| THE BIG STORY
Trump called the $10 million a loan. His campaign called it a donation. Who paid it back, and how?
As the 2020 campaign hurtles toward a close, questions remain about a last-minute, $10 million lifeline Donald Trump threw to his 2016 campaign — a loan that helped catapult him into the presidency.
Speculation has swirled around the source of that money. But nothing is known about whether the $10 million loan — which the campaign reported as a contribution — was ever repaid, who might have repaid it, and whether it would even be legal to do so.
The context: Late in the 2016 campaign, Trump had put in far less than the $100 million he’d pledged, and his campaign was running out of money. Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon later told the FBI that Trump wasn’t willing to cut a check.
So Steve Mnuchin proposed a solution: Make it a loan. Bannon said Trump was pressured for hours, and eventually gave in. The campaign reported the money — but called it a “candidate contribution” rather than a loan.
Where we are now: According to the Campaign Law Center, the idea that Trump would write a large check, sign documents characterizing it as a loan, then almost immediately recast it as a donation, “just doesn’t add up.”
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Lawyers can’t find the parents of 500 immigrant children who were separated by the Trump administration
Quick reminder: In 2018, the Trump administration systematically separated thousands of children from their parents under a so-called “zero tolerance policy” in which parents were sent to federal prison before going to court on charges of entering the US without authorization.
Because children can't be sent to federal prison with their parents, the government separated them, listed them as unaccompanied minors, and transferred them to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
According to a court filing from this week, the lawyers tasked with locating immigrant families who were separated by the Trump administration say they have been unable to reach the parents of 545 children — an effort that has been impeded by the pandemic.
SNAPSHOTS A grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case said they were never asked to consider charges directly linked to her death. In a statement, one of the anonymous grand jurors said, “The grand jury was not presented any charges other than the three Wanton Endangerment charges against Detective Hankison.”
The feds are suing Google, saying it has too much control over internet searches. The Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, arguing the company unlawfully maintains its monopoly over internet search dollars through anticompetitive practices.
A Miami cop is in trouble after wearing a pro-Trump mask near an early voting site. Miami police say the officer will be disciplined after he donned a pro-Trump mask while dressed in full uniform with a badge and his gun.
The world feels like it’s falling apart. These women decided to get pregnant anyway. It’s Hopes Week at BuzzFeed News, so we spoke with six women about their fears about bringing a child into a world that feels like it’s teetering on the edge of collapse — and why they’re choosing to do it anyway.
DISTURBING BOT Thousands of women have no idea a Telegram network is sharing fake nude images of them
Tech researchers say that over 680,000 women have no idea their photos were uploaded to a bot on the messaging app Telegram — a bot that produces photo-realistic simulated nude images without their knowledge or consent.
The head of a visual threat intelligence company told us “This one’s unique because it’s not just people talking or people sharing content, it’s actually embedded in Telegram, and we have not found something similar.”
About 104,852 images of women have been posted publicly to the app, with 70% of the photos coming from social media or private sources. A small number of these victims appeared to be underage.
This harassment appears to be happening without the knowledge or consent of the photographed women, a vast majority of whom are not celebrities or influencers, but simply private citizens.
AMERICA IN A PHOTO This is the backstory of the viral photo of a Black woman holding her son while waiting in line to vote It’s a striking image. A woman is standing in line to vote in a contentious election, wearing a “safety pod” to protect her family from COVID-19, holding her young Black son in her arms while wearing a mask that reads, “I can't breathe.”
No wonder it went mega-viral. We talked to Dana Clark, the woman in the photo. She told us, “This is everything, everything that is going on in America with Black people.”
Dana Clark, and her son 18 month old Mason, wait in line at City Hall as early voting begins for the upcoming presidential election in New Orleans, Louisiana. Kathleen Flynn / Reuters Make a list of the little things you're grateful for this morning, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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