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US Monthly Headline News April 2022 - Page 2
MSN.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, saying the group that has run the debates for decades was biased and refused to enact reforms. "Today, the RNC voted to withdraw from the biased CPD, and we are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people," the committee's chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, said in a statement. It is unclear what format those debates would take or whether they would take place as often as in recent decades.
rbarber@businessinsider.com (C. Ryan Barber)

An accused Capitol rioter's defense lawyer on Thursday referred to former President Donald Trump as a "gangster" who bears responsibility for whipping up the crowd of supporters that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In a closing argument at the trial of accused rioter Dustin Thompson, the defense lawyer Samuel Shamansky punctuated his argument that Trump manipulated his supporters on January 6 and deserved blame for the violence at the Capitol that day. "You had, frankly, a gangster who was in power," Shamansky said. In another apparent reference to Trump, Shamansky said the Capitol attack was coordinated by an "evil and sinister man who would stop at nothing to get his way on January 6."
Jazmin Tolliver

Laura Ingraham’s estranged gay brother, Curtis Ingraham, on Tuesday called the Fox News host “a monster” over her support for anti-LGBTQ legislation and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Curtis Ingraham responded to a clip from “The Ingraham Angle” in which his sister criticized schools for teaching students about sexuality and gender identity. “It’s dubbed a queer-inclusive curriculum,” Laura Ingraham said in a segment titled “Doom & Groom.” “Gone are the days when they’re just teaching about human reproduction. Now, by fifth grade, they’re taught about sexual expression.” Curtis Ingraham called out his sister’s supposed concern for children’s well-being in a tweet. “This is rich coming from my Putin-loving sister who seems okay with children being killed in Ukraine,” he wrote. “Looks like she has a new trope in hand to further rile and anger her followers. What a monster!”
adawson@businessinsider.com (Alan Dawson)

Police said Tuesday that if people in sports deal with the boxing advisor and alleged gang lord Daniel Kinahan in any capacity, then they're "involved in a criminal network." At a media event that Insider remotely attended, Irish police commissioner Drew Harris spoke about the deep involvement of Kinahan — who was sanctioned by the US government this week — in the fight game. Harris wants those who deal with Kinahan in boxing to "look at the probity of their own business and the relationship with their fans" and, ask the question: "Really, is this something they want to be involved with in terms of their legitimate business." "I think the answer to that is a resounding no."
No country, state or province in world celebrates traitors or people who attacked them except Mississippi and Gov. Tate Reeves celebrates traitors.

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is defending his decision to again name April as Confederate Heritage Month, nearly two years after he signed a law retiring the last state flag in the U.S. that featured a Confederate battle emblem. The Republican governor signed a proclamation without fanfare Friday. It does not mention slavery — the defense of which was Mississippi's stated reason for trying to secede from the U.S. In response to a question at a news conference Wednesday, Reeves said he issued a Confederate Heritage Month proclamation “in the same manner and fashion that the five governors that came before me, Republicans and Democrats alike, for over 30 years have done.” “And we did it again this year,” Reeves said. "Didn't think this was the year to stop doing it.” Four governors before Reeves — not five — issued Confederate Heritage Month proclamations. By state law, Mississippi also has a Confederate Heritage Day in April, which is a holiday for state employees.
ssheth@businessinsider.com (Sonam Sheth)

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann's request to dismiss the special counsel John Durham's criminal case against him. Sussmann was charged last year with lying to the FBI during a conversation with then FBI general counsel James Baker in 2016. Durham's indictment said that Sussmann "lied about the capacity in which he was providing" allegations to the FBI about what he claimed was a "secret communications channel" between the Trump Organization and Russia's Alfa Bank. The indictment said Sussmann lied to the FBI when he told Baker he wasn't working on behalf of any client. In fact, the indictment said, Sussmann was acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign, the tech executive Rodney Joffe, and the internet company Neustar.
Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018.
Sara Boboltz

Federal prosecutors say that a document found in the possession of Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys, contained a plan to occupy several buildings around Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021 ― including the Supreme Court building ― “to show our politicians We the People are in charge.” A report on Monday from The New York Times described the document as “detailed.” Citing sources who had seen it, the Times said the document named seven buildings, including six House and Senate office buildings. It did not specifically mention the Capitol building, which was stormed last year by a mob of thousands bent on overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Titled “1776 Returns,” the nine-page document was first described in court filings against Tarrio, who is currently facing charges including conspiracy to obstruct government proceedings in connection with the events of last Jan. 6.
Astrid Galván

Commercial truckers bringing in produce and other goods from Mexico are protesting a new rule by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requiring additional inspection, resulting in extremely long wait times and the shutdown of at least one border crossing.

The latest: Abbott announced Wednesday that he will end the mandate at the Laredo border crossing to Nuevo León after Nuevo León Gov. Samuel García agreed to bolster border security in Mexico. Other ports of entry must continue to adhere to the order, which the Texas Trucking Association slammed earlier in the day.
By MICHAEL R. SISAK, MICHAEL BALSAMO and JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press

The man accused of shooting 10 people on a Brooklyn subway train was arrested Wednesday and charged with a federal terrorism offense after the suspect himself called police to come get him, law enforcement officials said. Frank R. James, 62, was taken into custody about 30 hours after the carnage on a rush-hour train, which left five victims in critical condition and people around the city on edge. “My fellow New Yorkers, we got him," Mayor Eric Adams said. James was awaiting arraignment on a charge that pertains to terrorist or other violent attacks against mass transit systems and carries a sentence of up to life in prison, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
Zeeshan Aleem

Anewly revealed multibillion deal between Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, Jared Kushner, shows that the scale of apparent corruption and brazen misuse of power during the Trump White House was even more audacious than we previously thought. According to The New York Times, a Saudi sovereign wealth fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often referred to as MBS, invested $2 billion in Kushner’s fledgling private equity firm six months after Trump left office. And it’s blisteringly clear from the details that while MBS’s expenditure did not make financial sense, it made political sense as payback for favorable treatment. The episode vividly illustrates how the Trump era was marked by particularly naked forms of self-enriching power plays, signaling to the world that American diplomacy was on sale to the highest bidder. And it sets a shameful precedent that our government has inadequate safeguards to protect against in the future.
Kathryn Joyce

From the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic have been placed in an uneasy position. For more than two decades, right-wing activists and politicians have praised Russia as the unlikely wellspring of renewed traditionalism, as Vladimir Putin intertwined church and state in an effort to bolster Russian nationalism and, more quietly, his aspirations to reconstruct the Soviet empire. When the launch of Putin's war coincided with the first day of the Conservative Political Action conference in late February, a dizzying ideological switchback began. Speakers who had declared just days or hours earlier that they didn't care about the fate of Ukraine were rapidly forced to recalibrate. Fox News' Tucker Carlson, who in 2019 declared he was "root[ing] for Russia" in its conflict with Ukraine, was compelled to recant, at least temporarily. In Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had celebrated his long and fond relationship with Putin in Moscow just weeks before Russia invaded, issued a tepid condemnation. (Hungary is a member state of both the EU and NATO, though its relationship with both is tense.)
ngaudiano@insider.com (Nicole Gaudiano,John L. Dorman)

The Biden family felt "appalled" in 2016 when Donald Trump won the presidential election, Valerie Biden Owens wrote in her new memoir. "If ever there was a force of anti-empathy in the world, it is Donald Trump," President Joe Biden's sister and confidante wrote in "Growing Up Biden," out April 12. "He is a bully, pure and simple — a narcissistic, incompetent, and incomplete man. He is the embodiment of resentment. His power comes from tapping into our baser instincts." In her memoir, Biden Owens describes the blow that it was for her brother — then the vice president — and former President Barack Obama to turn over the White House to "a man whose team was hell-bent on undoing everything they had accomplished." Trump "appealed to our lowest common denominator" during that campaign with calls to get rid of NATO, build a wall, and "blame all your problems on the Other," she wrote.
By Brynn Gingras, Shimon Prokupecz, Pervaiz Shallwani, Artemis Moshtaghian, Laura Ly, Kristina Sgueglia and Eric Levenson, CNN

New York (CNN) The 62-year-old man suspected of shooting 10 people on a subway train in Brooklyn on Tuesday was arrested by patrol officers in New York's East Village neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, three law enforcement officials told CNN. Frank James, who police initially described as a "person of interest," was declared a suspect Wednesday after investigators determined he purchased the gun recovered at the scene, law enforcement officials said. Two law enforcement officials told CNN that the gun evidence was the turning point in elevating him from a person of interest to a suspect. James is suspected of setting off smoke grenades and firing a handgun 33 times on a crowded subway train making its way toward the 36th Street station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. The attack left 29 people injured, including 10 who were shot, though none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening, officials said. Five of the victims were young people commuting to school, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Ellen Mitchell

The Republican chairman of a Virginia electoral board has stepped down after a racially charged Facebook post he made about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and others came to light last week. David Dietrich, the former chairman of the Electoral Board in Hampton, resigned Saturday — two days after his social media posting was discovered and prompted Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and other GOP lawmakers to call for his removal. In a post from February 2021, Dietrich targeted Austin and retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré — both Black men — in a post, using the N-word and calling for “a good public lynching.”
Joel Burgess, Asheville Citizen Times

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Mark Meadows has been removed from North Carolina's voter rolls, a move made as the State Bureau of Investigation continues a probe into allegations the former White House chief of staff committed election fraud. Macon County Board of Elections Director Melanie Thibault confirmed April 12 that she had removed Meadows the prior day from the county's active voter list. Thibault said she consulted N.C. Board of Elections staff in Raleigh after finding records that Meadows was registered both in Virginia and North Carolina.  "What I found was that he was also registered in the state of Virginia. And he voted in a 2021 election. The last election he voted in Macon County was in 2020," she said.
Steve Benen

During his presidency, Donald Trump’s agenda in the Middle East was often difficult to understand, much less defend. Much of the administration’s foreign policy, shaped in part by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, appeared to be built around the Republican’s unexplained affinity for Saudi Arabia. For Barack Obama, the United States relationship with Riyadh was notoriously “complicated.” For his successor, the relationship was far simpler: The Saudis were right and worthy of Trump’s defense. As Rachel noted on the show last night, Trump’s first foreign trip while in office was to Saudi Arabia. When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman imprisoned other members of the royal family, Trump announced his support for the move. When the Saudis imposed a blockade on U.S. allies in Qatar, Trump endorsed this, too. When the U.S. had evidence of bin Salman approving the operation that killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump boasted that he came to the crown prince’s rescue and shielded him from consequences.
Josephine Harvey

Aweek before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, a former aide to Republican political consultant Roger Stone joined a conference call with supporters of then-President Donald Trump and urged them to “descend on the Capitol” to pressure lawmakers not to certify the 2020 election, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Jason Sullivan, a right-wing communications specialist and QAnon promoter, reportedly told listeners on a Dec. 30, 2020, call that the 2020 election had been stolen and directed them to go to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to make members of Congress “sweat” when they convened to finalize the electoral count. “If we make the people inside that building sweat, and they understand that they may not be able to walk in the streets any longer if they do the wrong thing, then maybe they’ll do the right thing,” he said, according to the Times, which obtained a recording of the call. While claiming he was “not inciting violence or any kind of riots,” Sullivan also told listeners that Trump would impose a form of martial law that day and would not be leaving office.
Opinion by Chauncey DeVega

The American news media has collectively decided to ignore Donald Trump's threats of white supremacist violence and sedition. If you believe this will keep you safe from his schemes and machinations, or from what his legions of followers may do, you are greatly mistaken. Apparently, the gatekeepers of the approved public discourse have convinced themselves that they are somehow serving the public interest by ignoring these escalating threats. In reality, these gatekeepers are doing exactly the opposite: They are normalizing American fascism by minimizing its dangers. In a moment when the news media as an institution should sound the alarm even more loudly about the threat to American democracy, safety and security represented by Trumpism and neofascism a choice has been made to mock or whitewash the imminent danger.
Cecilia Lenzen

"Like, are the minorities white supremacists, too?" the TikToker asked. Another TikToker, known as Kiki Rae Real (@kikiraereal), stitched the video to clock her with the facts. "It's the way you tokenize your Black Republican friend for me," Kiki said in her video. "No, definitely not racist behavior." Since before the slave trade began, there have always been people from minority communities who have been "duped, tricked and misled" into adhering to white Supremacist beliefs, Kiki said. They were led to believe that if they worked with white people, that would somehow benefit them with privilege and power. Then, maybe they could one day "equal" white people, Kiki said. But that's a lie, she added, because white people still hold the power. "Your friend, and other Black people like her, are agents of white supremacy due to internalized racism," Kiki said in the video.
Cecilia Levine

Dion Marsh was found clutching a machete on a bed in his Manchester home when police found him last Friday night, after he struck two victims with his car and stabbed another, the outlet said. Marsh also told family members it was "going to be a blood bath," NJ.com says citing court documents. Marsh, of Manchester, approached a 2016 Toyota Camry, near MLK Drive and Pine Street, assaulted the driver, and fled the area in the vehicle around 1:15 p.m., Billhimer said. He struck a pedestrian around five hours later near Central and Carlton avenues around 6 p.m., Billhimer said alongside Lakewood Township Police Chief Gregory Meyer. That victim was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was listed in stable condition.
WPTV News - FL Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast
Gov. Ron DeSantis reaffirmed a vow to dismantle a minority-controlled congressional district in Florida
Sam Levine

The Florida legislature will allow Governor Ron DeSantis to take the lead on redrawing the state’s 28 congressional districts, a highly unusual move that will probably diminish Black political power in the state and allow Republicans to further distort the state’s map to their advantage. State legislatures, including Florida’s, usually draw a proposal for a plan that the governor approves or rejects. DeSantis vetoed the GOP-controlled legislature’s proposed congressional districts on 29 March after proposing his own map that would increase the number of GOP seats while eliminating two districts represented by Black Democrats. Leaders in the legislature said on Monday that they would not try to draft a new plan ahead of a special session next week, but instead were waiting for DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential candidate, to submit his own plan.
Peter Weber

After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered state troopers last week to begin inspecting commercial trucks bringing produce and other goods into the state from Mexico, a job already performed by federal Customs and Border Enforcement agents, truck traffic backed up for miles as the wait to cross the border jumped significantly, The Texas Tribune reported Monday. At times, the Tribune reports, "troopers appear to be checking every commercial vehicle that crosses select international bridges, with each inspection taking between 45 minutes and an hour." Mexican truckers have blocked traffic at key border crossings in protest, making the wait time even longer.
Jason Ravnsborg was suspended ahead of a Senate trial, which could result in permanent removal from office if a two-thirds majority votes to convict him.
By Zoë Richards

The South Dakota House voted Tuesday to impeach state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg for his involvement in a fatal 2020 crash that has prompted state lawmakers to seek the removal of their fellow Republican from office. In a 36-31 vote, Ravnsborg was charged with committing crimes or misdemeanors in office that caused the death of a pedestrian. He was also charged with committing actions that "failed to meet the standard of the Office of the Attorney General" after the collision, including during its reporting and the resulting investigation. Republicans were almost evenly split, with 28 voting in favor and 31 voting against. Eight Democrats voted for impeachment.
An attorney for Dustin Thompson argued that "vulnerable" people like his client "believed the lies that were fed to them" by Trump.
By Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON — An attorney for a man who took a coat rack and a bottle of liquor during the U.S. Capitol attack argued to a jury Tuesday that former President Donald Trump "authorized" the assault on the building on Jan. 6, 2021, by convincing "vulnerable" people like his client that the election had been stolen. Dustin Thompson, 38, of Ohio, is the third Jan. 6 defendant to face a trial by jury after the convictions of Guy Reffitt and former police officer Thomas Robertson. Thompson faces six charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding and theft of government property. His co-defendant, Robert Lyon, pleaded guilty last month, admitting that he and Thompson traveled to Washington together and saying stole the coat rack and fled from police when they were confronted on the grounds of the Capitol.
By Kara Scannell

New York Attorney General Letitia James has broadened her civil investigation into the accuracy of the Trump Organization's financial statements to include the role of its long-time appraiser Cushman & Wakefield, according to recent court filings. James asked a judge to force the company to comply with subpoenas issued last year and early this year. On Tuesday, the judge ordered Cushman to appear in court later this month. New York Attorney General Letitia James has broadened her civil investigation into the accuracy of the Trump Organization's financial statements to include the role of its long-time appraiser Cushman & Wakefield, according to recent court filings. James asked a judge to force the company to comply with subpoenas issued last year and early this year. On Tuesday, the judge ordered Cushman to appear in court later this month.
Several people have been injured in a busy New York City subway after shots were fired at a station in Brooklyn. Police say a male attacker, wearing a gas mask, detonated two smoke grenades and opened fire at Brooklyn's 36th Street station shortly before 8:30 on Tuesday morning.
Ryan Cooper

After Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., killed President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, journalist Luke O’Neil collected testimony from a family who recently lost their child tax credit money as a result. “The $600 we got for our two kids allowed us to pay for my oldest’s preschool, which is $450 a month, and have a little extra for other kid related incidentals,” the father said. “We didn’t have to pull him out of school, but we definitely are now paycheck to paycheck having to fit it into our budget. There have been times where we’ve had to push things to credit cards or just pay things late to be able to make the school payments.”
Noah Kirsch, Zachary Petrizzo

Anew class action lawsuit filed by an investor in Trumpworld’s favorite “Let’s Go Brandon” meme coin claims that some of the token’s key players orchestrated a pump-and-dump scheme. The news marks the latest bit of drama that has plagued the coin since its inception last year and which has persisted since the cryptocurrency relaunched in February. A number of former President Donald Trump’s most loyal fans bought into the crypto hype, only to see the value of their investments plummet. Attorneys for the plaintiff, an investor in the coin named Eric De Ford, claimed that the token’s executives and insiders “made false or misleading statements” and “disguised their control over the [c]ompany.” Ultimately, the 79-page suit filed in Florida alleges, those insiders “cynically marketed the LGB Tokens to investors so that they could sell off their portion…for a profit,” even as the selloff caused the value of the coin to drop precipitously for the remaining crypto holders.
Joe DePaolo

There’s going down with the ship, and then there’s whatever John Eastman is doing. According to a report from ABC News, Eastman — the pro-Trump attorney who drafted a bizarre plan for former Vice President Mike Pence to throw out the 2020 election prior to Jan. 6 — is still actively working to get the 2020 election overturned, even as he’s under subpoena from the Jan. 6 Committee. The attorney and several other Trump allies, per the ABC report, had a two-hour meeting last month with Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos — during which they pressured Vos to throw out the 2020 election results in the state and reclaim the electors which were awarded to President Joe Biden. ABC notes that legal experts say this effort is impossible.
Andy Meek

Companies playing fast and loose with user data online is certainly not a new phenomenon, but one whose practitioners continue to get more egregious and brazen over time, it seems. Google banned dozens of apps from the Google Play Store in recent days, for example, after discovering that they were secretly harvesting data. On Sunday’s episode of John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight, meanwhile, he attacked a different aspect of the same problem: Data brokers.
Jon Skolnik

A Republican judge ruled on Sunday that Abby Finkenauer, a Democrat seeking to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, will no longer appear on Iowa's primary ballot, overruling a previous state decision that ensured her name would appear. Finkenauer called the ruling a "massive gift to Washington Republicans," saying that it "overrules both the Republican secretary of state's office and the bipartisan panel, ignores decades of precedent, interferes in the electoral process, and makes a mockery of our democracy." The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by two Republicans – Kim Schmett and Leanne Pellett – who alleged that the Democratic candidate did not meet the signature quota required to qualify on the ballot, according to The Des Moines Register.
Jane C. Timm

The GOP-controlled Florida Legislature is throwing in the towel after a public fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, over his desire to draw a new congressional map that would carve up two largely Black districts. Republican leaders acquiesced Monday and said the Legislature will let the governor’s office present its preferred map during this month's special session, after DeSantis vetoed the ones approved by state lawmakers earlier this year. “We are awaiting a communication from the Governor’s Office with a map that he will support. Our intention is to provide the Governor’s Office opportunities to present that information before House and Senate redistricting committees,” House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson said in a memo to members shared with NBC News. DeSantis, who is up for re-election and widely thought to be considering a 2024 run for president, took the unusual step of proposing a congressional redistricting map earlier this year, one that would eliminate two Black-held seats while boosting the prospects for Republicans seeking a House seat.
Philip Bump

Donald Trump and his allies spent a large chunk of the 2016 election expressing outrage at how his opponent, Hillary Clinton, had used a private email server to conduct government business as secretary of state. Then Trump became president … and there were multiple reports of members of his administration using private email servers to conduct government business. Oops. In the 2020 election, Trump’s line of attack was different. For the last few weeks of the campaign — and in fact, into the last few weeks of his presidency and beyond — Trump and his allies alleged malfeasance by Joe Biden less directly. Picking up a thread that began in 2019 as Trump tried to pressure Ukraine to announce a probe of his likely Democratic challenger, Republicans focused on business deals involving Biden’s son Hunter, elevating reports from conservative writer Peter Schweizer and others. Trump repeatedly suggested that Hunter Biden had leveraged his father’s position to enrich himself by making deals with foreign nationals.
Rachel Olding

Apair of phony Homeland Security agents who allegedly infiltrated the highest levels of federal law enforcement and plied agents with lavish gifts were somehow tipped off to their arrest last week, allowing them to stash guns and other items, prosecutors revealed in a new filing on Sunday. Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, were arrested last week when cops swarmed the upscale Crossing Apartments in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood, bringing what appears to be an extraordinary two-year-long ruse to an end.
Giulia Carbonaro

As news emerged that Jared Kushner—Donald Trump's son-in-law and former senior adviser—received a $2 billion investment from a fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman not long after leaving the White House, many on Twitter have raised their eyebrows. "After leaving the White House, Jared Kushner cashes in on being 'foreign policy adviser' to his father-in-law with a $2 billion investment from a fund led by the Saudi crown prince," Berkeley professor Robert Reich wrote on Twitter."Who wants to talk more about Hunter Biden's lap top?" "The next time somebody asks you about Hunter Biden getting $3 million from Russia, Ukraine or China, ask them what they think about Jared and Ivanka getting a billion…," tweeted talk show host Thom Hartmann.
Jacob Shamsian, Camila DeChalus, C. Ryan Barber

Former President Donald Trump has had a number of surprising legal victories ever since he left the White House — though his greatest potential battles are still looming. In November, Summer Zervos, who had accused Trump of sexual assault following her appearance on "The Apprentice," dropped her lawsuit against him before he was forced to sit for a deposition. At around the same time, a New York state judge dismissed a lawsuit from Michael Cohen seeking to have the Trump Organization reimburse his legal fees for work he did on Trump's behalf. But greater dangers loom. The Trump Organization is the subject of a sprawling investigation from the Manhattan district attorney's office and the New York attorney general's office into alleged financial misconduct. In Atlanta, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is weighing charges over his conduct in the 2020 election. Those investigations are proceeding as the Justice Department comes up on the five-year deadline to prosecute Trump over acts of possible obstruction that former Special Counsel Robert Mueller III scrutinized as part of his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
Ryan Bort

Jared Kushner landed $2 billion from Saudi Arabia six months after his father-in-law, Donald Trump, left the White House. The sum was sent to Kushner’s private equity firm after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman overruled advisers for his nation’s sovereign wealth fund, who thought Kushner and his firm were too sketchy to warrant such a large investment, The New York Times reported on Sunday. The $620 billion fund’s advisory panel was reportedly concerned that Kushner’s newly created firm, Affinity Partners, didn’t have much experience; that the firms operations were “unsatisfactory in all aspects”; and that Kushner posed a “public relations risk” because of his work in the Trump administration. The fund’s advisers discussed these issues during a meeting last June 30, days after which bin Salman overruled them and green-lit the payment.
Julia Davis

As Russia’s war of aggression continues to ravage its neighbor, the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus has been more blatant than ever before in outlining the country’s goals for its biggest nemesis: the U.S. Last week, American intelligence officials reportedly assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in U.S. elections. Though AP reported that “it is not yet clear which candidates Russia might try to promote or what methods it might use,” Russian state media seem to be in agreement that former U.S. President Donald Trump remains Moscow’s candidate of choice.The time is coming “to again help our partner Trump to become president,” state TV host Evgeny Popov recently declared. On Thursday’s edition of the state television show The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, Putin’s pet pundits offered an update on plans for 2024. “We’re trying to feel our way, figuring out the first steps. What can we do in 2023, 2024?,” Russian “Americanist” Malek Dudakov, a political scientist specializing in the U.S., said.
David Edwards

The computer repair shop owner who turned over Hunter Biden's alleged laptop to the FBI now says that many reports about photographs on the device are "misinformation." During an interview with Real America's Voice, host Ed Henry asked John Paul Mac Isaac if he observed disturbing images of children on the laptop. But Mac Isaac, a Trump supporter, explained that he contacted the FBI about the laptop because he was concerned about "national security" implications. "That's what caused me to do a deep dive into the laptop once it became my property," Mac Isaac said. "During that time, I saw a lot of photos. I did not see a lot of photos that are being reported to be seen."
Lauren Feiner

Billionaire Elon Musk’s reversal of his decision to join Twitter’s board opens the door to a hostile takeover and could lead to additional volatility in the stock, according to analysts. Musk’s decision not to join Twitter’s board means he’s no longer limited to owning just 14.9% of the company. Now, many analysts suggest the Tesla CEO could bolster his stake and eventually try and establish control.
Vivian Kane

Copycat versions of Florida’s immensley cruel so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law are starting to pop up in states across the country. Versions of the legislation, which so far we’re seeing in at least Ohio, Louisiana, and Georgia, ban “classroom discussion” and “instruction” of “gender identity and sexual orientation.” Similarly, an Oklahoma Republican recently introduced a bill banning books that discuss, among other things, “gender identity.” All of this is terrifyingly regressive but it also begs the question: What exactly do these Republicans think gender identity is? Because if they truly succeeded in barring these discussions from classrooms, things would get very weird!What they all seem to be missing is the fact that things like “male,” “female,” “boy,” and “girl” are markers of gender identity. Separating boys and girls into teams in P.E. class? That’s instruction about gender identity. Reading a fairytale where a princess falls in love with a prince? That’s sexual orientation, as is literally any book where a character has two parents.
My body my choice unless you are a woman or a member of the LGBTQ living in a Republican state.

The annual number of anti-LGBTQ bills to have been filed has skyrocketed over the past several years, from 41 in 2018 to 238 in less than three months of this year.
By Matt Lavietes and Elliott Ramos

State lawmakers have proposed a record 238 bills that would limit the rights of LGBTQ Americans this year — or more than three per day — with about half of them targeting transgender people specifically. Nearly 670 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed since 2018, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the American Civil Liberties Union and LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans, with nearly all of the country’s 50 state legislatures all having weighed at least one bill. Throughout that time, the annual number of anti-LGBTQ bills filed has skyrocketed from 41 bills in 2018 to 238 bills in less than three months of 2022. And this year’s historic tally quickly follows what some advocates had labeled the “worst year in recent history for LGBTQ state legislative attacks,” when 191 bills were proposed last year.
Katherine Huggins

Dick Morris, a Newsmax host and former adviser to Bill Clinton, unapologetically tore into Fox News host Tucker Carlson‘s rhetoric about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Saturday. “The problem with Tucker Carlson is that he has a hell of a podium there, the number one rated cable news show in the country,” Morris said. “And from the beginning he has been making excuses for Vladimir Putin, defending him, attacking [Volodymyr] Zelensky personally.” The segment began with Newsmax’s Grant Stinchfield ridiculing Carlson’s claim that the war in Ukraine does not benefit Ukrainians, but does benefit all of Washington. Stinchfield noted a few exceptions including lobbyists and the defense industry, but said that overall, “pushing the idea that all of Washington are warmongers are dangerous,” and “Carlson is out front with some of those calls.” Morris called the idea that Washington would want war — particularly a possibility of nuclear war — “insane.”
R. Douglas Arnold

A decade ago, Democratic and Republican legislators had elaborate plans to fix Social Security’s increasingly shaky finances. Democrats still do. But Republicans haven’t introduced a single comprehensive solvency bill since 2016. What are they waiting for? Social Security is running out of money. It currently collects less money from workers and employers than it distributes to 65 million beneficiaries. It covers the difference by spending down its once-$3 trillion trust fund. When the trust fund runs dry—around 2034—benefits will revert to whatever payroll taxes can then support. If Congress doesn’t fix Social Security before then, benefits for everyone—current and future beneficiaries—will be cut by more than one-fifth. There’s nothing complicated about fixing Social Security. Legislators can raise taxes, as they did in 1977. Or they can cut benefits, as they did in 1983. Alternatively, they could reinvent the program, as they tried in 2005. All three options have been on the table since the solvency problem first emerged in the mid-1990s.
My body my choice unless you are a woman or a member of the LGBTQ living in a Republican state.

Dustin Jones, Jonathan Franklin

First Florida. Then Alabama. Now, lawmakers in Ohio and Louisiana are considering legislation that mimics the Florida law. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll make a similar bill a top priority at the next session. Across the United States, at least a dozen states are considering new legislation that in several ways will mirror Florida's new controversial law, referred to by some opponents as "Don't Say Gay." The specific details regarding the bills vary between states. But overall, they seek to prohibit schools from using a curriculum or discussing topics of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Corbin Bolies

A Texas woman who was charged with murder on Friday for a self-induced abortion will have her charges dropped. “Yesterday afternoon, I reached out to counsel for Ms. Lizelle Herrera to advise him that my office will be filing a motion dismissing the indictment against Ms. Herrera,” Gocha Allen Ramirez, the district attorney for Starr, Jim Hogg, and Duval counties, said in a statement Sunday.
ktangalakislippert@insider.com (Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert)

Former President Donald Trump said a Republican-led Congress "will end the woke war on women and children" in a series of comments he made about transgender people during a rally in Selma, North Carolina, on Saturday. "A Republican Congress must stand up for parental rights and parental choice. I think that's a good idea. No teacher should ever be allowed to teach far left gender theories to our children without parental consent," Trump said. "It's truly child abuse. Plain and simple." He continued: "Last week, the Biden administration sent Congress a budget crammed with billions and billions of dollars of transgenderism and so-called equity provisions that are nothing more than government sponsored racism. The Republican Congress will end the woke war on women and children, we will stop illegal government discrimination, we will restore the sacred American principle of equality under the law."
Fatma Khaled

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok on Saturday suggested that Donald Trump Jr. received help when he texted former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows strategies to overturn the 2020 election results. Strzok said during his interview on The Katie Phang Show on MSNBC that the January 6, 2021 investigation should look into the person who may have helped Trump Jr. come up with those texts along to Meadows. The former FBI agent said that he thinks investigators, whether in Congress or the Department of Justice, should question the former president's son about who he was talking to, adding that Trump Jr. didn't come up with these "ideas" on his own. "The question is where did they come from? Is this part of a coordinated activity? It certainly appears to be what played out when January 6th came around," Strzok said. When asked whether it is necessary to interview Trump Jr. and if there is enough evidence to reach an indictment, Strzok said that there are some things that can't be rushed and that it's important for prosecutors and investigators to build evidence.
Alex Griffing

Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones reportedly transferred millions of dollars out of InfoWar’s accounts and into shell companies in an apparent gambit to avoid paying victims of the Sandy Hook massacre, who are suing him. Will Sommer reports that in a motion filed Wednesday the families suing Jones claim he has worked to hide InfoWars’ assets and deceptively made the company appear to be on the verge of bankruptcy. Jones is being sued for defamation by the families of some of the 20 children and 6 teachers killed in the 2021 school shooting after Jones claimed that the shooting had never happened and suggested it was a false flag operation. A judge recently found Jones liable for damages and a trial is set for August to determine how much he should pay the families. The families’ motion, filed in Texas, alleges Jones has “doomsday prepped” his finances to avoid paying damages in the future. “On paper, InfoWars parent company Free Speech Systems seems to lose money every year,” Sommer writes in the Daily Beast.
CNN reports Trump’s eldest son texted chief of staff two days after 2020 election to say ‘we have multiple paths … we control them all’
Martin Pengelly

Two days after the 2020 election, Donald Trump Jr texted the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, with strategies for overturning the result, CNN reported. “This is what we need to do please read it and please get it to everyone that needs to see it because I’m not sure we’re doing it,” Trump Jr reportedly wrote, adding: “It’s very simple … We have multiple paths[.] We control them all.” One leading legal authority called the text “a smoking rifle”. CNN said the text was sent on 5 November 2020, two days before Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election and the next president.
Hannah Sampson

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to suspend all travel for county business to Florida and Texas, citing policies and legislation in the Republican-led states that officials said were driven by "transphobia and homophobia." Supervisors cited the February order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, directing the state to investigate reports of gender-affirming treatments as potential child abuse. "To be clear, the directive is not about protecting trans kids," the board's motion said. "It is about denying their existence and cutting off access to life-saving treatment."
Authorities say a 26-year-old woman has been charged with murder in Texas after causing “the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.”
By KEN MILLER and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas -- A 26-year-old woman has been charged with murder in Texas after authorities said she caused “the death of an individual by self-induced abortion,” in a state that has the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. It’s unclear whether Lizelle Herrera is accused of having an abortion or whether she helped someone else get an abortion.
Jason Lemon

A Republican official in Virginia is being pushed to resign by the local GOP after a Facebook post was discovered in which he used the N-word and floated the idea of "lynching" Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other leaders in Washington, D.C. The Republican Party of Hampton, Virginia last week became aware of a February 2021 Facebook post by Hampton Electoral Board Chair David Dietrich. In the post, Dietrich attacked Austin—the first Black Defense Secretary in U.S. history—and other Democratic leaders. The controversy was first reported by local WAVY News 10. Dietrich said in the post that Austin's efforts to root out white nationalists in the military was actually a ploy "to remove conservative, freedom-loving Americans from the roles." He said Austin and other Democratic leaders are "vile and racist," describing them as "stinking" N-words. "If it is a civil war they want, they will get it in spades," he wrote. "Perhaps the best way to pull us back from the brink is a good public lynching."
Chris Cwik

Former Ohio State star and NFL first-round draft pick Dwayne Haskins died Saturday. He was 24. Haskins was reportedly struck by a car Saturday morning. He was in South Florida training with Pittsburgh Steelers players for the 2022 NFL season. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Haskins' death, calling Haskins "one of our hardest workers, both on the field and in our community."
by: Regina Mobley, Jane Alvarez-Wertz

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) – The Chairman of the Hampton GOP has called upon the appointing authority for all electoral board members to remove Electoral Board Chair David Dietrich from his position because of racist comments posted on Facebook. A racist Facebook post believed to be posted by Dietrich came to light last week. “In the post, Mr. Dietrich uses abhorrent and unacceptable racist language that has no place in our Party or our Commonwealth,” stated a news release from the Republican Party of Hampton. The organization’s Facebook Page includes a screenshot of a disturbing post attributed to Dietrich.
CNN's Manu Raju and Gloria Borger discuss how Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was the only Republican to stand to applaud after Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation vote.
Jon Ward | Yahoo News

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in a hearing in federal court on Friday, sought to quash a legal challenge that would bar her from running for another term in Congress. Federal Judge Amy Totenberg heard arguments from lawyers for Greene, a first-term member of Congress from northwest Georgia, and from voters in her district who want to block her from running for reelection. The lawsuit against Greene seeks to prevent her from appearing on future ballots because it alleges she violated the Constitution by encouraging and “facilitating” the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
MATTHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it is unable to compile a complete and accurate accounting of gifts presented to former President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials by foreign governments during Trump's final year in office, citing missing data from the White House. In a report to be published in the Federal Register next week, the department says the Executive Office of the President did not submit information about gifts received by Trump and his family from foreign leaders in 2020. It also says the General Services Administration didn’t submit information about gifts given to former Vice President Mike Pence and White House staffers that year.
Now DeSantis is threating Georgia and telling them who can and cannot elect as their governor.

Brad Dress

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday warned of a coming “Cold War” between Florida and Georgia if Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams wins the gubernatorial election in the latter state. During a press conference in Gulf County, located in northwest Florida, DeSantis referenced the ongoing Masters golf tournament in Georgia, using it as an apparent segue into discussing the state’s elections. DeSantis said he “really appreciates our Georgians” but that voters would have to “take care” of the 2022 election to prevent Abrams from winning. “If Stacey Abrams is elected governor of Georgia, I just want to be honest, that will be a cold war between Florida and Georgia,” he said. “I can’t have [former Cuban communist leader Raul] Castro to my south and Abrams to my north, that would be a disaster. So I hope you guys take care of that and we’ll end up in good shape.”
By Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen and Annie Grayer, CNN

Washington (CNN) Two days after the 2020 presidential election, as votes were still being tallied, Donald Trump's eldest son texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that "we have operational control" to ensure his father would get a second term, with Republican majorities in the US Senate and swing state legislatures, CNN has learned. In the text, which has not been previously reported, Donald Trump Jr. lays out ideas for keeping his father in power by subverting the Electoral College process, according to the message reviewed by CNN. The text is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. "It's very simple," Trump Jr. texted to Meadows on November 5, adding later in the same missive: "We have multiple paths We control them all."
By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) A leader of the Proud Boys pleaded guilty on Friday to two felony charges in one of the most prominent criminal cases against an organized far-right group that participated in the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. Charles Donohoe, 34, is the first person in the Proud Boys leadership to plead guilty and to assist the Justice Department's investigation against the pro-Donald Trump group. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting an officer and could provide vital information to prosecutors about what the top members of the organization had planned for the attack. Donohoe, who led the Proud Boys North Carolina chapter, could face more than seven years in prison according to the plea hearing read aloud in court, and agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution for damage done to the Capitol.
Robert Snell, Sarah Rahal | The Detroit News

Grand Rapids — Jurors Friday acquitted two men Friday accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and deadlocked on charges against the two alleged ringleaders, delivering a staggering blow to the government in one of the largest domestic terrorism cases in recent U.S. history. Chief U.S. District Robert Jonker declared a mistrial on kidnapping conspiracy charges against accused ringleaders Adam Fox, 38, of Potterville and Barry Croft, 46, of Delaware. Accused plotters Daniel Harris 24 and Brandon Caserta, 34, of Canton Township, were being freed Friday afternoon after nearly two years behind bars.
By Maria Caspani

April 7 (Reuters) - Alabama lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that would criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, with a threat of 10 years in prison for medical providers. The legislation, passed 66-28 by the state's House of Representatives on the last day of the legislative session, is the latest in a flurry of measures in Republican-led states dealing with transgender youth. The American Civil Liberties Union called it the first bill of its kind to make healthcare for transgender youth a felony and said it would challenge the bill in court if Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed it into law.
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN) Mitch McConnell is at it again. Asked during an appearance on Fox News Thursday night whether he would allow a Supreme Court nomination to go through if a vacancy opened up and Republicans were in the Senate majority next year, McConnell said this: "I'm not gonna announce what our agenda might be on appointments before we even become the majority. I hope we're in a position to make a decision." That came after an interview McConnell did with Axios' Jonathan Swan Thursday morning, in which he declined to commit to holding hearings for a potential Supreme Court nominee if he became the Senate majority leader next year. Which, wow. To be clear, what McConnell is saying is that he won't pledge to consider a nominee to fill a Supreme Court opening in the final two years of President Joe Biden's term. Which is a step beyond even where McConnell had previously drawn his line on high court nominations.
Now that Trump is out of office, Sean Hannity has been going hard at President Biden, but the truth is, he has been speaking in signals and sending very cleverly coded messages. Narrating the brazen and unchecked hypocrisy we are being bombarded with every day. He’s been saying things that seem to be about Biden but are quite cleverly about someone else.
Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) has seemingly responded to a tongue-lashing from Tucker Carlson, although he took the passive-aggressive approach. He liked a tweet calling the Fox News host a “white nationalist” favored by Vladimir Putin. In a segment Wednesday, Carlson said Utah’s leaders are failing to represent their conservative constituents. He also shredded Cox for using his gender pronouns during a conversation with a teenager. The Fox News host shared a video with his audience, wherein Cox said to a girl, “Well, thank you so much Debbie for that, that question… My preferred pronouns are he him, and his. So thank you for sharing yours with me.” Carlson ripped Cox as a “creepy” liberal, and speculated his brain is owned by special interest groups. “What a creepy guy,” he said. “Spencer Cox identifies as a male, at least to some limited extent. Cox could’ve cleared up that mystery a lot more quickly simply by declaring, ‘I’m a man.’ Instead, he went full hostage video.”
After Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Trump's pro-Putin comments are dividing his GOP base. Could this be what causes the 'cult of Trump' to crack? CNN senior global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga joins John Avlon on this week's Reality Check to give her perspective on whether the GOP might rediscover its commitment to freedom.
By Chloe Melas and Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) Will Smith will not be allowed to attend the Academy Awards for the next 10 years, as a result of his slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage during this year's Oscar ceremony, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences announced in a statement obtained by CNN. "The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards," Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement on Friday. The decision was made during a Board of Governors meeting held earlier in the day in Los Angeles. The meeting, initially scheduled for April 18, was expedited after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy last week. Smith issued a quick, concise statement on his ban from the Oscars for the next decade. "I accept and respect the Academy's decision," the actor said in a statement to CNN.
Recent Oscar winner has had to get professional help to deal with stress

After the attack on Chris Rock at this year's Oscars, Will Smith will seek expert help to deal with stress at a celebrity rehab clinic. The American actor was the star of the Academy Awards night when he slapped the comedian after he made a joke about the shaved hair of the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia. This moment had such repercussions that, as reported by the British newspaper 'The Sun', the artist will spend some time in a rehabilitation clinic. "The impact of the backlash has hit Will hard, so he will be getting help on dealing with stress," explained the newspaper.
Cristiano Lima, Aaron Schaffer

After Russia launched its invasion, Ukrainian officials publicly pleaded for Elon Musk’s SpaceX to dispatch their Starlink terminals to the region to boost Internet access. “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,” Musk replied to broad online fanfare. Since then, the company has cast the actions in part as a charitable gesture. “I’m proud that we were able to provide the terminals to folks in Ukraine,” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at a public event last month, later telling CNBC, “I don’t think the U.S. has given us any money to give terminals to the Ukraine.” But according to documents obtained by The Technology 202, the U.S. federal government is in fact paying millions for a significant portion of the equipment and for the transportation costs to get it to Ukraine. On Tuesday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it has purchased 1,333 terminals from SpaceX to send to Ukraine, while the company donated 3,667 terminals and the Internet service itself.
Michael Luciano

In September, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) announced he was placing holds on every civilian nominee to the departments of Defense and State until secretaries Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken resign from the agencies, respectively. A single lawmaker is able to do this because the United States Senate has dumber rules than a persnickety HOA. On Thursday, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) took to the floor and excoriated his Republican counterpart for preventing the departments from being adequately staffed, focusing on defense in particular. The normally low-key Schatz thundered about Hawley for more than two minutes. In his speech, Schatz eviscerated him for demanding Austin’s resignation, which he called “not a serious request.” He also pointed to the Republican’s complaint that aid is being delivered to Ukraine too slowly, even after he voted against said aid. The Democrat also noted that Hawley voted to exonerate then-President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial. Trump made Ukraine’s receipt of foreign aid contingent on the country investigating Biden family business dealings. Here is Schatz’s full speech:
By Bob Brigham | Raw Story

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. held multiple interviews on Thursday claiming to still be investigating Donald Trump, but a new report suggests has case has been unraveling. "For Mr. Bragg, a series of interviews on Thursday as well as the release of a lengthy formal statement represent an attempt to quell the intense criticism he has faced over his handling of the high-stakes investigation into the former president," The New York Times reported Thursday. "In December, Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., directed the two senior prosecutors leading the inquiry, Mark F. Pomerantz and Carey R. Dunne, to present evidence to a grand jury with the goal of seeking an indictment of Mr. Trump," the report continued. "Mr. Bragg, two months into his tenure, halted that presentation after disagreeing with Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne on the strength of the case."
Isabel van Brugen

Several members of Donald Trump's inner circle are facing contempt claims for refusing to cooperate or comply with subpoenas from the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack of the U.S. Capitol building. On Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James pushed to have Trump held in contempt for refusing to turn over documents she ordered as part of a subpoena that stemmed from a New York State civil investigation into his financial dealings. A day earlier, Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino became the latest among Trump's former aides to come under fire for refusing to testify before the January 6 committee. A conviction for contempt of Congress carries a maximum fine of $100,000, and 12 months' imprisonment. Below, a round up of every member of the former president's inner circle facing allegations of contempt of Congress.
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