Good morning. I’m Corinne Straight, and this is AlterNet America.
An LAPD officer who recorded his colleagues calling Black people “monkeys” now faces 16 felony counts and up to 13 years in prison. Two FCC commissioners took Kennedy Center gala tickets worth over $87,000 from Paramount while reviewing its $111 billion merger. Ohio Rep. Max Miller livestreamed a 25-minute defense of himself against abuse claims while slurring his words. And the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that clergy don’t have to report a father’s confessed child abuse if their faith says otherwise.
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Officer Who Recorded Racist Comments Charged
The thin blue line separates the cops who say slurs from the cop who documented it.
LAPD Officer Daniel Flores was charged Friday with 16 felony counts of eavesdropping for secretly recording his colleagues’ racist, sexist, and homophobic comments on the job. The charges carry up to 13 years in prison.
Flores filed an internal affairs complaint and turned over roughly 90 recordings, hoping the department would discipline the officers responsible. The officers he recorded belonged to the recruitment unit, meaning they’re the people who decide who gets to become an LAPD officer.
According to Flores’ lawsuit, one supervisor announced an “Asian invasion” had begun. Another said Fernando Valenzuela died because the Mexican pitcher “ate too many” tacos. Someone described Black people as enjoying “grape soda” and “watermelon between basketball.” Colleagues believed to be queer were referred to with slurs.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman called the comments deplorable. He charged Flores anyway, warning that recording without consent has been illegal in California for over 50 years.
The LAPD’s own investigation of Flores recommended a 22-day suspension. It is unclear whether any of the officers he recorded were punished at all.
FCC Commissioners Accepted Lavish Gifts From Paramount
Brendan Carr is the cheapest investment Paramount ever made.
Two FCC officials who voted to approve Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery accepted tens of thousands of dollars in luxury gala tickets from the company whose deal they were reviewing. Two watchdog groups have now filed ethics complaints demanding investigations into the gifts.
Carr, the FCC chair, sat next to Paramount CEO David Ellison in a $125,000-per-seat private skybox at the December Kennedy Center Honors. Carr has accepted gala tickets from CBS or its parent company eight times since 2017, totaling over $75,000. Commissioner Olivia Trusty took two tickets worth more than $12,000 for the same gala.
Hours after last year’s honors gala ended, Paramount announced its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. About three months later, Carr went on CNBC and promised swift approval.
The FCC only released Carr’s disclosure late on a Friday, more than a month after ProPublica requested it. Seven of the ten commissioners who served since 2016 accepted tickets worth more than $260,000 combined.
Federal ethics rules ban employees from taking gifts from entities regulated by their agency. The complaints ask that Carr repay Paramount and be disqualified from the merger decision.
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MAGA Rep. Accused of Wife Beating Streams Attack on Her
Most people hire a lawyer. Ohio Rep. Max Miller hit “Go Live.”
Miller, 43, went on X Sunday morning to dispute claims from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno — the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno — during a livestream in which he slurred his words and spoke in a monotone. He insisted he was “not getting out of this race.”
The evidence revealed in court documents is harrowing. Moreno alleges Miller held a gun to her head and threw boiling water at her. Their 2-year-old daughter suffered a broken collarbone in unexplained circumstances, and a child protection specialist alleged the bruising resembled a “handprint.” The child told her mother that “Daddy’s house is scary.”
The evidence Miller provided to clear his name may have done the opposite. After the livestream, Miller shared a Dropbox link he claimed would vindicate him, then deleted it minutes later after metadata suggested he may have used taxpayer resources to make the video.
Sen. Moreno finally broke his silence, writing that Miller put his family through “pure Hell” and “is a danger to my daughter.” He said Miller fails any basic standard of character required for elected office, but stopped short of directly accusing him of domestic violence.
Miller has a documented history: punching someone in high school, breaking a window, and a 2011 DUI. Trump endorsed him anyway, twice.
State Supreme Court Rules Clergy Can Keep Abuse Secret
The party that thinks drag queens are a threat to children just got clergy exempt from reporting child abuse.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled unanimously that clergy are not required to report a congregation member’s abuse of a child if they learn of it through confession, and if staying silent aligns with their faith’s doctrine. The case reinstated a dismissal against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and two of its bishops.
Paul Adams confessed to abusing his children during a 2011 confession with Bishop John Herrod. He confessed again in a second confession with Herrod and his wife, Leizza. He confessed a third time during a church disciplinary proceeding with Bishop Robert “Kim” Mauzy, who excommunicated him in 2013.
Paul and Leizza Adams were not indicted until 2017. Leizza pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two and a half years, while Paul confessed to law enforcement and died by suicide in jail before trial.
The three children sued, alleging the church and bishops violated Arizona’s mandatory reporting law. The court cited the First Amendment, ruling that judges and juries cannot question clergy members’ interpretation of their own religious doctrine.
Vice Chief Justice John R. Lopez IV wrote that “bedrock First Amendment principles compel our decision in favor of the Church Defendants.”
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POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Charges Dropped Against Former Olympian Accused of Vandalizing Reflecting Pool. The Trump administration charged a 67-year-old three-time Olympic canoeist with a felony for touching a piece of pool lining that was already peeling off, then dropped the case after its own prosecutors admitted the damage came from a botched contractor installation, not vandalism. That’s $14 million in your tax dollars down the drain. Rather than blame the contractor from the beginning, Trump blamed vandals, and Jeanine Pirro — the former Fox News host he made U.S. Attorney for D.C. — fell in line by indicting David Hearn. Pirro’s office now says the whole thing was a rushed, flawed installation. Trump still says it was vandals.
“Where’s Mitch?” Chants Erupt at Kentucky’s Fancy Farm Picnic. Kentucky’s Fancy Farm picnic, a tradition dating to 1880, took place Saturday without one of its most reliable attendees. Sen. Mitch McConnell, 84, an avid participant for over 40 years, was absent 50 days after he was last seen in public, and the crowd — led by Democrats — chanted “Where’s Mitch?” over and over. McConnell suffered a medical emergency at home and was hospitalized June 14. His office has released only two supposed “proof of life” photos. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has repeatedly called on McConnell to give a transparent update on his condition or resign, made sharper by an Aug. 3 deadline to call a special election.
Minnesota’s “Nudification” Ban Takes Effect After a Judge Rejects Elon Musk’s Lawsuit. A U.S. District Court judge in Minnesota denied a request for a temporary restraining order from xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, that would have blocked the state’s ban on nudification technology. The law, signed by Gov. Tim Walz, prohibits using apps or websites to turn someone’s photo or video nude and allows lawsuits for damages of at least $500,000 per unlawful access. Judge Donovan W. Frank noted that xAI filed only three days before the law took effect, ruling that “such a delay in bringing the action and the motion suggests that harm is not immediate.” A hearing on a preliminary injunction is set for Aug. 19, but the ban began Aug. 1 as scheduled.
RFK Jr. Finally Told Parents to Vaccinate Their Kids Against Measles. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told parents on CNN’s State of the Union to get their children vaccinated against measles, calling the shot effective in about 97% of cases. The statement came as the US recorded 2,371 confirmed infections this year, surpassing 2025’s total and reaching numbers not seen since 1991. Host Dana Bash had to extract the endorsement by inviting him to use his “bully pulpit,” and Kennedy still refused to take any responsibility for the surge, blaming religious communities. He even told Bash she “probably” didn’t understand the science “because you’re not a scientist,” to which she replied, “But you’re not, either.”
