New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020
nypost.com
The Senate met in a rare
Saturday session on the Su-
preme Court nomination of
Amy Coney Barrett, as
Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski re-
vealed she plans to vote in
favor of the federal judge’s
confirmation.
“I have no doubt about
her intellect,” the GOP sen-
ator explained of her deci-
sion, according to a report
in The Hill.
“I have no doubt about
Judge Barrett’s judicial tem-
perament. I have no doubt
about her capability to do
the job,” she said on the
Senate floor. Murkowski
added that while she ob-
jects to confirming a nomi-
nee so close to a presiden-
tial election, “I’ve lost that
procedural fight.”
Democratic Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer,
meanwhile, cited Senate Ma-
jority Leader Mitch McCon-
nell’s 2016 refusal to give
then-President Barack Ob-
ama’s nominee, Merrick Gar-
land, a hearing or a vote be-
fore a presidential election.
Schumer called the Senate’s
push on Barrett a “stain on
the leader’s forehead and on
the entire Republican caucus
if it continues.”
The Senate is working
through the weekend, with
another key vote coming
Sunday ahead of a final con-
firmation vote Monday.
Kathianne BonielloAnother
senator
for ACB
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan
on Saturday called an early
presidential election for
Jan. 10 after the nation’s
previous president was
driven from power by pro-
tests triggered from a dis-
puted vote.
The Oct. 4 parliamentary
election was swept by pro-
government parties and led
to protests by the opposi-
tion, who rejected the offi-
cial results as rigged. Dem-
onstrators freed several op-
position leaders, including
Sadyr Zhaparov, who was
quickly named the new
prime minister.
On Oct. 15, President
Sooronbai Jeenbekov was
forced to step down. APKyrgyz sets
prez vote
By Melanie Gray“Operation GGO” is underway.
The mission: Get Ghislaine out of
jail.
A friend has taken up the cause
of springing Ghislaine Maxwell
from her Brooklyn cellhole, claim-
ing she is on the verge of starva-
tion and humiliated every day by
her prison-issued paper clothes.
Brian Basham is a family friend
who wants federal authorities to
grant the British socialite bail
while she waits to be tried for sex-
trafficking next summer, the Tele-
graph reported. Two weeks after
Maxwell was taken into custody, a
judge denied her bond offer of $million, deeming her a flight risk.
A career p.r. flack, Basham is
spearheading the campaign for
freedom “because I thought that
the dog-and-pony show put on by
the Department of Justice and the
FBI had attempted to whip what I
think of as a lynch mob into fur-
ther frenzy.”
Basham insists Maxwell has lost
25 pounds in the four months she
has been behind bars because cor-
rections officials won’t give her
the vegan diet she follows. One
day, she went 20 hours without
food, he told the Telegraph. When
she complained, guards removed
her scale.
Another point of contention isMaxwell’s wardrobe of paper
clothes. Maxwell isn’t even al-
lowed to wear a bra, Basham com-
plained, because she is considered
a suicide risk. The six charges she
faces stem from her friendship
with disgraced financier Jeffrey
Epstein, who committed suicide in
his Manhattan jail cell more than a
year ago. Epstein was taken off su-
icide watch about two weeks be-
fore he killed himself.
In a 2016 deposition made public
Thursday, Maxwell denied any
wrongdoing, including allegedly
bringing a teenage girl to London
in 2001 to have sex with Prince
Andrew. He maintains his inno-
cence, too.Finally, Basham alleges Maxwell
is stuck alone in a 9-by-7-foot cell
at the Metropolitan Detention
Center with absolutely no human
contact — even the guards have
stopped talking to her — and she
isn’t receiving letters her sisters
have written. “I am told that none
of the members of the family have
been able to visit or talk to her di-
rectly,” he said.
As for Maxwell fleeing the coun-
try on one of her three passports,
Basham said: “One of the pass-
ports is a French passport. From
the moment Jeffrey Epstein was
arrested, she could have gone to
France but she stayed.”
[email protected]Ghislaine’s fed-jail food ’n’ fashion woe
Starved to
the ‘Max’
ThaT biTes: Ghislaine Maxwell is losing weight
rapidly at Metropolitan Detention Center (above)
while having trouble finding vegan meals, a pal said.ThaT biTes:ThaT biTes:Ghislaine Maxwell is losing weightMEGAAnthony Behar/Sipa USAAt least 18 people were killed
and 57 hurt in a suicide bomb-
ing in Afghanistan, officials
there said, with students in-
cluded among the casualties.
Saturday’s explosion struck
outside an education center
(right) in a heavily Shiite neigh-borhood of western Kabul.
Interior Ministry spokesman
Tariq Arian said the attacker
was trying to enter the center
when he was stopped by secu-
rity guards.
The official said the death
toll may rise as family memberssearch for victims at several
hospitals treating the
wounded.
No group claimed responsi-
bility for the bombing, and
the Taliban denied any con-
nection with the attack.
Wire ServicesAfghan suicide bomb kills 18
AFP/Getty Images