Trump-free Friday politics roundup: Nov. 3

Indictments, taxes, resignations and more abound in this week’s Trump-free Friday politics roundup.

Mueller’s first moves lead to indictments

On Monday, special counsel Robert Mueller and his legal team made their first moves. This was a highly anticipated maneuver. Mueller has a penchant for long, methodical tactics. That, combined with a public anxious for movement, made for serious drama in politics.

Mueller indicted two individuals involved with the Republican presidential campaign: former campaign manager Paul Manafort and advisor Rick Gates. He was aided in part by former foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos.

During his time with the presidential campaign, Papadopoulos urged other campaign members to meet with Russian officials. He then lied to the FBI about the details of those meetings.

On Monday, it was revealed that Papadopoulos had already pled guilty and was cooperating with the investigation. This could be a bad sign for others who may have colluded with Russian interests, as Papadopoulos could very well be disclosing all sorts of information and some significant names.

So far, no one currently connected with the presidential administration has been indicted. However, many anticipate that Mueller will only intensify his investigation in the months to come.

Some commentators have even suggested that the presidential administration may gear up for a “Saturday night massacre” to slow down the investigation. That said, Mueller’s investigation currently enjoys strongly favorable public support.

Russia investigation brings drama to Department of Agriculture

As much as the United States has built itself upon agriculture, it’s hard to imagine the intensity of the Mueller investigation making it all the way to the Department of Agriculture.

And yet, it has. Former campaign official Sam Clovis has withdrawn his efforts to become the USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics. Clovis, you see, had employed advisor George Papadopoulos. That’s already a bad look, but then people began wondering just how much Clovis himself may have met with or encouraged meetings with Russians.

Clovis’ lawyer released a statement claiming that Clovis has “vigorously opposed any Russian trip for Donald Trump or staff. However, if a volunteer made suggestions on any foreign policy matter, Dr. Clovis, a polite gentleman from Iowa, would have expressed courtesy and appreciation”.

Politeness, however, probably wouldn’t have been enough to help Clovis do his job at the USDA. He would have been the chief scientist at the agency, despite the fact that he has little to no relevant scientific background.

Clovis had argued that his lack of agricultural science experience was little matter. He told a Congressional committee that “I bring 17 years of agriculture experience integrated into both undergraduate- and graduate-level courses throughout my teaching career”.

Republicans unveil tax plan specifics

The new Republican tax code proposes serious and widespread changes to our tax system. Corporations will enjoy significant tax cuts, while middle-class families are expected to see more modest savings. The Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, echoed many Republican lawmakers when he said that the plan will help the United States make “pro-growth reforms” in order to compete on a global scale.

In total, the new plan will cut about $1.5 trillion in tax revenues over 10 years. $1 trillion of those cuts will benefit businesses. The corporate tax rate will drop fifteen points, from 35 percent to 20 percent.

Meanwhile, individual citizens will be divided into three tax brackets of 12, 25, and 35 percent, rather than the current seven brackets. The alternative minimum tax would disappear under this bill, a move which would generally double deductions for many middle-class families.

However, the bill faces some complications. It places caps on both mortgage interest deductions and state and local tax deductions. This made some Republicans from high-tax states like New York and California nervous. They claim that the bill will need significant changes to garner their support.

Federal report says climate change is real, caused by humans

The Climate Science Special Report, obtained by NPR, comes in at a whopping 600-plus pages and packs a whammy with its striking conclusions. In it, federal scientists conclude that the global average temperature has increased by an average of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over a 115-year period. Moreover, they claim, with little equivocation, that human activities such as agriculture and industrial production are the biggest contributors to this rise in temperature.

This is in stark contrast with the opinions of administration officials, who have generally expressed skepticism about climate change and humanity’s role in the matter. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been especially vocal. He’s said that

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see….. We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis."

British Defense Minister resigns

Defense Minister Michael Fallon has joined the ranks of ousted officials and executives accused of sexual misconduct. These now include a wide range of people from many different fields, including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, James Toback, Brett Ratner, Mark Halperin, and NPR’s senior VP for News, Michael Oreskes.

Fallon resigned suddenly on Wednesday. In his resignation letter, he referred obliquely to “my previous conduct” and said that “many of these [allegations] have been false but I accept that in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the Armed Forces”.

Fallon has been accused of sexual harassment along with at least 36 members of the U.K. Parliament. Fallon himself was a prominent member of the Conservatives, who are dealing with crumbling support in the U.K. after a surprising snap election in June.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Even the oldest, most seemingly sure things can surprise you, sometimes. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest and oldest of the three pyramids in the Giza complex, at about 5,000 years old. Yet only recently, scientists have announced that there is a new discovery awaiting us in the Great Pyramid — a large and previously unknown void in the middle of the structure.

Previously, it was believed that the Great Pyramid contained three rooms. These include the “King’s chamber”, a smaller “Queen’s chamber”, and a long passage known as the “Grand Gallery”. However, an international group of scientists working with ScanPyramids has discovered another 30-meter-long space hidden within the pyramid.

The scientists used a technique called muography, which employs particle physics to gather data about the density of a material. During a two-year study, scientists discovered the large void above the Grand Gallery. They have also found a smaller one near the north face of the pyramid.

Before you get entirely excited, there are a few mundane explanations for these spaces. It could be that ancient Egyptian architects and builders purposefully put this largely inaccessible space there on purpose. A void such as this could be relieving pressure on the Grand Gallery. All of that stone gets very heavy quickly, after all.

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Still, a discovery such as this is exciting and worthy of further investigation. Scientist Jean-Baptiste Mouret says that the team is now working on methods to take a closer look at the space. “Our concept is to drill a very small hole to potentially explore monuments like this,” he said. “We aim to have a robot that could fit in a 3cm hole. Basically, we’re working on flying robots”.