| | January 18, 2012 | | EXCLUSIVE Last year’s most notorious defendant has all but vanished since her acquittal—but sources tell The Daily Beast’s Diane Dimond she may have been given sanctuary at a church on Florida’s Treasure Coast. DEADLINE The Obama administration is reportedly planning to announce Wednesday afternoon that it will reject plans to build the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. TransCanada, the firm that applied to build the pipeline, will reportedly be allowed to reapply for a permit if it presents plans that would have to include rerouting the line away from Nebraska’s Sandhills. The 1,700-mile pipeline raised the hackles of environmental activists, and later top Democrats, who worried over its potential effects on local habitats. The pipeline has been at the heart of a bitter debate between Democrats and Republicans: Republicans have long been trying to get a decision on the pipeline and attempted to force a decision prior to approving the payroll-tax cut—but eventually Republicans agreed that the White House had to come to a decision by February. CRISIS Greece has had a string of financial “moments of truth” over the past few months, and it’s time for another one. This time, the country’s leaders are meeting to discuss how big a “writedown” (reduction) private lenders are going to take. It’s a contentious tug-of-war between the massive banks that have fueled Greece’s debt binge, and the country’s cash-strapped government. Earlier this year, European banks agreed to a 50 percent reduction, or “haircut,” valued at 100 billion euros. But Greece’s financial situation has deteriorated even further, so officials are seeking a larger reduction that would cut its national debt by somewhere closer to 70 percent. DETAINED The sheriffs have come to town for hedge-fund managers. A federal roundup Wednesday included the arrest of four people and the unsealing of charges against three others. The FBI, which has been casting an increasingly wider net for miscreant money managers, arrested Todd Newman, who headed technology trading for Diamondback Capital Management, in Boston; Jon Horvath of Sigma Capital Management in Manhattan; and Danny Kuo, a Whittier Trust Co. fund manager, in California. Anthony Chiasson, who cofounded Level Global Investors hedge fund, turned himself in to agents in New York. Charges were also unsealed against three other hedge-fund employees, including two who are reportedly cooperating with investigators. RICH MAN Mitt’s money is the story that just won’t stop. ABC News reports that the Mormon Church, to which Romney has given millions, was an even bigger recipient of his largess than previously known. The church was given cuts of Romney’s biggest deals at Bain Capital, including thousands of shares of stock holdings in Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, and the parent company of AMC Theaters. The precise amount of Romney’s giving to the church is unknown since he has declined to release his personal tax returns, but his family charity has given $4 million in the past five years. | |
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