NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Sports doctor: An elite Michigan sports doctor who possessed child pornography and assaulted gymnasts was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in federal prison in one of three criminal cases that ensure he will never be free again. In Grand Rapids, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff said Larry Nassar “should never again have access to children.” Neff said Nassar’s federal sentence won’t start until he completes his sentences for sexual assault. The 54-year-old will get punishments in those two cases in state court in January. Nassar worked at Michigan State University and at USA Gymnastics, the group that trains Olympians. He admits he molested girls with his hands when they sought treatment for hip and back pain.
2 Lawmaker resigns: Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona said Thursday he is resigning next month after revealing that he discussed surrogacy with two female staffers. The eight-term lawmaker, a staunch conservative and fierce opponent of abortion, said in a statement that he never physically intimidated, coerced or attempted to have any sexual contact with any member of his congressional staff. Instead, he says, the dispute resulted from a discussion of surrogacy. Franks and his wife, who have struggled with infertility, have 3-year-old twins who were conceived through surrogacy. Franks will step down on Jan. 31.
3 Lewis rebukes Trump: U.S. Rep. John Lewis announced Thursday that he won’t speak at the opening of Mississippi civil rights and history museums, saying it’s an “insult” that President Trump will attend. The long-planned Saturday ceremony in Jackson will mark Mississippi’s bicentennial of admission into the union. But what was intended as a moment of racial unity and atonement in the state with the largest share of African Americans is descending into racial and partisan strife after Republican Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant invited fellow Republican Trump to attend. Lewis, a civil rights icon and Georgia Democrat, helped organize Freedom Summer, a volunteer effort to register voters in Mississippi in 1964.
4 Inappropriate “conduct”: Harold Ford Jr., a former congressman turned Wall Street rainmaker, was fired by the financial services firm Morgan Stanley in recent days “for conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of our policies,” the company said in a statement Thursday. Morgan Stanley declined to say specifically what prompted the firing. But it came after a woman who did not work at the firm accused Ford of acting inappropriately in a professional setting, according to a person briefed on the details of the allegations. With the firing, Ford became the latest prominent man to lose his job amid heightened scrutiny of workplace behavior. In a statement provided by his lawyer, Ford denied the claims and threatened to sue the bank and his accuser, who he identified as a reporter, for damaging his reputation. Ford served five terms in Congress as a Democrat representing a Tennessee district after first being elected in 1996.