NEWS OF THE DAY

From Across the Nation

_1 Watchdog probe: House and Senate Democrats will interview former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on Wednesday as part of their investigation into his abrupt firing by President Trump. Linick will speak to Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to congressional aides. Democrats are expanding their probe into Linick’s firing this month as part of a larger effort by Democrats and some Republicans to find out about Trump’s recent moves to sideline several independent government watchdogs.

_2 Death benefits: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Saturday granting death benefits to the families of police officers, public health workers and other frontline workers who have died of the coronavirus. “You gave your lives for us, we will be there for your families going forward,” Cuomo said. The bill passed by state lawmakers this past week provides an accidental death benefit that is more substantial than the regular death benefit that public workers’ families receive. Dozens of police officers, public health workers, transit workers and paramedics have died of COVID19 in the months since New York became the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.

_3 Homeless poisoned: One person was arrested after eight homeless people were given poisoned food that sent several to the hospital, Southern California authorities said. The poisonings occurred over the course of about a week in midMay in Huntington Beach (Orange County). The victims were given food laced with oleoresin capsicum, “which is twice as strong as the pepper spray used by police, and their reactions to the poisoned food were filmed,“according to the county district attorney, which planned to provide more details on Monday.

_4 ‘Open wound’: Joe Biden lamented the “open wound” of the nation’s systemic racism on Friday as he responded to the police killing of a black man in Minnesota. He drew an implicit contrast with President Trump, who has suggested authorities could respond with violence to the protests that followed George Floyd’s death. “The original sin of this country still stains our nation today,” Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said his remarks from his home in Wilmington, Del. “It’s time for us to take a hard look at uncomfortable truths.” Biden announced his bid for the presidency last year arguing he’s uniquely positioned to unite a deeply divided country.

_5 Senate race: GOP leaders are growing fearful that Kansas, a reliable stronghold, could become an expensive, highstakes battleground that could determine the balance of power in Washington. At the center of the fireworks is Kris Kobach, a hardline Trump supporter and an incendiary presence in state politics for years, who is seeking the U.S. Senate nomination after losing a bid for governor two years ago. Republicans are locked in an intraparty competition that has the trappings of a fullout brawl with attack ads, and bitter recriminations.