his new book, "Secret Empires," that "profitable deals were struck with foreign governments on the heels of crucial diplomatic missions carried out by their powerful fathers. Often those foreign entities gained favorable policy actions from the United States government just as the sons were securing favorable financial deals from those same entities" 'Buy Local' Food Programs Deceive Consumers
Arizona Republic
Coffee beans don't grow in Utah, but if they are roasted there they can be labeled "local." The same is true for tea brewed in Alabama, peanut butter processed in Oklahoma and potato chips cooked and bagged in Virginia. As local-food sales grow into a $20 billion industry, a USA Today Network investigation found that state-branding programs designed to inform consumers and support local farmers are deceptive and virtually unregulated. Most state food-branding programs certify products as "local" even if half the ingredients come from another state or country. Manystates have no minimum ingredient requirement. Alabama: Sheriff Pockets Jail Food Funds, Buys Beach House
AL.com
Many Alabama sheriffs contend that they are personally allowed to keep "excess" money they are given to feed inmates. One of them, Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin, reported on forms he filed with the Alabama Ethics Commission that he made "more than $250,000" each of the past three years via the inmate-feeding funds. That is one reason the Sheriff and his wife own several properties with a total assessed value of more than $1.7 million. Waitress Dilemma: Endure Sex Pests or a Crummy Tip
New York Times
In the restaurant industry, the cultural reckoning over sexual harassment has felled celebrity chefs, including Mario Batali, and spotlighted pervasive misbehavior by managers and co-workers. But servers and bartenders also face abuse from another front: the millions of Americans who dine out every year and who, because of the custom of tipping, wield outsize influence over one of the largest groups of workers in the country — three million strong, according to federal data. Massachusetts: 245 State Cops Made $200K in 2017
Boston Globe
Maybe one day your gifted child will grow up to be a lawyer, or doctor … or a Massachusetts state trooper. The median pay for Bay State troopers is pretty sweet - $145,413 - and there are plenty of opportunities to earn much, much more. Last year 245 state troopers, or about 12 percent of the force, made more than $200,000, often by working long overtime shifts or taking on multiple details directing traffic or providing security at special events. Four troopers collected more than $300,000. Medicare Firms Skim Obamacare Gravy
Wall Street Journal
An Obamacare loophole allowed insurance companies to receive significant bonuses by shifting Medicare Advantage customers into higher-ranked plans.Medicare ranks privately managed plans on a five-star quality scale and providesfinancial bonuses to providers of top-ranked plans. Using a tactic known ascrosswalking,insurers received millions of dollars in federal payments without providing any actual improvement in their performance on customer service, health screenings and other quality measures. Canada: Slaughterhouse Keeps World's Premature Babies Alive
Stat
"Farm to table" may provide virtue-signaling gustatory pleasure but farm to pharma is saving lives. The lungs of premature babies aren't quite ready for birth. Slaughterhouse cows help fill the development gap, serving as a primary source of an off-white foam - called pulmonary surfactant - that keeps their air sacs from collapsing. California: The Battle Over Charles Manson's Corpse
Daily Beast
In death, as in life, Charles Manson's fate will be decided by the courts. The body of the career criminal and "Helter Skelter" murderer, who died last November, still lies in a California morgue under a fake name while three men fight for his remains. They are: Michael Brunner, 49, Manson's son by ex-Manson Family member Mary Brunner; Jason Freeman, a 41-year-old former MMA fighter from Florida, who says he's Manson's grandson; and Michael Channels, 52, Manson's friend and pen pal of 30 years. Missouri: Destination Wedding Spot for 15-Year-Old Brides
Kansas City Star
Missouri is the Las Vegas for child brides. Bordering eight other states, it's is the only one where children as young as 15 can marry with just one parent approving, and at least 1,000 of them, including many out-of-staters, have done just that since 1999. Every other state requires some combination of a judge's order, parents' permission, premarital counseling or proof of pregnancy. Some flat-out prohibit marriages so young. But in Missouri, brides and grooms as young as 15 can marry with no more than the single approving swipe of a parent's pen, even if the other parent objects. Even children 14 or younger can marry in Missouri, as it remains one of 25 states with no minimum age requirement, although in such cases a judge must approve. Surely for the Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher set, the Show Me state is the Betrothe Me state. | 
