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🌂Sunny and hot, with a chance of afternoon showers and highs in the 90s. Sunset is at 7:57 p.m.
Today we have a fact-check of something Rep. Seth Moulton said during a debate this week with Sen. Ed Markey, whom he is challenging for the Senate seat: “In the newly released Epstein files, your name appears repeatedly. I’m not going to get into all the details, but I do want to ask one question,” Moulton told Markey. “Why would you even take a meeting with a lobbyist on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein?”
So here’s a quick explanation: There is an email forwarded to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 that briefly mentions Markey. But the email (you can read it here) is about a lobbyist looking to speak with people in power not about Epstein, but about his friend Karim Wade. Wade is the son of a former president in Senegal who at the time was in prison on corruption charges. Epstein was paying for the lobbying. There’s no evidence that the lobbyist was advocating in favor of Epstein.
The email from the lobbyist mentions Markey in one sentence: “We are engaging Congress and had an initial briefing with Senator Ed Markey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Africa.” It does not discuss any other details about Epstein or about Markey — the rest of it is mostly about payments to the lobbyist.
Markey’s campaign now denies that meeting with the lobbyist took place at all. “I’m telling you right now: There never was a meeting,” he told GBH’s Boston Public Radio yesterday. “It was just an indication of how desperate Congressman Moulton is. How he engaged in McCarthy-esque-like smears. How he had no shame in the accusations which he was making. He had no evidence.” Hannah Reale has a deeper fact-check here. And NPR has a profile of Dani Bensky, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse who balances her advocacy with her personal life and with parenting.
Four Things to Know
1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are looking for 249 parking spaces to lease in downtown Boston, which they’d use to get their vehicles and agents in place for operations. The plan, published in a notice through the federal government’s System for Award Management website, also involves looking for parking spaces to lease in 13 other cities. The Boston Globe reported agency officials saying that the notice was “solely for market research and information-gathering purposes,” not a finalized plan.
“We absolutely cannot allow ICE to have 250 parking spots in downtown Boston while they are engaging in these illegal tactics. We cannot enable them to ramp up even further in Massachusetts,” Gov. Maura Healey said.
2. Attorneys from the nonprofit Lawyers for Civil Rights are suing the Boston Police Department and the local district attorney’s office, demanding they release body cam footage showing the killing of Stephenson King in March. Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley shot and killed King and was later arrested and charged with manslaughter. O’Malley pleaded not guilty, and District Attorney Kevin Hayden said his office won’t release the body camera footage in the case before O’Malley’s trial.
But Lawyers for Civil Rights attorneys argued that the footage should be public. “Disclosure of such records enables meaningful public oversight of policing, promotes confidence in the integrity of governmental institutions and ensures accountability when law enforcement exercises its most extraordinary power: taking a human life,” they wrote.
3. Massachusetts had 104 recorded cases of cyclospora in July, bringing the annual total of the parasitic gastrointestinal illness to 147. While that’s a sharp jump from prior months, with nine cases in May and 32 in June, it’s still within the range of cases the state usually sees.
“We are not seeing thousands of cases at this point the way many parts of the Midwest are,” said Dr. Catherine Brown, an epidemiologist with the state’s Department of Public Health. “I’m never in favor of panicking. I don’t think it’s helpful. … I certainly want people to be aware of the fact that we are seeing this broad increase across the United States.” Some safety tips: cook produce to 158 degrees Fahrenheit to kill the parasite. Washing produce with soap and water and peeling off external layers might help lower the risk as well.
4. K-pop legends BTS are in the middle of a two-night run at Gillette Stadium, on their first tour together since 2022. The two shows mark Gillette’s first time hosting a K-pop act.
“I’m looking forward to the sense of community. That is something that I’ve been looking for because being a BTS fan was pretty rough growing up,” said Wazu Lebron, who came to yesterday’s concert from Maine. “There’s so much K-pop fans now and there’s so much groups that have reached America, thanks to BTS.” We hope she had a Dynamite time.
Gov. Healey signs PROTECT Act, banning ICE from schools and hospitals
Gov. Maura Healey yesterday signed a law called the PROTECT Act. The law puts limits on where federal immigration agents are allowed to operate in Massachusetts: they cannot detain people in schools, hospitals or courthouses.
The law also says federal immigration agents can face criminal charges and civil lawsuits for misconduct. It gives the state Attorney General’s Office and district attorneys the power to file charges against them and allows regular people to sue if their rights have been violated.
“If an ICE agent violates your rights in Massachusetts, they will be held accountable,” Healey said. You can read Amanda Keane’s full story on the signing here.
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