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NBC News poll: 57% of voters say investigations into Trump should continue
A clear majority of American voters believe that the various investigations into alleged wrongdoing by former President Donald Trump should continue, according to a national NBC News poll conducted after the FBI searched Trump’s Florida home and recovered documents marked as “top secret” earlier this month.
The poll also shows a dissatisfied public, with three-quarters of voters saying the county is headed in the wrong direction, a record 58% who say that America’s best years are behind it and 61% who say they’re willing to carry a protest sign for a day because they’re so upset.
Democratic Senate campaign fundraising outpaces GOP for fourth straight month
The committee tasked with electing more Democrats to the Senate is reporting a $10 million haul in July, outpacing its Republican counterpart for the fourth month in a row, according to numbers first released to NBC News.
With less than three months until the November elections, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee appears to be in a more formidable financial position, with $54.1 million cash on hand, well more than double the $23 million left in the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s account.
The NRSC reported about $8 million in fundraising in July.
Sen. Lindsey Graham wins temporary reprieve from testifying in Georgia probe of Trump
An appeals court put on hold Sen. Lindsey Graham’s scheduled testimony for Tuesday before a grand jury in Georgia probing efforts by Donald Trump to overturn the former president’s 2020 election defeat, with the case returning to a lower court for another look.
A federal judge on Monday had rejected Graham’s challenge to the subpoena to testify before the grand jury. Graham, R-S.C, had argued his position as a U.S. senator provided him immunity from having to appear before the investigative panel.
Sunday’s order by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes as a temporary reprieve for Graham who otherwise would have had to testify on Tuesday.
Trump appeals ruling backing IRS release of tax returns to House to full DC Circuit
Former President Donald Trump asked the full bench of the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals to review a recent appellate panel ruling okaying the Internal Revenue Service’s release of Trump’s tax returns to a House committee.
The DC Circuit panel made “made several errors” in its ruling in favor of the House, Trump said in the new filing Thursday.
“The decision here will control future disputes between Congress and the Executive— including those of sitting Presidents — almost all of which arise in this circuit,” Trump said. “The Court should grant the petition.”
Judge partially blocks DeSantis’ anti-‘woke’ law
A federal judge in Florida on Thursday ruled that a law pushed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting conversations around race in schools and the workplace is unconstitutional.
In a 44-page ruling blocking enforcement of parts of the law, US District Judge Mark Walker said that Florida’s Individual Freedom Act (IFA), better known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” “discriminates on the basis of viewpoint in violation of the First Amendment and is impermissibly vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The law, which took effect on July 1, is a key component of DeSantis’ war on “woke ideology,” and was intended to prevent teachings or mandatory workplace activities that suggest a person is privileged or oppressed based necessarily on their race, color, sex or national origin.
2022 ELECTION McConnell says Republicans may not win Senate control, citing ‘candidate quality’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday downplayed expectations of Republicans capturing control of the Senate in the fall elections, describing “candidate quality” as an important factor.
“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,” he said in Florence, Kentucky, at a Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce luncheon when asked about his projection for the 2022 election.
Judge says he’s inclined to unseal parts of Mar-a-Lago search affidavit, orders government to submit redactions
A federal judge on Thursday said he is inclined to unseal at least some of the probable cause affidavit used to secure a search of former President Donald Trump‘s Florida estate and ordered the government to submit proposed redactions.
“On my initial careful review … there are portions of it that can be unsealed,” Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said after a hearing where a top government lawyer contended the document’s release could jeopardize an investigation that is still in its “early stages.”
In a written ruling after the hearing, Reinhart said, “I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed.”
Pence says he would consider testifying before the Jan. 6 committee
Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he would consider testifying before the House Jan. 6 committee if invited to appear, but he suggested he would need to sort out thorny constitutional questions before committing.
“If ever any formal invitation were rendered to us, we’d give it due consideration,” he said, in reply to a question posed to him at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics & Eggs” series.
Afterward, a spokeswoman for the House committee declined to comment on whether it plans to ask Pence to appear. In a recent interview with NBC News, the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said both Pence and former President Donald Trump “are on our agenda to be talked about as we meet.”
Today’s hearing on unsealing the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit to put DOJ arguments on display
A federal judge in Florida has scheduled a hearing Thursday on whether to unseal the affidavit that federal investigators used to justify a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home — a major point of contention between the government and the former president, his supporters and the news media.
The Department of Justice is arguing against unsealing the document for fear it could compromise an “ongoing criminal investigation” involving national security, while Trump and his Republican allies are calling the unprecedented search a major instance of government overreach and demanding the justification be made public. Several media companies, meanwhile, have urged the document be disclosed because of the public’s “clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred in these circumstances.”
CDC director Rochelle Walensky announces shake-up of the organization, citing COVID mistakes
The head of the nation’s top public health agency on Wednesday announced a shake-up of the organization, saying it fell short responding to COVID-19 and needs to become more nimble.
The planned changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC leaders call it a “reset”— come amid criticism of the agency’s response to COVID-19, monkeypox and other public health threats. The changes include internal staffing moves and steps to speed up data releases.
The CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, told the agency’s staff about the changes on Wednesday. It’s a CDC initiative, and was not directed by the White House or other administration officials, she said.
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg could be called to testify against company after pleading guilty in fraud case
Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty Thursday to 15 counts of fraud and tax evasion, acknowledging that he was part of a scheme to receive more than $1.7 million in off-the-books perks and compensation.
Weisselberg was charged alongside two Trump Organization companies that prosecutors claim took part in the scheme, which allegedly benefited other company executives. The company has entered a not guilty plea and jury selection for its trial is scheduled for Oct. 24.
Prosecutors will ask a New York judge Friday to impose a sentence of five months incarceration for Weisselberg, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Updated COVID boosters could be available in 3 weeks, White House predicts
Newly updated COVID-19 boosters tailored to target a dominant strain of the virus will be available in the next three weeks or so, assuming the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work through their processes for authorization as expected.
That was White House COVID coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha’s prediction Tuesday at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
In late June, the FDA directed Moderna and Pfizer to make vaccines for the upcoming winter that targeted the more contagious BA.5 omicron subvariant, along with the original COVID strain. That work has been underway and the next step is for the FDA and CDC to review data from the companies, once they’ve received it.
Sarah Palin advances to November’s general election for Alaska’s House seat
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has clinched one of four spots in November’s ranked-choice general election for the state’s at-large congressional seat, NBC News projects, keeping alive her hopes for a political comeback.
She will be joined on the fall ballot by Republican Nick Begich, the namesake grandson of a former Democratic representative who held the seat, and Democrat Mary Sattler Peltola, a former state lawmaker. It was too early after polls closed to call the fourth and final contender.
Rep. Liz Cheney loses her primary in Wyoming to Trump-backed challenger
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a onetime House GOP leader and a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was ousted in a Republican primary Tuesday night, NBC News projects.
Former President Donald Trump’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but his shadow eclipsed the contest as he sought revenge for Cheney’s vote last year to impeach him and her work on the committee investigating his behavior leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. His hand-picked challenger, Harriet Hageman, defeated Cheney in a multi-candidate race.
With 80% of the vote counted before midnight, Hageman was leading Cheney by more than 32 points. But the result didn’t put an end to hostilities between Trump and Cheney. Instead, she vowed to escalate them.
Biden signs major climate, health care and tax bill into law
President Joe Biden signed into law Tuesday a major Democratic spending bill that seeks to fight climate change, raise taxes on corporations and expand health care coverage.
The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, is a major legislative achievement for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. It passed the House and the Senate last week with the support of every Democrat and no Republicans.
“With this law, the American people won, and the special interests lost,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “We didn’t tear down; we built up. We didn’t look back; we looked forward. And today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant.”
Charlie Pierce: There Is No Darkness Republicans Won’t Follow Trump Into Now
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston with his wife but no longer his three children.
It is an article of faith around the shebeen that the classification system employed by the United States government is as chewy a cluster of f*ck as exists anywhere concerning anything. The only thing keeping me from falling into a fugue state somewhere between joy and sheer terror is that, maybe, this newly revealed batch of Pool Shed Files were just some of that over-classified paperwork that parts of the government are drowning in.
Liz Cheney tries to hold on in today’s Wyoming primary reshaped by Trump
Six years ago, when Rep. Liz Cheney first ran for Wyoming’s lone House seat, Nicholas Houfek said he saw the long-time Virginia resident, who had purchased a home in Jackson Hole four years earlier, as a “carpetbagger.”
Now, Houfek, a registered Republican who works in real estate, is staunchly behind Cheney in Tuesday’s primary against Harriet Hageman and three other candidates.
He asked Cheney’s campaign for a yard sign, which he and his wife Payson Houfek proudly display in their front yard. The two said many of their Democratic friends in the area have switched their party registration to vote for Cheney.
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Rudy Giuliani informed he’s a target of probe into Trump’s alleged election interference in Georgia
Rudy Giuliani is a “target” of the criminal investigation into possible 2020 election interference in Georgia by former President Donald Trump and others, his attorney told NBC News.
The lawyer, Robert Costello, said that as part of their efforts to compel Giuliani’s testimony, Georgia prosecutors initially told New York courts that Giuliani was a material witness. Then, Costello said, Giuliani’s lawyers were informed Monday that he is a “target” of the probe.
Giuliani, Trump’s former personal attorney and the former mayor of New York City, was ordered last week to testify in person Wednesday before a grand jury handling the case.
Ex-Trump Org. official Allen Weisselberg expected to plead guilty in tax case
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges tied to his indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in an investigation of former President Donald Trump’s businesses, according to two people familiar with the matter and a public court filing.
Weisselberg’s plea could come as soon as 9 a.m. Thursday. Terms of the expected deal were not immediately disclosed.
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were charged as part of what prosecutors described as an “off the books” scheme over 15 years to help top officials in the Trump Organization avoid paying taxes. Weisselberg, 74, was accused of avoiding paying taxes on $1.7 million of his income.
Justice Department asks judge to keep Trump’s search warrant affidavit sealed, citing investigation
Justice Department lawyers on Monday asked the judge who approved the search warrant for former President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort to keep the accompanying affidavit under seal, citing a need to protect witnesses and the ongoing investigation.
Federal prosecutors responded to inquiries from numerous news organizations, including NBC News, to make the affidavit public by arguing it should remain sealed “to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security.”
They also said the affidavit contains “highly sensitive information about witnesses, including witnesses interviewed by the government; specific investigative techniques; and information required by law to be kept under seal.”
Sen. Rand Paul Aims To Repeal Espionage Act To Save Trump
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called for the Espionage Act to be repealed just days after the Justice Department revealed that Donald Trump is under investigation for possibly violating the law.
“The Espionage Act was abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI. It is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment,” tweeted Paul:
His tweet featured a photo of a young Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who leaked a trove of Hillary Clinton and Democratic Party emails — with the help of Russian intelligence— shortly before the 2016 election, which was then won by Trump. (Trump offered to pardon to Assange if he denied Kremlin help with the leak, Assange’s lawyer said in 2020 in a London court.)
‘Great Simmering Anger!’ Trump Doubles Down on DOJ and FBI Attacks After Mar-a-Lago Raid
Six days after the raid at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump is continuing to rage on his platform Truth Social, adding to the increasing criticism of the FBI and Justice Department since Monday.
The search warrant and inventory list from the former president’s estate were revealed to the public on Friday, showing that Trump could find himself in serious trouble, being investigated for multiple federal charges, including the Espionage Act. On Saturday, it was unearthed that a Trump lawyer signed a statement for the DOJ assuring that all classified material had been returned, two months before those documents were seized from Mar-a-Lago.
House Democratic chairs request federal intelligence damage assessment after classified docs seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
The Democratic chairs of the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees have asked federal intelligence leadership for a congressional briefing and damage assessment after the FBI seized 11 sets of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home earlier this week.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney requested that Avril Haines, director of National Intelligence (DNI), conduct an immediate review following the extraordinary search of a former president’s home, according to a letter dated Saturday that was obtained by CNN. The DNI oversees the intelligence community in the executive branch.
FBI and DHS warn threats to federal law enforcement have spiked since Mar-a-Lago search
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning of a spike in threats to federal law enforcement officials since the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
“The FBI and DHS have observed an increase in threats to federal law enforcement and to a lesser extent other law enforcement and government officials following the FBI’s recent execution of a search warrant in Palm Beach, Florida,” the document, dated Friday, reads, according to one official.
The Rude Pundit: Note on Democratic Groups Helping Trump Republicans Win Primaries… So?
In one of the great “tut-tut” pieces in a while, the Editorial Board of the New York Times(motto: “We’re partly responsible for the Iraq War and Trump’s election, but you’ll still subscribe”) wrote that it was appalled by the idea that “Democratic Party groups have been elevating Big Lie proponents over their moderate Republican opponents all year.” They take great umbrage – umbrage, I say – that Democrats would dare attempt to give subversive support to the fucknuts and grifters who make coin and get votes by saying that Donald Trump really won the 2020 election and that a conspiracy involving at least a few hundred thousand people worked to keep him out of office. The idea, of course, is that in a general election, those fucknuts and grifters (and, to be fair, the fucknut grifters) will be easily defeated by a Democrat. And what’s the big strategy here? Reminding voters who is endorsed by Trump because to some idiot voters, that’s like getting oral from Jesus.
Man who fired nail gun at Cincinnati FBI building called for violence on Truth Social in days after Mar-a-Lago search
A man identified by two law enforcement sources as Ricky Shiffer, who died in a confrontation with police after he fired a nail gun at a Cincinnati FBI building, appeared to post online in recent days about his desire to kill FBI agents shortly after former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was searched.
Two law enforcement officials confirmed Shiffer’s name. Shiffer was at the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, according to three people aiding law enforcement who saw him in photos taken from the day of the attack; however, it’s unclear whether he went inside the building. Shiffer frequently posted about his attendance at the Capitol on social media.
House Democrats are poised to send a sweeping climate and health care bill to Biden’s desk Friday
The House is expected to pass a sweeping Democratic bill to combat climate change and extend health care coverage Friday, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature.
Passing the Inflation Reduction Act would deliver a major victory for the Democratic Party less than three months before the November midterm elections and cap nearly a year of on-again, off-again internal negotiations, defying numerous near-death experiences for the bill.
“This life-changing legislation increases the leverage of the people’s interest over the special interest,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told Democratic colleagues in a letter. “This bill makes a tremendous difference at the kitchen table of America’s families.”
Anne Heche not expected to survive fiery crash into home, her family says
Actor Anne Heche suffered an “anoxic” brain injury and is not expected to survive, her spokesperson said Thursday, nearly a week after she crashed her car into a home in Los Angeles.
“It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable,” the spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of her friends and family.
On Monday, Heche, 53, was in a coma and in “extreme” condition, her representative said. The spokesperson said Heche was “unconscious, slipping into a coma” following the crash.
Trump says he won’t oppose move to unseal Mar-a-Lago search warrant
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that he “personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant” for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and that the Justice Department filed a motion earlier in the day to make the warrant public.
Trump said late Thursday that he would not oppose the move.
Speaking about his decision at a brief news conference, Garland said the department “does not take such actions lightly” and first pursues “less intrusive” means to retrieve material. Garland noted that it was Trump’s “right” to reveal Monday’s FBI search of his property and that all Americans are entitled to a presumption of innocence.
FBI Director Denounces ‘Deplorable’ Threats After Mar-A-Lago Raid
The director of the FBI had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Christopher Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department “deplorable and dangerous.”
“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
Gas prices fall below $4 a gallon, the lowest point since March
Relentlessly high inflation is the nation’s most vexing economic problem, prompting months of recession talk even as job growth has soared — U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July — and consumer spending has remained resilient.
Biden signs bill to expand benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits
President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday expanding health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
The bipartisan bill, known as the PACT Act, is the most significant expansion of veterans’ health care and benefits in more than 30 years, a White House official said.
Speaking at a White House ceremony, Biden said that “veterans of the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan not only faced dangers in battle — they were breathing toxic smoke from burn pits.”
Trump invokes Fifth Amendment nearly 450 times in N.Y. AG’s civil probe of his business practices
Former President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination Wednesday during a deposition before lawyers from New York Attorney General Letitia James‘ office in its probe into the Trump Organization’s business practices.
The deposition lasted four hours, and the only question the former president answered was about his name, Trump attorney Ron Fischetti told NBC News.
A source with knowledge of the deposition said Trump took the fifth more than 440 times.
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
2022 midterm primary results: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut
Four states went the polls Tuesday night in matchups that included a race to take on a swing-state governor, a member of the progressive “Squad” with several primary challengers and an opportunity to elect a woman for the first time in Vermont’s at-large congressional district.
Tuesday’s primaries take place a day after the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s primary residence in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago, as part of a probe into documents that may not have been preserved as required by the Presidential Records Act.
Since the search, Trump has launched fundraising efforts off “Biden’s FBI RAIDS.” Republicans blasted the search, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to retaliate if the GOP takes back the House in November.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), a top Trump ally, says FBI agents seized his cellphone
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said Tuesday night that the FBI seized his cellphone earlier in the day, less than 24 hours after federal agents searched former President Donald Trump‘s home in Florida.
“This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone,” Perry said in a statement.
Perry, a top Trump ally, said the FBI “made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish. I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress.”
Federal court rules that House committee can access Trump’s tax records
A federal appeals panel unanimously ruled Tuesday that a House committee can access former President Donald Trump’s tax records after a yearslong legal battle.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., agreed that the House Ways and Means Committee has the authority to obtain Trump’s tax records from the Treasury Department, upholding a district court ruling from late last year.
Trump’s lawyers are all but certain to appeal the ruling.
Trump’s legal team was in talks with DOJ this spring over records stored at Mar-a-Lago, attorney says
Donald Trump‘s legal team was in discussions with the Justice Department as recently as early June about records stored at the former president’s Mar-a-Largo home, which FBI agents searched Monday, one of his attorneys confirmed to NBC News.
Trump attorney Christina Bobb said Tuesday that the FBI removed about a dozen boxes from a basement storage area and that a search warrant left by agents indicated they were investigating possible violations of laws dealing with the handling of classified material and the Presidential Records Act.
With her account, multiple sources have now confirmed to NBC News that the unprecedented search was related to classified material.
Republican officials reacted with fury to news of the search at Mar-A-Lago
Top Republicans and prominent conservatives reacted with outrage on Monday night to the news that the F.B.I. had searched the private residence of former President Donald J. Trump, with some suggesting that federal agents should be arrested and others hinting that the court-approved law-enforcement action against Mr. Trump was pushing the country toward political chaos.
“I’ve seen enough,” Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, wrote in a statement that he posted online. “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”
The House Jan. 6 panel is scheduled to interview Pompeo and Mastriano today
In the wake of the F.B.I. search of former President Donald J. Trump’s property in Florida, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is gearing up to meet with two potentially key witnesses in its separate inquiry on Tuesday.
The committee is expected to meet with Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state under Mr. Trump, and Douglas V. Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania who served as a point person in the state for a plan to keep Mr. Trump in power by using slates of “alternative” or “fake” electors.
Olivia Newton-John, pop singer who found stardom with ‘Grease,’ dies at 73
Olivia Newton-John, a British Australian pop star who dominated the pop culture of an era, has died after repeated treatments for cancer, her family announced Monday. She was 73.
“Dame Olivia Newton-John … passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,” John Easterling, her husband, said in a statement on her official Facebook page. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”
“Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”
FBI search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home tied to classified material, sources say
Former President Donald Trump said Monday that the FBI “raided” his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and even cracked his safe,with a source familiar with the matter telling NBC News that the search was tied to classified information Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021.
Trump also claimed in a written statement that the search — unprecedented in American history — was politically motivated, although he did not provide specifics.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a lengthy email statement issued by his Save America political committee.
Liz Cheney ‘Would Find It Very Difficult’ to Support DeSantis for President: He’s ‘Lined Himself Up Almost Entirely’ with Trump and ‘That’s Very Dangerous’
Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) criticisms of former President Donald Trump are no secret, with her impeachment vote and involvement in the House Select Committeeinvestigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and she holds similar concerns about Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), telling The New York Times she “would find it very difficult” to support the Florida governor for president because of how he had “lined himself up almost entirely” with Trump.
Cheney, currently the underdog in the primary battle to retain her own congressional seat against Trump-endorsed challenger Harriet Hageman, is described by Times reporter Jonathan Martin as believing that “ridding American politics of former President Donald J. Trump and his influence” is “more important than her House seat,” skipping time on the campaign trail to work with committee members and staff on their ongoing investigations and series of hearings.
Republicans block cap on insulin costs for millions of patients
Republican lawmakers on Sunday successfully stripped a $35 price cap on the cost of insulin for many patients from the ambitious legislative package Democrats are moving through Congress this weekend, invoking arcane Senate rules to jettison the measure.
The insulin cap is a long-running ambition of Democrats, who want it to apply to patients on Medicare and private insurance. Republicans left the portion that applies to Medicare patients untouched but stripped the insulin cap for other patients. Bipartisan talks on a broader insulin pricing bill faltered earlier this year.
Biden ends isolation in White House after negative Covid tests
President Joe Biden traveled to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Sunday after he ended isolation in the White House following two negative tests for Covid.
“This morning, the president’s SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing was negative for a second consecutive day,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, wrote in a letter Sunday. “He will safely return to public engagement and presidential travel.”
Biden told reporters he was feeling great as he walked out of the White House to board Marine One on his way to his home state, where first lady Jill Biden has been staying during his Covid infection.
Senate passes sweeping climate, health and tax package, putting Democrats on cusp of historic win
Senate Democrats narrowly passed a sweeping climate and economic package on Sunday, putting President Joe Biden and his party on the cusp of a big legislative victory just three months before the crucial November midterm elections.
After a marathon overnight Senate session, the 51-50 vote was strictly along party lines, with all Republicans voting no and all Democrats voting yes. After Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote, Democrats stood and applauded.
The legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, now heads to the House, which plans to return from its summer recess on Friday, pass the legislation and send it to Biden’s desk for his signature.
Stephanie Mencimer: Trump Merch, Rabid Fans, Disgraced Ex-Officials… Inside the Right-Wing Conference Circuit
In 2018, two years before YouTube de-platformed “Dark Web philosopher” and alt-right star Stefan Molyneux for violating its hate speech policies, he was one of the big names featured at the first American Priority Conference in DC. The event was marketed as a free speech extravaganza of Trump-supporting activists and influencers not welcome at more traditional Republican confabs like the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the oldest, largest, and most influential right-wing gathering in the country. But when Molyneux showed up, he discovered conference rooms mostly full of empty chairs. So he bailed.
Embarrassing turnout might have put an end to this event. Instead, AMPFest, as it’s now known, relocated to the Trump National Doral Miami hotel in 2019, added a golf tournament and a $75,000 sponsorship package, and scored appearances by Donald Trump Jr. and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Suddenly it became a top destination in the right-wing convention circuit, providing yet another platform for disgraced MAGA-world politicos like former national security adviser Lt. General Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, campaign operative George Papadopoulos, and right-wing filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, all of whom were pardoned by President Donald Trump for various crimes.
Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is in direct communication with Justice Department officials, the first sign of talks between the two sides as the criminal probe intoJanuary 6, 2021, accelerates, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump’s orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema signs off on Democrats’ big agenda bill, paving the way for Senate passage
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema signed off on sweeping Democratic legislationThursday that would provide new spending to mitigate climate change and extend health care access while taxing corporations.
The Arizona Democrat’s announcement likely unlocks the votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate.
Sinema said her support came after Democratic leaders agreed to remove a provision on closing the so-called carried interest tax loophole that enables wealthy hedge fund and investment managers to pay lower taxes.
U.S. officials declare monkeypox a public health emergency
The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Thursday as cases topped 6,600 nationwide.
The declaration could facilitate access to emergency funds, allow health agencies to collect more data about cases and vaccinations, accelerate vaccine distribution and make it easier for doctors to prescribe treatment.
“We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously and to take responsibility to help us tackle this virus,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Thursday briefing about the emergency declaration.
Alex Jones must pay at least $4.1 million to parents of a Sandy Hook school massacre victim in defamation case, jury rules
An Austin jury on Thursday decided Infowars host Alex Jones must pay at least $4.1 million to the family of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for the suffering he and his website and broadcast caused them by spreading lies about the 2012 massacre.
Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse died alongside 19 of his classmates and six educators at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, had sought $150 million for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
An attorney for Jones, who has repeatedly suggested that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, asked jurors to award Heslin and Lewis only $1.
Alex Jones Finds Out in Court His Lawyers Accidentally Sent All His Texts to the Opposition — Texts Proving He Lied
Alex Jones found himself shocked and playing catch up during his Wednesday testimony in the Sandy Hook defamation trial as he was informed while on the stand that his lawyers had accidentally sent two years’ worth of text messages to attorney Mark Bankston, who is representing families of Sandy Hook victims.
“Did you know 12 days ago your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cell phone with every text message you’ve sent for the past two years?” Bankston asked Jones.
Trump ally Navarro sued for alleged unofficial email account
The Justice Department filed suit Wednesday against Peter Navarro, claiming the former adviser to Donald Trump used an unofficial email account while working in the White House and wrongfully retained presidential records.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington claims Navarro used at least one “non-official” email account — a ProtonMail account — to send and receive emails. The legal action comes just weeks after Navarro was indicted on criminal charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski and two staffers killed in car crash
Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and two of her staffers were killed in a car crash on Wednesday, authorities said. Walorski was 58.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy first confirmed Walorski’s death in a tweet earlier Wednesday.
McCarthy said he spoke to Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart, who was informed of her death by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s office on Wednesday afternoon.
Here are key takeaways so far from Tuesday’s primaries
Kansas voters handed abortion-rights advocates a massive victory Tuesday, surging to the polls to defeat a measure that would have allowed the GOP-led legislature to impose new restrictions.
The vote in Kansas was one of the first tests of the potency of abortion rights at the ballot box since the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade and end the federal protection of abortion access.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, local elections officials were still counting votes to determine whether a slate of statewide candidates who were endorsed by former President Donald Trump and promoted his lies about election fraud won their Republican primaries.
Federal grand jury subpoenas ex-Trump WH counsel Cipollone in 2020 election probe, source says
Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN, the latest sign that the Justice Department’s investigation is heating up.
Cipollone and his attorneys are in discussions about an appearance before the grand jury, including how to deal with executive privilege issues, the source said.
ABC News first reported the subpoena.
Senate passes veterans health bill after Republicans cave to pressure
The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation expanding lifesaving health care benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
The 86-11 vote came after Republicans agreed to lift their blockade of the popular bill, caving to pressure from more than 60 veterans groups — and comedian Jon Stewart — who had railed against Republicans for days outside the Capitol.
Many of the veterans who had camped on the Senate steps, braving heat, humidity and thunderstorms, watched the vote from the gallery in the Senate chamber. The bill has already cleared the House and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
Kansans overwhelmingly vote to uphold abortion rights in their state
Kansas voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly struck down a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove language enshrining reproductive rights in their state, in a move widely seen as a victory for abortion rights activists.
The proposed amendment was the first time anywhere in the U.S. that voters cast ballots on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
A ballot question, known as the “Value Them Both Amendment,” asked voters to decide whether the state’s Constitution should continue to protect abortion rights. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution would have removed language that guarantees reproductive rights and asked voters if they prefer to put the issue of abortion in the hands of the state’s Republican-controlled legislature — an outcome that abortion advocates said was all but certain to result in the elimination or curtailment of those rights.
Lindsey Graham adds Trump’s former White House counsel as he battles Georgia subpoena
Amid an ongoing legal battle over the 2020 election probe in Georgia, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has added former President Donald Trump’s first White House counsel, Donald McGahn, to his legal team.
Graham continues to fight a subpoena ordering him to appear before a grand jury in Fulton County’s criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state.
McGhan’s name appeared on a recent legal filing alerting the Fulton County Superior Court that Graham would be moving his challenge to the Northern District of Georgia, as he continues his fight against the subpoena, which he first began last month.
Veterans have been camping out on the Capitol steps after GOP blocks burn pit bill
Jen Burch, 35, a retired staff sergeant in the Air Force, looks strong and healthy from the outside. She says that inside, however, she’s suffering from ailments that she believes are related to her service during the Afghanistan war more than a decade ago.
While they were in Kandahar, Burch and her fellow service members were exposed to “burn pits, incinerators and poo ponds,” she said. When she left, she battled pneumonia and bronchitis. And in the years since then, she has been “in and out of ERs” and has struggled with intense migraine headaches and shortness of breath whenever she climbs a flight of stairs.
DHS watchdog asked the Secret Service for all Jan. 6 texts, then retracted the request in an email
The Department of Homeland Security’s watchdog agency, which in February 2021 requested all Secret Service text messages sent around Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol riot, withdrew the request five months later, according to an email obtained by the top Democrats on two House committees.
On July 27, 2021, DHS Deputy Inspector General Thomas Kait sent an email telling Jim Crumpacker, a senior official at DHS, “Jim, please use this email as a reference to our conversation where I said we no longer request phone records and text messages from the USSS relating to the events of January 6th,” referring to the U.S. Secret Service.
U.S. drone strike kills Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan
President Joe Biden announced Monday night that a U.S. counterterrorism operation over the weekend in Afghanistan killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the plotters behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“Justice has been delivered. And this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in a rare evening address from the White House. “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide — if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”
Two people briefed on the matter told NBC News it was a CIA drone strike that killed al-Zawahiri.
Charlie Pierce: Hey, That’s Weird… The Texts for Trump’s Top DHS Officials Are Also Gone
As it turns out, Rose Mary Woods, or somebody (cough-Nixon-cough), was something of a piker when it came to burying inconvenient electronic evidence of presidential misdeeds. From the Washington Post:
This discovery of missing records for the senior-most homeland security officials [acting Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli], which has not been previously reported, increases the volume of potential evidence that has vanished regarding the time around the Capitol attack. It comes as both congressional and criminal investigators at the Department of Justice seek to piece together an effort by the president and his allies to overturn the results of the election, which culminated in a pro-Trump rally that became a violent riot in the halls of Congress.
What appears to have been an almost maniacal frenzy of ass-covering in the final days of the previous administration—one that’s extended, largely underground, well into the current one—has opened a brand new universe of investigation for all concerned.
House Democrats pass a ban on assault weapons
The House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill to ban assault-style weapons.
The last-minute vote was announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday morning just hours before the chamber was set to break for a month-long recess.
The legislation passed 217 to 213. Two Republican lawmakers — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Jacobs of New York — voted in support of the bill.
Pelosi said the ban is “a crucial step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence.”
Biden ‘continues to feel well’ after testing positive for COVID-19 again: Doctor
President Joe Biden has tested positive again for COVID-19, according to a letter from White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who said on Sunday that Biden “continues to feel well” and that “unsurprisingly” his test results are still positive.
O’Connor wrote in a memo released by the White House that Biden’s antigen test came back positive late Saturday morning after he tested negative Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning.
As Manchin pushes for speedy passage of new deal, Sinema stays quiet
Senate Democrats are aiming to pass a major spending bill this week that includes funding for climate change, health care and tax increases on corporations.
The deal was unexpectedly struck last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and a key centrist, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., giving Democrats optimism that they’ll have a robust agenda to run on in competitive races ahead of the midterm elections this fall.
While Manchin appeared on five Sunday programs to defend the deal and call for its passage, another centrist who holds a swing vote in the 50-50 Senate, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., whom Democrats consider a difficult negotiator, has been quiet about whether she’d vote for the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, released Wednesday.
Speaker Pelosi Heads To Asia, But No Word On Potential Taiwan Visit
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Sunday she is leading a Congressional delegation to several Asian countries, but didn’t say if she planned to stop in Taiwan.
Pelosi’s office said the speaker would visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan with several members of her caucus, including Reps. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), Mark Takano (Calif.), Suzan DelBene (Wash.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.) and Andy Kim (N.J.).
“Today, our Congressional delegation travels to the Indo-Pacific to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region,” Pelosi said. “Our delegation will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further advance our shared interests and values, including peace and security, economic growth and trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance.”
Prosecutors prepare for court battle to force former White House officials to testify about Trump’s January 6 conversations
Justice Department prosecutors are preparing to fight in court to force former White House officials to testify about then-President Donald Trump’s conversations and actions around January 6, according to people briefed on the matter.
At issue are claims of executive privilege that prosecutors expect the former president to make in order to shield some information from the federal grand jury as the criminal investigation moves deeper into the ranks of White House officials who directly interacted with Trump.
DOJ’s preemptive move is the clearest sign yet that federal investigators are homing in on Trump’s conduct as he tried to prevent the transfer of power to Joe Biden.
U.S. Economy Shows Another Decline, Fanning Recession Fears
A key measure of economic output fell for the second straight quarter, raising fears that the United States could be entering a recession — or perhaps that one had already begun.
Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, fell 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That drop followed a decline of 0.4 percent in the first quarter. The estimates for both periods will be revised in coming months as government statisticians get more complete data.
News of the back-to-back contractions heightened a debate in Washington over whether a recession had begun and, if so, whether President Biden was to blame. Economists largely say that conditions do not meet the formal definition of a recession but that the risks of one are rising.
Blindsided veterans erupt in fury after Senate Republicans suddenly tank Burn Pit Act
Blindsided veterans erupted in anger and indignation Thursday after Senate Republicans suddenly tanked a widely supported bipartisan measure that would have expanded medical coverage for millions of combatants exposed to toxic burn pits during their service.
Supporters of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — or PACT Act — overwhelmingly expected the House-passed bill to sail through to the president’s desk for signature.
But in a move that shocked and confused veteran groups Wednesday night, 41 Senate Republicans blocked the bill’s passage, including 25 who had supported it a month ago.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former acting chief of staff, testifies before Jan. 6 committee
Mick Mulvaney, who was the acting White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump, testified Thursday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot.
Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff in 2019 and early 2020, arrived for his closed-door deposition with the committee around 1:40 p.m. and departed 2½ hours later.
As he was leaving, reporters asked Mulvaney whether he was in contact with anyone from the White House from December 2020 to January 2021. “I haven’t talked to anybody in the White House in a long time,” he responded, without elaborating.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson cooperating with DOJ’s Jan. 6 probe, say sources
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top adviser to then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, has recently cooperated with the Department of Justice investigation into the events of Jan. 6, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department reached out to her following her testimony a month ago before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the sources said.
The extent of her cooperation was not immediately clear.
DOJ is questioning witnesses about Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6
Federal prosecutors have been interviewing witnesses pertaining to former President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021 as part of a larger investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, a person familiar with the matter said.
Prosecutors will also review attempts by Trump and his team to alter the election outcome by substituting fake electors in key states Trump lost and by pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of the results.
U.S. seeking to swap Russian arms dealer for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan
The U.S. government has proposed to Russia that it release detained Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in exchange for imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.
Griner, a WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, has been held in Russia since February, and Whelan, a corporate executive, has been detained in the country since 2018.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the Biden administration had made a “substantial” offer to Russia to facilitate the release of Griner and Whelan, but he did not disclose further details about the proposal.
Manchin strikes major deal with Schumer on climate, taxes and health care
In an unexpected breakthrough, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., reversed his opposition to quickly moving a broad filibuster-proof bill Wednesday and announced he will support a package that includes major investments in drug pricing, as well as provisions to address climate change and taxes on the wealthy.
Manchin announced the agreement in a joint statement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after months of negotiations between the two appeared to break down recently. The deal represents a major breakthrough for elements of President Joe Biden’s agenda that appeared to be all but dead.
Dr. Irwin Redlener: Dispatch From Ukraine
Last week in Lviv was particularly productive for Karen and me.
Although warnings to Americans to stay out of Ukraine were becoming increasingly intense, we were getting mixed signals from our friends in-country. Their message was, in essence, that this decision should be entirely one of risk versus benefit. In other words, were the meetings we had planned essential to what we were trying to accomplish with the work of our new foundation, Ukraine Children’s Action Project This is how we parsed the decision: Lviv? Yes, we needed to be there. Kyiv? Not so much. (Next time, though…)
Read the rest of Dr. Irwin Redlener’s piece at Smerconish.com
Georgia state bar investigating two lawyers who participated in fake elector plot
The State Bar of Georgia is investigating two Republican lawyers who signed on to the “fake electors” scheme to subvert the Electoral College in the 2020 presidential election.
The lawyers, Brad Carver and Daryl Moody, were specifically referred to the State Disciplinary Board for investigation by the Office of General Counsel, the state bar told CNN in a statement.
Carver, a lawyer and member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Moody, chairman of the Foundation Board of Governors for the Georgia Republican Foundation, are two of the 16 individuals who signed the fake elector certificates that were ultimately sent to the National Archives in late 2020.
Self-awareness in short supply as Trump calls for law and order in DC
America first, irony last. Donald Trump, the former US president accused of a coup attempt in which police were speared and sprayed, returned to Washington on Tuesday with a plea for law and order to give police “the respect that they deserve”.
Trump spoke at a luxury hotel less than two miles from the US Capitol where, 18 months ago, his supporters furiously attacked law enforcement in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. It was his first visit to the nation’s capital since he snubbed Joe Biden’s inauguration and took flight to Florida.
There were chants of “four more years!” as Trump gave a 90-minute address to a summit hosted by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a rightwing thinktank conceived by alumni of his White House. Less than a week after the congressional January 6 committee detailed 187 minutes in which he chose not to stop the deadly insurrection, Trump sought to blame Democrats for what he described as rampant crime.
Trump Defense Secretary Says He Never Received ‘Direction or Order’ to Deploy National Guard on Jan. 6
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol shot down a right-wing talking point on Tuesday by releasing a video deposition of former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller saying there was no order to have military personal ready ahead of Jan. 6.
“I was never given any direction or order or knew of any plans of that nature,” Miller said in the clip shared by the committee on Twitter.
“To remove any doubt: Not only did Donald Trump fail to contact his Secretary of Defense on January 6th (as shown in our hearing), Trump also failed to give any order prior to January 6 to deploy the military to protect the Capitol,” the committee wrote, adding, “Here is Secretary Miller’s testimony.”
Justice Dept. investigating Trump’s actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe
The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked in recent days about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, according to two people familiar with the matter. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
GOP lawmaker attended gay son’s wedding 3 days after voting against same-sex marriage
A Republican lawmaker attended his gay son’s wedding just three days after joining the majority of his GOP colleagues in voting against a House bill that would codify federal protections for same-sex marriage.
The gay son of Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., confirmed to NBC News on Monday that he “married the love of [his] life” on Friday and that his “father was there.” NBC News is not publishing the names of the grooms, neither of whom is a public figure.
Thompson’s press secretary, Maddison Stone, also confirmed the congressman was in attendance.
Top Pence Aides Testify to Grand Jury in Jan. 6 Investigation
Two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence testified last week to a federal grand jury in Washington investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the highest-ranking officials of the Trump administration so far known to have cooperated with the Justice Department’s widening inquiry into the events leading up to the assault.
The appearances before the grand jury of the men — Marc Short, who was Mr. Pence’s chief of staff, and Greg Jacob, who was his counsel — were the latest indication that the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the events surrounding and preceding the riot is intensifying after weeks of growing questions about the urgency the department has put on examining former President Donald J. Trump’s potential criminal liability.
Trump didn’t want to call for Jan. 6 rioters’ prosecution, new video shows
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) posted a video Monday on Twitter showing previously unpublicized testimony from several people close to Trump, centered on a speech he was supposed to give Jan. 7, 2021.
Biden tears into Trump over violence against police hours before ex-president returns to D.C. for campaign-style speech
President Joe Biden slammed former President Donald Trump on Monday for lacking “the courage to act” as police defending the U.S. Capitol suffered through “medieval hell” on Jan. 6, 2021 — a rare and direct attack pre-empting Trump’s plan to deliver a law-and-order-themed speech Tuesday in the nation’s capital.
The two men may be on a collision course for a rematch of their hard-fought 2020 election.
Biden has said he will seek re-election, and Trump advisers say it is likely he will announce his own bid before November’s midterm elections.
Biden’s Covid symptoms are improving ‘significantly,’ doctor says
President Joe Biden’s Covid symptoms “continue to improve significantly,” his doctor said in a letter Sunday.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, said that the president completed his third full day of treatment with the antiviral drug Paxlovid on Saturday and that his “predominant symptom” is only a sore throat. Biden, who tested positive for Covid on Thursday, had been fully vaccinated and twice boosted, the White House said.
“This is most likely a result of lymphoid activation as his body clears the virus, and is thus encouraging,” O’Connor said of Biden’s sore throat. “His rhinorrhea, cough and body aches have diminished considerably. His voice remains a bit deep. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature all remain normal. His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear.” (Rhinorrhea is a runny nose.)
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
Steve Bannon found guilty in Jan. 6 contempt of Congress trial
A jury on Friday found former Donald Trumpadviser Steve Bannon guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress for blowing off the House Jan. 6 committee.
The jury returned the verdict after deliberating for less than three hours in what prosecutors presented as a straightforward case.
“This case is not complicated, but it is important,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston told jurors during closing arguments on Friday. She argued that Bannon “did not want to recognize Congress’ authority” or play by the government’s rules.
Jan. 6 panel will weigh subpoenaing Ginni Thomas if needed, Cheney says
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots will weigh subpoenaing Virginia “Ginni” Thomas if she does not agree to a voluntary interview with the committee, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo, said Sunday.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Cheney, vice chair of the panel, said the committee remained “engaged” with Thomas’ lawyer and hopes “she will agree to come in voluntarily.
“But the committee is fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena if she does not,” Cheney told host Jake Tapper. “I hope it doesn’t get to that. I hope she will come in voluntarily. We’ve certainly spoken with numbers of people who are similarly situated in terms of the discussions that she was having that you’ve mentioned.”
Mike Pence’s Security Detail Feared For Their Lives During Jan. 6 Capitol Riot
Members of former Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail were so afraid for their lives during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot that they made calls over radio to say goodbye to their family members, according to testimony given to the House committee investigating the attack.
“The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives,” a former White House national security official said in testimony to the committee that aired in a hearing on Thursday.
The official’s identity was withheld for security reasons.
Senate Democrats Introduce Bill To Lift Federal Ban On Weed
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats in the chamber announced a long-awaited bill Thursday to lift the federal ban on cannabis products ― something that’s hugely popular with the American people but unlikely to succeed in Congress right now.
The New York senator’s Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act has been in the works since last year, when he released a draft with Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). If passed, it would decriminalize weed on the federal level and officially allow states to create their own marijuana laws.
President Joe Biden Tests Positive For COVID, Experiencing Mild Symptoms
Biden, who is fully vaccinated and twice boosted, tested positive Thursday morning and is experiencing “very mild symptoms,” the White House said.
“Consistent with CDC guidelines, he will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” his administration said. He will resume in-person activities after he tests negative.
Jan. 6 Hearing Focuses On Trump’s 187 Minutes Of Cheering His Mob During His Coup Attempt
The House committee investigating Donald Trump’s attempted coup to remain in power wrapped up its summer series of public hearings Thursday night, going through a minute-by-minute account of his refusal to tell the violent mob he had called to the U.S. Capitol to stand down.
“Donald Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 was a supreme violation of his oath of office and a complete dereliction of his duty,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican. “It is a stain on our history.”
Prime-time Jan. 6 hearing to focus on Trump’s riot response, with new testimony and evidence
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold the eighth in its latest string of hearings on Thursday starting at 8 p.m. ET — in prime-time.
Committee aides say the session will zero-in on then-President Donald Trump’s response to the insurrection by a pro-Trump mob, specifically the 187 minutes between his speech at the Ellipse near the White House earlier that day and his public statement telling rioters to go home.
The panel will also discuss what occurred on the remainder of Jan. 6, including a tweet Trump sent around 6 p.m., and the fallout on Jan. 7, 2021.
Prosecution rests its case in Steve Bannon trial after calling 2 witnesses
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday rested what they argue is a pretty straightforward contempt of Congress case against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon after calling just two witnesses.
Justice Department prosecutors told jurors in their opening statement Tuesday that Bannon thought he was “above the law.” Wednesday’s testimony from a senior staffer on the House Jan. 6 committee and an FBI special agent, who testified — among other things — about Bannon’s posts on the right-leaning social media website GETTR.
Judge orders Rudy Giuliani to testify before grand jury in Trump election probe
A New York judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to testify before the Georgia special grand jury hearing evidence in an investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others, court filings show.
The order came after Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal attorney, failed to appear at a July 13 hearing before the judge to challenge a subpoena for his testimony in the investigation.
Giuliani was subpoenaed earlier this month as a “material witness” by the grand jury called by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to investigate any “coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections.” The subpoena said Giuliani made statements at legislative hearings in Georgia falsely claiming that there had been “widespread voter fraud” in the state.
Senators Propose Changes To Electors Law After Capitol Riot
A bipartisan group of senators agreed Wednesday on proposed changes to the Electoral Count Act, the post-Civil War-era law for certifying presidential elections that came under intense scrutiny after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Donald Trump‘s effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Long in the making, the package introduced by the group led by Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Joe Manchin of West Virginia is made up of two separate proposals. One would clarify the way states submit electors and the vice president tallies the votes in Congress. The other would bolster security for state and local election officials who have faced violence and harassment.
Georgia ‘fake electors’ hit with subpoenas in criminal probe
Nearly a dozen of Georgia’s “fake electors” revealed Tuesday they’ve been subpoenaed to appear before the Fulton County special grand jury hearing evidence in the criminal investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
The revelations came in a court filing where attorneys for 11 of the state’s 16 false presidential electors attempted to quash the subpoenas, calling them “unreasonable and oppressive.”
The attorneys also argued that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office initially said their clients were “witnesses, not subjects or targets” of the investigation, and that the electors had agreed to voluntary interviews with the team investigating election interference beginning in April.
Secret Service Says Some Missing Jan. 6 Texts Are Unlikely to Be Recovered
The Secret Service said it may not be able to recover a batch of erased text messages from phones used by its agents around the time of the attack on the Capitol last year, a development that comes amid intensified scrutiny over lapses in the agency’s accounting of its actions during the riots.
The Secret Service informed the House Jan. 6 committee that it was still attempting a forensic search for the phone records on Tuesday morning, when it delivered not the missing text messages the panel was seeking but “thousands of pages of documents” and other records related to decisions made on Jan. 6, according to the agency’s spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi. Later, in an interview, Mr. Guglielmi said the phone records were probably not recoverable.
Steve Bannon thought he was ‘above the law,’ prosecutors say in contempt trial
Former Donald Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon “decided he was above the law” when he blew off the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, a federal prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in opening statements of Bannon’s contempt of Congress trial.
Bannon “chose to show his contempt for Congress’ authority and its processes” by refusing to comply with a subpoena, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Rose Vaughn told jurors.
“It wasn’t optional, it wasn’t a request and it wasn’t an invitation. It was mandatory,” Vaughn said.
House votes to protect same-sex marriage in case the Supreme Court rescinds it
The House passed the Respect For Marriage Act Tuesday to codify legal same-sex marriage nationwide, fearing that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court will rescind the right after it overturned Roe v. Wade last month.
The vote was 267-157, with 47 Republicans joining a unanimous Democratic caucus in supporting the legislation.
Among the GOP lawmakers who voted for the measure were Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 3 Republican in the House, and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, head of the House Republicans’ campaign arm, also backed the bill.
Barbara McQuade: The case for charging Trump with manslaughter
The next Jan. 6 committee hearing — a prime-time finale after seven previous hearings — is expected to focus even more intently on what was happening inside the White House during the insurrection. I will be listening for evidence of a crime that has gone largely undiscussed: manslaughter.
Five people died in the Jan. 6 attack. Officer Brian Sicknick sustained a fatal stroke a day after rioters sprayed him with a chemical irritant. Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was shot by police when she tried to climb through a window and enter the House chamber. A Georgia woman, Rosanne Boyland, was crushed by fellow rioters as they pushed their way against the police outside a Capitol door. Kevin Greeson, an Alabama man, died of a heart attack in a sea of Trump supporters on the sidewalk west of the building. Benjamin Philips of Pennsylvania died of a stroke during the assault on the Capitol.
Biden could declare climate emergency as soon as this week, sources say
The potential move comes days after Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told Democratic leaders that he does not support his party’s efforts to advance a sprawling economic package this month that includes billions of dollars to address global warming. If an emergency is invoked, it could empower the Biden administration in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and foster cleaner energy.
Jury Selection Begins In Trial Of Ex-Trump Adviser Steve Bannon
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of Steve Bannon, a one-time top adviser to former President Donald Trump. He is facing criminal contempt of Congress charges after refusing for months to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
Bannon is charged in Washington’s federal court with defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee that sought his records and testimony. He was indicted in November on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, one month after the Justice Department received a congressional referral. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days of jail and as long as a year behind bars.
Angry and heartbroken Uvalde parents flood school board meeting with demands for new leadership
One by one, dozens of angry parents and residents lambasted the Uvalde school board, repeatedly calling for the superintendent to be fired and trustees to step down after more law enforcement failures were revealed in the response to the shooting that killed 19 childrenand two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
“Shame on you!” a chorus erupted as the meeting got underway Monday evening.
Hundreds of community members crammed into an auditorium at Uvalde High School, questioning school officials’ handling of safety and demanding accountability from the people paid to protect children and school staff.
Two Trump White House officials expected to testify at prime-time Jan. 6 hearing Thursday
Former deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews and Matthew Pottinger, a member of the National Security Council during the Trump administration, are expected to testify at the Jan. 6 committee’s high-profile hearing on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the plans.
Both Matthews and Pottinger were among a wave of Trump officials who resigned in the wake of the attack on the Capitol. This would be the first time either witness has testified publicly before the panel.
CNN first reported Pottinger was an expected witness.
Charlie Pierce: Joe Manchin Has Sold Us All Out Again
Over the decade in which this shebeen has been open, I have gradually come to the sad conclusion that the climate crisis is far beyond the ability of our democratic republic to handle. Our institutions are too creaky, too money-sodden, and too fat with chokepoints to develop a consensus that the climate crisis is even a crisis at all. Our politicians and our political system are sleepwalking themselves—and us—into an apocalyptic cul de sac from which there is no way out, and in which there are no good choices anymore. More and more, I think that the only nation-states that will survive what’s coming are the most brutal and authoritarian ones. And good morning to you, too. Have a nice day.
The Rude Pundit: An Observation on the Nature of Extremist F***nuts at the January 6 Committee Hearing
One thing that jumped out at me while watching Tuesday’s televised hearing from the January 6 Committee into the insurrection of fucking idiots, which came closer than we want to believe to actually working, is how the extremists coming to DC on that cold day didn’t emerge from a vacuum. No, in fact, it was the action, or, really, the inaction of the federal government on another uprising that gave the idiot hordes the confidence to go full overthrow. Jason Van Tatenhove, former member of the Oath Keepers (motto: “If this whole beach was completely covered in dicks, and somebody said I had to eat every dick until the beach was clean for liberty, I would say, ‘No problemo!'”), pointed very clearly to an event from 2014 that helped inspire motherfuckers to start fucking more mothers all the way to the Capitol.
Jury selection set to begin in contempt trial of Trump ally Steve Bannon
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of former President Donald Trump’s ally Steve Bannon over his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon, who previously served as Trump’s White House chief strategist but departed in August of 2017, was first subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee for records and testimony in September of last year. The committee told Bannon at the time it had “reason to believe that you have information relevant to understanding activities that led to and informed the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
Jan. 6 panel expects to get Secret Service texts by Tuesday, says new witnesses will appear in next hearing
The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot expects to receive erased Secret Service text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, by Tuesday, and will present testimony from new witnesses during Thursday’s public hearing, its members said Sunday.
Fanning out on Sunday programs, multiple members of the committee discussed the latest developments in their investigation and plans surrounding the prime-time hearing this week, which will focus on what the panel has called the crucial “187 minutes” — the length of time it took for former President Donald Trump to urge his supporters to leave the Capitol after the attack began.
Four dead after a shooter uses a long gun to open fire at an Indianapolis-area mall
Four people were dead, including the suspected shooter, after a man with a long gun entered a mall south of Indianapolis and opened fire, police said.
Two others were injured in the early evening attack at Greenwood Park Mall, Jim Ison, the police chief of Greenwood, Indiana, said at a Sunday night news conference. One remained hospitalized, he said. A 12-year-old girl with abrasions was treated and released.
Four of six people who were injured or killed were female, Ison said.
Blistering report finds ‘systemic failures’ by authorities in the wake of Uvalde school shooting
A scathing report released Sunday by a Texas House committee investigating the mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde faulted “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making” by law enforcement and the school district.
Also Sunday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin announced that Uvalde’s acting chief of police, Lt. Mariano Pargas, has been placed on leave as a city launched an investigation of his response and that of his officers.
Manchin rejects climate and energy provisions in reconciliation bill
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has dealt a huge blow to President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, telling Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that he will only support a reconciliation bill that lowers prescription drug prices and extends subsidies for the nation’s health care law, the Affordable Care Act, according to a Democrat briefed on the conversations.
Manchin told Schumer that he cannot support a bill this August containing the climate or energy provisions the president seeks.
Texas AG sues Biden for telling doctors to perform abortions as needed in emergencies
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday filed the first legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s executive order on abortion — accusing the administration of turning emergency health care providers into “walk-in abortion clinics” and kicking off what is expected to be a protracted legal battle between the White House and red states.
At issue is Biden’s interpretation of a federal law that requires doctors to treat patients in medical emergencies, even if they do not have insurance, and provide the necessary “stabilizing treatment.”
Under guidance issued Monday, the Health and Human Services Department said the law would require doctors to perform abortions in medical emergencies if their clinical judgement finds such a procedure would help stabilize a pregnant patient.
Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s first wife, dead at 73
Ivana Trump, Donald Trump‘s first wife and the mother of his three oldest children, has died, the former president said Thursday.
“I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,” the former president said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!”
Ivana Trump was 73. Her cause of death is unknown.
Secret Service erased text messages from Jan. 6 and the day before, the Homeland Security watchdog says
The Secret Service erased text messages from both Jan. 6 and the day before the attack on the Capitol after the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog requested records of electronic communications tied to the insurrection, according to a letter sent to congressional committees that was obtained by NBC News.
The details about the erased messages were revealed in a letter to two congressional committees Wednesday, in which Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said he was informed that many of the messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, had been erased “as part of a device-replacement program.”
House Jan. 6 committee is having conversations with Justice Department
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been having conversations with the Justice Department about the phony elector scheme put forward by former President Donald Trump’s allies, committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson said Wednesday.
Thompson confirmed a day earlier the committee had been having discussions with the Justice Department. He clarified on Wednesday that those conversations are about a scheme allegedly cooked up by Trump’s allies to put forward alternate electors supporting him in seven battleground states that President Joe Biden won.
Novavax Covid-19 vaccine wins FDA authorization
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday granted emergency use authorization to Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, opening up another option for adults who have not received immunization against the virus.
The vaccine, a two-dose series administered three weeks apart, is manufactured using a lab-made spike protein produced in insect cells and an adjuvant obtained from the bark of a tree native to Chile, offering a different and older vaccine technology than is used in the messenger RNA vaccines and Johnson & Johnson shot. It is authorized for people ages 18 and older as a primary series, meaning the shot is intended for the roughly 10 percent of adults who have not yet received a Covid-19 vaccine.
Biden meets with Israeli leaders amid unsettled political climate
President Joe Biden sought to reaffirm U.S. support for Israel and present a united front between the two nations on a range of issues from Iran to Russia’s war in Ukraine as he kicked off a day of meeting with Israeli leaders here on Thursday.
Biden met Thursday with Israeli caretaker prime minister Yair Lapid, who said the two leaders spoke about ways to improve relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and their commitment to never allow a nuclear Iran.
Biden said he discussed with Lapid the importance of integrating Israel into the region and support for Israel from the “the vast majority” of Americans.
Trump tried to call a White House support staff member who was in talks with the Jan. 6 panel, source says
Former President Donald Trump tried to call a member of the White House support staff who was talking to the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, a source familiar with the issue told NBC News on Wednesday.
CNN first reported that the witness works at the White House.
The committee’s vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., asserted Tuesday that Trump tried to call a witness involved in the committee’s investigation. She did not identify the person.
Biden heads to Israel, kicking off first Middle East trip as president
President Joe Biden will arrive in Israel Wednesday for his first trip to the Middle East as president looking to show support for that nation amid low expectations that his visit will lead to any fundamental shift in the growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
While most presidents have centered their visits to Israel around trying to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are no indications from Biden administration officials that there are plans to do anything more than reaffirm Biden’s support for a two-state solution.
Cheney says Trump called a Jan. 6 committee witness after its last hearing
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., revealed Tuesday during the Jan. 6 committee’s seventh hearing that former President Donald Trump called a witness in the probe after the previous hearing on June 28.
“After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation — a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,” Cheney said in her closing statement. “That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call, and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us.”
Video from inside Uvalde school shows officer running from classroom where gunman killed 21
Security video published Tuesday by two Texas news outlets shows police officers retreating from the classroom where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The video, which was recorded in a hallway and obtained and edited by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV of Austin, shows the officers arriving at Robb Elementary School at 11:36 a.m. May 24, three minutes after the gunman was seen entering the school and walking down an empty hallway.
Takeaways from Day 7 of the Jan. 6 panel: Trump can’t be ‘willfully blind’ in defending assembling the mob
As it builds a case that Donald Trump plotted a coup, the House Jan. 6 committee is painstakingly seeking to undercut his argument that the 2020 election was stolen.
No “rational or sane man” could possibly reach that conclusion given the dearth of evidence and the abundance of top White House advisers who believed that he lost and needed to concede, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel’s top Republican, said at the hearing Tuesday.
Trump “cannot escape responsibility by being willfully blind,” she added.
Charlie Pierce: The Jan. 6 Committee Can’t Let Steve Bannon Bring the Circus (Back) to Town
Were I running the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021, and I wanted testimony from the likes of Steve Bannon or Stewart Rhodes, I would insist it be taken on videotape, preferably recorded in the old jail cells in the basement of the Capitol.
The possibility that Bannon—and Oath Keeper Rhodes—would testify lit up the news over the weekend. But the idea that either one would be allowed a public platform is sheer lunacy. Either they would demolish the great sense of dignity that has lent the committee’s proceedings so much gravitas and credibility thus far, or they would concoct some wild, ruthless scheme that would blunt the momentum built up assiduously by the committee throughout the past several months. The circus most definitely need not come to town at this point.
xWhat to watch for during President Biden’s trip to the Middle East
When President Joe Biden touches down in Israel on Wednesday for a series of meetings there and in the West Bank before heading to Saudi Arabia, he will find himself treading carefully around political land mines both foreign and domestic, where any missteps could have wide-ranging consequences.
For much of Biden’s time in office, the Middle East has taken a back seat as an area of concern to China and Russia, and the president hasn’t made progress on his campaign pledge to improve human rights in the region. But the region remains key to Biden’s wider domestic and foreign policy goals, including the revival of a nuclear deal with Iran, maintenance of stability in the region, and the lowering of record high gas prices.
Judge won’t delay Steve Bannon’s trial after his last-minute offer to cooperate with Jan. 6 panel
A judge said Monday that he would not delay Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress trial, just one week before it is set to begin.
Bannon was indicted last year for refusing to answer questions from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Bannon, who had stonewalled the committee since October, had a last-minute change of heart over the weekend, a decision his lawyer attributed to a letter from former President Donald Trump that waived a purported claim of executive privilege. The Justice Department maintains that Bannon’s offer to testify was nothing more than a “last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability.”
Judge orders Lindsey Graham to testify before grand jury in Trump election probe
A judge ordered U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham to testify in front of a special grand jury in Georgia investigating former President Donald Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered that Graham will be required to testify on Aug. 2. The judge’s certification filed on Monday described Graham as a “necessary and material witness” to the grand jury probe. The development was reported earlier by WSB-TV.
Ties between Trump allies and extremist groups to be focus of today’s Jan. 6 panel hearing
The Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday plans to demonstrate how right-wing militia groups that led the assault on the U.S. Capitol were connected to key Trump allies, including Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who were at the center of the plot to overturn the 2020 election.
“We’ll show how some of these right-wing extremist groups who came to D.C. and led the attack on the Capitol had ties to Trump associates, including Roger Stone and General Flynn,” a committee aide said Monday on a conference call with reporters.
Bannon now says he will testify for Jan. 6 committee after Trump’s OK — with contempt trial looming
Steve Bannon, a former top adviser in Donald Trump’s White House, recently told the House panel investigating the Capitol riot that he would be willing to testify since Trump now says he won’t cite executive privilege.
In a letter on Saturday to the committee, obtained by ABC News, Bannon said he would prefer testifying in a live, public hearing after the former president had sent him a separate letter on Saturday — also obtained by ABC — waiving objections.
Both the House committee and federal prosecutors who sought to speak with Bannon have said the executive privilege claims never covered him, since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection took place long after Bannon left his post as chief White House strategist in 2017.
Ex-Oath Keepers spokesperson to appear as witness at Tuesday’s Jan. 6 hearing
A former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers, a far-right “militia” organization, will appear as a witness at the House Jan. 6 committee’s next public hearing Tuesday, a source familiar with the plans said.
While he was not part of the Oath Keepers, whose members have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy in connection with the riot or with events during or leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, the source said, Jason Van Tatenhove is expected to speak about the group’s propaganda efforts and radicalization over the years, including how founder Stewart Rhodes capitalized on conspiracy theories to build membership and funding.
‘Closing argument’: Jan. 6 panel makes final hearings push
Six down. At least two more to go.
The Jan. 6 committee is hitting the home stretch of the public hearings phase of its historic, yearlong investigation into the attack on the Capitol — and American democracy.
After a half-dozen hearings, committee members are looking to build on the momentum with a pair of back-to-back panel meetings this week. They will mark a final push for a special House panel that set out not only to establish an official record for the history books but also to demonstrate Donald Trump’s role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, and to warn the public about ongoing threats to the election system.
‘Closing argument’: Jan. 6 panel makes final hearings push
Six down. At least two more to go.
The Jan. 6 committee is hitting the home stretch of the public hearings phase of its historic, yearlong investigation into the attack on the Capitol — and American democracy.
After a half-dozen hearings, committee members are looking to build on the momentum with a pair of back-to-back panel meetings this week. They will mark a final push for a special House panel that set out not only to establish an official record for the history books but also to demonstrate Donald Trump’s role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, and to warn the public about ongoing threats to the election system.
Biden Considering Public Health Emergency To Protect Abortion Access
President Joe Biden said Sunday he is considering declaring a public health emergency to free up federal resources to promote abortion access even though the White House has said it doesn’t seem like “a great option.”
He also offered a message to people enraged by the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that ended a constitutional right to abortion and who have been demonstrating across the country: “Keep protesting. Keep making your point. It’s critically important.”
The president, in remarks to reporters during a stop on a bike ride near his family’s Delaware beach house, said he lacks the power to force the dozen-plus states with strict restrictions or outright bans on abortion to allow the procedure.
Highland Park suspect’s father could have some ‘responsibility’ in attack, police say
Highland Park shooting suspect Robert E. Crimo III’s father “may have responsibility in certain circumstances” for his son’s deadly actions, police said Wednesday while stopping short of tying the dad to any criminal culpability.
The 21-year-old suspect was too young to get a gun permit in 2019 from the state of Illinois, but his father, Bob Crimo Jr., sponsored one for him despite previous threats by his son to harm himself and loved ones, authorities have previously said.
IRS Watchdog To Investigate Why Comey, McCabe Both Chosen For Rare, Invasive Audit
The head of the Internal Revenue Service, Charles Rettig, has asked the agency’s inspector general to investigate why former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were both selected to undergo rare, invasive audits in recent years
“The IRS has referred the matter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for review,” the agency said in a statement to The New York Times, adding that the IRS commissioner had “personally reached out” to the watchdog.
The request came a day after The New York Times first reported that both Comey and McCabe were subjected to the intensive audits, which are supposed to be random. The newspaper noted that just 5,000 people were selected in 2017 out of153 million returns, or about 1 in 30,600. Both men, who didn’t know the other had been targeted for the process until the Times informed them, raised questions about the randomness of the audits as both were seen as enemies by former President Donald Trump.
Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone to appear before Jan. 6 committee on Friday
Pat Cipollone, who served as White House counsel under former President Donald Trump, has reached an agreement to appear Friday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, two sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News.
The panel issued a subpoena for Cipollone’s testimony last week after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Cipollone strongly opposed Trump’s efforts to travel to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Other witnesses have testified that Cipollone was one of the main White House officials opposed to attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He previously sat for an informal interview with the committee.
Former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe dies after being shot at campaign event
Former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe died on Friday after being shot at a campaign event, in an attack that shocked a country where gun violence is virtually nonexistent.
Abe, 67, was a towering political presence even after he stepped down as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, and he was campaigning ahead of elections scheduled for Sunday. He had just begun a speech in the western city of Nara, near Kyoto, when gunfire was heard around 11:30 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Thursday ET).
Officials said that one person had been apprehended in relation to the shooting.
New Report Details The Many Law Enforcement Failures During Uvalde School Massacre
A new report offers the clearest timeline yet of a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, school in May that left 19 children and two teachers dead, and it addresses the many failures of law enforcement that contributed to the high number of casualties.
The report, released Wednesday by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) program, which is based at Texas State University, describes a police response that was botched by poor tactical planning and by officers who put their safety above those who were being executed in their classrooms at Robb Elementary School on May 24.
Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’ll challenge subpoena in Georgia Trump probe
Lawyers for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday they’ll challenge a subpoena demanding that he testify before a special grand jury in Georgia hearing evidence in a probe of possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others.
In a statement, Graham’s attorneys Bart Daniel and Matt Austin said the subpoena, in which the grand jury hearing evidence in the Fulton County district attorney’s investigation seeks his testimony, is “all politics.”
“Senator Graham plans to go to court, challenge the subpoena, and expects to prevail,” the statement said.
Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone agrees to testify behind closed doors with Jan. 6 committee
Pat Cipollone, who served as Donald Trump’s White House counsel, is expected to testify behind closed doors on Friday with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The interview with Cipollone will be transcribed and videotaped, according to a person familiar with the matter. His appearance before the panel comes as a result of a subpoena issued to him last week.
The committee didn’t return a request for comment.
Suspect confesses to Highland Park shooting and plotted second attack in Wisconsin, prosecutor says
The man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade confessed in detail to the shooting — and revealed that he had considered a second attack, authorities said Wednesday.
Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 21, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, and will likely face many more counts stemming from the dozens wounded and injured during Monday’s carnage in this upscale Chicago suburb.
“He went into details about what he had done. He admitted to what he had done,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart told reporters outside of the county courthouse. “We don’t want to speculate on motives right now.”
Highland Park shooting suspect’s past littered with ‘red flags’
A portrait of Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III as a mysterious and music-obsessed loner began emerging Tuesday, a day after he was arrested in the wake of a mass shooting at a July Fourth parade that left seven dead and traumatized an affluent Chicago suburb.
Crimo, 21, who attempted to disguise himself by wearing women’s clothing during the deadly rampage, aspired to be a rapper and his music got darker and more delusional as he got older and relationships with his parents and a girlfriend frayed, former friends said.
“He was in his own world,” said 22-year-old Nick Pacileo.
Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham subpoenaed by grand jury in Trump election probe
The Georgia special grand jury hearing evidence in an investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others has issued subpoenas to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and key members of Trump’s legal team, including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, NBC News has confirmed.
The Fulton County special grand jury also subpoenaed lawyers Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchell and Kenneth Chesebro, all of whom worked with Trump as he contested the election results.
The subpoenas were first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and obtained by NBC News.
Highland Park parade shooting suspect charged with 7 counts of first-degree murder
An Illinois man who police say for weeks planned the mass shooting on a July Fourth parade has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder in the killing spree, officials said Tuesday evening.
Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 21, will be charged with additional counts in the shooting spree in Highland Park that killed seven and injured dozens of others Monday, Illinois officials said.
If convicted of murder, Crimo would receive a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Blood-Smeared Toddler Reportedly Found Orphaned At Highland Park Parade Shooting
A toddler found at the scene of the July Fourth shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, was left orphaned in the attack.
His parents — Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin McCarthy, 37 — were among the seven people killed by a gunman during the town’s July Fourth parade. Members of the community worked together to care for the child in the aftermath and reunite him with his grandparents, according to multiple news reports and an online fundraiser. The child was reportedly physically unharmed.
In the wake of the shooting, many locals posted pictures of a boy with blood stains on his clothes on Facebook, asking if anyone recognized him or knew his parents.
Charlie Pierce: The Declaration of Independence Has Always Been a Tremendous Bluff
The Special Committee seems to be getting serious about witness tampering in its investigation, and that’s a good thing. Witness tampering is easily understood. And it opens up all the avenues of communication employed by the targets of your investigation—emails, texts, answering machines, all of it.
The Rude Pundit: The Supreme Court Tells the 21st Century to Go F*** Itself
This session, the newly-ripened conservative supermajority of the Supreme Court of the United States decided it was time to lift up their robes and piss on the 21st century and reality. The half-dozen justices, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, looked out at a nation, no, a world that demands progress, that demands care, that demands a government that can act to help people, and said, “Nah. Fuck that.” And their reasoning essentially came down to, in every case, “Because we can.”
We have a gun crisis in this country. The Supreme Court said that the only thing that mattered was that more people have easier access to guns. We have a policing crisis in this country. The Supreme Court said that it’s more important to protect cops from being sued or charged with crimes and that you don’t need to worry about being told your Miranda rights anymore. We have an ongoing pandemic that has killed over a million people in this country. The Supreme Court said that public safety takes a back seat to whatever stupid bullshit makes people decide not to get a vaccine. We have an electoral crisis in this country. The Supreme Court said that gerrymandering away fair representation is a-okay.
Bidens ‘shocked’ by Highland Park shooting as White House marks July Fourth
President Joe Biden began Independence Day by sharing a message that looked to the country’s future, but quickly had to respond to another mass shooting in the United States.
“Jill and I are shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day,” the President said in a statement Monday after at least six people were killed in a shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, during a July Fourth parade.
Biden noted that he had “surged Federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter,” and pointed to the gun safety legislation he recently signed into law. (Authorities said Monday evening they have taken into custody “a person of interest” connected to the shooting.) “But there is much more work to do, and I’m not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence,” Biden added.
Here’s what we know about the suspect arrested in connection with the Highland Park shooting
Robert E. Crimo III, identified by police as the person suspected of shooting and killing six people and wounding dozens of others Monday morning at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, has been arrested, authorities said Monday evening.
Police believe the suspected gunman opened fire shortly after 10 a.m. CT from the rooftop of a business near the parade route. The gun was a “high-powered rifle” and the attack appeared to be “random” and “intentional,” said Christopher Covelli, spokesperson for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force.
Jan. 6 panel could make multiple criminal referrals of Trump to DOJ, Cheney says
House Jan. 6 committee members said Sunday that they may make criminal referrals to federal prosecutors involving former President Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Fanning out on Sunday programs to discuss the congressional investigation and its public hearings, committee members said that while no formal decision has been made, they can envision multiple referrals to the Justice Department based on evidence they’ve uncovered investigating the events surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Person of interest apprehended in July 4 suburban Chicago parade attack that killed 6, authorities say
A person of interest in the July Fourth parade attack that killed six people and injured 38 others in suburban Chicago on Monday has been apprehended, authorities said.
Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III was spotted in a Honda Fit described as wanted by the FBI in North Chicago, where local police attempted a traffic stop before the man took them on a short pursuit, authorities said.
At the end of the chase Crimo surrendered peacefully to North Chicago officers, they said.
Federal law enforcement search the home of former DOJ official at center of Jan. 6 hearing
Federal law enforcement was at the Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who is at the center of Thursday’s Jan. 6 committee hearing.
A U.S. Attorney’s office spokesman confirmed that the activity took place on Wednesday, but the spokesman had no comment regarding the reason for the activity.
In a Thursday night interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Clark said it was just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday when he answered his front door to discover federal agents.
Senate passes most sweeping gun bill in decades, setting up House vote
The Senate on Thursday night passed the most sweeping gun bill designed to prevent gun violence in decades, a major victory for advocates and a rare defeat for the National Rifle Association.
The vote was 65 to 33, with all 50 Democratic-voting members and 15 Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, voting to send the bill to the House for a vote expected Friday.
“The United States Senate is doing something many believed was impossible even a few weeks ago. We are passing the first significant gun safety bill in nearly 30 years,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said immediately before the vote. “The gun safety bill we are passing tonight can be described with three adjectives: bipartisan, commonsense, lifesaving.”
Supreme Court allows the carrying of firearms in public in major victory for gun rights groups
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Constitution provides a right to carry a gun outside the home, issuing a major decision on the meaning of the Second Amendment.
The 6-3 ruling was the court’s second important decision on the right to “keep and bear arms.” In a landmark 2008 decision, the court had said for the first time that the amendment safeguards a person’s right to possess firearms, although the decision was limited to keeping guns at home for self-defense.
The court has now taken that ruling to the next step after years of ducking the issue and applied the Second Amendment beyond the limits of homeowners’ property in a decision that could affect the ability of state and local governments to impose a wide variety of firearms regulations.
Key takeaways of Jan. 6 panel Day 5: Trump wanted DOJ to promote his interests
After four years in power, Donald Trump never grasped that government isn’t supposed to be a tool for promoting personal interests, the Jan. 6 committee argued as it presented evidence Thursday about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Witnesses described Trump’s desperate efforts to rope the Justice Department into a plot to overturn the election — trying at every turn to persuade government attorneys to act as an extension of his campaign.
Senior officials whom Trump had appointed testified that they tried to explain the department’s unique role to him: They worked for the American people and represented the federal government. The message never stuck.
Biden calls on Congress, states to suspend gas taxes
President Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for three months and asked states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide commensurate relief to consumers.
The federal government charges an 18.4-cent tax per gallon of gasoline and a 24.4-cent tax per gallon of diesel. Suspending the tax for three months — through the end of September, will cost about $10 billion, the White House said.
“I fully understand that the gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem,” Biden said in remarks delivered from the South Court Auditorium. “But it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room, as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.”
Trump fumes as Republicans ignore Jan. 6 panel
Republicans in Washington are betting that the televised Jan. 6 hearings aren’t breaking through, that voters are more worried about gas prices and inflation and that — basically — no one cares.
But one man is paying attention: Donald Trump. And he’s not happy no one is defending him.
The former president has reserved special criticism for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who made the call last year to yank all five Trump allies from the special panel after Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected two of his picks.
Uvalde school district puts embattled Police Chief Pete Arredondo on leave
Pete Arredondo was put on administrative leave Wednesday as the police chief of the Uvalde, Texas, school district after a month of sharp criticism for his decision to delay confronting the gunman in the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, the district superintendent said.
Hal Harrell, the superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, noted in a written statement Wednesday that he has said the district would wait until the investigation into the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School was complete before it made personnel decisions.
Tense Trump meeting with DOJ leaders to take center stage at Jan. 6 hearing today
The Jan. 6 committee plans to take viewers inside the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, when witnesses describe a contentious meeting in which Justice Department leaders threatened to resign if then-President Donald Trump promoted a political appointee who was prepared to back up his false claims of election fraud.
The committee’s fifth public hearing will focus on the former president’s effort to draw upon the department’s legal muscle and authority as he tried to overturn the 2020 election.
In keeping with a message the committee has been hammering home, the hearing is expected to show how America’s democratic tradition survived largely due to the integrity of a few people who stood up to Trump and refused to go along with his plan to retain power.
Dr. Irwin Redlener: Ukraine’s children desperately need more than shelter and food
There are two things that Ukraine needs right now. First, this deadly war of attrition and destruction must end. Second, the younger generations of Ukrainians must be healthy, educated, resilient and ready to take on the enormous task of rebuilding their country.
I can’t comment on what it would take to bring lasting peace to the region, though my friends with relevant expertise say it’s at least possible. But I do know a good deal about what Ukraine’s children and youth will need, starting right now.
Multiple school security failures contributed to Uvalde mass shooting
Automatic locking doors and law enforcement radios — things that were supposed to protect children from mass shootings — failed in the Uvalde school massacre, a top Texas official testified Tuesday.
In testimony before the state legislature, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw outlined several school security failures that may have contributed to the tragic outcome at Robb Elementary last month, when a gunman opened fire and killed two teachers and 19 students.
Trump-backed Katie Britt defeats Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama GOP Senate primary runoff
Katie Britt, a former top aide to Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has defeated Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama’s Republican Senate primary runoff, NBC News projects.
The race to succeed Shelby, who is retiring, had flummoxed former President Donald Trump, whose early endorsement of Brooks was consistent with what had been a close political alliance.
But Trump soured on Brooks, who had expressed a desire to move on from the 2020 election that Trump continues to falsely claim he won. Brooks, once an early favorite in the race, saw his poll numbers decline, and Trump withdrew his endorsement. Brooks ultimately rallied to earn a spot in the runoff against Britt, but she had long since become the GOP front-runner. Trump eventually endorsed herless than two weeks ago.h
Senate Advances Bipartisan Gun Safety Bill With Hopes Of Passing It This Week
A bipartisan bill aimed at curbing gun violence cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Tuesday, less than a month after the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, ignited calls for action in Congress.
The vote to advance the bill was 64-35. Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats in support of the measure, and senators now expect its final passage later this week.
The bill, titled the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, includes modest curbs on obtaining firearms, and aid for mental health and schools. It was agreed to after weeks of painstaking negotiations by a core group of four senators ― Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
7 Major Takeaways From The Jan. 6 Committee’s Fourth Hearing
The House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack held its fourth public hearing Tuesday, this time focusing on the intense pressure campaign led by former President Donald Trump as he scrambled to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Through live and recorded testimony, text messages, video and audio segments, the panel showed how the effort to keep Trump in power for another four years was extensive and unrelenting. Trump’s team took particular aim at fellow Republicans in swing states who might have been in positions to sway the final outcome, either by falsely revising the final tallies, meddling with the Electoral College or saying evidence of fraud had been found. But there was zero evidence of election fraud on a scale that could have affected the results.
Charlie Pierce: The Texas Republican Party Celebrated Juneteenth By Trying to Drag Us All Back to 1857
Happy Juneteenth, everyone! I know that this has been accepted as a truly American holiday because people are already complaining that it’s been commercialized. They are absolutely right, by the way. From the Washington Post:
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis advertised a “Juneteenth watermelon salad” in its food court, then dropped it and issued an apology after intense blowback.
I mean, come on, people. Honest to god, get with the damn program.
GOP Senate candidate releases ‘RINO hunting’ ad aimed at fellow Republicans
Eric Greitens, the embattled former Missouri governor-turned-GOP Senate candidate, released a campaign ad Monday in which he and a group of armed men in tactical gear are on the hunt for “RINOs” — Republicans in name only.
“We’re going RINO hunting,” a shotgun-toting Greitens, with a handgun holstered at his side, says before he bursts into a house with the men in tactical gear, one of whom throws what appears to be a flash-bang grenade.
“Get a RINO hunting permit. There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn’t expire until we save our country,” he says at the end of the video, which encourages donors to pay $25 for a “RINO hunting” sticker.
Biden says he’s considering gas tax holiday as admin targets July 4 announcement
President Joe Biden said Monday that he is seriously considering temporarily halting the federal gas tax as the White House looks to take steps to lower the cost at the pump ahead of the July 4 holiday.
White House officials say the July 4 weekend, when tens of millions of people are expected to hit the road, is a target for announcing new measures to help lower record-high gas prices.
Biden said Monday that he could make a decision on pausing the federal gas tax by the end of this week. “I hope I have a decision based on data,” he told reporters traveling with him in Rehoboth, Delaware.
Report: Officers were in Uvalde school with rifles, shield 19 minutes after gunman
Police officers with rifles and at least one ballistic shield were in a hallway at Robb Elementary School around 19 minutes after a gunman entered classrooms there, according to reports from Texas news organizations Monday.
The Austin American-Statesman said the timeline was based on documents it reviewed following the May 24 attack in Uvalde that killed 19 children and two teachers.
The Texas Tribune on Monday night also reported the new details, citing records and surveillance video it had reviewed.
Jan. 6 committee turns focus to Trump’s efforts to pressure states to overturn Biden’s win
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack will hold its fourth public hearing Tuesday, focusing on an elaborate effort by former President Donald Trump and his allies to strong-arm state officials to defy voters and hand him the 2020 election, committee members and aides said.
Building on previous hearings, the committee said it will show the intricacies of a scheme that sought to manipulate the electoral vote total to deprive Joe Biden of the majority needed to win.
The panel said it will lay out a central element of the plan: getting Trump supporters in key swing states to submit official-looking certificates claiming they were the legitimate electors, even though Trump had actually lost those states.
CDC recommends Covid-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months, clearing the way for vaccinations to begin soon
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on Covid-19 vaccinations for children under 5 on Saturday, clearing the way for vaccinations to be administered soon.
This move comes after vaccine advisers to the CDC voted unanimously on Saturday in support of recommending the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines to children as young as 6 months.
“Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation’s fight against COVID-19. We know millions of parents and caregivers are eager to get their young children vaccinated, and with today’s decision, they can,” Walensky said in a statement. “I encourage parents and caregivers with questions to talk to their doctor, nurse, or local pharmacist to learn more about the benefits of vaccinations and the importance of protecting their children by getting them vaccinated.”
What to know about Juneteenth now that today is a federal holiday
Despite Juneteenth’s storied history, the holiday was largely overlooked by non-Black Americans until recent years.
The momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement propelled Juneteenth into the national spotlight, building on a decades-long push by activists and leaders to get recognition for the landmark occasion. Last year, Juneteenth became the latest federal holiday in the US — the first to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.
With Juneteenth now a national holiday, many public and private sector employees enjoy an extra day off from work while brands and corporations capitalize on the event with celebratory marketing campaigns. But there’s much more to Juneteenth than a long weekend and branded products.
Jan. 6 committee will show evidence of Trump’s involvement in fake elector plot, Schiff says
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitolwill present evidence in a public hearing this week about then-President Donald Trump’s involvement in a failed scheme to push slates of bogus electors to overturn the 2020 election results, Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the panel, said Sunday.
“We’ll show evidence of the president’s involvement in this scheme,” Schiff, D-Calif., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’ll also again show evidence about what his own lawyers came to think about this scheme. And we’ll show courageous state officials who stood up and said they wouldn’t go along with this plan to either call legislators back into session or decertify the results for Joe Biden.”
Nearly 6 In 10 Americans Want Trump Charged For Insurrection: Poll
Nearly six in 10 Americans believe former President Donald Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a new poll released Sunday.
The findings by the ABC News/Ipsos survey reveal a very slight uptick in support for prosecution of Trump since the start of televised hearings by the House select committee investigating the insurrection.
The new poll, conducted June 17 and 18, found that 58% of those surveyed believe Trump should be charged with a crime for his role. An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in April found that 52% of those surveyed thought the same.
The Rude Pundit: Call It What It Was… An Assassination Attempt on Mike Pence
I have despised Mike Pence longer than most of you, even before he was that fuckin’ conservative prick in Congress from 2001-2012, even before he was that motherfucking governor who refused to allow a needle exchange program in a town with a high rate of HIV (until he prayed and partially gave in). Yeah, see, I was damned to live in Indiana in the late-1990s when Pence was a right-wing radio twatmite, advocating for laws against adultery and railing against the cartoon Mulan for daring to say that women could be in the military with men and hating on LGBT people with a fervor that could only be described as protesting way, way too much. When I say, “Fuck him in every hole from ass to eye,” I mean it.
So if I say anything that is perceived as a kind word about him, just know that I really think he’s lower than worm shit.
Senate gun group eyes finish line as ‘boyfriend loophole’ remains a big hurdle
The four U.S. senators leading negotiations on a gun deal met for hours in a Senate basement Thursday in pursuit of a final agreement, but emerged with one major unresolved issue.
The meeting among Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., did not yield a resolution on how to close the “boyfriend loophole” involving gun rights for abusive partners.
As they craft the federal language, the group is looking at “state statutes” that currently prohibit dating partners convicted of abuse from possessing guns, said Tillis, without elaborating on which states. More than 33 states have already taken steps to close or address the boyfriend loophole.
Rep. Bennie Thompson Says It’s Time For Ginni Thomas To Talk To Jan. 6 Committee
So far, Ginni Thomas has avoided answering questions under oath about her involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
But that seems to be changing thanks to the reports of emails between Thomas and John Eastman, the lawyer who advised former President Donald Trump how to fight the election results.
Previously, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol seemed hesitant to question Thomas, whose husband is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, but the emails recently obtained by the committee seem to be a tipping point, committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Thursday.
10 Important Moments From The Third Jan. 6 House Committee Hearing
In its third day of hearings, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol narrowed in on two opposing figures that day: John Eastman, the lawyer who helped Donald Trump craft a plan to overturn the election, and Mike Pence, the vice president who refused to play along.
In both live and recorded testimony, attorneys, aides and other people in Trump’s orbit on Jan. 6 last year defended Pence’s actions and accused Eastman of wreaking havoc on American democracy.
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Senate negotiations on gun safety reform stall over outstanding challenges
Top negotiators on a bipartisan gun safety framework huddled behind closed doors for several hours Wednesday evening to try to solve remaining differences on the package, but the group’s effort to expedite passage of an agreement is stalled, at least for the moment.
Since a group of 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans announced an agreement on a framework of proposals aimed at curbing gun violence in the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, on Sunday, a bipartisan group of senators has been working to speedily turn the list of ideas into a bill ready for consideration on the Senate floor next week. But two provisions, one focused on incentivizing states to implement violence prevention programs, and another dealing with closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole,” are now plaguing negotiations, chief Republican negotiator John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Wednesday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci tests positive for Covid
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, has tested positive for Covid-19, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in a statement Wednesday.
Fauci, 81, has directed the institute since 1984. He is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots. His positive result came from a rapid test.
“He is currently experiencing mild symptoms,” the institute said. “Dr. Fauci will isolate and continue to work from his home. He has not recently been in close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials.”
Jan. 6 Panel’s Third Public Hearing Today Will Probe Trump Pressure On Pence To Reject Election
The 1/6 committee is set to plunge into Donald Trump’s last-ditch effort to salvage the 2020 election by pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electoral count — a highly unusual and potentially illegal strategy that was set in motion in the run-up to the U.S. Capitol riot.
With two live witnesses Thursday, the House panel intends to show how Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election left him grasping for alternatives as courts turned back dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote.
Trump latched onto conservative law professor John Eastman’s obscure plan and launched a public and private pressure campaign on Pence days before the vice president was to preside over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. A federal judge has said it is “more likely than not” Trump committed crimes over the scheme.
McConnell announces support for bipartisan gun reform framework
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday he supports the framework agreement for a gun reform plan announced by a bipartisan group of senators over the weekend.
“For myself, I’m comfortable with the framework and if the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework indicates, I’ll be supportive,” he said during a press conference Tuesday.
A group of 20 senators, led by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, announced Sunday they reached consensus on the key priorities of a deal to reform the nation’s gun laws. The senators set to work on finding common ground on legislative solutions to curbing gun violence in the wake of the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.
June 14 primaries key takeaways: Trump’s political sway tested, as South Carolina ousts one of his critics
As former President Donald Trump’s presidential legacy is tested in Washington this week, with the Jan. 6 hearings dominating Capitol Hill, his political power — and the sway of his election denying — saw a renewed test in the midterm primaries in a handful of states. Voters took the polls in South Carolina, Nevada, Maine, North Dakota and Texas’ 34 Congressional District Tuesday night, delivering historic turnout numbers and allowing voters to give Republicans who defied the former president a second chance at keeping their jobs, and some Democrats to lose theirs.
Trump issues 12-page statement amid Jan. 6 hearings alleging he plotted a ‘coup’
Former President Donald Trump on Monday responded in a lengthy statement to the House’s ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings, assailing the panel as illegitimate and their presentation as one-sided — but rather than refute their evidence, he reiterated the same baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election that are at the center of the proceedings and the group’s case that he had attempted a “coup.”
Trump’s 12-page statement, sent to reporters on Monday night, comes after the second public hearing held by the House select committee investigating last year’s deadly Capitol attack. His statement, marked by characteristic exclamations and insults, called the hearings “a smoke and mirrors show” that failed to include “all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story.”
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S&P 500 tumbles 4 percent to new low for the year, closes in bear market territory
Stocks sold off Monday, pushing the S&P 500 to a fresh 2022 low and back into bear market territory, as recession fears grew ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 810 points, or about 2.6 percent, the S&P 500 fell 3.5 percent and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 4.35 percent.
The moves came as investor continued to digest a hotter-than-expected inflation report on Friday and braced for the Fed to raise rates later in the week as the 10-year Treasury yield saw its largest jump since March 2020.
2022 Midterms: What To Watch In Maine, Nevada, North Dakota And South Carolina today
Primary voters on Tuesday will decide the fate of two South Carolina Republicans who are clinging to their seats in the U.S. House after defying Donald Trump, while in Nevada an establishment favorite with the former president’s endorsement is facing a tougher than expected challenge for the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, in Maine, a bellicose former governor who once said he was “Trump before Trump” has come out of retirement in Florida to challenge a nemesis for his old job.
Primary contests in South Carolina, Nevada and Maine on Tuesday will offer the latest test of the Trump political brand. North Dakota is also holding elections, though Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven doesn’t face a serious challenger.
7 Key Moments From The Second Jan. 6 Hearing
In its second public hearing, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol delivered a relatively focused message on Monday: that Trump knew his claims of a stolen election were false but continued to push them widely, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars while seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“This morning, we’ll tell the story of how Donald Trump lost an election and knew he lost an election, and as a result of his loss, decided to wage an attack on our democracy,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told the audience in opening remarks.
Thompson characterized the effort to discredit the 2020 election as a “conspiracy” and a “scheme” that Trump oversaw and directed and that is “unprecedented in American history.”
Charlie Pierce: The Bipartisan Gun Bill Is a Good Start Like Tying Your Shoes Is a Good Way to Start a Marathon
The Washington Post ran an altogether remarkable paragraph on Monday to kick off its coverage of the bipartisan agreement on gun violence that emerged over the weekend. This was it.
A bipartisan group of senators announced Sunday that it had reached a tentative agreement on legislation that would pair modest new gun restrictions with significant new mental health and school security investments — a deal that could put Congress on a path to enacting the most significant national response in decades to acts of mass gun violence.
It could do that. It could also provide a lake of stew, and of whiskey, too, that you can paddle around in a big canoe. Even assuming that the plan passes the Senate at all, which is still not a mortal lock, to assume that this is some sort of stepping-stone toward more toothsome gun control regulations seems to be wildly optimistic. Remember those heady days when the Affordable Care Act was supposed to put us all on the road to universal healthcare and Medicare For All? All that’s actually happened is that the ACA has been fighting for its own life ever since. Republican governors even refused the FREE MONEY!!! available to them to expand Medicaid coverage, and then they bragged about it. Keep that part of the story in mind as we go along here.
FDA: Pfizer COVID-19 Shot Appears Effective For Kids Under 5
Federal health officials said Sunday that kid-sized doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines appear to be safe and effective for kids under 5, a key step toward a long-awaited decision to begin vaccinating the youngest American children.
The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis of the Pfizer shot ahead of a Wednesday meeting where outside experts will vote on whether the shots are ready for the nation’s 18 million babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Kids under 5 are the only group not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S.
Late last week the FDA posted a similar analysis of Moderna’s shots for children under 6.
Senate negotiators announce framework deal on bipartisan gun package
Key senators announced a framework agreement on new gun legislation Sunday, marking a breakthrough on a collection of measures to combat gun violence, including “red flag” laws and enhanced background checks on gun buyers.
The chief negotiators of the deal are Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., an outspoken proponent of gun safety laws, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a firm Second Amendment advocate who has promised the new measures won’t affect the gun rights of law-abiding Americans. The final bill hasn’t been written yet, sources familiar with the negotiations said.
Trump 2020 campaign manager to testify before Jan. 6 committee Monday
Former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien will testify before the House Jan. 6 select committee on Monday, in a hearing that will focus on Trump’s decision to declare victory against Joe Biden on election night and knowledge that he was spreading lies of widespread election fraud.
Stepien will appear before the committee on a panel with Chris Stirewalt, the former Fox News political editor who was fired after defending the network’s early projection that Trump had lost Arizona on election night — a move that infuriated the former president.
The Rude Pundit: Liz Cheney Is Trying to Save the House She and Her Father Built and Other Observations on the 1/6 Hearing
On Thursday night, the Select Committee on the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol finally, after far too long, frankly, made its case to the American people and the world. The committee wasn’t talking to you and me, we who are damned to spend far too much of our time elbow-deep in the clogged sinks of political shit. The committee wasn’t talking to the scores of MAGA drones who are joyfully face-fucked by dildos of misinformation, disinformation, and lies and will never return to what we like to think of as “reality.” They were clearly talking to other entities, including, as many have noted, Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose Justice Department is moving at a pace that might be best described as “nearly still” when it comes to charging top officials with crimes related to the attack. To my weary (and currently Covid-addled) mind, the hearings had another target: Americans who checked out after Donald Trump’s second impeachment and haven’t followed the evolving story. For them, much of what was said on Thursday was new, and let’s just fucking hope that at least a few of them watched.
MSNBC’s Glenn Kirschner Declares ‘Donald Trump Is Done’ After Jan. 6 Hearing: ‘Let’s Get This Indictment Show On The Road’
Former federal prosecutor and current MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner told SiriusXM guest-host Jody Hamilton that former President Donald Trump “is done” after seeing the Jan. 6 committee’s primetime hearing.
Hamilton — host of the From The Bunker podcast — filled in for Stephanie Miller on Friday’s episode of The Stephanie Miller Show, and asked Kirschner for his take on the hearing.
Kirschner — who has long pushed for and predicted that Trump would end up in jail — told Hamilton that based on what he saw Thursday night, the hearings will produce enough evidence to spark a Justice Department prosecution of Trump.
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Senators hope to reach gun deal in ‘next few days’ after leaving for the weekend
The Senate left town for the weekend without agreeing on gun legislation, but the negotiators planned to meet virtually Friday to hash out the lingering issues as they continue to project optimism.
“We’re not there yet,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the chief Republican negotiator, said after an in-person meeting Thursday. “I hope to resolve the remaining differences.”
Some provisions, like mental health funding and school safety, are relatively settled. Others, like “red flag” provisions and background check enhancements, are still being crafted.
Key takeaways from the first Jan. 6 hearing: It’s all about Trump
One person more than any other set in motion the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the committee investigating the riot argued at its first public hearing Thursday.
And that person is Donald Trump.
He sparked the riot at the Capitol and nearly shredded American democracy in pursuit of power, the House Jan. 6 committee contended in what will serve as the opening argument in a weekslong effort to make a case to the public.
Jan. 6 Hearing Opens With Trump’s AG William Barr Calling Stolen Election Claim ‘Bullsh**’
Donald Trump’s own attorney general told the then-president that his claims of a “stolen” election were “bullshit,” according to videotaped testimony revealed Thursday night at the House Jan. 6 select committee’s first public hearing.
“I told the president it was bullshit, and I didn’t want to be a part of it,” Barr told committee investigators during his deposition.
Committee chair Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said in his opening remarks that the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol was the culmination of a “conspiracy” to hold on to power. “Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup. The violence was no accident.”
Man with gun, knife arrested near Justice Kavanaugh’s house
An armed man was arrested overnight near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after he called 911 on himself, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
Officials say the man, identified as Nicholas John Roske, 26, was armed with a handgun, a knife, pepper spray and burglary tools. He was stopped a block from the justice’s house. And when police detained him, he said he was there to kill Kavanaugh, the officials said.
Deputy U.S. marshals spotted Roske — dressed in black and carrying a backpack and a suitcase — getting out of a cab in front of Kavanaugh’s house shortly after 1 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to a criminal complaint. Roske looked at the officers and then started walking down the street and called 911 on himself, the complaint said.
House Approves Gun Control Bills, Including Higher Age For Assault Rifles
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a package of gun control bills that, among other things, would raise the age requirement for most rifle sales from 18 to 21.
Rather than becoming law, the legislation will land on the growing pile of House-passed bills that the Senate ignores. That pile already includes a recent measure to require criminal background checks for all firearm sales.
But the Senate has been busier than usual in the wake of horrific mass murders in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, in which teenage gunmen legally purchased assault rifles to slaughter more than 30 people, including 19 children in an elementary school.
Jan. 6 Committee To Put Trump ‘At The Center’ Of The Plan To Overturn Election
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol plans to show starting Thursday night how the assault was part of a coordinated scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election and stop the transfer of power, with Donald Trump “at the center” of that plan, committee aides said.
The bipartisan panel plans a series of six public hearings starting at 8 p.m. EDT, which will be carried live by all three broadcast TV networks. The first hearing is scheduled to include live testimony about the start of the violence by the pro-Trump mob at the Capitol as well as video clips from Trump White House officials, campaign officials and family members.
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Secret Service considered options to get Trump to Capitol on January 6
The Secret Service says former President Donald Trump’s call to supporters to walk alongside him to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, led the agency to consider options to secure a motorcade, but ultimately found that transporting the former President to the Capitol unfeasible.
A minute-by-minute accounting of the President’s movements has been a central focus of the House select committee investigating January 6, and sources tell CNN that several members of the Secret Service have testified.
“Secret Service personnel assigned to the President’s detail told administration officials that proposed travel plans to visit the Capitol on January 6 would not be feasible,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement Tuesday.
Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey makes emotional plea for gun control legislation from White House briefing room
Actor and Uvalde, Texas, native Matthew McConaughey made an emotional plea to Congress for new gun control legislation from the White House briefing room Tuesday, after meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and President Biden at the White House. Making schools safer and expanding background checks for people to to get access to guns should be a nonpartisan issue, McConaughey said.
“We start by making the loss of these lives matter,” he told reporters.
“We start with laws that save innocent lives and don’t infringe on our Second Amendment rights,” McConaughey said in remarks during which he sometimes appeared to be fighting back tears.
Primary results 2022: California, Iowa, New Mexico, South Dakota and more
Voting has finished in all seven states that held primaries on Tuesday, as California polls closed at 11 p.m. ET. Some high-profile incumbents – including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Republican Sens. John Thune and Chuck Grassley – have beaten back their primary challengers, and their general election competitors have been determined for November.
In San Francisco, the Associated Press reported progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled amid worries over crime in the city.
In California, results in many races will likely not come on Tuesday night, since the state conducts its elections by mail. It also advances the top two vote getters to run in November, regardless of party affiliation, meaning some match-ups could result in two Democrats facing off or two Republicans.
Jan. 6 Panel Has Evidence Of A ‘Lot More Than Incitement’ Against Trump: Jamie Raskin
Donald Trump and the White House were “at the center” of events triggering last year’s violent Capitol insurrection, and the House Jan. 6 select committee has uncovered evidence against the former president “about a lot more than incitement,” panel member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said on Monday.
The panel will be “laying out the evidence about all of the actors who were pivotal to what took place on January 6th” at upcoming televised hearings beginning Thursday, the lawmaker vowed in an interview with Washington Post Live.
2022 Midterms: Primaries Held In 7 States Today
Primary elections in seven states Tuesday will set the stage for U.S. House and Senate races this fall, with many contests shaped by political fissures in both major parties and the lingering shadow of former President Donald Trump.
With control of Congress in play, a string of Republican House incumbents are contending with challenges from the political right, and some rivals are embracing Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud in his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
No incumbent governors or senators appear to be in imminent danger. In Iowa, several Democrats are jockeying for the chance to take on seven-term Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, with the campaign showcasing the breach between the Democratic Party’s progressive and establishment wings.
Key senators eye bipartisan gun bill deal ‘this week’
The top Democratic negotiator of a package of gun bills prompted by the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, said Monday he hopes to reach a deal with his Republican counterparts this week.
“My hope is that we are able to come to an agreement by the end of the week,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in an interview Monday. “The discussions have been really positive. I still am hopeful we’ll be able to get a product.”
“My goal is to have an agreement by the end of this week. And I don’t think that’s an unrealistic goal,” he said, adding that it may be more of an “outline” than detailed legislative text.
Charlie Pierce: It’s Bad to Elect Authoritarian Lunatics as President
Here’s some more interesting stuff it would have been nice to know at the time. From the New York Times:
The day before a mob of President Donald J. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff called Mr. Pence’s lead Secret Service agent to his West Wing office. The chief of staff, Marc Short, had a message for the agent, Tim Giebels: The president was going to turn publicly against the vice president, and there could be a security risk to Mr. Pence because of it.
The stark warning — the only time Mr. Short flagged a security concern during his tenure as Mr. Pence’s top aide — was uncovered recently during research by this reporter for an upcoming book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” to be published in October.
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Jan. 6 Hearings Set To Highlight Battle Between Democracy And Donald Trump
The House Jan. 6 committee’s long-awaited public hearings are set to start this week, promising to highlight the deep schism between Donald Trump and his allies on one side and democracy on the other.
The committee planned a half-dozen hearings over two weeks to lay out its findings from more than 1,000 interviews — a great many compelled by a subpoena — and more than 100,000 pages of documents, with the hope of boiling it down to an easily digested narrative about what the former president tried to do to remain in power.
“They’ve got massive amounts of information. They’ve interviewed massive numbers of people,” said J. Michael Luttig, the retired federal appellate judge who advised former Vice President Mike Pence that he had no authority to overturn the election as Trump was demanding. “They’ve got to condense this down and tell one simple story.”
Russia Hits At Ukraine’s Heart As Vladimir Putin Issues Warning To The West
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new warning to the West against sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine came as his forces claimed to have destroyed Western military supplies in their first such airstrikes on Ukraine’s capital in more than a month.
The attack showed that Russia still had the capability and willingness to hit at Ukraine’s heart, despite refocusing its efforts to capture territory in the east.
Putin’s comments, in a TV interview that aired Sunday, came days after the U.S. announced plans to deliver $700 million of security assistance for Ukraine, including four precision-guided, medium-range rocket systems, as well as helicopters, Javelin anti-tank systems, radars, tactical vehicles and more.
Sen. Chris Murphy: ‘We’re Closer Than Ever Before’ On Bipartisan Gun Legislation
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has been leading bipartisan talks in the Senate on gun control legislation, said more Republicans are at the table working toward changing gun laws and investing in mental health than “at any time since Sandy Hook.”
“I’ve never been part of negotiations as serious as these,” he said in an interview Sunday with CNN’S “State of the Union.”
“We are talking about a meaningful change in our gun laws, a major investment in mental health, perhaps some money for school security that would make a difference. On the table is red flag laws, changes to our background check system to improve the existing system, a handful of other items that will make a difference,” he said.
The Rude Pundit: Uvalde, the Southern Baptist Church, and the Murderous, Traumatizing Failure of Conservative Ideology
What do you do when your belief system allows for the murder and rape of children? What do you do when the things that the leaders you trust have said to you, messages their media figures have inundated you with, when the outcome of that is the destruction of kids? A sane person would want to repent, get out, try to change. But we are a nation filled with incoherent rage and fuck-everyone-but-me-and-mine madness. Lemme explain.
In Texas, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District has a police department. According to its webpage, “The primary goal for the Uvalde CISD Police Department is to maintain a safe and secure environment for our future leaders to learn and our current leaders to educate while forming partnerships with students, teachers, parents, and the community while enforcing laws and reducing fears.” Do you understand that? Like many places around the country, the schools have their own cops. And, in nearly every case of a school shooting, the cops or security officers failed to even hinder the shooter.
Jan. 6 committee reveals details of first public hearing in Capitol riot probe
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot released new details Thursday about its first hearing, scheduled to kick off in prime time on June 9.
“The committee will present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power,” the panel said.
Additional information about witnesses will be released next week, the committee said.
White House: 1st COVID-19 Shots For Kids Under 5 Possible By June 21
The Biden administration said Thursday that children under 5 may be able to get their first COVID-19 vaccination doses as soon as June 21, if federal regulators authorize shots for the age group, as expected.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Aashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning for the last remaining ineligible age group to get shots. He said the Food and Drug Administration’s outside panel of advisers will meet on June 14-15 to evaluate the Pfizer and Moderna shots for younger kids. Shipments to doctors’ offices and pediatric care facilities would begin soon after FDA authorization, with the first shots possible the following week.
Texts Show Republicans Believed Trump Could End Jan. 6 Chaos But Didn’t For Hours: Report
A trove of text messages obtained by CNN reveal that a number of Republicans were convinced that Donald Trump could immediately stop the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but that the then-president failed to take any action for hours.
The messages “began pouring into the cellphone” of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows within minutes of the breach of the Capitol and throughout the afternoon, with pleas to get Trump to call off the violence, CNN reported.
Republican members of Congress, former members of the Trump administration, Fox Newshosts and even Donald Trump Jr. reached out to Meadows, clearly convinced Trump could quell the insurrection aimed at overturning the 2020 election and keeping Trump in office.
‘Enough’: Biden Exhorts Congress To Pass Gun Control Laws
President Joe Biden delivered the second evening address of his presidency on Thursday night, almost begging Congress to pass gun control legislation following yet another wave of mass shootings stretching from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Buffalo, New York.
“Enough,” Biden said repeatedly, invoking the dozens of school shootings that have swept America over the past decade. “We can’t fail the American people again.”
Biden delivered his 15-minute speech, informed by his recent trips to both Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, from the East Room of the White House after walking down an aisle lined with small candles.
U.S. and Germany announce weapons packages for Ukraine
The U.S. and Germany pledged on Wednesday to equip Ukraine with some of the advanced weapons it has long desired for shooting down aircraft and knocking out artillery, as Russian forces closed in on capturing a key city in the east.
Germany said it will supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, while the U.S. announced it will provide four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition.
The U.S. is trying to help Ukraine fend off the Russians without triggering a wider war in Europe. The Pentagon said it received assurances that Ukraine will not fire the new rockets into Russian territory.
Georgia secretary of state to testify to grand jury investigating Trump effort to overturn election
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was on the receiving end of an infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which then-President Donald Trump pleaded with him “to find 11,780 votes,” will testify under oath Thursday before a special grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Raffensperger, whose office oversees Georgia’s elections, is among at least half a dozen people working in his office who have been subpoenaed to testify in June before the special grand jury in Fulton County. The subpoenas, which were first obtained by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, provide the earliest glimpses into an unprecedented criminal probe of a president’s interactions with state elections officials.
Biden administration cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for people who attended for-profit college
Hundreds of thousands of students who attended the for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain will automatically get their federal student loans canceled, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, a move that aims to bring closure to one of the most notorious cases of fraud in American higher education.
Under the new action, anyone who attended the now-defunct chain from its founding in 1995 to its collapse in 2015 will get their federal student debt wiped clean. It will erase $5.8 billion in debt for more than 560,000 borrowers, the largest single loan discharge in Education Department history, according to the agency.
America Had 3 Simultaneous Shootings On Wednesday, Less Than 2 Weeks After Uvalde
As residents in Uvalde, Texas, were burying their children and loved ones this week, Americans in three separate states watched shootings unfold simultaneously in the latest deadly spate of gun violence that has become a uniquely American problem.
Four people were killed in a shooting at a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday. Police said a gunman carrying a rifle and a handgun opened fire on a hospital campus just before 5 p.m. local time, wounding several others before the shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Just before, the Los Angeles Police Department said shots were fired outside Grant High School in the Van Nuys neighborhood. Authorities said an unknown gunman fired three or four shots from a vehicle. A 10th grader was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital. The extent of injuries was unclear.
