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In private, Fox News stars and staffers blasted election fraud claims as bogus, court filing shows
Employees at Fox News knew that claims blaming election fraud for Donald Trump’s 2020 loss were outlandish and false, even as the network continued to promote them as credible, a newly unsealed court filing appears to show.
The document, which pulls from a host of internal communications from Fox News employees involved in election coverage, includes comments and quotes revealing that producers, executives and stars of the network knew that the election wasn’t stolen and that many fraud claims were bogus.
Sen. Fetterman checks himself into hospital for treatment for ‘severe’ depression, staff says
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman on Wednesday checked himself into a Washington hospital “to receive treatment for clinical depression,” his chief of staff said on Thursday.
“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson said in a statement.
Jentleson said that Fetterman was evaluated on Monday by Congress’ attending physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, who “recommended inpatient care” at Walter Reed hospital. “John agreed, and he is receiving treatment on a voluntary basis.”
‘I’ll take it down’: Biden vows action but says 3 objects shot down not spy vehicles
President Joe Biden said he “acted out of an abundance of caution” when ordering the shooting down of three unidentified aerial objects flying over North American airspace this past weekend.
While the U.S. military is still working to recover the objects and U.S. intelligence officials are still assessing them, Biden said nothing currently suggests they were related to China’s surveillance program or that they were surveillance vehicles from other countries.
“But make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down,” Biden said.
Georgia grand jury report on Trump election probe says ‘one or more witnesses’ may have committed perjury
A special grand jury report on whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies tried to unlawfully interfere in the 2020 election results in Georgia says the grand jurors believe some witnesses may have lied under oath.
“A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” said a section of the report released Thursday. “The grand jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”
The newly unsealed parts of the report also reveal new information about the scale of the investigation but do not shed light on who the grand jury believes should be charged and for what, besides perjury.
Biden plans to deliver his most extensive remarks yet about the aerial objects the military shot down
President Joe Biden plans to deliver his most extended public remarks yet — as early as Thursday — about the unidentified objects that the U.S. military has been shooting down, three people familiar with the matter said.
Biden will explain how he has tasked his administration with setting parameters about how to deal with aerial balloons and other objects spotted in the future.
The exact timing of Biden’s remarks has not been settled. The president is due to take a physical exam Thursday that could last several hours.
DOJ tells Matt Gaetz that he won’t be charged in sex trafficking probe, his lawyers say
The Justice Department is ending its sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., without charging him with any crimes, his attorneys and congressional office said.
“We have just spoken with the DOJ and have been informed that they have concluded their investigation into Congressman Gaetz and allegations related to sex trafficking and obstruction of justice and they have determined not to bring any charges against him,” Gaetz attorneys Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner said in a statement.
Gaetz’s office added, “The Department of Justice has confirmed to Congressman Gaetz’s attorneys that their investigation has concluded and that he will not be charged with any crimes.”
Mike Pence says he’ll fight Jan. 6 subpoena from DOJ
Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he plans to fight a subpoena from the special counsel investigating Donald Trump‘s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 rot, calling the demand for his cooperation “unprecedented and unconstitutional.”
“No vice president has ever been subject to a subpoena to testify about the president with whom they served,” Pence told reporters after he spoke at a parents’ rights event in Minnesota.
Pence, who has written a book detailing some of his interactions with the former president leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol and given numerous interviews with reporters about the topic, said he was fighting the subpoena to testify before a grand jury on principle.
Railroad Giant To Skip Town Hall On Train Disaster, Citing ‘Physical Threats’
Norfolk Southern Corporation, the railroad giant under fire following the fiery derailment of one of its freight trains in eastern Ohio, has backed out of a community town hall scheduled for Wednesday, citing a “growing physical threat” from “outside parties.”
The announcement came approximately two hours before the scheduled event, as residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and surrounding communities search for answers about the disaster’s impacts on human health and the environment. The Norfolk Southern train that derailed on Feb. 3 was carrying toxic and flammable materials, including hundreds of thousands of pounds of vinyl chloride, a common organic chemical used in the production of plastics that has been linked to several types of cancer.
Harry Litman: How Mike Pence’s flawed argument against a subpoena just might get him what he wants
Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly hit on a clever and novel strategy for resisting a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith in the Jan. 6 investigation. He is expected to argue that because the vice president serves as president of the Senate, the subpoena would violate the protections afforded legislative officials under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause. It may be just the argument Pence needs — not to successfully avoid providing evidence against Donald Trump so much as to emulate his former boss’ success in running out the clock.
This ground is much less plowed than the executive privilege argument commentators have been expecting Pence to raise. As I have emphasized since the subpoena was served last week, that argument should fail on the basis of several constitutional principles, chief among them the Supreme Court’s ruling, in United States vs. Nixon, that even the president’s confidentiality concerns yield to the need for specific evidence in a criminal investigation.
Read the rest of Harry Litman’s column at The Los Angeles Times
She was ‘everything you’d want your daughter or friend to be.’ Here’s what we know about the Michigan State University shooting victims
Alexandria Verner was kind, positive and “everything you’d want your daughter or friend to be,” a family friend said.
“Her kindness was on display every single second you were around her,” Clawson Public Schools Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger told CNN. He is friends with the Verner family and has known Alexandria, or Alex, as he called her, since she was in kindergarten.
Verner was one of three Michigan State University students killed in a mass shooting on campus Monday night, university police said Tuesday.
The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety identified the three students killed Monday night as junior Arielle Anderson, sophomore Brian Fraser and Verner, who was also a junior.
Read the rest of the story at CNN
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Special counsel seeks testimony from Trump lawyer as prosecutors allege evidence of crime
The special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents is seeking to compel a lawyer for the former president to testify before a grand jury, a source familiar with the matter said.
Prosecutors allege in a sealed filing that they have evidence that some of Trump’s conversations with the attorney were in furtherance of a crime, the source said.
In a sign of an aggressive new legal strategy, first reported by The New York Times, the source said special counsel Jack Smith has asked a judge to allow prosecutors to invoke what’s known as the crime-fraud exception, which would let them sidestep protections afforded to Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran through attorney-client privilege.
Nikki Haley announces 2024 presidential campaign, mounting first GOP challenge to Trump
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday announced her 2024 presidential campaign, making her former President Donald Trump’s first opponent for the Republican nomination.
Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations for two years in the Trump administration, is expected to deliver her in-person announcement speech Wednesday in Charleston.
“It’s time for a new generation of leadership — to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose.” Haley said in her video announcement.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announces she will retire from Congress
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will retire from Congress at the end of 2024 after three decades in the Senate and over 50 years in public office, she announced Tuesday.
“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.
Feinstein, 89, is the oldest sitting senator and the longest-serving senator from her state, having first been elected to the Senate in 1992. She had been under pressure for years from other Democrats in the state to make room for a younger generation of lawmakers. She had also declined the role in the new Congress of president pro tempore, which has traditionally gone to the senior member of the majority party since the mid-20th century.
House Republicans launch Covid origins probe by requesting info from Fauci and Biden officials
A new congressional panel created by House Republicans launched an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemicMonday by requesting documents and testimony from health and intelligence officials who have worked in the Biden administration.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, the chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, and House Oversight and Accountability chair James Comer, R-Ky., sent letters to Dr. Anthony Fauci, senior Biden administration officials like National Intelligence Director Avril Haines and the president of EcoHealth Alliance, a New York nonprofit group focused on emerging infectious diseases.
Fauci, who had directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and was President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser starting in January 2021, left his federal government posts at the end of December.
Georgia judge rules some of grand jury report in Trump probe be made public
A Georgia judge ruled Monday that parts of a Fulton County grand jury’s report into possible interference in the 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and his allies be made public this week.
In an eight-page ruling, Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as section VIII, in which jurors express concern that some witnesses may have lied under oath, can be made public. Those witnesses are not identified, he said.
The Fulton County district attorney’s office convened the special purpose grand jury for an investigation into “‘the facts and circumstances relating directly or indirectly to possible attempts to disrupt the lawful administration of the 2020 elections in the State of Georgia’ and to prepare a report on whether anyone should be prosecuted for such potential crimes.”
White House says ‘no indication of aliens’ as questions swirl about objects shot down
Amid all the mystery about the unidentified objects flying over the United States and Canada, White House officials made a point of saying Monday there is no evidence to suggest aliens are involved.
The U.S. military shot down three unidentified objects on Friday and over the weekend, in addition to the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down last week, but has said little more about what they were.
As officials and lawmakers continue to raise questions, with few answers available so far, speculation has started to swirl about extraterrestrial involvement, along with not a few jokes.
At least 3 dead after shootings at Michigan State University
A gunman killed three people and wounded five others at Michigan State University on Monday night before leading authorities on a manhunt that ended when he fatally shot himself, police said.
For hours, students and others sheltered in place on the East Lansing campus that is home to 50,000 students.
“This truly has been a nightmare that we are living tonight,” Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the Michigan State University Police said.
In addition to the three deaths, five people were transported to E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, where they were in critical condition, Rozman said.
Charlie Pierce: Marjorie Taylor Greene Had a Big Classified Tantrum Over the Balloon
Oh, Madge. You need a timeout. You don’t work or play well with others. From The Hill:
A classified briefing for House lawmakers on the Chinese spy balloon turned tense on Thursday when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) went after administration officials for waiting days before shooting down the surveillance device. “I had to wait in line the whole time. I was I think the second to last person, and I chewed them out just like the American people would’ve,” Greene told The Hill. “I tore ‘em to pieces.” One lawmaker who attended the briefing said the exchange between Greene and the officials included profanities. “When she got to ask questions,” the lawmaker recalled, “she was yelling out saying ‘bullshit,’ and, you know, ‘I don’t believe you. Just screaming and yelling, irrational in my estimation,” the lawmaker added.
Time to put your head down on your desk for a while. Or not.
Turkey Probes Contractors As Earthquake Deaths Pass 33,000
Turkish authorities are targeting contractors allegedly linked with buildings that collapsed in the powerful Feb. 6 earthquakes as rescuers found more survivors in the rubble Sunday, including a pregnant woman and two children, in the disaster that killed over 33,000 people.
The death toll from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes that struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria rose to 33,185 and was certain to increase as search teams find more bodies.
Trump’s legal team turned over folder with classified markings to Justice Department
Donald Trump’s legal team recently turned over a folder bearing classified markings to the Justice Department that it said was found at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News.
Trump’s lawyers told the the Justice Department it came from Mar-a-Lago, so they are going under that assumption, the official said, adding that the folder was found last month and Trump’s lawyers turned it over voluntarily.
It is unclear what level of classification markings were on the folder or what it may have contained.
Another aerial object, this time over Lake Huron, shot down by military
Military leaders determined the object was not a threat, but they opted to shoot it down after tracking it over Lake Huron because it could pose a hazard to air traffic, Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, who oversees the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said at a news conference Sunday night. The debris appeared to land in Lake Huron, where recovery operations are being handled by the FBI on the American side and by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on that country’s side, VanHerck added.
Second-half surge powers Chiefs past Eagles in Super Bowl LVII
“I thought the guys accepted the challenge,” said Mahomes, who was named the game’s MVP. “It was a crazy year, but we ended up on top.”
The Rude Pundit: Florida Department of Education’s Black History Month Essay Contest Seems to Want Students to Write Things They’re Not Allowed to Learn
It’s kind of odd, really. I mean, I know that Florida Republicans would say that they’re not opposed to students learning African American history and culture, even after their governor, Ron DeSantis, a man who always looks like he’s looking forward to when he’ll get to complain to the manager again, refused to allow an Advanced Placement course in African American Studies in Florida high schools. I know that Florida Republicans would say they’re not racist, even as they attack any teaching of history that might make white people uncomfortable as “indoctrination” and “critical race theory,” terms they neither understand nor care to understand.
Biden, in Florida, blasts what he calls GOP ‘dream’ to cut Social Security
President Joe Biden traveled to Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, continuing his post-State of the Union blitz in election battleground states, arguing that he would protect Medicare and Social Security while claiming some Republicans, including Florida’s Sen. Rick Scott, want to cut the popular programs.
“Look, I know that a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well let me say this: If that’s your dream, I’m your nightmare,” Biden said at the University of Tampa.
Biden once again leaned into what called the “spirited debate” at the State of the Union on Tuesday night, when he said “some Republicans” wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare to help balance the nation’s budget, prompting outrage from GOP members, including some calling him a “liar.”
Sen. John Fetterman Remains In Hospital; MRI Rules Out Stroke
Test results Thursday confirmed that Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who was hospitalized on Wednesday after feeling lightheaded at a political gathering, is not experiencing another stroke, according to his Senate office team.
Fetterman, who was attending a Senate Democratic retreat, was hospitalized Wednesday in Washington, D.C., and was expected to stay at least a second night. The senator had suffered a stroke in May 2022, days before the Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania.
According to his team, MRI results and other tests Thursday evening ruled out another stroke. Fetterman was also being monitored with an electroencephalogram (EEG) for signs of seizures, though reportedly none had been detected as of Thursday evening.
Chinese spy balloon carried ‘multiple antennas’ for collecting signals intelligence, State Dept. says
The Chinese balloon that flew above the U.S. for eight days included “multiple antennas” capable of collecting signals intelligence, a senior State Department official said Thursday, and the balloon maker has proven ties to the Chinese military.
While China condemned the U.S. for destroying what it said was a weather balloon, the State Department official described the balloon as carrying equipment designed to collect communications and threatened action against Beijing.
According to the official, photos taken by high-altitude U-2 planes confirmed the presence of the equipment, including “multiple antennas … likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications” and “solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors.” The equipment was “inconsistent” with that aboard weather balloons.
Mike Pence subpoenaed by special counsel investigating Trump’s role in Jan. 6
Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump’s effort to stay in office after the 2020 election and his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead the Justice Department’s inquiries into Trump’s role in the riot as well as the former president’s handling of classified documents after he left office. The subpoena is related to the Jan. 6 investigation, the source said.
Spokespersons for Smith and Pence declined to comment on the matter.
Bannon Trashes ‘Terrible’ Sarah Huckabee Sanders SOTU Rebuttal: ‘She’s Not Intellectually Capable’
Unlike most conservatives who weighed in on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’(R-AR.) rebuttal to the State of the Union address, Steve Bannon is not a fan.
Sanders gave remarks shortly after President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. In her speech, Sanders ripped the left’s “woke fantasies” and said the president has handed the country over to the “woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.”
Bannon was joined on his War Room podcast by former Fox News host Lou Dobbs, who said Sanders’ failure to mention former President Donald Trumpwas “a great insult.”
‘P*ssy Ass B*tch’ Entered into the Congressional Record Thanks to Donald Trump and Chrissy Teigen
The term “pussy ass bitch” has been entered into the Congressional Record after a former Twitter employee testified about a tweet former President Donald Trumpwanted taken down.
During Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, the panel heard testimony that in 2019, then-President Trump’s White House reached out to Twitter asking that a tweet from model Chrissy Teigen be removed from the platform.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) asked ex-Twitter employee Anika Collier Navaroli what the tweet said.
Trump escalates his attacks on Ron DeSantis as a 2024 clash brews
Former President Donald Trump is approaching Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with a newly urgent hostility, rushing to turn the Republican base against his most formidable potential rival in 2024.
Out is “Ron DeSanctimonious,” Trump’s clunky attempt at a nickname.
In are increasingly frequent public floggings on Trump’s Truth Social website that brand DeSantis in terms that could repel GOP voters.
“RINO GLOBALIST,” Trump fumed last week, using the pejorative acronym for “Republican in name only.” On Tuesday, he postedtwice to call attention to a 2021 blog post from a site called The Hill Reporter, which purportedly showed a picture of DeSantis with several young women during his brief time as a high school teachermore than 20 years ago. Trump’s posts questioned, without evidence, whether DeSantis was inappropriate with his female students.
Biden calls out Republicans who heckled his State of the Union speech
President Joe Biden on Wednesday called out Republican lawmakers who booed when he accused them of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare during his State of the Union address, pointing out that several of them have expressed support for those cuts.
“My Republican friends, they seemed shocked when I raised the plans of some of their members and their caucus to cut Social Security and Marjorie Taylor and others stood up and said, ‘Liar, liar,'” Biden said in remarks on the economy at an event in DeForest, Wis.
Biden then pointed to a plan floated by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., last year when he chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “I got his brochure right here,” said Biden, who held it up and read from it, “All federal legislation sunsets every five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”
Republicans heckle Biden after he swipes at their Social Security positions
President Joe Biden took aim at Republicans at several points in his State of the Union address, but he provoked the fiercest reaction when he said some in the party want to gut Medicare and Social Security.
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said, referring to a means by which government programs end without votes in Congress.
At that, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sitting behind Biden in the House chamber, conspicuously shook his head no.
LeBron James breaks NBA scoring record with his 38,388th point, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LeBron James, who was anointed “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 17-year-old high school junior, fulfilled that prophecy by breaking the NBA scoring record with his 38,388th point during season 20 of his illustrious career.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ forward scored the record-breaking basket in front of a home crowd Tuesday night local time against the Oklahoma City Thunder, overtaking a milestone that stood for nearly 39 years and was held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks center.
James broke the record with a fadeaway with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter. The crowd erupted, and James shared a hug with his mother. The game paused in celebration.
Romney excoriates Santos, saying he’s a ‘sick puppy’ who should have been ‘sitting in the back row’ during Biden’s address
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, chided Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., on Tuesday night ahead of President Joe Biden’s address in what appeared to be a tense exchange on the House floor.
Santos, who has faced calls to resign after he admitted having liedabout much of his background, had positioned himself along the chamber’s middle aisle ahead of Biden’s speech. Lawmakers will often choose to sit along the aisle for the State of the Union so they can greet and shake hands with the president as he enters and walks toward the dais.
As senators made their way into the House, Romney had a brief exchange with Santos, who looked annoyed as Romney walked away. Romney spoke to reporters about the interaction after Biden’s address.
Biden touts economic progress and spars with Republicans in contentious State of the Union address
President Joe Biden touted his economic accomplishments and scolded Republicans — previewing the case he’ll make for re-election — in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Confronting a divided Congress for the first time since he took office, Biden talked back as Republicans heckled him from the floor of the House of Representatives, which they now control.
A series of tense exchanges during the traditionally decorous event highlighted the partisan rancor Biden will need to overcome to accomplish anything with the new Congress — including simply raising the debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default on U.S. debt.
Charlie Pierce: No, We Would *Not* Like You to Spy in Your Beautiful Balloon
The arrival of the now-famous Chinese balloon over Montana has occasioned not only some fine humor on the intertoobz, but also some distilled crazy from our political class. For example, Rep. James Comer, the rodeo clown who now chairs the House Oversight committee, lost no time in losing his mind. From The Hill:
Comer told Fox News’s Harris Faulkner in an interview on Friday that he is concerned that the federal government “obviously” does not know what is in the balloon. “Is it bioweapons in that balloon? Did that balloon take off from Wuhan?” Comer said, referring to the Chinese city where the COVID-19 virus was first discovered. “We don’t know anything about that balloon.”
Remember how, during the propaganda ramp-up to the Iraq War, we were warned that Saddam Hussein would send an escadrille of balsa gliders over here to spray anthrax all over the landscape? This is even nuttier. Others of the usual suspects chimed in as well.
Kevin McCarthy Says U.S. Will Not Default In Debt Ceiling Fight
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sought to reassure investors Monday that the U.S. government will not see a first-ever default on its debt as a result of the looming showdown later this year over the Treasury Department’s borrowing limit.
In livestreamed remarks from the hallway just outside his office, McCarthy said: “Defaulting on our debt is not an option. But neither is a future of higher taxes, higher interest rates and an economy that doesn’t work for working Americans.”
Though touted as “an address,” the remarks, taking roughly 10 minutes, broke little new ground in the standoff. The White House has said it will not negotiate over the limit; Republicans say they want unspecified budget changes in return for lifting the debt ceiling, with an implied threat of default if they are not placated.
Lauren Boebert Appears To Pray For Joe Biden’s Death In Texas Sermon
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has, again, appeared to pray for the demise of President Joe Biden.
In a sermon streamed by the Storehouse Dallas church in Texas over the weekend, Boebert preached politics to attendees, repeating comments that attracted fierce backlash last June.
“Joe Biden’s president. We don’t know what to do, Lord!” Boebert said. “It’s all right, we pray for our presidents. You know, it says, ‘Let his days be few and another take his office.’”
The audience was heard laughing after the remark.
Rescuers Scramble In Turkey, Syria As Earthquake Death Toll Passes 5,000
Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000.
Countries around the world dispatched teams to assist in the rescue efforts, and Turkey’s disaster management agency said more than 24,400 emergency personnel were now on the ground. But with such a wide swath of territory hit by Monday’s earthquake and nearly 6,000 buildings confirmed to have collapsed in Turkey alone, their efforts were spread thin.
Biden prepares for State of the Union as US collects Chinese balloon debris
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the president’s decision to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, which Republicans say should have happened immediately after the orb was discovered in US airspace and Beijing has called an overreaction. “What China did was unacceptable. We protected civilians and we gained more intel while protecting our own sensitive information.”
- Previewing Biden’s speech tomorrow, Jean-Pierre said Biden has been “heavily engaged” in the writing process. He spent the weekend huddled with advisors and speechwriters fine-tuning the remarks, which she said he saw as an important opportunity to speak directly with the American people about his agenda. “There’ll be no question that this is a Joe Biden State of the Union speech,” she said.
- Read the rest of the story at The Guardian
The Rude Pundit: C’mon, Drag Queens, Let’s Go F*** With Some Churches
Tell you what: I wanna gather a whole buncha drag queens from different places around the country, from Tennessee and Oklahoma and Florida and Kansas and every state where knuckle-dragging Nazi and Christian extremist fucknuts are shutting down events and protesting them and getting shit canceled, all because someone in drag is involved. And while the fucknuts say they are protecting children, it doesn’t even matter anymore if the events allow children to be present. They’re after the drag performers because they say drag is grooming kids for…I don’t fuckin’ know, man…fabulousness? The fucknuts say that this is about sexualizing children and confusing them and making them gay or some such bullshit that really comes down to “I’m an ignoramus and everyone should listen to me because I’m too stupid to learn different shit.”
Beyoncé, Harry Styles, hip-hop history and everything else that went down at the Grammys
In a good old-fashioned Grammys shocker, Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” defeated Beyoncé’s ballyhooed “Renaissance” to win album of the year at music’s most prestigious awards show on Sunday night. Yet to say that Beyoncé — who also lost record of the year (which went to Lizzo’s “About Damn Time”) and song of the year (which went to Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That”) — had a bad night isn’t quite right. With victories in a handful of smaller categories, the singer became the winningest artist in Grammys history.
Donald Trump and Chris Christie Trade Barbs Across Social Media: ‘That Loss to Joe Still Stings’
Former President Donald Trump and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christietraded barbs across the online battlefield Sunday, sparring over the looming contest for the 2024 Republican nomination.
The two former GOP elected officials were once allies, with Christie serving a core role with Trump’s debate prep and as a member of the 2016 presidential transition team, but their relationship has since soured. The ex-president apparently being the one to infect Christie with a Covid-19 case that sent him to the ICU for a week— and then reportedly worried mostly about if Christie would blame him for the infection — did not help.
Former prospective aide accuses George Santos of ethics violations and sexual harassment
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., the freshman lawmaker accused of fabricating key parts of his résumé, is being accused of ethics violations and sexual harassment by a former prospective congressional aide, according to a letter posted Friday on Twitter.
In the letter to the House Ethics Committee, Derek Myers accused Santos of groping him when he worked for Santos’ office as a volunteer, and he requested an investigation into the allegation whether correct procedure was followed related to his work as a volunteer in Santos’ office.
Myers said that Santos offered him a job and that he briefly worked as a “volunteer” in the office while his paperwork was being processed before the offer was rescinded last week.
Downed spy balloon leads to rise in diplomatic tensions between U.S. and China
The Chinese spy balloon might be down, but the diplomatic temperature continued to rise Sunday as officials in Beijing blasted the U.S. decision to shoot it out of the sky.
Describing it as “a clear overreaction,” Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Defense Ministry, said in a statement Sunday that his country reserved “the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations.” In a similarly strongly worded statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said it was “a serious violation of international customary practice.”
Both statements described the balloon as a “civilian unmanned airship,” and China had previously said the orb was used for research and “meteorological purposes.”
Trump Now Claims Ron DeSantis Cried As He Begged For An Endorsement
Donald Trump claims that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) cried as he begged for an endorsement ahead of his state’s 2018 gubernatorial primary.
“He was dead, he was leaving the race. He came over and he begged me, begged me for an endorsement,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday. “He said, ‘If you endorse me, I’ll win’ and there were tears coming down from his eyes.”
Trump has repeatedly told the story about how he plucked DeSantis from obscurity and propelled him to the governorship with that endorsement, but the tears are a new addition to the tale.
Republicans vote to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee
House Republicans voted Thursday to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the Foreign Affairs Committee — the latest skirmish in a long-running partisan battle over committee assignments.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had faced a handful of GOP defections, but by Thursday he and his team had whipped GOP members back in line, and 218 Republicans voted to back the resolution condemning Omar for past antisemitic comments and removing her from the committee.
One Republican, Dave Joyce of Ohio, a senior member of the Ethics Committee, voted present.
China says it’s looking into suspected spy balloon over U.S.; Canada monitoring ‘potential second incident’
China urged calm Friday and said that it was looking into reports of a high-altitude surveillance balloon suspected of belonging to Beijing hovering over the United States, while Canadasaid it was monitoring a “potential second incident.”
U.S. officials said Thursday the military was monitoring the balloon, which flew over the Aleutian Islands and through Canada before being spotted Wednesday over Billings, Montana. A senior defense official said the U.S. was confident that the balloon belonged to China, which has flown stratospheric balloons over the country before but not usually for this long.
Trump Takes Swipe At Nikki Haley’s ‘Honor,’ Shares Video of Her Saying She Wouldn’t Run Against Him
Former President Donald Trump took a swipe at his former UN ambassador,Nikki Haley, on Wednesday after reports ran this week that Haley will announce a run for the presidency in mid-February – challenging Trump for the GOP nomination.
Trump shared a clip of Haley saying she would not run against him on his Truth Social platform with the caption, “Nikki has to follow her heart, not her honor. She should definitely run!”
In the clip from April 2021, a reporter asks Haley, “He [Trump] still has a lot of popularity. If he runs again in 2024, will you support him?”
“Yes,” Haley quickly replies.
VP Harris addresses mourners at Tyre Nichols’ funeral
Tyre Nichols’ family gathered in Memphis, Tennessee, for his funeral, weeks after the 29-year-old died following a violent encounter with Memphis police caught on body camera.
Graphic footage of the Jan. 7 traffic stop, which showed officers beating Nichols, was released to the public on Friday and sparked nationwide outrage. Nichols, a young father who loved skateboarding, died on Jan. 10, after spending three days in a hospital.
Five officers involved in the incident have since been fired and chargedwith several felonies, including second-degree murder.
Veteran who claimed George Santos stole money for his dying dog says FBI has reached out to him
The FBI has contacted a Navy veteran, Richard Osthoff, as part of an investigation into embattled Rep. George Santos and a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Osthoff’s sick service dog.
Osthoff confirmed the call from the FBI, and sources familiar with the matter confirmed the nature of the investigation — which adds to the growing list of legal issues and controversies Santos, R-N.Y., is facing.
The freshman lawmaker insists he isn’t a “criminal” and has said he will leave office if he isn’t reelected. He has acknowledged and apologized for lying about parts of his background while maintaining that he was only embellishing his resume.
Hunter Biden asks for criminal probe into Trump allies for ‘theft’ of data from laptop
Lawyers for Hunter Biden sent letters Wednesday requesting investigations into allies of former President Donald Trump who they say trafficked in stolen information from his laptop — a dramatic shift in strategy for the president’s son after years of GOP attacks.
Among the letters, which were obtained by NBC News, was one sent Wednesday asking the Justice Department’s National Security Division for an investigation into “individuals for whom there is considerable reason to believe violated various federal laws in accessing, copying, manipulating, and/or disseminating Mr. Biden’s personal computer data,” including Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s lawyer at the time.
‘You Seem Angry’: George Santos OAN Interview Gets Awkward Fast
An interview with Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on the far-right One America News Network (OAN) grew tense after he was asked why he hadn’t shown much remorse for deceiving voters to get elected.
The sit-down started out with a volley of softball questions, but the mood took a turn when host Caitlin Sinclair noted: “History has shown that the American people can pretty much forgive anything, but that starts with a sincere apology, normally. A lot of remorse shown. Prevailing opinion is you have not yet shown that.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that,” Santos replied.
“Well, you seem angry,” Sinclair pushed back.
Video of Trump deposition in New York fraud probe shows former president taking the Fifth, repeating “same answer”
Newly released video obtained by CBS News provides the first look at former President Donald Trump’s deposition last summer in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud investigation.
Trump sat for questioning under oath on Aug. 10, and the video shows him politely answering the opening questions from state Attorney General Letitia James.
Wearing a dark blue suit, red tie and American flag lapel pin, sitting in front of a camera in a downtown Manhattan conference room, Trump answered “yes” when asked by James if he was familiar with the rules for giving a deposition. But as the questioning about his finances began in earnest, the former president—and now candidate for that same office—invoked the Fifth Amendment and continued to do so for nearly four hours.
Trump revamps his fundraising operation after struggling to raise money for 2024
Former President Donald Trump is strapped for campaign cash following the mid-November launch of his 2024 presidential campaign, according to end-of-year figures obtained exclusively by NBC News.
Trump, who has been the GOP’s most prolific fundraiser in recent years, pulled in about $9.5 million over the final six weeks of last year through his campaign and a joint fundraising committee, according to a person familiar with his haul.
The numbers were shared with NBC News in advance of Trump’s filing of the first campaign finance totals of his third bid for the presidency Tuesday.
Biden and McCarthy clash over debt ceiling ahead of first big meeting
Ahead of President Joe Biden’s first meeting Wednesday with new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the White House issued two sternly worded demands to the speaker.
In a memo circulated Tuesday, top White House advisers Brian Deese and Shalanda Young said Biden intends to ask McCarthy, R-Calif., to “commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default” and to lay out his specific plan to reduce the deficit if he wants to attach it to an extension of the debt ceiling.
McCarthy responded on Twitter: “Mr. President: I received your staff’s memo. I’m not interested in political games. I’m coming to negotiate for the American people.”
Biden White House Plans To End COVID-19 Public Health Emergency In May
The Biden administration said Monday it plans to end the nation’s COVID-19 public health emergency in May, more than three years after the virus first began circulating in the country.
The White House plans to renew the existing emergency declarations once more before they expire on May 11, allowing local governments and health care providers to transition back to pre-pandemic operations and avoid any chaos caused by an abrupt end to the declarations. Under the public health emergency, programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are able to provide extra funding to states to address pandemic-related care. Millions of Americans were able to receive free COVID-19 tests, and many are able to receive virus-related treatments without co-payments.
Donald Trump Sues Bob Woodward For Publishing Audio Interviews
Former president Donald Trump is suing journalist Bob Woodward for releasing recordings of their interviews, claiming he never agreed the tapes would be turned into an audiobook.
Trump did 19 interviews with Woodward between December 2019 and August 2020, and also in 2016 when he was just a candidate.
Woodward turned the interviews into a book called “Rage,” and compiled the audio interviews into another book called “The Trump Tapes” that was released in October.
3 Memphis EMTs fired for their response to the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols
Three EMTs who responded to the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols were fired Monday after an internal investigation, the Memphis Fire Department said Monday.
Robert Long, JaMichael Sandridge and Lt. Michelle Whitaker were found to have violated multiple department policies and protocols in their patient response to Nichols on Jan. 7, the fire department said in a statement.
“Their actions or inactions on the scene that night do not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department and are not reflective of the outstanding service the men and women of the Memphis Fire Department provide daily in our community,” it said.
New York prosecutors convene grand jury in Trump hush money probe
Prosecutors in New York have convened a grand jury in their investigation into hush money paid to an adult film star who said she’d slept with Donald Trump, three sources familiar with the situation confirmed.
The seating of a grand jury, first reported Monday by The New York Times, marks a significant new phase of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe into the $130,000 payment to actor Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
A spokesperson for Bragg declined to comment Monday.
Charlie Pierce: John Durham’s Big Ol’ “Deep State” Hunt Did Find Some Shady Deals—Connected to Trump
Remember the Durham Investigation? It was going to prove to the world that the former president* was more lied against than lying, more abused than abuser. It was the Grail Quest for Trumplings, large and small. It was going to be an icepick to the eye of the Deep State. It was going to make the crooked places straight, break in pieces the gates of brass, and sunder the bars of iron.
It was going to be Big Casino, is what it was going to be.
It has turned out to be a striptease by a phantasm. In the end, there seems to have been nothing there. However! We now learn that the investigation contains an episode that found Durham comically on the verge of turning his mandate on its head.
Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics.
Biden is set to meet with McCarthy to discuss the debt ceiling Wednesday
President Joe Biden will meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed, amid Republicans’ debt-ceiling showdown with Democrats.
Biden will host McCarthy at the White House for a discussion about a variety of issues in one of a series of meetings with congressional leaders at the start of the new Congress, a White House spokesperson said Sunday. Biden met with Democratic leaders last week, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Demonstrations, calls for police reforms flood Memphis
Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, fueled by newly released body camera video showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by police officers, demanded justice, accountability and police reform Saturday afternoon.
Many in the crowd voiced their frustrations regarding a long history of police violence against citizens, corruption and the need to disband several tactical units under the Memphis Police Department.
Alleged Paul Pelosi Attacker Shares Disturbing Regrets In Jailhouse Call
The man accused of brutally attacking former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer last year expressed regret on Friday that he didn’t do more, according to a jailhouse call that he reportedly had with a California news station.
David DePape shared a stunning lack of remorse for the violence during what was described as an unexpected phone call to KTVU, the San Francisco TV station reported. The call followed the public release of police body camera footage capturing the incident.
“I want to apologize to everyone. I messed up. What I did was really bad. I’m so sorry I didn’t get more of them. It’s my own fault. No one else is to blame. I should have come better prepared,” he told KTVU reporter Amber Lee, according to audio of the call posted online.
Jim Jordan Gets Fact-Checked To His Face In Combative NBC News Interview
Rep. Jim Jordan and Chuck Todd got into a sparring match Sunday as the NBC News host called out the Ohio Republican for painting a misleading picture of how former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden handled the discovery of classified documents at their respective homes.
During the tense interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Jordan repeatedly insisted that the Department of Justice had been “weaponized” against Trump, citing the FBI’s Aug. 8 raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Scores of sensitive documents were retrieved during that search, which followed months of requests for the papers to be returned.
The Rude Pundit: Florida Department of Education’s Black History Month Essay Contest Seems to Want Students to Write Things They’re Not Allowed to Learn
It’s kind of odd, really. I mean, I know that Florida Republicans would say that they’re not opposed to students learning African American history and culture, even after their governor, Ron DeSantis, a man who always looks like he’s looking forward to when he’ll get to complain to the manager again, refused to allow an Advanced Placement course in African American Studies in Florida high schools. I know that Florida Republicans would say they’re not racist, even as they attack any teaching of history that might make white people uncomfortable as “indoctrination” and “critical race theory,” terms they neither understand nor care to understand.
And I know that the Florida Department of Education would say that they support teaching African American history, even encouraging teachers to have “age-appropriate” discussions on “how the freedoms of persons have been infringed by sexism, slavery, racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, including topics related to the enactment and enforcement of laws resulting in sexism, racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, including how recognition of these freedoms have overturned these unjust laws.” Of course, “classroom instruction and curriculum may not be used to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view inconsistent with the principles of this subsection or state academic standards.”
AOC Fires Back at Republican Who Told Her to ‘Educate Yourself,’ Suggests He’s in Congress to Boost Corporate Profits
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hit back at Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), who said she is ignorant about fossil fuels.
The House debated oil and gas drilling on federal land Thursday night. Republicans introduced a bill that would require the federal government to approve more drilling on government property before drawing from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in non-emergency situations.
Ocasio-Cortez proposed an amendment that would impose certain limits on oil and gas leases.
National Archives asks former presidents and vice presidents to check for classified documents
The National Archives and Records Administration on Thursday requested that former presidents and vice presidents“conduct an assessment” to determine whether they have any classified materials in their possession.
In a letter to designated records representatives, the National Archives referred to “several instances reported in the media where records containing classified information and subject to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) have been identified outside of the physical custody of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).”
“The responsibility to comply with the PRA does not diminish after the end of an administration,” according to the letter, first reportedby CNN and later obtained by NBC News.
5 ex-Memphis police officers are charged with murder in Tyre Nichols’ death
Five former Memphis police officers were indicted Thursday on murder charges in the death of Tyre Nichols, whose beating after a traffic stop was captured on video that “sickened” a top Tennessee law enforcement official.
The officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — were fired after, Police Chief C.J. Davis said, they violated department policies during the Jan. 7 stop that led to Nichols’ death.
All five former officers were charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault, prosecutors announced.
Vice President Harris visits Monterey Park to meet with victims’ families
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Monterey Park, California, on Wednesday to meet with victims’ families days after a mass shooter there killed 11 and wounded at least nine others at a Lunar New Year celebration inside a dance studio.
Harris visited Star Dance Studio to mourn the loss of the victims of the Monterey Park shooting, expressing the administration’s “deepest condolences and sorrows for the violent and tragic and useless thing that happened” there.
The vice president, carrying a large bouquet of Yellow lilies and white roses, took time looking at each of the 11 memorials set up at the dance studio in honor of the victims.
McCarthy says Santos will be removed from Congress if Ethics Committee finds he broke the law
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that while he stands by Rep. George Santos, the freshman congressman from New York would be removed from office if the Ethics Committee finds he broke the law after he admitted fabricating parts of his background.
McCarthy was pressed at a news conference about why he still supports Santos, who has lied about much of his background and résumé, including a false claim that his mother was at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Asked whether he is standing by Santos because his resignation would cut into the House Republicans’ narrow majority, McCarthy pushed back.
Facebook and Instagram to end Trump’s suspension from platforms
Former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts are being reinstated, the social media giant Meta announced Wednesday — a little more than two years after he was suspended from the platforms over incendiary posts about the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Trump’s accounts will be reinstated “in the coming weeks” with “new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said in a statement. Meta owns Facebook and Instagram.
Classified documents found at Mike Pence’s Indiana home
A “small number” of classified documents were discovered last week at former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home, according to two letters Pence’s counsel sent to the National Archives obtained by NBC News on Tuesday.
The lawyer, Greg Jacob, said the documents were discovered on Jan. 16 after Pence asked “outside counsel” to look for records bearing classified markings following the recent news about documents found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home.
Jacob, who was a top lawyer in Pence’s vice presidential office and now represents him in matters pertaining to the National Archives, said the team identified a “small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information” while it was reviewing records stored in his personal home.
Monterey Park shooter was mad at the world, not just his ex, former friends say
The elderly gunman responsible for the dance hall massacre in Monterey Park was out of step with other Asian immigrants who found joy and companionship in venues like the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, former friends said.
Huu Can Tran, 72, was an angry loner who appeared to have a grudge against the world — not just his ex-wife — people he crossed paths with said Tuesday.
“I think his whole life was going down,” said a man who used to rent an apartment from Tran and asked that his name not be used because he did not want to be associated with the gunman.
U.S. prepares to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine in major reversal for Biden administration
After weeks of discussion, the Biden administration is preparing to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to three senior U.S. officials.
The administration may announce the decision as early as Wednesday. The current plan includes a couple dozen Abrams tanks, but the officials stressed that the decision is not yet final and could change.
The tanks would not be available to the Ukrainians immediately. It will take many months before the high-tech vehicles arrive on the ground in Ukraine, the officials said, and the training for Ukrainian troops is also expected to take several months.
Kevin McCarthy Officially Gives Schiff and Swalwell the Heave-Ho from the Intelligence Committee: ‘Integrity Matters’
McCarthy indicated he would not seat Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on that committee. He previously raised concerns about Schiff’s handling of the first impeachment investigation into former President Donald Trump, as well as Swalwell’s interactions with an alleged Chinese spy.
Though committee members must be reappointed at the beginning of each new Congress, their reassignments to their previous committee are often mere formalities.
In his letter to Jeffries, McCarthy referred to Schiff and Swalwell as his “Democrat colleagues,” opting to use “Democrat” as an adjective, which is considered a pejorative.
Charlie Pierce: America’s Obsession with Its Guns Is a Sickness
Sometime today, someone will say that because the Monterey Park shooter used an illegal weapon, that proves that gun laws don’t work because blah-blah-blah. And perhaps the Baton Rouge shooting will be ascribed to some grudge held against the Dion nightclub because it wouldn’t play “Disco Inferno” twice last week. The simple fact is that this kind of thing doesn’t happen twice in the same weekend anywhere else in the world, except in places where actual war is being waged.
The United States is the only country on the planet where these things happen, and as far as we know, the only country on any planet where the people doing the shooting have a de facto political lobby. Which is why these two unfortunate exercises in Second Amendment freedoms happened one atop the other. The Tree of Liberty was well-watered this weekend.
This country is in love with its guns. It is in love with the way they feel, with the way it makes the person with the gun feel. The power, drawn from (if we’re lucky) vicarious violence, is intoxicating. The country is drunk on it, and even vicarious violence makes me wonder if we’re devolving faster than the glaciers are.
Jan. 6 rioter who put his feet on desk in Pelosi’s office is convicted on all counts
An Arkansas man who was photographed during the Jan. 6 riot with his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office was found guilty on all counts Monday after brief jury deliberations.
Richard Barnett faced eight charges stemming from the insurrection in 2021, including theft of government property. He said repeatedly in court last week that he regretted what happened at the Capitol that day but did not consider his actions illegal.
Barnett told reporters outside the court courthouse: “This is not a jury of my peers. I don’t agree with the decision, but I do appreciate the process, and we are surely going to appeal.”
Democrats name Schiff and Swalwell to Intelligence panel despite McCarthy’s threats
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries tapped Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to continue serving on the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, teeing up a long-anticipated fight with Speaker Kevin McCarthy who has vowed to block the pair from keeping their seats on the powerful panel.
The move means that the relationship between Jeffries, a New Yorker who is the new minority leader, and McCarthy of California, the new GOP speaker, is getting off to a rocky start.
Members of the Intelligence Committee are selected differently from other congressional committees because it is a “select” committee. As speaker, McCarthy has the authority to choose a chairman and Republican members. Jeffries, as minority leader, can nominate Democrats, but McCarthy has the power to reject them.
Monterey Park suspect may have been targeting his ex-wife in the mass shooting, mayor says
The gunman behind the deadly dance hall shooting in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park may have been targeting his ex-wife on the Lunar New Year, the city’s mayor said Monday.
That revelation came as investigators are focused on a personal motive and have discounted hate crime or terrorism as a possible inspiration for the attack, multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said.
The officials emphasized that it’s early in the investigation but said evidence gathered at the suspect’s home and in the van where he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday afternoon so far suggests the bloodshed was somehow personal.
At least 7 people killed in mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California
At least seven people were killed and one person seriously injured after a gunman opened fire at two separate sites in Northern California on Monday, authorities said, in the latest mass shooting to hit the state in a matter of days.
The shootings unfolded at agricultural businesses on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, a coastal city of roughly 11,000 about 30 miles south of San Francisco, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus told reporters.
The eighth victim was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, Corpus said.
DOJ Warns Rep. Jim Jordan It Won’t Share Ongoing Probe Details To Protect ‘Integrity’
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent a pointed letter to the new chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), signaling that it’s unlikely to share information about ongoing probes to safeguard the “integrity” of the investigations.
Additionally, the letter warned that the DOJ probably wouldn’t share any “non-public” information.
The letter read that the department is “committed to cooperating with the Committee’s legitimate efforts to seek information,” adding: “Any oversight requests must be weighed against the Department’s interest in protecting the integrity of its work.” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte sent out the letter Friday to Jordan.
Jeff Zients to be named Biden’s next chief of staff, replacing Ron Klain
President Joe Biden will name Jeff Zients to serve as his next chief of staff, replacing Ron Klain, who is expected to leave in the coming weeks, an administration official and a person familiar with the decision told NBC News.
Zients, who previously led the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response, left the administration briefly last April but returned in the fall right before the midterm elections.
News of Zients’ selection was first reported by The Washington Post.
Additional classified items found in Biden’s Delaware home during Justice Department search, attorney says
Six additional items, including documents with classified markings, were found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home after Justice Department officials searched the residence Friday, the president’s personal attorney said Saturday.
The search was prompted by the White House, not the Justice Department, according to a White House official and a source familiar with the matter.
The documents at the Wilmington, Delaware, home appear to be related to his time as vice president as well as to his tenure in the U.S. Senate and were found after Biden’s counsel offered full access to the premises as the department investigates his possession of classified material, Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal attorney, said in a statement.
Suspect in shooting at dance hall near Los Angeles is dead, sheriff says
The man suspected of carrying out a deadly shooting in Monterey Park was identified Sunday afternoon, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
The man, Huu Can Tran, 72, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a white van in Torrance as officers closed in, Luna said.
When law enforcement searched the van they recovered “several pieces of evidence” that linked the suspect to both the Monterey Park scene and a second scene in neighboring Alhambra, Luna said. A handgun was also found in the van, he said.
The Rude Pundit: The End of Roe v Wade Is Part of the End of the United States
I can pretty much guarantee you a few things are going to happen in the near to not-too-distant future regarding abortion rights in the United States. I don’t believe a national ban will happen unless the Supreme Court decides to force it. Instead, the insanity of our abortion policy in this country and the Christian extremism driving the legislatures of many states will lead to even more ludicrous and oppressive laws.
For example, laws will be passed that will punish anyone who helps someone living in an anti-abortion state to travel to another state to receive an abortion. Those laws will evolve to allow an anti-abortion state to seek the extradition of providers who perform abortions on women from that state. It will get crazy: when a doctor in New Mexico performs an abortion on a woman from Texas and someone alerts Texas authorities, that New Mexico doctor will have a warrant for their arrest, which New Mexico will ignore, causing greater tension between the states. And if the doctor happens to travel to Texas, they are open to being locked up and charged. By the way, this isn’t a fantasy. It’s already in bills being filedin Texas and other states.
Judge sanctions Trump and his lawyer nearly $1 million for ‘frivolous’ lawsuit targeting Hillary Clinton
A federal judge on Thursday sanctioned former President Donald Trump and one of his top attorneys nearly $1 million for filing a sprawling lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other perceived political enemies “that should never have been filed.”
U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of Southern Florida said in his 46-page order that Trump, lead attorney Alina Habba and Habba Madaio & Associates were jointly liable for $937,989 in the suit, which he dismissed in September.
“This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it,” Middlebrooks wrote, adding that the suit was intended “for a political purpose.”
U.S. hits the debt limit, setting June deadline as Capitol Hill fight intensifies
The U.S. government hit its statutory debt limitThursday, and the Treasury Department said it has begun resorting to “extraordinary measures” to pay the bills.
In a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said those special financial tools to meet the country’s obligations can continue until at least Monday, June 5. After they expire, Congress will need to act to prevent default.
Yellen said in the letter that “the period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenge of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. Government months into the future.”
Supreme Court says it is unable to identify the person who leaked draft of abortion ruling
The Supreme Court announced Thursday that after a lengthy investigation it has been unable to conclusively identify who leaked an unpublished draft of an opinion indicating the court was poised to roll back abortion rights.
In an unsigned statement, the court said that all leads had been followed up and forensic analysis had been performed but that “the team has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence.”
The attached report suggested the court was not watertight, with some employees admitting they had talked to spouses about the draft opinion and how the justices had voted. The investigation, conducted by Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley, was largely limited to the court building itself and the people who work there, meaning any actions people took at home or elsewhere using personal devices were mostly not within its scope.
Donald Trump prepares for his return to Facebook and Twitter
Mounting a comeback for the White House, Donald Trump is looking to regain control over his powerful social media accounts.
With access to his Twitter account back, Trump’s campaign is formally petitioning Facebook’s parent company to unblock his account there after it was locked in response to the U.S. Capitol riot two years ago.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign wrote in its letter to Meta on Tuesday, according to a copy reviewed by NBC News.
George Santos Reportedly Used the Name ‘Kitara’ During Time as Brazilian Drag Queen
A new report claims Rep. George Santos (R-NY) went by the name “Kitara” while he performed in drag during his youth in Brazil.
Santos reportedly used numerous aliases before he was elected to the House in November after campaigning on lies about his background. Santos is said to have used the name Anthony Devolder – an alias he is accused of using to allegedly swindle money from a fundraising campaign for a veteran’s sick dog.
According to reporter Marisa Kabas, Santos also used the first name Anthony during his youth in Brazil. Kabas reported the now-34-year-old also dressed in drag and used the name “Kitara.”
Trump Misidentifies Sexual Assault Accuser as His Ex-Wife After Saying ‘This Woman Is Not My Type’
Former President Donald Trump misidentified a woman who has accused him of sexual assault during a recent deposition, according to an excerpt was released Wednesday.
Trump is being sued by E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist based in New York City, for defamation and sexual assault. She claims the alleged assault occurred in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Trump has vehemently denied the allegations.
While he testified about the case from his Mar-a-Lago home and resort on Oct. 12, Trump called Carroll’s accusation a “complete con job.”
Elie Mystal: An Appeals Court Wants to Bring Back Bump Stocks, Beloved by Mass Shooters
The conservative judges who now occupy large swaths of the federal judiciary are pro-gun extremists. They’re so deep in the thrall of the gun lobby that their anti-regulatory opinions are now incompatible with mainstream American views on gun safety. Conservative judges have even lurched to the right of the Republican presidents who appoint them. The proof of that came this week when the hyper-conservative US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit threw out a Trump-era gun safety rule. The culture of violence embraced by these Federalist Society–approved judges is a greater threat to peace and personal safety than all the violent video games and Hollywood movies could ever be.
The rule the Fifth Circuit overturned, the one that was so offensive to their legal sensibilities that they threw it away, banned “bump stocks.” A bump stock is a physical attachment that can be affixed to the back of a rifle, the part that hits a shooter’s shoulder. It uses the rifle’s own kinetic recoil to make a shooter’s trigger finger move back and forth. It effectively turns a semiautomatic rifle (one where the shooter has to pull the trigger once per bullet fired) into a machine gun (one where the shooter pulls once and the bullets keep firing)
Biden White House takes questions about classified documents
The White House sought to deflect criticism that it is withholding facts about one of the biggest debacles of Joe Biden’s presidency, taking questions Tuesday about batches of classified records found in his home and an old office.
A White House official, Ian Sams, spoke to reporters Tuesday about documents dating to Biden’s vice presidency — the first time the White House has solicited questions about the classified materials. Although he offered little that advanced the public’s understanding of the matter, the mere willingness to address questions was itself a departure from the initial response.
Failed New Mexico GOP Candidate Visited Homes Of Democrats Before Shootings: Report
A failed New Mexico GOP candidate charged with shooting at the homes of Democratic politicians visited the officials beforehand to dispute his 2022 election loss, according to a new report.
Republican Solomon Peña was arrested Monday, accused of conspiring with and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of four local Democratic officials. Albuquerque police said they’re been investigating at least six shootings between Dec. 4 and Jan. 5.
Before the shootings, Peña visited the homes of his alleged targets to complain that the election he lost for state House was fraudulent, NBC News reported Tuesday.
Veteran Says George Santos Used Him And His Dying Dog For A Fundraising Scam
A disabled veteran has accused newly-elected Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) of fundraising for his service dog’s lifesaving surgery and then disappearing with the money, local news site Patch reported Tuesday.
Richard Osthoff, a U.S. Navy veteran, told Patch Santos conned him in 2016 while he was living in a tent on the side of a highway in Howell, New Jersey, with his beloved dog Sapphire. Sapphire was diagnosed with a life-threatening stomach tumor, and Osthoff was quoted $3,000 for the surgery to remove it.
According to Osthoff, a veterinary technician told him he knew a guy who could help: Anthony Devolder, who ran Friends of Pets United, a pet charity.
Radical GOPers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar Return To Committees After Removal By Democrats
GOP lawmakers have reinstated representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) to House committees nearly two years after Democrats stripped them of their assignments, multiple news outlets have confirmed.
On Tuesday, the House GOP Steering Committee, which delegates committee assignments, voted unanimously to assign Greene and Gosar to the Oversight and Accountability Committee, CNN reports. Greene also nabbed a seat on the Homeland Security Committee, and Gosar returned to a seat he’d occupied previously on the Natural Resources Committee.
Both representatives, who are staunch supporters of former President Donald Trump and critics of President Joe Biden, were removed from their respective committees in 2021 following their controversial actions and comments.
Charlie Pierce: Merrick Garland Has Risked Justice by Betting on Impartiality
Robert H. Jackson was the last Supreme Court justice who never earned a law degree. After one year at Albany Law School, he became a lawyer by the age-old practice of “reading the law” in Jamestown, New York. He attached himself to the star of then-Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt, and when the latter became president, Jackson joined the administration and served in a number of jobs, beginning as an assistant general counsel in the Bureau of Internal Revenue, in which capacity Jackson became a particular bête noire of Andrew Mellon and his business interests. By 1938, he was named solicitor general and, in 1940, attorney general. He spent a year in that job until FDR nominated him to the Supreme Court. His nomination was confirmed on July 7, 1941, just in time for Jackson to serve on the court throughout World War II and until his death in 1954. While hospitalized with the first of the heart attacks that would later kill him, Jackson left his bed and went down to the court so that there would be a full complement of justices when it delivered its unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954. He would be dead by October.
White House says there are no visitors logs for Biden’s Delaware home
The White House and the Secret Service said Monday they do not maintain visitor logs for President Joe Biden’s personal home in Wilmington, Delaware, a day after a top House Republican called for their release.
“Like every President across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement. “But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.”
White House Calls GOP Frenzy Over Biden Classified Docs ‘Shamelessly Hypocritical’
The White House pushed back on Republican outrage over the discovery of classified documents at President Joe Biden’s residence and former office, calling the indignation from GOP lawmakers “shamelessly hypocritical.”
“House Republicans have no credibility,” White Houses spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement on Monday. “Their demands should be met with skepticism and they should face questions themselves about why they are politicizing this issue and admitting they actually do not care about the underlying classified material.”
“President Biden is doing the right thing and is cooperating fully with a thorough review, but House Republicans are playing politics in a shamelessly hypocritical attempt to attack President Biden,” Sams continued.
Kevin McCarthy Admits He ‘Always Had A Few Questions’ About George Santos’ Resume
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) admitted Monday he “always had a few questions” about the resume of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), the newly elected congressman who was found to have lied extensively about his credentials.
“I never knew all about his resume or not, but I always had a few questions about it,” McCarthy said, after a reporter asked if he had any inkling about the allegations against Santos before they became public.
The reporter also asked about how a Santos staffer was caught impersonating McCarthy’s chief of staff to make fundraising calls during Santos’ 2020 and 2022 House campaigns.
Failed GOP Candidate Arrested In String Of Shootings At New Mexico Democrats’ Homes
Police in Albuquerque, N.M., arrested Solomon Peña, a former Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives, on Monday in connection with multiple shootings at local Democratic politicians’ homes, authorities said.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said Peña is accused of conspiring with and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators. He was arrested after a brief standoff with a local SWAT team.
The department has been investigating at least six shootings, which occurred between Dec. 4 and Jan. 5. Four of those have been linked to Peña, police said, and two others are still under investigation.
House GOP Demands Visitor Logs In Biden Classified Docs Case
Newly empowered House Republicans on Sunday demanded the White House turn over all information related to its searches that have uncovered classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home and former office in the wake of more records found at his Delaware residence.
“We have a lot of questions,” said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Comer, R-Ky., said he wants to see all documents and communications related to the searches by the Biden team, as well as visitor logs of the president’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, from Jan. 20, 2021, to present. He said the aim is to determine who might have had access to classified material and how the records got there.
Biden: Americans should ‘pay attention’ to MLK’s legacy
President Joe Biden made a historical pilgrimage Sunday to “America’s freedom church” to mark Martin Luther King Jr.’sbirthday, saying democracy was at a perilous moment and that the civil rights leader’s life and legacy “show us the way and we should pay attention.”
As the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday morning sermon at King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, Biden cited the telling question that King himself once asked of the nation.
“He said, ‘Where do we go from here?’” Biden said from the pulpit. ”Well, my message to this nation on this day is we go forward, we go together, when we choose democracy over autocracy, a beloved community over chaos, when we choose believers and the dreams, to be doers, to be unafraid, always keeping the faith.”
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
White House says more documents with classified markings were found at Biden’s Delaware home
More classified documents from the Obama administration were found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware residence this week — in addition to the two batches that had been previously disclosed — the White House said Saturday.
This brings the total number of batches of records found to three: a “small” number in a Washington office Biden used, another set in the garage of his residence, and six pages in a room adjacent to the garage.
The discoveries have trickled out over the past week — beginning on Monday, followed by an acknowledgment on Thursday and then the announcement on Saturday — stoking Biden’s critics and causing alarm among his allies that his office didn’t have a handle on the problem.
More Republicans call for George Santos to resign over lies and fabrications
House Republicans’ calls for Rep. George Santos to resign are growing after state GOP leaders in New York said he should step aside over a slew of lies and fabrications in the biography he ran on in the 2022 midterm election.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., also starting his first term, dropped his earlier hedging and unequivocally said Thursday that Santos should resign.
“It is clear that George Santos has lost the confidence and support of his party, his constituents, and his colleagues. With the extent and severity of the allegations against him, his inability to take full responsibility for his conduct and the numerous investigations underway, I believe he is unable to fulfill his duties and should resign,” Lawler said in a statement.
Trump discussed using a nuclear weapon on North Korea in 2017 and blaming it on someone else, book says
Behind closed doors in 2017, President Donald Trump discussed the idea of using a nuclear weapon against North Korea and suggested he could blame a U.S. strike against the communist regime on another country, according to a new section of a book that details key events of his administration.
Trump’s alleged comments, reported for the first time in a new afterword to a book by New York Times Washington correspondent Michael Schmidt, came as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un escalated, alarming then-White House chief of staff John Kelly.
Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ only child, dies at 54
Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of rock icon Elvis Presley, died Thursday, her mother said. She was 54.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement to The Associated Press. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”
The family is shocked and devastated, Presley said in a statement that thanked supporters for the love and prayers and asked for privacy.
Special counsel named to investigate Biden classified records that included top secret document
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday he was appointing Robert Hur to serve as a special counsel to review classified material found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware residence and a Washington office he used.
Hur, now a lawyer at a Washington, D.C., firm, was the U.S. Attorney for Maryland during the Trump administration, and is also the former principal counselor to former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the Mueller investigation.
Garland said Hur’s appointment “authorizes him to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter.”
N.Y. Republican leaders and lawmakers call on GOP Rep. George Santos to resign over campaign lies
A growing number of GOP lawmakers from New York are calling for the resignation of Rep. George Santos, the newly sworn-in member of Congress who confessed to having lied about key details of his background.
At least four House Republicans from New York said Santos should step down after Nassau County GOP officials on Wednesday first called for him to give up his congressional seat.
“George Santos’ campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication,” county GOP Chairman Joe Cairo said at a news conference with other party officials.
Corrupted computer file to blame for FAA aviation stoppage that delayed thousands of flights
Flights across the U.S. resumed Wednesday morning, several hours after the Federal Aviation Administration suffered a computer outagethat forced it to halt all departures nationwide while it scrambled to resolve the issue.
The FAA said the crippling delays that affected thousands of flights appear to have been caused by a problem in the Notice to Air Missions system, or NOTAM, which sends pilots vital information they need to fly.
A corrupted file affected both the primary and the backup systems, a senior government official said Wednesday evening, adding that officials continue to investigate.
Biden aides find second batch of classified documents at new location
Aides to President Joe Biden have discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a location separate from the Washington office he used after leaving the Obama administration, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Since November, after the discovery of documents with classified markings in his former office, Biden aides have been searching for any additional classified materials that might be in other locations he used, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details about the ongoing inquiry.
The White House did not reply to a request for comment. The Justice Department had no comment.
Rain blamed for 17 deaths in California, a state primed for very different natural disasters
Seventeen people have died in a series of atmospheric rivers that have slammed into California in the last two weeks, a staggering death toll in a state used to wildfires, earthquakes and drought, a state official said Tuesday.
The deaths have been reported across the state — from San Bernardino County in the south to Mendocino County in the north, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
A spokesperson for the agency, Brian Ferguson, said two kinds of death have been most prevalent — those resulting from trees’ falling on people and vehicles’ getting overwhelmed by floodwater.
House Republican files articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Mayorkas
In the first week of the new GOP-led House, a Texas Republican has filed articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Rep. Pat Fallon, in a document filed Monday night, accused Mayorkas of “high crimes and misdemeanors” in his role as homeland security secretary. The articles have been referred to the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Congressional Republicans have made immigration and the surge in border crossings a top issue since President Joe Biden took office. The administration has faced GOP criticism for moving to terminate Trump-era policies such as “Remain in Mexico,” aimed at restricting immigration at the southern border, and Title 42, a policy implemented near the start of the Covid pandemic that allowed U.S. authorities to turn asylum-seekers away at the border.
Biden says he was ‘surprised’ to learn government docs were found at his former office
President Joe Biden on Tuesday addressed the controversy over classified documents found at a former office of his in Washington, saying that he was “surprised” when he learned of their existence and that his attorneys have been “cooperating fully” with the government’s review of the records.
“People know I take classified documents and classified information seriously,” Biden said in response to a question at a news conference in Mexico City. “I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office. But I don’t know what’s in the documents. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what they were.”
Biden classified docs vs. Trump classified docs: What’s the difference?
The discovery of classified documents among President Joe Biden’s vice presidential papers in a Washington office has led to yowls by some Republicans who say there is an unfair double standard being applied to Donald Trump’s stash of classified documents — but the circumstances of the finds are very different.
The uproar began Monday after the White House confirmed a CBS News report that a “small number of documents” with classified markings that appeared to be from the Obama administration had been found at a think tank tied to Biden.
The documents were discovered in a locked closet by Biden’s attorneys as they prepared to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement.
Republicans Signal Cuts To Social Security, Medicare With New House Majority
House Republicans are making clear that they intend to seek cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare with their new majority in the 118th Congress.
Their plans to target health care programs follow demands from a group of conservatives that helped elect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the weekend. Those far-right lawmakers have sought across-the-board spending cuts in order to tackle the growing national debt.
But the narrow House GOP majority ― McCarthy can afford to lose just four votes on any bill ― is far more divided on cuts to defense spending than for entitlement programs.
One person dead, 5-year-old missing as ‘parade of cyclones’ batters California
One person is dead, a 5-year-old is missing and more than 7 million people in the Los Angeles area were under a flash flood warning Monday as a “parade of cyclones” slammed California.
In Avila Beach, roughly 180 miles north of Los Angeles, one person was killed when a vehicle was overtaken by water, said Anita Konopa, an official with the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services. Another official with the agency, Scott Jalbert, initially said two people had died.
In the northern section of the county, near Paso Robles, floodwaters swamped a vehicle driving through a low creek bed, Jalbert said. An adult was rescued, but a child was swept away, he said.
Grand jury in Georgia Trump election probe completes final report, judge says
The Georgia grand jury conducting a criminal investigation into whether there were any “coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections” in the state by former President Donald Trump and his allies has completed its work, a judge said in a ruling issued Monday.
The grand jury was convened for an investigation into “‘the facts and circumstances relating directly or indirectly to possible attempts to disrupt the lawful administration of the 2020 elections in the State of Georgia’ and to prepare a report on whether anyone should be prosecuted for such potential crimes,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney recounted in a ruling.
Justice Department is examining ‘small number’ of classified documents found at Biden think tank
A “small number of documents” with classified markings that appear to be from the Obama administration were found at a think tank in Washington, D.C., tied to President Joe Biden and are under review by the Justice Department and National Archives, a White House lawyer said Monday.
The documents were discovered in a locked closet by Biden’s attorneys days before the midterm elections as they prepared to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president said in a statement.
A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Biden only became aware of the classified documents being stored in his former office when he was informed by his lawyers they had discovered them.
Charlie Pierce: Kevin McCarthy Will Take Us Back to the 1920s. Is That Good?
The whole thing got so numbing by the third day. Eight hours of calling names, eight hours of the same numbers, over and over again. The Democrats in the House of Representatives stayed solidly behind their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Twenty-one members stood against Kevin McCarthy within the Republican caucus, who were, through the first 11 votes, every bit as immovable as all the Democrats. McCarthy could only afford to lose four Republican votes if he wanted to be speaker. On every ballot, his candidacy was cooked by the time they got to the D’s.
As much as Republicans insisted their chaotic process was a demonstration of democracy working as intended, and as much as the TV pundits deplored the endless exercise on behalf of The American People, the only possible response to the whole tangled mess was to laugh. At the very least, it was a good antidote to the pretension that was flying thick and fast over yet another attempt by conservatives to monkey-wrench the government—this time without broken windows and death threats. Eventually, though, even laughter didn’t help. Tedium set in, then complete enervation. So much so that I nearly missed what perhaps was the most amazing moment of the whole sorry week.
The Rude Pundit: We Still Haven’t Left January 6th
On January 7, 2021, one day after a plague of festering dickscabs swarmed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election, I wrote the following:
“Every single Republican who ever enabled Donald Trump, and that includes supporting his campaign, voting for his judges and his fucking bullshit wall, voting against his impeachment and removal from office, separating families and caging children, going along with and encouraging his denial about how deadly COVID-19 is, and so much more horrible shit, cannot be allowed to weasel out of their complicity. This didn’t happen without Republicans rolling their eyes at and waving off Trump’s extravagant fuckery. They made a deal with the Devil, and that spike-dicked motherfucker is ready to sodomize some souls. So I don’t wanna hear about how brave and patriotic Mitch McConnell’s speech was where he said that Biden won and Trump lost. I don’t wanna hear how Lindsey Graham redeemed himself with his call to speak the truth to MAGA cretins. Even Republicans like Adam Kinzinger, who has been outspoken in his outrage at Trump’s refusal to concede, don’t get a pass when they spent their entire time in Congress helping Trump. I don’t wanna hear about the conscience that the now-resigning members of the administration have suddenly discovered like a long-lost, beat-up teddy bear. No, fuck all of you. This didn’t happen without your blithe acceptance of every bowl of shit Trump fed you. You anonymously spoke against Trump while being too fucking cowardly to go on the record. You should all have a large ‘Trump’ carved into your foreheads so that for the rest of your lives, everyone will know where you stood when your country was falling the fuck apart.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) won’t recuse himself from possible GOP investigation of Jan. 6 probe investigating him
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., would not commit on Sunday to recusing himself from a possible House GOP investigation of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation, even though federal investigators have looked at his role in the larger effort leading up to the insurrection and previously seized his cell phone.
“Why should I be limited? Why should anybody be limited just because someone has made an accusation? Everybody in America is innocent until proven otherwise,” Perry told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“We’re gonna investigate, and we need to we need to make sure that that these agencies aren’t running amok and aren’t out of control, which clearly they are,” said Perry, the leader of the hard-right Freedom Caucus.
Trump Takes A Bow For Kevin McCarthy’s Speaker Win: ‘I Did The Country A Big Favor!’
After earlier appearing to back away from Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become speaker of the House, Donald Trump was taking credit Saturday for the California Republican’s hard-fought victory.
Trump, who recently said, “let’s see what happens” as McCarthy lost vote after humiliating vote, took credit for “greatly help[ing] McCarthy attain the position of Speaker of the House.” Trump preened on Truth Social: “Thank you, I did the Country a big favor!”
He even claimed the “fake news” was “very gracious” in reporting his crucial help. He posted stories from Fox News, Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and far-right media noting that McCarthy thanked Trump for his support after finally pulling off a win late Friday following a record 15 votes.
Biden makes first trip as president to U.S.-Mexico border as administration imposes restrictions
President Joe Biden traveled to El Paso, Texas, on Sunday to assess enforcement operations at the U.S.-Mexico border — his first trip to the border since taking office — just days after his administration announced new restrictions on asylum seekers amid record numbers of migrants attempting to cross into the U.S.
The trip comes amid repeated Republican criticism of the president for not traveling to the southern border sooner and of what they say are his administration’s ineffective policies as the situation there has worsened. Biden plans to demand Republicans in Congress fund his request for border security resources and to work toward comprehensive immigration reform, a White House official said.
400 arrested as supporters of ex-President Bolsonaro storm Brazil government buildings
Chaos struck Brazil’s capital Sunday when supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro descended on government buildings, breached them, climbed on a rooftop and broke windows.
Video depicted damage to an office in the presidential palace, as well as broken windows in the country’s highest court.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, sworn in Jan. 1, responded by authorizing federal intervention in the Federal District until the end of January.
Biden to mark Jan. 6 anniversary with presidential medals for election officials and police
President Joe Biden on Friday will mark the second anniversary of the attack on the Capitol by awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal to a dozen election workers, officials and law enforcement officers for “contributions to our democracy” before and during the riot, a White House official said.
“These 12 heroes demonstrated courage and selflessness during a moment of peril for our nation,” the official said.
Among those set to receive the medal — the country’s second-highest civilian honor — are former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican who resisted pressure from then-President Donald Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to organize a legislative hearing on voter fraud allegations and have the state Legislature appoint an alternative slate of electors.
Trump and 2 others sued over death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick after Jan. 6 riot
The longtime partner of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the Jan. 6 riot, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against former President Donald Trump and two men involved in assaulting Sicknick.
Sicknick, 42, died a day after the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Washington’s chief medical examiner ruled in April 2021 that he died of natural causes after having suffered two strokes.
The lawsuit, filed by Sicknick’s partner, Sandra Garza, cites comments from the medical examiner that “all that transpired” on Jan. 6 “played a role in his condition.”
Bills-Bengals game postponed after Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest won’t be made up, NFL says
The postponed Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game will not bemade up following the terrifying collapse of safety Damar Hamlin, the league said Thursday.
With one game left in the regular season, the NFL is still working out the details of how the canceled game will affect seeding for the playoffs, which begin Jan. 14-15.
The NFL acknowledged that canceling the game “creates potential competitive inequities in certain playoff scenarios” and said NFL clubs will consider a resolution at a special league meeting Friday.
House adjourns after McCarthy loses 11th vote for speaker
For a third consecutive day, a bloc of ultraconservative bomb throwers denied GOP leader Kevin McCarthy the speaker’s gavel Thursday, even after he caved on a set of concessions the right-wing Republicans were demanding.
It marked the 11th straight defeat for McCarthy, R-Calif., who has vowed to fight on. While he still maintained support from roughly 90% of his GOP colleagues, the conservative rebels banded together Thursday and were able to block him from securing the simple majority of the House needed to be elected speaker (a number that can shift).
The House adjourned Thursday evening without a speaker and will return at noon Friday.
Biden and McConnell appear together in Kentucky as House Republicans are in disarray
In what’s sure to be a proverbial split-screen image, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is appearing alongside President Biden in Kentucky Wednesday to talk infrastructure improvements, at the same time that House Republicans enter a second day of the 118th Congress without having coalesced around a speaker.
The president and the top Senate Republican are visiting the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio to announce more than $2 billion in investments from the bipartisan infrastructure law to upgrade that bridge and other bridges across the country. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden and McConnell will be accompanied by Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, former Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman, Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, underscoring the bipartisan support for infrastructure improvements.
California storm prompts evacuation orders as state braces for flooding
Trees fell and wires were downed in San Francisco as a powerful storm hit California and prompted evacuation orders in other parts of the state Wednesday, officials said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier declared a state of emergency as the weather was expected to bring heavy rain, snow and flooding. The declaration will allow state agencies to respond quickly as the storm develops and support local jurisdictions.
The heaviest rain was expected to hit Northern California Wednesday and Thursday morning, Newsom’s office said. In Southern California, the heaviest rain was forecast for Wednesday night through Thursday.
Pope Benedict XVI’s Funeral Brings Thousands Of Mourners To St. Peter’s Square
Bells tolled Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, as thousands of mourners packed St. Peter’s Square for a rare requiem Mass of a dead pontiff presided over by a living one.
The faithful applauded as pallbearers carried Benedict’s cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded St. Peter’s Basilica and rested it before the altar. With red-robed clergy looking on, Benedict’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin.
Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of regular people flocked to the Vatican, despite Benedict’s requests for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for an pope emeritus in modern times low-key.
Kevin McCarthy Flops Again On Second Day Of House Speaker Votes – STILL No Speaker
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed again Wednesday to win the House speaker’s gavel after coming up short of a majority in the fourth, fifth and sixth votes of this week.
A small but determined faction of Republicans in the Freedom Caucus joined all Democrats in opposing McCarthy, leaving the House in limbo for a second day since the institution can’t function without first electing a speaker.
In a statement on his website Wednesday, former President Donald Trump reiterated his support for McCarthy. The Freedom Caucus is home to Trump’s biggest backers in Congress, but McCarthy’s candidacy has split the group. And Trump’s endorsementapparently didn’t help.
Hope Hicks, former Trump aide, on Jan. 6: ‘We all look like domestic terrorists now’
Hope Hicks, who was a top adviser to former President Donald Trump, told an aide to Ivanka Trump that “we all look like domestic terrorists now” as the Capitol riot unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021.
In texts released by the House Jan. 6 committee, Hicks expressed concern about the consequences of Trump’s actions to Julie Radford, who was then Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff.
“In one day he ended every future opportunity that doesn’t include speaking engagements at the local proud boys chapter,” Hicks said, appearing to refer to the then-president.
N.F.L. Says Suspended Game Won’t Resume This Week as Damar Hamlin Stays in Hospital
Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin remained in critical condition on Tuesday after he went into cardiac arrest during a prime-time N.F.L. game, a frightening reminder of the ever-present risk of serious injury in America’s biggest sport that has the league facing one of its worst crises in decades.
Hamlin’s injury, following what looked like a routine tackle, has the N.F.L. again answering questions about player safety in a season marred by high-profile injuries.
With millions of fans watching on television, Hamlin, 24, collapsedin the first quarter of a crucial matchup with playoff implications on Monday night, forcing the league to suspend the game. As Hamlin lay on the field motionless, medical workers feverishly worked to restart his heart. Players were in tears, the stadium went silent and fans watched along in distress as a young athlete’s life hung in the balance.
George Santos Came to Washington. It Was Awkward.
Hounded by reporters whom he labored to avoid and shunned by members of his own party, George Santos, Republican representative-elect of New York, spent his first day in Congress as an outcast.
For weeks, Mr. Santos had been hard to pin down, ignoring calls and texts, hiding out in Long Island and Queens, appearing only briefly for uncomfortable interviews with conservative outlets and dodging questions about the geyser of falsehoods about his background that have been revealed since he flipped a Democratic seat on Long Island in November.
But on Tuesday, Mr. Santos was not able to hide anymore.
House G.O.P. Paralyzed on Day 1 as Right Wing Blocks McCarthy Speakership
Republicans were deadlocked on Tuesday over who would lead their new majority after Representative Kevin McCarthy of California lost three votes for the top job, as hard-right lawmakers in open revolt dealt their party leader a humiliating setback and prompted a historic struggle on the House floor.
The mutiny, waged by ultraconservative lawmakers who for weeks have held fast to their vow to oppose Mr. McCarthy, paralyzed the House on the first day of Republican rule, delaying the swearing in of hundreds of members of Congress, putting off any legislative work and exposing deep divisions that threaten to make the party’s House majority ungovernable.
Charlie Pierce: Kevin McCarthy’s Ambitions Are Going to Take Him to Some Dark Places
Sometime next week, Kevin McCarthy, an amiable (if largely invertebrate) career politician from Bakersfield, California, will offer himself up as human sacrifice to the barbarian tribes of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives.
Remember Richard Harris in the egregious 1970 movie, A Man Called Horse, in which Harris is a British nobleman who joins the Sioux, but not before he completes initiation rites that include being hung up by the thorax with pins? Next week, McCarthy will undergo something similar—except, unlike Harris’ John Morgan, McCarthy also will have to listen to Marjorie Taylor Greene. The arrangement is blatantly unconstitutional as a violation of the Eighth Amendment. It’s cruel and she’s unusual.
Steve Bannon Wanted To ‘Turn Up The Heat’ After Jan. 6 Violence
Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon had floated the idea of more violence in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to text messages obtained by the House select committee that investigated the attack.
The House Jan. 6 committee released its latest batch of material on Sunday from its investigation into the insurrection and the political players who planned it, including the former president. The committee formally recommended last month that the Justice Department charge Trump with several counts related to the attack, including inciting an insurrection.
One of the witness testimony transcripts the committee released on Monday is that of Alexandra Preate, who served as Bannon’s spokesperson from 2016 to 2020.
Jan. 6 Panel Transcripts Show Gen. Milley Agreed With Pelosi That Trump Was ‘Crazy’
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified last year he agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that former President Donald Trump was “crazy” while he pledged that the country’s nuclear codes were safe during his tenure, according to transcripts of his testimony before lawmakers last year.
The transcript is part of a mass database of evidence released Sunday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. The documents include detailed accounts from witness interviews, emails between Trump attorneys and text messages from those working in the White House as the former president’s term ended.
Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin in critical condition after cardiac arrest on field during Monday Night Football
Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed Monday night after making a tackle during the first quarter against the Bengals in Cincinnati, and the game has been postponed, team officials said.
Hamlin, 24, is currently hospitalized in critical condition, Buffalo Bills officials said in a statementposted on Twitter.
“Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals,” the statement said. “His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”
McCarthy struggles to clinch support to be House speaker, with hours to go before crucial vote
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is still struggling to clinch the necessary support to become the next speaker — less than a day before the new Congress convenes.
McCarthy, who has been the top House Republican since 2019, is backed by a majority of his conference, some of whom say no one else is better for the role. But his long-held aspirations to wield the gavel are being obstructed by a small group of Republicans who say they are intent on withholding their support in exchange for concessions that would limit a speaker’s power — and thus increase the influence of other members.
Five Republicans have outright said they won’t support McCarthy during the vote for speaker on Tuesday.
Biden to laud economic wins with McConnell as GOP takes over House
President Joe Biden will open the new year with a bipartisan show of support to tout one of his major legislative wins, appearing with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky to announce a major project funded by the infrastructure law.
The appearance with McConnell, R-Ky., and other regional leaders from both parties Wednesday signals a dual focus for a White House aiming to stay above the political fray in 2023. The stop, and others like it this week featuring other administration officials across the country, will come a day after the new Republican-led House of Representatives takes power in Washington, kicking off a period of divided government as the 2024 presidential election campaign also begins to take shape.
Federal prosecutors open investigation into Rep.-elect George Santos over congressional campaign
Federal prosecutors in New York have opened an investigation into Rep.-elect George Santos, two law enforcement sources confirmed Thursday.
The probe by federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York is at least the second investigation into Santos, a Republican, who acknowledged this week that he had fabricated and “embellished” several claims about his background involving his education and work history.
The investigation is said to be in its very early stages, and it has not zeroed in on any one allegation of wrongdoing yet. The two sourcesconfirmed that prosecutors are examining Santos’ finances, including potential irregularities involving financial disclosures and loans he made to his campaign as he was running for Congress.
Trump’s tax returns released by House committee show he paid little in taxes
A House committee on Friday made public six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which showed he paid relatively little in federal taxes in the years before and during his presidency.
The House Ways and Means Committee had voted to make the thousands of pages of federal returns public in a party-line vote last week, but their release was delayed while staffers redacted sensitive personal information like Social Security numbers from the documents. Friday’s release, the culmination of years of legal wrangling and speculation, included both personal and business records.
Kinzinger says he believes Justice Department ‘will do the right thing’ and charge Trump over Jan. 6
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Sunday that he believes the Justice Department will charge former President Donald Trump after the House Jan. 6 committee concluded its investigation detailing his pressure campaign to overturn the election.
“If this is not a crime, I don’t know what is. If a president can incite an insurrection and not be held accountable, then really there’s no limit to what a president can do or can’t do,” Kinzinger, a member of the committee, said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I think the Justice Department will do the right thing. I think he will be charged, and I frankly think he should be,” he continued, pointing to the findings of the committee’s formal report from its 18-month investigation into the deadly Capitol riot in 2021.
The Rude Pundit: Haiku Review of 2022… Everything Everywhere All at Once
This fuckin’ year, man. Even as shit’s not really that bad, shit just feels like it’s spiraling down into the toilet of our abyssal politics. You can’t turn around without some jagoff screeching about “wokeism” or “groomers” or whatever nonsense word or phrase they’ve come up with to mean “People who make me mad for completely irrational reasons that I probably got from some stupid video.” And every single time we allow ourselves to be even slightly giddy heading down Hope Street, we know that around every corner is Despair, and that motherfucker’s carrying a machete.
We approach 2023 with the prospect that Donald Trump will finally be rooted out from the Republican Party, yet we know that the disease that he unleashed on our nation will not be cured and, in fact, its symptoms will be fostered by the craven DeSantises and Greenes and Noems. We are thrilled that Democrats held the Senate, even expanding their majority, but we know that, come January, the Republican-led House is gonna be a batshit hootenanny of conspiracy theories and vengeance. And Covid is still here and still murdering people, as I know personally. Machete after machete. Dodge one and there’s another about to come at your face.
Trump’s tax returns released by House committee after years of legal battles
A House committee made public six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns Friday, the culmination of years of legal wrangling and speculation about what might be contained in the filings.
The House Ways and Means Committee had voted to make the thousands of pages of returns public in a party-line vote last week, but their release was delayed while staffers redacted sensitive personal information like Social Security numbers from the documents.
The panel’s top Republican, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, has called the release of the documents “unprecedented,” and said it will “jeopardize the right of every American to be protected from political targeting by Congress.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin Reveals Cancer Diagnosis
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) revealed Wednesday that he’s been diagnosed with cancer and will soon begin treatment.
“After several days of tests, I have been diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, which is a serious but curable form of cancer,” he said in a statement.
Raskin, 60, will soon commence an outpatient course of chemo-immunotherapy but expects to be able to work through his treatment.
“Prognosis for most people in my situation is excellent after four months of treatment,” he said. “I expect to be able to work through this period but have been cautioned by my doctors to reduce unnecessary exposure to avoid COVID-19, the flu and other viruses.”
Read the rest of the story at HuffPost
Transportation Department will be looking into Southwest flight cancellations, Buttigieg says
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his department will be looking into the Southwest Airlines scheduling system after thousands of canceled flights enraged passengers across the U.S.
Southwest canceled 70% of its flight schedule Monday and Tuesday as it struggles to recover after extreme winter weather and staffing problems.
“This has clearly crossed the line from what’s an uncontrollable weather situation to something that is the airline’s direct responsibility,” Buttigieg said Tuesday in an interview on “NBC Nightly News.”
New York prosecutor looking into Rep.-elect George Santos, citing ‘fabrications and inconsistencies’
George Santos, the congressman-elect from New York who’s admitted to “embellishing” his résumé, is being investigated by a New York prosecutor.
“The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning. The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement about her fellow Republican on Wednesday. “No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”
Santos, who made history last month as the first openly LGBTQ non-incumbent Republican to be elected to Congress, was the subject of a bombshell investigation The New York Times published this month, which found much of Santos’ background appeared to have been manufactured, including claims that he had worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and had graduated from Baruch College.
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
Senate passes $1.7 trillion government funding bill that overhauls U.S. election law
The Senate voted Thursday to pass a $1.7 trillion government funding bill, sending it to the House to avoid a holiday shutdown.
The vote was 68-29 on sweeping legislation that would keep the government funded through next fall and overhaul election laws in an attempt to prevent another Jan. 6. It came after votes on a potpourri of amendments, including landmark workplace protections for pregnant and breastfeeding employees.
The bill also includes nearly $45 billion in aid to Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a joint meeting of Congress that U.S. support is “crucial” in helping it fend off Russian aggression. The package includes $9 billion for weapons and more than $15 billion in economic and humanitarian aid.
Cassidy Hutchinson knew she was going to be ‘nuked’ for turning on Trump. She did it anyway.
Cassidy Hutchinson sped out of Washington in the wee hours of the morning while Googling “Watergate” on her phone, frantically looking for some kind of guidance on how to be a whistleblower.
Until that moment, the former Donald Trump White House aide, who would go on to be the star witness of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, had remained “loyal” and “in the family,” as Trumpworld insiders kept reminding her, according to transcripts of her testimony released Thursday.
Jan. 6 committee report details the scope of Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the election
The House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday unveiled its formal report, the final product of its historic 18-month investigation into the deadly attack on the Capitol and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“[A]fter nearly a year and a half of investigation, I am frightened about the peril our democracy faced. Specifically, I think about what that mob was there to do: to block the peaceful transfer of power from one president to another based on a lie that the election was rigged and tainted with widespread fraud,” Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote in the foreword of the report.
Jan. 6 committee approves criminal referrals against Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election
The House Jan. 6 committee voted Monday to recommend the Justice Department pursue a batch of criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in an effort to overturn the 2020 election and the fomenting of a deadly mob at the Capitol.
Trump was the first president in American history to be impeached twice. Now, he is also the first president ever to be formally referred by Congress for potential criminal prosecution.
The committee’s final meeting marks the culmination of a sweeping 17-month congressional investigation that included more than 100 subpoenas, interviews with more than 1,200 witnesses and the collection of hundreds of thousands of documents.
Trump lashes out at polls showing Ron DeSantis with a big lead in the 2024 GOP primaries
Former President Donald Trump unloaded Thursday on polling showing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis beating him in a head-to-head matchup for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“Great polling has just come out on me versus various others, including [President Joe] Biden, but I still have to put up with the same old ‘stuff’ from The Wall Street Journal, which has lost an incalculable amount of influence over the years, and Fox News, whose polls on me have been seriously WRONG from the day I came down the escalator in Trump Tower” to announce his first run, Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Senate sends Biden military bill that would lift Covid vaccine mandate for troops and authorize more Ukraine funding
The Senate passed a massive military policy bill Thursday that would direct the Defense Department to lift a Covid vaccination mandate for service members and authorize $858 billion in defense spending.
The National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill that authorizes Pentagon spending and policies, cleared the Senate in an 83-11 vote. Five Republicans and six Democrats opposed the measure.
It passed the House in a 350-80 vote last week.
The legislation now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
Twitter suspends journalists who have been covering Elon Musk and the company
Twitter on Thursday evening suddenly suspended several high-profile journalists who cover the platform and Elon Musk, one of the richest people in the world, who acquired the company just a few months ago.
Hours after the suspensions took hold, Musk faced off with one of the journalists he suspended in a Twitter Space audio discussion before an audience of more than 30,000 listeners. The suspended journalist, along with several others, found a backdoor way onto the platform through the website’s audio function.
Kinzinger Breaks Down Why He ‘Absolutely’ Believes Donald Trump Is ‘Guilty of a Crime’
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he believes former President Donald Trump is “guilty of a crime” for his behavior surrounding the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“After all you have learned as a member of the committee. On a personal basis. So not speaking for the committee, but just you personally, do you think that Donald Trump has committed a prosecutable crime related to January 6th and the and the attempt to overturn the election?” Tapper asked.
“Look, I have to caveat it with that. I’m not a Justice Department official. They have different levels of standards. I think he’s guilty of a crime,” Kinzinger replied.
Trump Hoarded Most Of The $147 Million In Small-Donor Money He Raised For Himself
Just weeks after touting a new super PAC to help Republican candidates in the November midterms, Donald Trump wound up spending just a fraction of the $100 million he had available ― and hoarded the rest for his own 2024 presidential run.
The coup-attempting former president in October transferred $60 million from his Save America “leadership” PAC to his Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC, which was ostensibly created to boost GOP candidates in tight races. It collected another $9 million from an existing pro-Trump super PAC and $4 million from new contributions.
Of that $73 million total, though, only $15 million went toward electing Republicans in five Senate races, according to a HuffPost analysis of Federal Election Commission filings, with not a dime spent helping Herschel Walker in Georgia for his Dec. 6 runoff. A full $54 million remains available for the super PAC’s new stated goal, helping Trump win back the White House.
Federal Reserve announces slower pace of interest rate hikes as inflation cools
Amid signs that price growth in the U.S. economy is rapidly cooling, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it was slowing the pace of its rate-hiking program designed to tackle inflation — but that more hikes were still on the table.
The Federal Open Market Committee said it was increasing its key federal funds rate by 0.5%, after announcing four-straight 0.75% hikes at its most recent meetings. In its Wednesday statement, the Fed said it continues to target an inflation rate of 2% over the long term and would continue to increase the federal funds rate to do so.
“Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures,” the committee said.
Alleged Pelosi attacker also planned to go after Hunter Biden, Tom Hanks and Gavin Newsom, police say
The man charged with attacking the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also had plans to target Hunter Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and actor Tom Hanks, according to a police officer who interviewed the alleged assailant.
San Francisco Police Lt. Carla Hurley testified in court Wednesday that David DePape revealed the target list to her during an hourlong interview at a hospital shortly after the attack on Paul Pelosi in October.
An earlier court filing said DePape had named several “prominent” state and federal politicians, their relatives and a local professor as other targets; it did not identify any of them.
Trump’s conservative base deserting him for DeSantis – poll
Most Republican-leaning voters would prefer Florida’s governor over Donald Trump as their 2024 presidential nominee, according to a survey.
By a 56%-33% margin, conservative voters picked Governor Ron DeSantis over the former president, who formally launched his new campaign last month.
The Suffolk University/USA Today poll also found President Joe Biden had higher approval numbers than Mr Trump.
It follows mixed results for Trump-backed candidates in midterm elections.
Congressional negotiators reach bipartisan agreement on framework for funding deal
Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal Tuesday on the framework for a massive government funding package they hope to pass before the holidays.
“Today, Vice Chairman Shelby, Chair DeLauro, and I reached a bipartisan, bicameral framework that should allow us to finish an omnibus appropriations bill that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by the President,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. “The pain of inflation is real, and it is being felt across the federal government and by American families right now. We cannot delay our work any further.”
McConnell says Trump fueled ‘candidate quality’ problems in the midterms
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s endorsements in important 2022 primaries contributed to the nominations of poor candidates who fell short in swing states.
He made the remarks at his weekly news conference, responding to a question from NBC News about whether he intends to play a more active role in selecting candidates in the 2024 election cycle, when Republicans have a friendlier map.
“We ended up having a candidate quality test,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters about the 2022 election. “Look at Arizona. Look at New Hampshire. And the challenging situation in Georgia, as well,” he said, mentioning states where Trump-endorsed candidates won their primaries and lost to Democrats in the general election.
Biden signs same-sex marriage bill at White House ceremony
President Joe Biden signed legislation Tuesday to codify federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages in a ceremony at the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff also attended.
“Today is a good day, a day America takes a vital step toward equality, toward liberty and justice, not just for some, but for everyone,” Biden said.
Trump special counsel subpoenas Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate former President Donald Trump at the Justice Department, has issued a subpoena to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Raffensperger on Monday received a subpoena from Smith dated Dec. 9, a spokesman for his office said. His office had no further comment. The subpoena was first reported Monday by The Washington Post.
The subpoena asks Raffensperger to provide documents; it is not a request for him to appear or testify in person, said a source familiar with the matter. His lawyers are “weighing options” about a timeline to respond, the source said.
Elon Musk’s Twitter Dissolves Trust And Safety Council
Elon Musk’s Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform.
The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives Monday night. But Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place, according to multiple members.
Charlie Pierce: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Idea of Sarcasm Is Going to Get Someone Killed
Watching Rep. Kevin McCarthy try to muster up 218 people who want him to be speaker of the House—and he would sell his gray-haired granny to Somali pirates to get the gig—is some pretty boring horse-race stuff, truth be told. McCarthy is a dim, pale fellow whose every move is transparent and predictable.
The real value in following the story is the very clear look we’re getting at how the inmates are going to run the asylum, no matter who is putatively in charge. For example, in New York this weekend, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke to the Young Republicans of New York. MTG is perhaps McCarthy’s most important ally in his quest, as well as a human bridge to Krazyville. This is important to remember when considering what she told the larval wingnuts in their tuxedos.
Sinema’s switch to independent driven by ‘political aspirations,’ Sen. Bernie Sanders says
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party was driven by “political aspirations for the future in Arizona,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday.
“I happen to suspect that it’s probably a lot to do with politics back in Arizona,” Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think the Democrats there are not all that enthusiastic about somebody who helped sabotage some of the most important legislation that protects the interests of working families and voting rights and so forth.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘We Would’ve Won’ If She Organized The Jan. 6 Attack
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) suggested the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol would have been successful if she’d been running the show.
“I want to tell you something. If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would’ve been armed,” she said of the Jan. 6, 2021, attempt by supporters of then-President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the New York Post.
Greene made the comment during a speech filled with “one-liners trolling the political left” at an annual gala hosted by the New York Young Republican Club in Manhattan, the Post reported.
Trump Was ‘Not Particularly Interested’ In Freeing Paul Whelan: Ex-WH Official
Former President Donald Trump was “not particularly interested” in freeing former Marine Paul Whelan from a Russian prison while he was in office, a former White House national security official said Sunday following incendiary complaints by Trump that more hasn’t been done for Whelan.
“I also have to say here that President Trump wasn’t especially interested in engaging in that swap for also Paul Whelan,” Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council Russia specialist, said in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “He was not particularly interested in Paul’s case in the way that one would have thought he would be.”
Congress struggles to reach funding deal as conservatives push to torpedo it
Congressional leaders and the White House are struggling to reach a deal on a massive government funding package, warning that they almost certainly will need to pass a short-term measure to avert a shutdown at the end of the week.
Lawmakers had hoped to wrap up their work in the lame duck session by Friday but are now making plans to stay around right up until the Christmas weekend. Some say they may have to return to Washington the week after that as well, putting at risk family vacations and official congressional delegation trips abroad.
The fate of the bill is also linked to an election overhaul measure to avoid another Jan. 6, which Senate leaders hope to attach to it. Congress must fund the government before Saturday to avoid a shutdown.
The Rude Pundit: In 2022, Republicans Tried to F*** Everyone But Ended Up F***ing Themselves
The end of an election cycle leaves us with myriad questions: Who got fucked? Who did the fucking? Who fucked up? My favorite question is one that can be agonizing if you’re asking it about your own side, but it’s delicious when you’re asking it about your opponents. “Who fucked themselves?” implies that a strategy not only failed; it worked to actively harm the strategizers. An even better version of this is when the strategy involves fuckers working intensely to fuck others but ending up fucking the fuckers.
And the GOP in 2022 fucked themselves hard. Oh, sure, they thought they were putting on a strap-on and humping away at voting rights and faith in the electoral process while forcing even more insane candidates, more Greenes and Gaetzes and Gosars (the three Gs of the asinine apocalypse), on their voters. But the way the election turned out, even with regaining the House (barely), it sure as hell looks like they put that strap-on on backwards and fucked their own asses, which is all well and good if you want your ass reamed, but not so pleasant if you weren’t expecting or desiring anal penetration.
Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview.
“I’ve registered as an Arizona independent. I know some people might be a little bit surprised by this, but actually, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Sinema said in a Thursday interview with Tapper in her Senate office.
“I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to,” she added. “Removing myself from the partisan structure – not only is it true to who I am and how I operate, I also think it’ll provide a place of belonging for many folks across the state and the country, who also are tired of the partisanship.”
Brittney Griner Is Headed to San Antonio After Prisoner Swap
Brittney Griner was expected to arrive back in the United States early Friday after her release was secured in a swap with a convicted Russian arms dealer, putting an end to her 10 months of captivity in Russia that became a geopolitical bargaining chip between Washington and Moscow.
Ms. Griner will probably head to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, a facility the U.S. government has used to treat those in need of debriefing or sensitive medical care. There, she will be examined and receive any necessary treatment.
Florida legislator who sponsored ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law resigns amid Covid-relief fraud charges
The Florida state representative who sponsored legislation opponents dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill resigned Thursday, a day after he was accused of fraudulently obtaining tens of thousands of dollars from a federal Covid-relief program.
State Rep. Joseph Harding, a Republican, said his resignation would be “effective immediately.” He has been indicted on a slew of charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements and other crimes.
The six-count indictment alleges that Harding, 35, sought more than $150,000 in Covid-relief loans and received roughly $45,000 in January and February 2021, for a pair of companies that had been dormant in the months before the applications were filed.
House passes bill to protect same-sex marriage, sending it to Biden’s desk
The House passed legislation Thursday that would enshrine federal protections for marriages of same-sex and interracial couples.
The vote of 258-169 sends the Respect for Marriage Act to President Joe Biden, who praised Congress for passing the bill and is expected to sign it into law. The Senate passed the bill last week by a vote of 61-36.
Democrats were unified in favor of the bill, while most Republicans in both chambers voted against it. Thirty-nine House Republicans supported the legislation Thursday, and one voted present.
Republicans Begin To Point Finger At Trump After Disappointing Georgia Election
Some Republicans attributed their party’s losses in the 2022 midterm elections, including most recently in Georgia’s Senate runoff election, to former President Donald Trump and his baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
“His obsession with the 2020 election became an albatross and a real liability for people who are running, especially in swing states,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters on Wednesday.
“The moral of that story is again, that when people think about elections … they want candidates that come forward and talk about forward-looking positive agenda that hopefully inspires and appeals to their hopes and their aspirations and in some states, at least, we didn’t do a good job at that,” he added.
Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Fringe Election Theory That Could Upend American Democracy
The justices on the Supreme Court appeared split Wednesday over whether to back a fringe theory that would upend election and redistricting law in every state.
The court heard arguments in the case of Moore v. Harper, which involves the independent state legislature theory. It holds that state legislatures were unbound by state constitutions and state courts when enacting law governing federal elections or drawing congressional district maps. This highly controversial theory has never been accepted by the judicial branch and has been deemed “historically implausible” and “antithetical” to the Constitution by historians of the founding era and judicial scholars, conservative and liberal alike.
Legislator behind Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law is accused of Covid-relief fraud
The Florida legislator who sponsored legislation critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was accused of illegally obtaining tens of thousands of dollars in Covid-relief funds, authorities said Wednesday.
Joseph Harding, 35, was indicted on six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements and other crimes, the U.S. attorney’s office for Northern Florida said in a release.
Harding, a Republican whose district is south of Gainesville, is accused of seeking Covid-relief loans from the Small Business Administration in 2020 for two companies, Vak Shack Inc. and Harding Farms, according to the indictment.
Additional items marked classified found in Trump storage unit
A search for documents carried out at the behest of former President Donald Trump’s attorneys turned up two documents with classified markings at a Florida storage facility, two people familiar with the documents told NBC News.
The documents were found recently in a facility not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and were turned over to the FBI, the sources said, confirming a report published Wednesday in The Washington Post.
The find comes almost four months after FBI agents executed a search warrant at Trump’s Florida residence and found over 100 documents with classification markings, including some that were marked top secret.
Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenas local officials in Trump investigation
Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local officials in key presidential swing states for any and all communications involving former President Donald Trump, his campaign and a series of aides and allies who assisted in his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Subpoenas were issued to top elections officials in Wayne County, Michigan; Milwaukee and Dane counties, Wisconsin; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Allegheny County, Pa. Those counties are home to Detroit, Milwaukee, Madison, Phoenix and Pittsburgh.
The existence of the subpoenas was first reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Jan. 6 committee chair expects panel to issue criminal referrals to DOJ
The chairman of the House Jan. 6 committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., expects the panel to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, he told reporters Tuesday.
“We have made decisions on criminal referrals,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the panel has yet to formalize its decision. He also declined to say which individuals would be subject to the referrals or how many he expects the panel to make.
Thompson later told reporters that he thinks there is “general agreement” on the panel that referrals will be issued.
Jury finds Trump Organization guilty of tax fraud scheme
A jury in New York on Tuesday found the Trump Organization guilty of all charges in a sweeping, 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said was orchestrated by top executives at the company.
Jurors deliberated for just over a day before returning the guilty verdicts on a total of 17 counts, including scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. The company faces roughly $1.6 million in fines when it’s sentenced. The sentencing is expected to take place on Jan. 13, 2023.
“The former president’s companies now stand convicted of crimes. That is consequential. It underscores that in Manhattan we have one standard of justice for all,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters, calling the underlying case one of “greed and cheating.”
Democratic Sen. Warnock defeats Republican Walker in Georgia runoff
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican football star Herschel Walker on Tuesday in Georgia’s Senate runoff election, NBC News projects, handing President Joe Biden and his party a key win.
Warnock’s victory will give Democrats an outright majority in the Senate after two years under a 50-50 divide, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes.
The win cements President Joe Biden’s unexpected midterm success, allowing his party to grow the majority in the Senate.
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
GOP leaders silent so far on Trump’s call for ‘termination’ of Constitution’s rules
The White House on Monday and some Republicans in Congress condemned former President Donald Trump’s call for “termination” of the Constitution’s rules — while GOP congressional leaders kept silent on Trump’s comment and Democrats demanded Republicans rebuke him.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, asked about Trump’s comment, said she wanted to be “careful” about how she answered from the briefing room podium since Trump has declared his candidacy for 2024 but reminded that his own administration officials have called the 2020 election the most secure in American history.
Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti, onetime opponent of Donald Trump, sentenced to 14 years in fraud case
Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced on Monday to 14 years in federal prison for defrauding his clients and for obstructing IRS efforts to collect payroll taxes from his coffee business.
He was also ordered to pay $7 million in restitution.
The sentence will run consecutively with his combined five-year sentence in New York for stealing from Stormy Daniels and for extorting Nike.
Supreme Court leans toward web designer over refusal to work on same-sex weddings
Conservative Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared sympathetic toward an evangelical Christian web designer’s bid to avoid working on same-sex weddings as they weighed the latest clash between religious conservatives and LGBTQ rights.
But after two-and-a-half hours of arguments that included a broad array of tough hypothetical questions directed at both sides, involving far-fetched scenarios like a “Black Santa” at a shopping mall refusing to serve children dressed in Ku Klux Klan outfits, it is unclear how exactly the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will rule.
Warnock gains early voting edge as both candidates barnstorm Georgia in final day before Senate runoff
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has built up an advantage in Georgia’s record-breaking early vote, putting Republican Herschel Walker in a position where he’ll need to deliver big on Election Day to win in Tuesday’s Senate runoff.
Georgians have been bombarded with TV ads, radio messages, direct mail and ceaseless fundraising appeals in the closely watched Senate race. Many of them are ready for it to be over.
“It’s been very, very exhausting,” said Ana Gomez, a sophomore at Georgia Tech who attended Warnock’s rally on campus Monday.
Charlie Pierce: Trump Throws the Constitution Under the Bus for Election Lies
Physicians who work with Alzheimer’s patients call it an “amyloid cascade”; or they used to, when everyone but a couple of mavericks believed that deposits of beta-amyloid protein the the brain caused the disease, a long-held hypothesis that is now undergoing long-overdue reconsideration. Anyway, an amyloid “cascade” describes when a relatively stable AD patient suddenly suffers a catastrophic decline, a mudslide of symptoms in a relatively short space of time.
Here at the shebeen, we have long talked about the prion disease that has afflicted American conservative thought, and the Republican Party that has been its primary vehicle since Ronald Reagan fed the GOP its first helping of monkey brains back in the late 1970s. Over the weekend, we experienced what can safely be called a “prion cascade” that has left the Republican Party blithering incomprehensible ragtime while some of its more enthusiastic adherents took matters into their own hands.
Paul Pelosi attends Kennedy Center Honors in first public appearance since home attack
Paul Pelosi and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday night, marking Paul Pelosi’s first public appearance since he was attacked in his San Francisco home in October.
The couple attended the annual ceremony, which honors a select group of people every year for their artistic influences on American culture, along with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses as well. Paul Pelosi, who suffered a fractured skull when his suspected attacker allegedly assaulted him with a hammer, arrived wearing a black hat.
After seeing Paul Pelosi, Mr. Biden pumped his fist in the air.
Supreme Court today confronts case pitting free speech against LGBTQ rights
When the Supreme Court convenes for oral arguments Monday, it will be confronted with an issue it has been asked to resolve before in court fights involving bakers, a florist, and now, a web designer.
And with the latest case before it, brought by graphic designer Lorie Smith, Colorado is once again the battleground in a dispute pitting the First Amendment right to free speech against LGBTQ rights.
Smith, like bakers Jack Phillips and Aaron and Melissa Klein, and florist Barronelle Stutzman before her, is a Christian business owner who says her religious beliefs prevent her from creating custom websites for a same-sex wedding. But her refusal could violate Colorado’s public accommodation law, which prohibits businesses open to the public from refusing service because of sexual orientation and announcing their intent to do so.
Georgia breaks early voting record again in Senate runoff
Georgians swarmed to the polls on the last day of early voting before next week’s Senate runoff, setting a new record for single-day early in-person turnout.
At least 352,953 people voted in person on Friday, bringing the total number of votes, either in person or absentee, to over 1.8 million. That number represents 26.4% of active voters.
It’s a strong start for turnout for the Dec. 6 contest between Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
Top Republicans stay silent on Trump’s call to terminate the Constitution
Top Republicans have stayed silent as the White House strongly criticized former President Donald Trump for suggesting that the Constitution be terminated in his ongoing efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In a post to his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to put him back in power, citing his baseless claims of widespread election fraud in the last presidential election. “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” he wrote.
Trump’s post came after Twitter CEO Elon Musk promoted a series of tweets Friday revealing internal documents about how the company handled a New York Post article about Hunter Biden in 2020.
Closing arguments get underway in the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial
Closing arguments began Thursday in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, which is accused of a sweeping 15-year schemeto compensate top executives of former President Donald Trump’s company off the books.
The defense began by recapping testimony from the prosecution’s star witness in the criminal trial, former company chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, and others.
Trump Organization lawyers laid out their case that Weisselberg committed his crimes to benefit himself, saying prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did so on behalf of the company.
Arizona county that balked at certifying election results finalizes tally after court order
A Republican-led county in Arizona that flouted a statutory deadlinefor election certification ended up certifying its results Thursday shortly after a judge ordered officials there to take action.
Officials in Cochise County voted 2-0 to accept the results of the Nov. 8 election, enabling statewide certification to move forward Monday.
Ann English, the sole Democrat on the three-member Board of Supervisors, and Vice Chair Peggy Judd, a Republican, voted to approve the election results. GOP member Tom Crosby was absent.
Senate votes to avert rail strike, sends the legislation to Biden for his signature
The Senate passed legislation Thursday to avoid an economically catastrophic rail strike one day after the House approved the measure.
It now goes to President Joe Biden, who said he “will sign the bill into law.” He had pleaded with Congress to act swiftly, warning of major harm to supply chains that could disrupt supplies of clean drinking water and gasoline in an already fragile economy.
“Working together, we have spared this country a Christmas catastrophe in our grocery stores, in our workplaces, and in our communities,” Biden said in a statement after the Senate vote. “I know that many in Congress shared my reluctance to override the union ratification procedures. But in this case, the consequences of a shutdown were just too great for working families all across the country.”
Federal Court Halts Mar-a-Lago Special Master Review In Blow To Trump
A federal appeals court on Thursday ended an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information.
The decision by the three-judge panel represents a significant win for federal prosecutors, clearing the way for them to use as part of their investigation the entire tranche of documents seized during an Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lag o. It also amounts to a sharp repudiation of arguments by Trump’s lawyers, who for months had said that the former president was entitled to have a so-called “special master” conduct a neutral review of the thousands of documents taken from the property.
Hakeem Jeffries Elected To Lead House Dems’ Next Generation
Emboldened House Democrats ushered in a new generation of leaders on Wednesday with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries elected to be the first Black American to head a major political party in Congress as long-serving Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team step aside next year.
Showing rare party unity after their midterm election losses, the House Democrats moved seamlessly from one history-making leader to another, choosing the 52-year-old New Yorker, who has vowed to “get things done,” even after Republicans won control of the chamber. The closed-door vote was unanimous, by acclamation.
Jan. 6 committee to release transcripts of interviews along with report, expected before Christmas, Thompson says
The House Jan. 6 committee will release transcripts of interviews investigators conducted in their investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the panel’s chairman, Bennie Thompson, said Wednesday.
“We plan to make available transcripts and other materials,” Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters on Capitol Hill. He later confirmed that the panel had finished all of its depositions.
The transcripts will be made public at the same time as the committee’s long-awaited report summarizing and detailing the probe, Thompson said, adding that he expects they would be released before the Christmas holiday.
Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies at 79
Christine McVie, the English musician whose smoky vocals and romantic lyrics helped catapult the rock group Fleetwood Mac to international success, died Wednesday, the band and her family announced on social media.
She was 79.
“There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie,” the group said in a statement on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. “She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure.
Trump’s tax returns now in the hands of House Ways-And-Means after lengthy court battle
A Democratic-led House committee now has access to six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns after a multiyear court fight.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that it had complied with last week’s Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the returns to be handed over to the House Ways and Means Committee.
The committee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN first reported that the committee had received the tax returns.
Biden rallies lawmakers to act to avert rail strike ahead of looming deadline
President Joe Biden stepped up calls for Congress to avert a looming rail strike in a meeting at the White House with top lawmakers Tuesday, warning that the economy was at risk if they failed to act in the next few days.
Talks between railway workers and their employers appear to have stalled, making the prospect of a Dec. 9 strike more imminent. Shipments of crucial materials, like chemicals used to treat drinking water, are set to start winding down this week, industry leaders have warned, after some railway unions rejected an agreement between labor leaders and railway companies.
McConnell after Trump-Fuentes dinner: Anyone meeting with antisemites ‘unlikely to ever be elected president’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared to take aim at former President Donald Trump on Tuesday over his decision to host Ye and white supremacist Nick Fuentes for dinner last week at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Flanked by other top Republicans, the GOP’s Senate leader opened his weekly news conference by saying: “First, let me just say that there is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy. And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.”
Senate passes bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage over GOP opposition
The Senate passed landmark legislation Tuesday that would codify federal protection for marriages of same-sex and interracial couples, with Democrats securing enough votes to overcome opposition from most Republicans.
The Respect for Marriage Act was approved 61-36, with support from all Democrats and 12 GOP votes, after a filibuster was defeated and three amendments offered by Republicans who oppose the bill were rejected.
The measure now returns to the House for a final vote before it can go to President Joe Biden, who said he looks forward to enacting it.
Two Oath Keepers, including founder, convicted of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 case
A federal jury in Washington on Tuesday found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, another member of the far-right organization, guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a victory for the government in a case that involved a rarely used Civil War era statute.
Three other members of the group who were on trial alongside Rhodes and Meggs — Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell — were found not guilty on the seditious conspiracy charge. All five defendants were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
Democrat Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in race for Alaska’s at-large House seat
Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola has won a full two-year term representing Alaska in the House, NBC News projected Wednesday, defeating former governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
Peltola made history in August when she became the first Alaska Native seated in Congress after she won the special election to replace longtime GOP Rep. Don Young, who died in March at the age of 88.
Shortly after news broke that she had won a full term on Wednesday night, Peltola tweeted “WE DID IT!!!”
Biden says he’ll renew push for assault weapons ban following spate of mass shootings
President Joe Biden said Thursday he would make a renewed effort to enact a ban on assault-style rifles following a wave of mass shootings that have again put a spotlight on the nation’s gun laws.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to a fire station on Thanksgiving morning, the president reiterated his long-standing argument that such weapons are a societal menace and should not be sold.
“The idea that we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick,” he said while greeting firefighters in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he and his family are spending the Thanksgiving holiday. “It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.”
Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel named in the Trump investigations
Jack Smith, the special counsel announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to oversee the criminal investigations into the retention of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection, is a long-time prosecutor who has overseen a variety of high-profile cases during a career that spans decades.
Smith’s experience ranges from prosecuting a sitting US senator to bringing cases against gang members who were ultimately convicted of murdering New York City police officers. In recent years, Smith has prosecuted war crimes at The Hague. His career in multiple parts of the Justice Department, as well as in international courts, has allowed him to keep a relatively low-profile in the oftentimes brassy legal industry.
Read the rest of the story at CNN
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Lawmakers Urge Action After Report Of Other Supreme Court Leak
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said his panel is reviewing “serious allegations” in a report that a former anti-abortion leader knew in advance the outcome of a 2014 Supreme Court case involving health care coverage of contraception.
The report Saturday in The New York Times followed the stunning leak earlier this year of a draft opinion in the case in which the high court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protections for abortion. That decision was written by Justice Samuel Alito, who is also the author of the majority opinion in the 2014 case at the center of the new report.
Schiff contends Republican House majority will ‘be chaos’ with a ‘very weak leader’
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday said he expects the incoming Republican majority will give in to its “lowest common denominator” members by pursuing decisions like removing him from his committee assignments.
In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” Schiff was asked by co-anchor Jonathon Karl about GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s promise to kick Schiff off the intelligence committee, to which Schiff responded that he thinks McCarthy will follow the lead of hardline lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
“Well, I suspect he will do whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene wants him to do. He’s a very weak leader of this conference, meaning that he will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator, and if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, that’s what they’ll do,” Schiff said.
Colorado club shooting updates: Suspect named after 5 dead, dozens injured at LGBTQ nightclub
Five people were killed and dozens others were injured in a shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado, officials said.
The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, allegedly began shooting as soon as he walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs late Saturday night, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez told reporters during a news conference Sunday morning.
At least two people, whom authorities described as heroes, then confronted Aldrich and fought with him, which saved more lives, police said.
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg takes the stand in criminal case against company
A longtime executive at the Trump Organization took the witness stand Tuesday for the first time to testify against his employer in a criminal tax fraud case against the company, telling jurors that Donald Trump had been aware of the unusual pay structure for high-level employees.
Former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, prosecutors’ star witness in their case against Trump’s company, described his role in a scheme that he said allowed the company and executives like him to cheat on taxes. He also told jurors that he pleaded guilty in August and was testifying as part of his plea agreement.
Weisselberg, 75, said Trump was aware that compensation for executives included perks such as apartments and luxury cars in lieu of extra salary.
House Republicans plan investigations and possible impeachments with new majority
House Republicans’ majority will be smaller than expected, but they’re eager to use their new oversight powers and pass a spate of bills to draw contrasts with Democrats and give the Biden administration heartburn.
In this moment of divided government and fierce partisanship, it’s perhaps appropriate that the GOP conference is expected to be led by Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, veteran lawmakers known more for their skills in political combat than for their policy acumen.
Although House Republicans will still face a Democratic White House and Senate aimed at blocking their legislative aims, McCarthy — who is working feverishly to cement his ascension to speaker despite growing discontent in his ranks — has already made it clear the party plans to launch investigations into the Biden administration and at least one of the president’s family members.
Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, says she’ll step down as Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, who helped shape many of the most consequential laws of the early 21st century, said Thursday that she will step down after two decades as the Democratic Party’s leader in the chamber.
“With great confidence in our caucus I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi said in a speech on the House floor.
Pelosi was speaker from 2007 to 2011 and returned to the top job in 2019. She announced her decision just a day after NBC News and other news outlets projected that Republicans had flipped control of the House in last week’s midterm election, sending Pelosi and the Democrats back to the minority.
Twitter to temporarily close offices amid wave of new resignations after Musk’s ultimatum
Twitter said it would be closing all its offices until Monday, according to an email shared by a departing employee, after a new wave of employees resigned when Elon Musk issued an ultimatum telling them they would need to be willing to commit to a “hardcore” work environment.
“Please continue to comply with company policy by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere,” the email shared with CNBC on Thursday said.
Internal Slack messages also shared with CNBC showed engineers and other employees posting goodbye messages to a “watercooler” chat group in the run-up to the 5 p.m. ET Thursday deadline Musk set Wednesday.
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
Pelosi plans to address her future in Congress on Thursday
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to address her future in Congress to her colleagues on Thursday, according to her spokesperson.
“@SpeakerPelosi has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters. This evening, the Speaker monitored returns in the three remaining critical states. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned,” Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill tweeted Wednesday night.
As Democrats celebrate overperforming expectations in the midterm elections, a conversation between Pelosi and fellow members of the California delegation has fueled speculation on the question of will Pelosi stay or will she step down from her leadership role.
Rep. Karen Bass becomes first woman elected mayor of Los Angeles
Democratic Rep. Karen Bass has been elected mayor of Los Angeles, NBC News projected Wednesday, making her the first woman to hold the role.
Bass defeated Rick Caruso, a billionaire real estate developer who was endorsed by Elon Musk, in a tight race to replace Democrat Eric Garcetti. The race was nonpartisan; both Bass and Caruso are Democrats. Caruso spent about $100 million on his campaign.
Bass, who is serving her sixth term in the House, was on the shortlist to be Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate in 2020. She announced her mayoral campaign in September of last year, saying tackling the city’s homeless crisis would be a top priority.
Republicans win control of the House, overtaking Democrats by a slim margin
Republicans have won control of the House, NBC News projected Wednesday, handing President Joe Biden a divided Congress after Democrats kept control of the Senate in last week’s midterm elections.
Republicans finally cemented their takeover a week after polls closed on Election Day, fueled by Democrats’ surprising strength around the country. Republicans had hopes of sweeping into power with dozens of wins, but instead they will have only a thin majority, complicating their ability to function in the House chamber.
The results revealed an America still torn over former President Donald Trump, his repeated false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and how the country and the GOP should move forward. In several close races, voters cited the economy and inflation as their top concerns, but they weren’t enough to power Republicans to a decisive sweep after Trump effectively made the elections a referendum on him, his past and his plans as the de facto leader of the party.
Kevin McCarthy wins GOP nomination for House speaker
House Republicans nominated Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the current minority leader, as their candidate for speaker of the House on Tuesday, with McCarthy overcoming a conservative challenger as the party inches closer to winning control of the lower chamber.
McCarthy was tapped as the nominee in an internal meeting of the Republican conference by a secret-ballot vote of 188 to 31, multiple sources in the meeting confirmed to CBS News. The vote means the California Republican is the favorite to become speaker of a GOP-controlled House, but the path to securing the 218 votes needed to claim the gavel during a vote of the full House in January is likely to be a difficult one, since Republicans are poised to hold a razor-thin majority of seats after a weaker-than-expected performance in last week’s midterm elections.
Poland calls missile that killed 2 ‘Russian-made’; Biden says it’s ‘unlikely’ it was fired from Russia
The Polish government said a Russian-made missile killed two of its citizens Tuesday near the border with Ukraine, but U.S. President Joe Biden said that it was “unlikely” that it was launched from Russia.
Polish leaders convened an emergency security and defense meeting and agreed to increase its military readiness.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an explanation for the deadly blast in Przewodów, a settlement near the southeastern town of Hrubieszów.
Sen. Rick Scott will challenge McConnell for top Senate GOP leadership post
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Tuesday announced a challenge to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for the top Republican leadership job in the Senate.
“The status quo is broken and big change is needed,” Scott said in a tweet. “It’s time for new leadership in the Senate that unites Republicans to advance a bold conservative agenda. That’s why I’m running to be the Senate Republican Leader.”
Scott first announced the move at a meeting of GOP members, a spokesman said.
Trump, whose lies about the 2020 election inspired an insurrection, announces third White House bid with rambling, low-energy speech
Donald Trump, the only president impeached twice, launched a campaign to reclaim the Oval Office on Tuesday, two years after voters ousted him and a week after they rejected his hand-picked candidates in several pivotal Senate races.
“America’s comeback starts right now,” Trump said from the ballroom of his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he was joined by members of his family and prominent supporters such as political operative Roger Stone, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.
“We have always known that this was not the end. It was only the beginning of our fight to rescue the American dream,” Trump said, adding a twist to his trademark slogan: “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.”
Trump D.C. hotel receipts reveal $10,500-a-night rooms for foreign officials seeking to influence U.S. policy
During Donald Trump’s presidency, the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, China and Malaysia spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at Trump International Hotel in Washington at the same time they were trying to influence U.S. foreign policy, according to investigative findings released Monday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Hotel receipts obtained by the Oversight Committee show that the then–prime minister of Malaysia and his delegation spent $259,724 at the hotel during a one-week stay in September 2017, including a $10,000 room and a $1,500 “Personal Trainer” for embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak, as well as $9,229 for “Coffee Break[s].” At the time, Razak was unsuccessfully lobbying the Trump administration to drop an investigation into a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund he had co-founded.
Partisan control of the House remains unknown with 14 races uncalled
Races for more than a dozen House seats remained uncalled as of Monday night, leaving political control of the chamber unknown nearly a week after voting in the 2022 midterms general election cycle concluded.
Most of the 14 House seats that NBC News has not called are in California. So far, Democrats have been elected to 206 seats and Republicans have won 215. A party needs to secure 218 to hold the majority in the House.
Conservatives warn McCarthy: You don’t have the votes for speaker
Conservative lawmakers sent a strong message to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday, telling him he doesn’t have the votes to be the next speaker.
The warning shot came just one day before McCarthy heads into a closed-door election seeking to become his party’s nominee for speaker of the House starting in January.
The California Republican is expected to easily surpass the simple majority needed to win the nomination, but members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are planning to put up a symbolic challenger to make clear that McCarthy can’t reach the magic number needed — 218 votes — in the formal floor vote when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.
Democrat Katie Hobbs defeats MAGA favorite Kari Lake in high-stakes race for governor in Arizona
Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has defeated Republican Kari Lake in Arizona’s race for governor, NBC News projected Monday.
Hobbs’ victory is key for Democrats in a presidential battleground state and a rebuke to a prominent election denier — although the closeness of the contest left the result up in the air for nearly a week.
“I am honored to have been selected to serve as the next Governor of Arizona,” Hobbs said in a statement Monday night. “I want to thank the voters for entrusting me with this immense responsibility. It is truly an honor of a lifetime, and I will do everything in my power to make you proud.”
Charlie Pierce: Can Joe Biden Save America’s Soul?
It was a cold and windy February day in South Carolina. Pundits doing live shots in the parking lot of the bar were wearing blankets over the lower third of their bodies, just out of frame. A Democratic presidential primary was going on, and if there was a general consensus, it was that Joe Biden’s campaign at least had to cloud a mirror held under its nose to account for what had been to that point a doomed and futile ride into forced retirement.
He’d stumbled badly in Iowa, fallen flat on his face in New Hampshire, and finished far up the track in second in Nevada. This was Biden’s third try at the presidential nomination, and he had yet to win a single primary in any of them. A former vice president to a still-popular two-term president, Biden needed to do something in South Carolina or he was headed for the remainder bin. Almost a year later, after a lot of fuss and bother (and one armed insurrection), Biden was sworn in as the forty-sixth president of these United States.
Biden Takes Victory Lap Overseas On Dems Taking Senate But Notes ‘It’s Always Better With 51’
President Joe Biden took a victory lap in Cambodia over the Democrats taking control of the Senate again in the midterms, but noted a victory in the Georgia runoff is still crucial.
Shortly after Democrats ensured 50-seat control with the victory of Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, President Biden emerged to speak briefly with reporters at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Biden congratulated Leader Chuck Schumer and took questions for several minutes.
