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Durbin accuses Patel of ordering FBI firings before his confirmation as FBI director and lying about it
CBSN
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee accused Kash Patel, President Trump's pick to lead the FBI, of lying under oath at his confirmation hearing last month.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said he has "highly credible information" that Patel is behind the firings at the bureau, though he is not yet the FBI director. Patel denied any knowledge of them when he testified before the committee.
In a letter to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Durbin wrote that even though Patel has not yet been confirmed as director, "multiple sources" said Patel has been personally directing the purge at the FBI.
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The U.S. confirmed at least a dozen deaths from whooping cough last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marks the most fatalities from the bacterial infection since a 2017 surge of the illness, which is also known as pertussis.
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As vaccination rates decline, widespread outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio could reemerge
Health officials in western Texas are trying to contain a measles outbreak among mostly school-aged children, with at least 15 confirmed cases. It's the latest outbreak of a disease that had been virtually eliminated in the U.S., and it comes as vaccination rates are declining — jeopardizing the country's herd immunity from widespread outbreaks.