5 things to know by June 24: Coronavirus, Department of Justice, NASCAR, Mexico, Canada

Two Justice Department prosecutors will testify before the House Judiciary Committee today, accusing Attorney General William Barr and senior department officials of politicizing the investigations. Aaron Zelinsky, prosecutor for former special adviser Robert Mueller’s team, plans to testify that the sentencing recommendation for Trump’s longtime friend and adviser, Roger Stone, was watered down due to political pressure from the “higher levels” of the Justice Department. , according to your prepared comments. John Elias, a career prosecutor in the Antitrust Division, accused Barr of ordering investigations into 10 cannabis company mergers because he did not like the industry, according to a copy of his testimony. His criticism comes just days after Barr’s decision to fire Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who investigated Trump and his associates.

It turns out that the knot found Sunday at the Bubba Wallace driver’s garage at Talladega Superspeedway had been there since October. That’s according to the FBI, which said yesterday that Wallace was not a victim of a hate crime. NASCAR, in citing the FBI report, described the item as a “garage door pull rope designed as a lasso.” Wallace, the only black driver on NASCAR’s top circuit, said he is upset that some in the public now question his integrity. “Whether it was tied in 2019 or whatever, it was a rope,” he said. “So it wasn’t directed at me, but someone tied a rope. That’s what I’m saying.”

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake yesterday shook the southern region of Oaxaca in Mexico, killing at least five people. The earthquake occurred around 10:30 am local time, with an epicenter 6.8 miles southwest of Santa María Zapotitlán, near El Coyul. Buildings collapsed and caused evacuations, including damaging hospitals that had been dealing with coronavirus patients. The earthquake could be felt up to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The tremors were also felt in the capital, Mexico City, more than 200 miles away. The United States Geological Survey said the damage in the state of Oaxaca is considered mild to moderate, relatively good news considering that Mexico is one of the most seismically active regions in the world and has a long history of devastating earthquakes.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls China’s decision to accuse two of his country’s citizens of clearly political espionage. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were officially charged this week with spying on and handling state secrets. The two men have been detained in China since 2018, in the weeks after Vancouver’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech company Huawei, on charges filed in the United States. Trudeau is now under pressure to do something about the “two Michaels” case, possibly including facilitating a prisoner swap. The prime minister said he is not considering an exchange of the two men for the arrested Huawei executive and that earlier intervening in the case would undermine the independence of the country’s justice system.

MLB says a 60-game season will begin on July 23 or 24.

The nightly host said he made a recurring impression of NBA player Karl Malone in the 1990s.

The tennis star had already been in heat for hosting a tournament that apparently lacked proper security protocols.

If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve heard all week, we don’t know what is.

This is how many people in Myanmar might not know about Covid-19 thanks to a year-long shutdown of the Internet, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Trude Lamb, one of the best runners at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas. He refuses to wear his school shirt unless the name is changed.

Turns out, it actually tastes pretty good, at least according to his fans. (Click here to see.)