WASHINGTON – Former President Barack Obama announced endorsements Wednesday of 81 Democratic candidates in the November midterm elections, and said he is "eager" to help his party gain seats in a contest widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump. While Obama did not mention Trump by name, he said in a statement outlining his plans that he wanted to lend his status to help candidates who would fight for shared opportunity, help repair alliances abroad and further a commitment to justice. He described his picks as "diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted." Obama weighed into races for governor, the House of Representatives, Senate and also for state legislative seats. He backed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who would be the nation’s first African-American female governor if elected, Nevada Senate candidate Jacky Rosen and scientist Sean Casten, who is running in a tossup House district in Illinois. He backed California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's bid for governor, Susan Wild, who is running for a vacant, previously Republican-held seat in Pennsylvania and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray. He also endorsed in races in Colorado, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. Obama has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office last year, and many Democrats have been keen to get the president – still widely popular within the party – onto the campaign trail. Democrats are battling for control of the House, and need to flip a net 23 seats to take over that chamber. They face a more daunting challenge in the Senate, where Republicans hold a two-seat majority but where Democrats are struggling to defend seats in several states that Trump won in 2016. “I’m confident that, together, they’ll strengthen this country we love by restoring opportunity that’s broadly shared, repairing our alliances and standing in the world, and upholding our fundamental commitment to justice, fairness, responsibility, and the rule of law," Obama said in a statement. "But first, they need our votes – and I’m eager to make the case for why Democratic candidates deserve our votes this fall.” California Gavin Newsom (Governor) Eleni Kounalakis (Lt. Governor) Josh Harder (U.S. House, CA-10) TJ Cox (U.S. House, CA-21) Katie Hill (U.S. House, CA-25) Katie Porter (U.S. House, CA-45) Harley Rouda (U.S. House, CA-48) Mike Levin (U.S. House, CA-49) Ammar Campa-Najjar (U.S. House, CA-50) Buffy Wicks (State Assembly, District 15) Colorado Jared Polis (Governor) Dianne Primavera (Lt. Governor) Phil Weiser (Attorney General) Jena Griswold (Secretary of State) Tammy Story (State Senate, District 16) Jessie Danielson (State Senate, District 20) Brittany Pettersen (State Senate, District 22) Faith Winter (State Senate, District 24) Dylan Roberts (State House, District 26) Dafna Michaelson Jenet (State House, District 30) Shannon Bird (State House, District 35) Rochelle Galindo (State House, District 50) Julie McCluskie (State House, District 61) Georgia Stacey Abrams (Governor) Sarah Riggs Amico (Lt. Governor) Matthew Wilson (State House, District 80) Shelly Hutchinson (State House, District 107) Illinois J.B. Pritzker (Governor) Juliana Stratton (Lt. Governor) Kwame Raoul (Attorney General) Sean Casten (U.S. House, IL-6) Brendan Kelly (U.S. House, IL-12) Lauren Underwood (U.S. House, IL-14) Iowa Deidre DeJear (Secretary of State) Tim Gannon (Secretary of Agriculture) Kristin Sunde (State House, District 42) Jennifer Konfrst (State House, District 43) Eric Gjerde (State House, District 67) Laura Liegois (State House, District 91) Maine Louis Luchini (State Senate, District 7) Laura Fortman (State Senate, District 13) Linda Sanborn (State Senate, District 30) Nevada Jacky Rosen (U.S. Senate) Susie Lee (U.S. House, NV-3) Steven Horsford (U.S. House, NV-4) New Jersey Andy Kim (U.S. House, NJ-3) Tom Malinowski (U.S. House, NJ-7) New Mexico Debra Haaland (U.S. House, NM-1) Daymon Ely (State House, District 23) Natalie Figueroa (State House, District 30) New York Antonio Delgado (U.S. House, NY-19) Anna Kaplan (State Senate, District 7) North Carolina Wiley Nickel (State Senate, District 16) Ron Wesson (State House, District 1) Terence Everitt (State House, District 35) Julie Von Haefen (State House, District 36) Sydney Batch (State House, District 37) Rachel Hunt (State House, District 103) Ohio Richard Cordray (Governor) Betty Sutton (Lt. Governor) Steve Dettelbach (Attorney General) Kathleen Clyde (Secretary of State) Zack Space (Auditor) Aftab Pureval (U.S. House, OH-1) Jill Schiller (U.S. House, OH-2) Phil Robinson (State House, District 6) Stephanie Howse (State House, District 11) Mary Lightbody (State House, District 19) Beth Liston (State House, District 21) Allison Russo (State House, District 24) Erica Crawley (State House, District 26) Tavia Galonski (State House, District 35) Casey Weinstein (State House, District 37) Taylor Sappington (State House, District 94) Pennsylvania Madeleine Dean (U.S. House, PA-4) Susan Wild (U.S. House, PA-7) Tina Davis (State Senate, District 6) Liz Hanbidge (State House, District 61) Carolyn Comitta (State House, District 156) Texas Adrienne Bell (U.S. House, TX-14) Colin Allred (U.S. House, TX-32)<doc-sep>NEW A vastly improved search engine helps you find the latest on companies, business leaders, and news more easily.<doc-sep>The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyThe Daily Beast, in collaboration with the Dossier Center, has exclusively obtained the original bomb threat email Alexander Lukashenko now claims was sent by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, allegedly prompting his order to land a Ryanair jet carrying a dissident journalist in Minsk.But timestamps show that the email was sent 24 minutes after Belarusian authorities told the pilot and crew that they were transporting an explosive device as well as passengers.“Allahu Akbar” runs the subject line of the email, the sender of which was ahmed_yurlanov1988@protonmail.com. “We, Hamas soldiers,” the email continues, “demand that Israel cease fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the European Union abandon its support for Israel in this war. We know that the participants of [sic] Delphi Economic Forum are returning home on May 23 via flight FR4978. A bomb has been planted onto this aircraft. If you don’t meet our demands the bomb will explode on May 23 over Vilnius.”Journalist Snatched from Flight Faces Belarus ‘Death Penalty’Adding to the fact that the message was sent after the mid-air bomb theatrics unfolded, the sought-for cease fire referenced in the email had already taken effect on Friday, two days before this communique was sent out.The bomb threat, Lukashenko insists, forced the Ryanair plane carrying one of Belarus’ most prominent opposition journalists to divert to Minsk Sunday at the added insistence of a MiG-29 fighter jet, which “escorted” the aircraft to an impromptu landing. Conveniently, it also gave Belarusian authorities a chance to snatch a reporter accused of galvanizing anti-government protests last year.Roman Protasevich, the former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta, is now in the custody of the KGB, as Belarus’ post-Soviet security service is still called, as is his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sepega. Both have “confessed” on camera to a slate of anti-government offenses in what were obviously coerced performances redolent of Stalinist show trials.No one seriously buys the bomb threat claim, much less its attribution to Hamas, whose spokesman Fawzi Barhoum categorically rejected the group’s involvement in a 21st-century plane hijacking—one that was more likely orchestrated by a government intent on quashing opposition from its own civilian citizens.Having initially downplayed the episode on social media, both the European Union and Ryanair have now taken to calling this brazen intelligence operation a “hijacking” and “state-sponsored piracy.” President Joe Biden called the incident an “outrageous” and “shameful” assault on the free press. All EU-based air carriers have since halted flying through Belarusian airspace and banned Belarus’ state-owned Belavia air fleet from traveling to EU countries.Putin Invites Belarus Plane Hijacker for TeaOn Monday, the bloc agreed to impose sanctions on Lukashenko’s regime, as reports continue to come in about arrests and suspect disappearances of other independent Belarusian journalists, particularly those who, like Protasevich, covered last August’s stolen presidential election and resulting protest movement. Lukashenko has spent close to a year consolidating his 27-year reign, while casting his opponents as “terrorists” themselves and forcing them into exile or prison.Protasevich, who has been detained on terrorism and espionage charges, could face the death penalty in Belarus. The original email Lukashenko is hanging his nutty conspiracy theory on is riddled with other inconsistencies that clash with the established timeline of events that led to the plane’s forced landing.The email was sent to Minsk’s National Airport’s general information account at 12:57 p.m. on May 23, 27 minutes after the plane first entered Belarusian airspace and 24 minutes after air traffic control in Minsk first informed the Ryanair pilot that an emailed bomb threat was “shared with several airports.” Dossier Center But the Greek Civil Aviation Authority, which is responsible for the plane that took off from Athens, has publicly stated that it received no such warning at any point during FR4978’s journey. Lithuania did receive the email, but not Vilnius Airport, the intended destination; rather, the recipient was State Enterprise Lithuanian Airports, the state-run company that handles three different Lithuanian airports (Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga). So while Lukashenko’s KGB pulled off an impressive coup in snaring a political prisoner via air piracy, its excuse leaves much to be desired. Leaving aside the fact that Hamas isn’t for blowing up commercial airliners, the identity it chose for a Hamas representative was bizarre. Ahmed Yurlanov?The genesis of the name Yurlanov, as it happens, is Russian, Bulgarian, Azeri, and—Jewish.This investigation was done in collaboration with Dossier Center and Newslines.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced his first wave of endorsements for Democratic candidates vying for elected positions up and down the ballot this November. Obama endorsed 81 people for this first wave and is expected to endorse more ahead of the midterm elections. His office said Wednesday that the former president is also expected to campaign in several states for 2018 candidates. His endorsement list includes several people in high-profile races, including Gavin Newsom for governor of California, Stacey Abrams for governor of Georgia and Jacky Rosen for US Senate in Nevada. Former Obama administration officials and campaign alumni were among those who snagged Obama’s backing. They include Colin Allred, Andrew Kim, Tom Malinowski, Lauren Underwood, Richard Cordray and Jill Schiller. Obama said in a statement that he is “proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates – leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent.” “I’m confident that, together, they’ll strengthen this country we love by restoring opportunity that’s broadly shared, repairing our alliances and standing in the world, and upholding our fundamental commitment to justice, fairness, responsibility, and the rule of law,” he continued. The 2018 midterms, now less than 100 days away, are largely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s first two years in office. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to wrest control of the House from Republicans. They need a net gain of two seats to take a Senate majority, although the path to get to that number is difficult. The endorsements add to other recent post-presidential efforts by Obama to shape the political landscape. CNN previously reported that Obama endorsed California’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein in May, his first Senate endorsement of 2018. One of his main focuses has been working with and fundraising for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, an organization aimed at battling partisan redistricting that’s chaired by his former attorney general, Eric Holder. Obama’s office pointed out in a news release that the former president also had campaigned and endorsed candidates in 2017. And he held fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. CNN’s Dan Merica and Eric Bradner contributed to this report.