Ex-cop’s defense attorneys want charges dismissed in Damond killing

Libor Jany of the Star Tribune says, “Defense attorneys for the former Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond last year filed motions asking for dismissal of the murder and manslaughter charges against him, arguing that his attempts to revive her with CPR prove that he wasn’t ‘depraved’ when he pulled the trigger.”

WCCO-TV’s Esme Murphy sits down with Keith Ellison: “A Minnesota Congressman denied all wrongdoing in his first interview since #MeToo allegations surfaced against him. In a WCCO exclusive, Rep. Keith Ellison also said he cannot understand why ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan accused him of abuse. The two had been in a relationship for several years, which ended in 2016. WCCO’s Esme Murphy spoke with Ellison Wednesday afternoon, one day after winning the DFL primary in his bid to become the state’s next attorney general. Ellison said he wants the record to be clear that he never abused his former girlfriend. ‘I know I can’t just run past this controversy and not address it, which is why I’m here with you today,’ Ellison said.”

Also from WCCO-TV: “Prosecutors have charged a well-known Twin Cities restaurant owner with the same crimes he has been accused of in the past. WCCO-TV first reported in 2012 that Thom Pham owed more than $164,000 to the Minnesota Department of Revenue since opening his first restaurant in 1999. At the time, he told us he was on a monthly payment plan to the government. Now, Pham is in trouble for Thanh Do, his Thai restaurant in St. Louis Park. According to criminal charges, Pham underreported taxable sales by $118,000 from 2013 until 2016. The 44-year-old is charged with 38 counts of tax fraud.”

MPR’s Catharine Richert reports: “Mayo Clinic on Wednesday slammed a CNN report alleging the health system ‘medically kidnapped’ a teen patient who had suffered a potentially fatal ruptured brain aneurysm in 2016. In a statement, Mayo called CNN’s story ‘inaccurate, incomplete and irresponsible.’ The allegations and uncharacteristic counter-response from the medical behemoth stem from a CNN story that aired and was published on its website Monday in a three-part series called ‘Escape from the Mayo Clinic.’ The story described repeated disputes between the patient’s family, especially her mother, and Mayo clinic staff.”

At Reuters, David Gaffen reports, “Voter engagement in the 2018 U.S. midterm races remains feverish, primaries in notable swing states Wisconsin and Minnesota showed on Tuesday. Both states showed sharp increases in participation as voters picked candidates for Congress, Senate and governor, with Minnesota’s turnout surpassing a two-decade high and Wisconsin’s hitting levels not reached for a state primary since at least 2002. … In Minnesota, more than 900,000 voters turned out in a state known for high levels of voter engagement, according to unofficial state figures on Wednesday. That equals a turnout rate of roughly 22 percent, according to Minnesota’s secretary of state. It was also the highest for state primary nominating contests since 1994, not including presidential primaries, according to state data. More than 580,000 people voted on the Democratic side.”

National outlets have discovered that Tim Pawlenty didn’t win on Tuesday. Dan Balz of The Washington Post says, “Pawlenty was the wrong candidate in the wrong year, a misplaced establishment Republican turned Washington lobbyist who tried to shoehorn himself into the party of Trump on what turned out to be a misguided mission. He went down to defeat in what is likely to be the once Minnesota governor’s last run for public office. Pawlenty’s loss in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary in Minnesota was one of the most stunning upsets of the 2018 cycle — on a par with the defeat of Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), who lost to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the phenom who has become a star attraction on the progressive left.”

For The Weekly Standard, David Byler says, “The biggest upset of the night was in Minnesota’s gubernatorial primary. Tim Pawlenty — a former two-term GOP governor — lost to Jeff Johnson, the Hennepin County Commissioner (part of Minneapolis). When Pawlenty entered the race, most analysts (me included) and handicappers put it at ‘Toss-up’ or ‘Leans Democratic.’ The basic idea was that Tim Pawlenty had won before, had decent approval ratings while he was governor and would probably be able to keep this race on the map. But Pawlenty had some disadvantages. …You could also argue that Pawlenty (a pre-Trump Republican who was governor from 2003 to 2011) wasn’t a perfect fit for a Trumpian Republican party.”

At Slate, Jim Newell says, “… while it’s not great that candidates who kept their mouths shut after the Access Hollywood tape appear to be the only ones who can survive competitive Republican primaries, it is great that Tim Pawlenty is finished. Following the insta-collapse of his spark-free presidential campaign in 2011, Pawlenty took a lucrative gig as president and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable, a Wall Street lobbying group. It was quite a turn from the guy who made his name based on appeals to ‘Sam’s Club Republicans.’ How did he fight for workin’ moms and pops there? As the Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney writes, ‘one of Pawlenty’s reforms at the FSR was kicking out the smaller members and becoming more exclusively a lobby of financial giants.’ Wholesome.”