The Headlines - Gaetz Ethics Report Blocked, and the Trial That’s Horrified France

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Plus, a $6.2 million piece of fruit.   Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. On Today’s Episode:House Republicans Block the Release of an Ethics Committee Report on Matt Gaetz, by Annie Karni, Robert Draper and Maya C. MillerFederal Inquiry Traced Payments From Gaetz to Women, by Michael S. SchmidtJohnson Says He Will Bar Transgender Women From Capitol Bathrooms, by Annie KarniDemocrats Split as Senate Rejects Bills to Block Weapons Transfers to Israel, by Karoun DemirjianAs French Rape Trial Nears End, Wife Speaks of ‘Banality’ and ‘Cowardice,’ by Catherine PorterU.S. Proposes Breakup of Google to Fix Search Monopoly, by David McCabeWho’s Laughing Now? Banana-as-Art Sells for $6.2 Million at Sotheby’s, by Zachary Small

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, November 21st. Here's what we're covering. House Republicans have voted to block the release of a potentially damning report about Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. Since the spring of 2021, the House Ethics Committee had been investigating the former Republican representative over a slew of allegations,

ranging from sexual misconduct to illicit drug use. After an hours-long meeting yesterday, all of the Republicans on the committee voted not to share what they found, arguing that because their report wasn't complete, it should stay under wraps. The decision sets up a potential clash with the Senate, where both Democratic and Republican senators have asked to see the committee's findings before they vote on whether or not to appoint Gates as the country's top law enforcement official.

One Republican suggested the Senate might even subpoena the House Ethics Committee to get the report. suggested the Senate might even subpoena the House Ethics Committee to get the report. Meanwhile, the Times has obtained one of the pieces of evidence the committee had access to, a chart showing a web of payments made on Venmo between Gates, dozens of his friends, and associates of his who allegedly took part in drug-fueled sex parties. Notably, the chart documents payments from Gates to two women, who reportedly testified to the committee that he'd hired them for sex.

The complex diagram was drawn up by federal investigators when they were considering charging Gates for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old, charges that were ultimately never filed. The document doesn't show any payments from Gates to the teenager, though it does show that one of Gates's friends, who was charged and pleaded guilty to sex trafficking, did send her hundreds of dollars. Gates has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

From a moral perspective, we cannot turn a blind eye to one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the modern history of this world, a humanitarian disaster that we are significantly funding. In the Senate yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, pushed for a series of measures to block U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. He argued that ongoing shipments are violating American laws that prohibit sending arms to countries that break international laws or cut off the flow of humanitarian aid. The measures were overwhelmingly rejected, but 17 Senate Democrats and two independents showed support for the effort, considerably more than previous similar votes.

The shift reflects growing frustration inside the Democratic Party about how Israel is carrying out the war in Gaza, where it's been accused of numerous human rights violations. This was likely those senators' last opportunity to act on their concerns though, before Donald Trump, who's been a staunch supporter of the Israeli government, takes office. Also in Congress yesterday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson backed a move from far-right lawmakers to require that single-sex restrooms on Capitol Hill only be used by people of quote, that biological sex. The effort was designed to target Sarah McBride, a newly elected House Democrat and the first

openly transgender person elected to Congress. In response, McBride said she would follow the new rules, quote, even if I disagree with them and said the restrictions were an effort to distract from the real issues facing the country. For the past 10 weeks, there's been a court case in the south of France that has transfixed and really shaken the country. Catherine Porter covers France for the Times. She's been reporting on the closing arguments that started this week in the staggering case

of Gisele Pellico. Pellico's now ex-husband is accused of drugging her and for years inviting other men to their home to rape her while she was unconscious. He recorded much of it on video. 50 men are now on trial. Catherine says the case has sparked a reckoning in France over what some say are cavalier attitudes towards sexual violence. Many of the defendants have claimed they're not responsible even as the videos have been played in court. I've been watching this case throughout the weeks from the courtroom and one really remarkable thing that has resonated across the country is Giselle Pellicoe and her poise, her dignity,

her calm in the courtroom. She made this very brave and unusual decision to open her trial to the public. And every day people line up starting right after 6 a.m. for three hours to stand outside the courtroom to be able to witness this and applaud her as she walks in and as she leaves the courtroom. She has barely been in tears. She has barely been angry. She has managed to keep a complete

calm and poise. In fact, one of the things she said early in the case was that she wanted shame to change camps, to change sides, that it shouldn't be the victim that feels ashamed, it should be the accused. And she has literally embodied that concept. Each day walking in calmly, listening, not breaking down in court, and leaving to tears of women who have come from around the South of France in order to witness this trial. Many of them say that they have faced rape themselves and they feel this huge catharsis to be able to watch someone else's trial, watch it happen in the public eye, unfold, and to hear this reckoning that's happening because she opened the door to her own horror.

The U.S. government has asked a federal judge to force Google to sell off Chrome, its popular web browser. The request is part of the government's antitrust lawsuit against Google. This summer, the judge found that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search and he asked the lawyers who brought the case to present solutions. The Justice Department didn't stop at Chrome. They also made other requests, including that the judge give Google a choice,

either sell off Android, its smartphone operating system, or stop making Google products mandatory on the phones that use it. Taken together, these are the most dramatic requests in a tech antitrust case since the government tried to break up Microsoft in 2000. and they're among the worst-case scenarios for Google. Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world, Android is the most popular smartphone software, and both are part of Google's elaborate ecosystem that keep people using Google's products.

Legal experts say the government's requests could be met with skepticism from the judge, especially since the Microsoft breakup attempt was ultimately overturned on appeal. A Google executive called the proposals extreme and wildly overbroad. The company has to present its own solutions to correct the monopoly next month. Ultimately the judge won't rule on the issue until the middle of next year, so any major Google shakeup is a ways off if it happens. And finally, last night a highly conceptual piece of art went on the auction block at Sotheby's.

One million is with me already, actually. Bidders from around the world threw their offers into the mix. At 3,500,000. They pushed the price higher and higher until the winner clinched it. It's slipping through the auction room at 5,000,000, and I'm gonna sell it here,

the world's most expensive banana, at 5,200,000 hertz. A real ripe banana taped to the wall with duct tape sold for $5.2 million, plus another million dollars in fees. The piece is titled, Comedian, by the artist Maurizio Catalon. We are looking at an ordinary banana and an ordinary piece of duct tape.

However, what makes the ordinary extraordinary is the intention of the artist who put this together. Sotheby's head of contemporary art called Catalan a brilliant provocateur. And he has a history of shocking the art world. He once installed a solid gold toilet at the Guggenheim. He first debuted the banana duct tape piece a few years ago and said it was a satirical commentary on the art market

and what art is considered valuable. The winning bid last night came from Justin Sun, a crypto entrepreneur who watched the auction from Hong Kong. He said for him the piece bridges the worlds of art, internet memes, and cryptocurrency. And he said he plans to eat the banana. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a man from Venezuela, who had entered the US illegally, was found guilty yesterday in the murder of the nursing student, Laken Riley, a look at how her death fed

into the heated national debate over border security. That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.