1. On March 30, which state made it illegal to purchase a firearm for those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence?
a. Texas
b. New York
c. California
2. David Shulkin was removed as Secretary of Veterans Affairs on March 29. What is the reason he is claiming he was fired?
a. The workload became too difficult
b. He was not managing the VA budget effectively
c. Refusing to privatize VA care
3. Which famous comedian‘s retrial on sexual assault charges began on March 29?
a. Bill Cosby
b. Aziz Ansari
c. Roseanne Barr
4. “Affluenza Teen” Ethan Couch was released on April 2 after being jailed for violation of probation. What crime did Ethan Couch originally commit?
a. Fraud
b. Manslaughter
c. Armed robbery
5. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, died on April 2. How did she die?
a. From injuries sustained during a protest
b. From cancer
c. From a kidney infection
6. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is under intense scrutiny for what?
a. His expenses
b. An alleged affair
c. His lax policies
1. b. According to the New York Daily News, on March 30 the New York legislature approved a measure that adds misdemeanor domestic violence convictions to the list of offenses that would prohibit state residents from purchasing or possessing firearms.
“Tonight we make clear that firearms have no place in the hands of domestic abusers,” Sen. Diane Savino said after the bill passed.
2. c. Former secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin claims he was ousted from his position after a “brutal power struggle” to keep the VA from privatizing care, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
“I did not resign,” Shulkin said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” In a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said, “There would be no reason for me to resign. I made a commitment, I took an oath, and I was here to fight for our veterans.”
President Trump announced in a tweet on March 29 he would be nominating White House physician Ronny L. Jackson to head the department.
3. a. According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Bill Cosby’s retrial on sexual assault began on March 29, and Cosby has returned with an entirely new team of lawyers.
The aggressive new defense strategy by Cosby’s team paints his accuser, Andrea Constand, as a gold-digging opportunist. However, the prosecution team has built up their case by adding testimony of five additional accusers.
The case is being brought to a retrial after jurors were unable to come to a unanimous decision 10 months ago.
4. b. “Affluenza Teen” Ethan Couch killed four people in 2013 when he drunkenly drove his truck into a group of people and was later convicted of manslaughter, according to The Star. He avoided a significant sentence by blaming his upbringing for his actions.
Couch was released from jail on April 2 after serving two years for a parole violation. Mother’s Against Drunk Driving members are upset about his release, and said they will watch Couch to ensure he follows the rules of his probation.
5. c. According to the Los Angeles Times, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died on April 2 after being admitted to the hospital with a kidney infection. She had been ill for several years, and had been in and out of the hospital since the beginning of the year.
Mandela was a prominent anti-apartheid activist, and many in South Africa revered her as the “Mother of the Nation.” However, Mandela was not without controversy. Mandela was charged in the death of a teenage boy in 1989, but not convicted of his murder.
Mandela was active in politics until the end of her life.
6. a. According to Bloomberg News, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is under intense scrutiny for his expenses after it was found he paid over $6,000 for a condo in just six months. The condo was rented from the wife of an energy lobbyist.
The attorney general is also investigating Pruitt’s travel expenses and security detail. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, told the EPA’s inspector general he had obtained weekly schedules for Pruitt’s security team showing “that significant agency resources are being devoted to Administrator Pruitt’s round-the-clock security, even when he is traveling on non-official business” to his home in Oklahoma, Disneyland and the Rose Bowl game.
