Michael Hardy, Sharpton’s Longtime Lawyer and Confidant, Dies at 69 He was general counsel of Mr. Sharpton’s civil rights group, the National Action Network, and defended him in a defamation suit arising from the Tawana Brawley case.

A Biden Confidant Emerges as a Crucial Mideast Diplomat Amos Hochstein, an energy policy official who was born in Israel, is playing diplomatic firefighter along the Israel-Lebanon border.