Trump publicly doubting that Russia meddled in election

Trump publicly doubting that Russia meddled in election

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the assessment of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies that blame Russia for election meddling, questioning Thursday why the Obama administration didn’t try to stop it.

“By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin.,” the president tweeted. “Why didn’t they stop them?”

All 17 intelligence agencies have agreed Russia was behind the hack of Democratic email systems and tried to influence the 2016 election to benefit Trump.

Trump, frequently lashes out at the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt” spearheaded by Democrats.

He tweeted Thursday that the Democratic National Committee turned down an offer from the Department of Homeland Security “to protect against hacks (long prior to election). It’s all a big Dem HOAX!”

Stabbing suspect was caretaker, studied insurance sales

DETROIT

The man charged with stabbing a police officer at the Flint airport in a possible act of terrorism was a part-time caretaker at the Montreal apartment building where he lived and had once studied to sell insurance, people who knew him said Thursday.

Amor Ftouhi kept the building stairwells clean and always paid his rent on time, his landlord told The Associated Press. The 49-year-old from Tunisia lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his wife and children and “never made any trouble,” Luciano Piazza said.

Investigators are working to learn more about Ftouhi, whom they describe as a lone-wolf attacker who made his way from Canada to the seemingly random destination of Flint, a struggling Michigan city once known for its sprawling General Motors factories but now better known for lead-tainted water.

Suspected tornado: 1 hurt, businesses flattened in Ala.

NEW ORLEANS

A suspected tornado near Birmingham, Ala., flattened businesses and injured one person Thursday, while the mayor of a coastal Louisiana town urged residents to evacuate ahead of a rising tide - two lingering effects of a weakening Tropical Depression Cindy that was fueling harsh weather across the Southeast.

A liquor store and a fast-food restaurant were among the damaged businesses in Fairfield, Ala., west of Birmingham, said meteorologist Jason Holmes of the National Weather Service. Dean Argo, a spokesman for the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board said one employee of the liquor store was hurt.

Downgraded to a tropical depression, Cindy was weakening as it headed north through Louisiana toward Arkansas but a broad circulation around the system swept moist Gulf air over the South, fueling bands of strong weather and pushing up coastal tides.

‘Pizzagate’ gunman in DC sentenced to 4 years in prison

WASHINGTON

An online conspiracy theory dubbed “pizzagate” ended Thursday with real-world consequences when a North Carolina man was sentenced to prison for arming himself with an assault rifle, traveling to the nation’s capital and firing his weapon inside a neighborhood pizza restaurant.

Edgar Maddison Welch’s “ill-conceived plot” last year did “actual damage to the lives of real people,” a judge said before sentencing him to four years in prison.

Associated Press