John Walters to lead Hudson Institute
31 December 2020
The Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank that's been a center for political dialogue and forums for both Democrats and Republicans during the Trump era, has tapped its longtime COO John Walters as its new leader, Axios has learned.
The big picture: Whileleft and center-left think tanks empty to help stock the incoming Biden administration, conservative groups are shuffling their leadership and welcoming back scholars and analysts who worked for President Trump.
Details: Walters, who was drug czar for President George W. Bush, has been serving as Hudson Institute's chief operating officer while also overseeing research and directing its substance abuse policy center. During the Bush administration his focus included countering narcoterrorism in Colombia, Mexico and Afghanistan.
- Hudson's outgoing president and CEO Ken Weinstein will stay at Hudson as its Walter P. Stern distinguished fellow. He'd stepped down from day-to-day operations last spring in what turned out to be an ill-fated effort to become U.S. ambassador to Japan. His nomination was voted out of committee but never received a vote on the Senate floor.
Flashback: Weinstein is credited with nearly tripling the institute's annual budget, from $7.5m in 2005 to $20m in 2019, with an endowment of more than $60m.
- “Ken turned Hudson into the policy powerhouse that it is today,” said Sarah May Stern, chair of Hudson's board of trustees. "Under John's leadership, Hudson will continue to build on all that has been accomplished through his shared efforts with Ken."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.