Virginia crisis threatens to take down top 3 elected Democrats

Attorney general confessed to blackface, lieutenant governor accused of assault. No Images? Click here   By Paul Vale     Thursday, February 7 VIRGINIA DEMS IN CRISIS With the Virginia’s governor’s career hanging by a thread over a racist photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook, fresh developments threatened to take down all three of the state’s top Democratic elected officials. Following the Ralph Northam revelations, the state attorney general confessed to putting on blackface in the 1980s, and a woman went public with detailed allegations of sexual assault against the lieutenant governor. [AP] [Tweet | Share on Facebook] KLOBUCHAR ACCUSED OF BULLYING STAFF At least three people have withdrawn from consideration to lead Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s nascent 2020 presidential campaign — in part because of the Minnesota Democrat’s history of mistreating her staff. [HuffPost] FLORIDA REPUBLICAN LASHES OUT AT PARENT OF PARKLAND VICTIM Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) lashed out at the father of a student killed in last year’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, in an attempt to eject him from the U.S. House chamber for speaking out of turn. Gaetz drew complaints from the audience as he tried to argue that violence caused by undocumented immigrants is worse than the toll of homegrown gun violence. [HuffPost] MILLIONS TO GET HIT WITH IRS BILL Most Americans got a tax cut thanks to the new Republican tax law, but it’s possible that millions of households will get a surprise bill from the IRS in the coming weeks. [HuffPost] TRUMP: ISIS NEARLY GONE President Donald Trump said territory held by the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq could be "100 percent" liberated as early as next week. [BBC] RUSSIA OPEN TO NEW NUCLEAR TREATY Russia would be prepared to consider new proposals from the U.S. to replace a suspended Cold War-era nuclear pact with a broader treaty that includes more countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. [Reuters]       .   GERMANY CURBS FACEBOOK’S DATA GATHERING Germany's competition authority told Facebook it can only continue gathering data about users outside its app and website if it gets consent. The social network said it will appeal. [Reuters] COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT At least four women have accused Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez of sexual misconduct. The allegations have been described as the highest-profile Me Too accusations in Latin America to date. [HuffPost] DEADLY MEASLES OUTBREAK IN PHILIPPINES Authorities in the Philippines have declared an outbreak of the highly contagious measles virus in the capital, Manila. At least 861 suspected cases have been reported, while some 50 people — mostly children — are believed to have died. [BBC] EX-NYT CHIEF ACCUSED OF PLAGIARISM Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was forced to defend herself against accusations of plagiarism in her new book, Merchants of Truth: Inside the News Revolution. [HuffPost] CHINESE STUDENT SENTENCED FOR TAKING U.S. PHOTOS A 20-year-old Chinese student was sentenced to a year in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to illegally taking pictures at a key U.S. defense intelligence facility in Florida. [CNN] RUSSIAN SPY’S BOYFRIEND CHARGED The boyfriend of a Russian woman who admitted she was a secret agent for the Kremlin has been charged with fraud in South Dakota, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. [AP]    .   This is how you use Google Home and Alexa to listen to HuffPost’s news briefing. Here’s what to bring on a long flight. A Massachusetts woman who was convicted of coercing her boyfriend with text messages into killing himself will serve her full sentence following a ruling by the state’s high court. Ariana Grande, who was set to perform at the Grammys, has dropped out of the awards show altogether after a disagreement with producers over artistic control. Someone keeps sending Ben Sasse mean-spirited fortune cookies. California’s second-largest power company has unveiled a $582 million plan to help prevent wildfires after reports that the utility’s infrastructure may have sparked a massive fire that killed four people last year. Hugh Jackman trolls Ryan Reynolds with a vicious ad for his gin. Delta and Coca-Cola have apologized for handing out creepy napkins urging passengers to hit on each other. Republicans are split on whether blackface is a problem. Democrats overwhelmingly say it is. Trump’s State of the Union address had an eerie parallel to Richard Nixon’s final SOTU speech. The Republican assault on the “Green New Deal” has already begun. Shaima Swileh, who attended the State of the Union this week, had to fight her way past Trump’s travel ban while her 2-year-old son lay dying in a U.S. hospital. She spoke to HuffPost. Here are five movies on Netflix to watch during Black History Month. Nancy Pelosi explains why she clapped like that at Donald Trump. Zany Jake Gyllenhaal is the best Jake Gyllenhaal. Here’s why. And love this newsletter? Share it with a friend!          HuffPost is now a part of Oath and a part of Verizon. On May 25, 2018 we introduced a new Oath Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More. Start your workday the right way with the news that matters most — all with a dash of signature Morning Email snark. Does somebody keep forwarding you this email? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. 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