Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Republican House Candidate Body-Slams Reporter

A Republican candidate running for Congress in a Montana special election has been charged with misdemeanor assault for body-slamming a reporter from the Guardian. He also broke the reporter’s glasses and shouted, “Get the hell out of here.” Greg Gianforte, a millionaire who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, seems to have lost his temper when political reporter Ben Jacobs asked him about the Republican health care plan. There is an audio recording of the incident, but no video. However, three Fox News journalists also witnessed the assault. “Faith, Keith, and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’” said reporter Alicia Acuna, adding that Jacobs had not shown any form of aggression.

Montana GOP candidate Greg Gianforte allegedly “body slammed” a reporter, according to audio and witness accounts https://t.co/Y3hQofhQ8C pic.twitter.com/l0ZfXAfw3p

— CNN (@CNN) May 25, 2017

Gianforte’s campaign spokesman blamed Jacobs and said that he was the aggressive one, contrary to the Fox News account. In a statement, the campaign claimed that Jacobs grabbed Gianforte’s wrist and spun away, “pushing them both to the ground.” “It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ,” the statement read. But this account was contradicted by eyewitnesses and the audio recording, in which Gianforte is heard asking whether Jacobs is with the Guardian, and saying, “The last guy did the same damn thing.” Voting for the special election is today, and we’ll have to see if this incident has any impact on Gianforte’s chances.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: May 25, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

An in-depth investigative report from Al Jazeera released Sunday has accused several professional athletes, including superstar Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, of illegally using performance enhancing drugs in order to gain an edge on the competition.

The documentary enlisted the help of 37-year-old British hurdler Liam Collins, who spent six months undercover working on behalf of Al-Jazeera’s investigative unit to secretly record meetings with doctors, pharmacists, and suppliers of the drugs.

Collins posed as a prospective buyer, looking to do “whatever necessary” to once again compete at an international level and qualify for the Rio Olympics. Armed with hidden cameras, Collins recorded his interactions with several drug suppliers.

However, the brunt of the investigation relied on a series of recordings with a pharmacist named Charlie Sly, who in 2011 worked at an anti-aging clinic where Manning sought treatment for a sidelining neck injury. Sly told Collins that Peyton and his wife, Ashley, would visit the Guyer Institute after hours and receive IV treatments. He also claimed that the clinic regularly sent shipments of human growth hormone or HGH to Ashley, but he believed the drugs were actually intended for Peyton.

According to the report, prescribing HGH in the U.S. is extremely limited, and is only used to treat patients suffering with HIV, pituitary tumors, and shortened bowels. Some athletes take the drug illegally in order to retain muscle mass or recover from injuries.

HGH isn’t the only drug Al Jazeera claims Sly provided to professional athletes. In the hidden camera footage, Sly also brags about supplying Delta-2, another banned substance, to Green Bay’s Mike Neal, Julius Peppers, and Clay Matthews. He also claimed to have supplied drugs to baseball players Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals and Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, and football players Dustin Keller, formerly of the Miami Dolphins, and James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Al Jazeera contacted each of the accused athletes for comment but all either declined to comment or outright denied the doping claims. Manning addressed the report Sunday, telling ESPN he was “disgusted” by the claims vowing to sue the news organization for defamation. Manning told ESPN,

It’s completely fabricated, complete trash, garbage — there’s more adjectives I’d like to be able to use. It really makes me sick.

Since the report was released, Sly uploaded a scripted video response recanting any and all statements he made to Al Jazeera. But while most of his recorded conversations with Collins sounded like an exaggerated name-dropping session, there very well may be truth to his original claims–no one knows yet.

The sports industry has been privy to many doping scandals in the past, but the bevy of athletes from different sports believed to be involved in this doping ring causing serious concern for the integrity of our country’s athletics.

So far there has been no word of any formal investigation into the legitimacy of Al Jazeera’s claims, but the likelihood of one is strong. Given the recorded evidence, it would be irresponsible to ignore these allegations, even if they do involve one of football’s most beloved athletes.

Watch Al Jazeera’s Investigation Below

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The U.N News Centre announced new members of the UN Security Council. Among the new members,  Chad, Lithuania, Nigeria, and Chile, to accept non-permanent seats, was suppose to be Saudi Arabia. The operative word is “was”, as Saudi Arabia turned down the seat, instead adopting a double standard.Released on October 17, the U.N. News Centre announced the new member, along with videos of the event. In an informal interview after the announcement, the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia Mr. Abdallah Yahya A. Al-Mouallimi congratulated the other elected countries, and spoke about Saudi Arabia’s concerns and interests with its new position. More specifically, Saudi Arabia reiterated its support of the rebel forces in Syria, and also stressed the paramount importance of finding a solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict. He broadcasted, “we take this election very seriously as a responsibility, to be able to contribute to through this very important forum, to peace and security of the world.Our election today is reflection of a longstanding support of moderation and in support of resolving disputes in peaceful means”.

These same troubles, however, caused Saudi Arabia to shift its position. The following day, the country refused the seat. The Saudi Foreign Ministry stated that the United Nation’s inaction toward Syria’s government handle of rebel forces demonstrated the deep-rooted errors with the council, “allowing the ruling regime in Syria to kill its people and burn them with chemical weapons in front of the entire world and without any deterrent or punishment is clear proof and evidence of the UN Security Council’s inability to perform its duties and shoulder its responsibilities.”

Given this position, Saudi Arabia was granted a platform to fix the problems it believed existed in the UN Security Council. Ironically, Saudi Arabia’s critique of UN Security’s inaction did not deter them from following suit. By rejecting the position, Saudi Arabia, too assumes inaction.

[un.org] [aljazeera]

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Featured image courtesy of [United Nations Photo via Flickr]

Vasudha Sadana

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