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US Monthly Headline News February 2022
After promising to prioritize the case, the new Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, seems to have abandoned it.
By Jane Mayer

The criminal prosecution of Donald Trump in his home town appears to be all but officially over, at least for now. In an unexpected reversal of roles, Alvin Bragg, who took over as Manhattan’s District Attorney, in January, after campaigning on a promise to hold the former President accountable, instead seems to have all but abandoned the case that was brought by his predecessor Cyrus Vance, Jr., a prosecutor often criticized for being too timid.​​ Before finishing out his third term as Manhattan D.A., Vance’s office successfully took its case against Trump to the Supreme Court twice. His office then indicted both Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and his former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, on tax charges. Prosecutors under Vance were reportedly focussing on whether Trump had criminally manipulated sworn statements of his net worth to mislead banks into giving him favorable loans, and government authorities into falsely reducing his taxes.
Greene and Gosar increasingly isolated in Hill GOP after speaking at white nationalist event
The House and Senate Republican leaders spoke out after the two conservatives attended a weekend conference organized by a far-right, pro-Russia fringe figure.
By Burgess Everett and Olivia Beavers

Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene are on an island among their fellow GOP lawmakers after appearing with a white nationalist group over the weekend. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a host of other Republican leaders are condemning party members who engage with white nationalist groups, days after Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Greene (R-Ga.) spoke at the extremist-backed America First Political Action Conference. It’s the most serious signs of isolation yet for the two Trump-allied conservatives, as party leaders criticize their actions and decline to defend them. more...
'I've got morons on my team': Romney blasts fellow GOP members for attending White nationalist event and supporting Putin
By Chandelis Duster, CNN

(CNN) Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah on Sunday blasted his fellow GOP members who attended a White nationalist event and those who support Russia President Vladimir Putin as the country invades Ukraine. "Look, there is no place in either political party for this White nationalism or racism. It's simply wrong ... it's evil as well," Romney told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "(Rep.) Marjorie Taylor Greene and (Rep.) Paul Gosar, I don't know them, but I'm reminded of that old line from the 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' movie where - where one character says, 'Morons, I've got morons on my team.' And I have to think anybody that would sit down with White nationalists and speak at their conference was certainly missing a few IQ points." more...
By Melanie Zanona, CNN

(CNN) Republican leaders in Congress are condemning two GOP lawmakers, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona, for speaking at a White nationalist conference over the weekend. On Monday evening, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy publicly weighed in on the matter for the first time. "Last week, I was just in Israel. ... And then when I come back, I see two colleagues, who went and participated with a group that has a leader that many times gives you anti-Semitic views, led a chant for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. To me, it was appalling and wrong," McCarthy told CNN and another reporter outside his office on Monday. "There's no place in our party for any of this." more...
By Jamie Gangel and Ariane de Vogue, CNN

(CNN) The Biden White House is getting a major endorsement for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson from a prominent conservative. In a statement obtained exclusively by CNN, retired federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, considered a luminary in conservative legal circles, enthusiastically endorsed Jackson, describing her as a candidate who is "eminently qualified to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States." "Indeed, she is as highly credentialed and experienced in the law as any nominee in history, having graduated from the Harvard Law School with honors, clerked at the Supreme Court, and served as a Federal Judge for almost a decade." Luttig added. more...
Blum's death follows a long battle with cancer.
By Jeremy B. White

Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s husband Richard Blum died on Sunday after a protracted fight with cancer, the California senator announced on Monday. “My heart is broken today,” Feinstein said in a statement. “My husband was my partner and best friend for more than 40 years. He was by my side for the good times and for the challenges. I am going to miss him terribly.” more...
Nicholas Creel , Assistant Professor of Business Law, Georgia College and State University

Several prominent Republicans are currently claiming that, were Donald Trump still president, Russia would have never dared to invade Ukraine. Not only does this sort of talk needlessly turn our foreign policy into a partisan issue, it is also resting on assertions that are offensively disconnected from reality. The core of this contention rests on the idea that Trump was a strong leader who Russian President Vladimir Putin would have never dared crossed. The notion that Trump would have shown so much strength as to have deterred Russian aggression requires that we forget both who Trump is and what he did as president. Even a cursory look at these two things will yield ample evidence which suggests that the former president would have been neither capable nor willing to do anything to stop Ukraine's invasion. more...
Recent polling, fundraising numbers and actions of Republican statehouse leaders have suggested that while Trump continues to fixate on 2020, others have reached a limit.
By Allan Smith

When former President Donald Trump took the stage at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, he did so as the still-unquestioned leader of the Republican Party. Yet at the annual gathering of conservative activists, his signature issue — perpetuating the lie that the 2020 election was stolen — has been placed firmly on the backburner. During last year’s event, held months after Trump's loss to President Joe Biden, CPAC held a seven-part panel series on "protecting elections." This year’s conference agenda featured one event devoted to 2020, election administration and voting laws, though it was not openly advertised as such. more...
By Eva McKend, Melanie Zanona and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

CNN — Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming called out two members of her conference who spoke at an event organized by White nationalist Nick Fuentes. “As Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep Paul Gosar speak at this white supremacist, anti-Semitic, pro-Putin event, silence by Republican Party leaders is deafening and enabling,” Cheney tweeted Saturday. “All Americans should renounce this garbage and reject the Putin wing of the GOP now,” she added. more...
Martin’s mother says fight for justice must continue as Al Sharpton makes comparison with teen lynched in Mississippi in 1955
Associated Press in New York

Trayvon Martin’s mother used the 10th anniversary of his death on Saturday to urge those who sought justice for her family to continue to fight. Sybrina Fulton: ‘For the majority of my life, 95%, I had a happy life. I had a joyful life.’ Sybrina Fulton spoke to the National Action Network, the civil rights organization founded by the Rev Al Sharpton in Harlem. She said she had come to New York City from Florida in order to support her supporters. “If you don’t do anything else, don’t give up,” she said. Sharpton compared Martin’s legacy to that of Emmett Till, the Chicago teen whose lynching in Mississippi in 1955 stoked the civil rights movement. more...
Analysis by Brandon Tensley, CNN

Police officers’ aggressive handling of a Black teenager in New Jersey wasn’t anomalous – it was part of an age-old pattern of treating Black men and boys as threats to be subdued. In a video that went viral last week, two Bridgewater Township officers break up a fight at a mall between two boys: one White, the other Black. While the White teenager is pushed onto a nearby couch, the Black teenager is pinned to the ground and then handcuffed. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who’s representing the family of the Black teenager, said in a recent statement that the incident pulled into focus “the kind of racial bias that we need to root out of our system of policing.” more...
Fox News anchor accused of presenting ‘perfect distillation of white supremacy’ in rant against Biden supreme court nominee
Martin Pengelly

The nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attempt to “defile” the supreme court and “humiliate and degrade” the US, the Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson claimed on Friday night. Ketanji Brown Jackson is shown smiling as she raises her right hand to take an oath. She has a microlocked hair style that flows just past her shoulders and is wearing glases, a black suit and a black, white and yellow patterned blouse. If confirmed, Jackson, whose nomination was announced by Joe Biden earlier on Friday, will be the first Black woman on the court. Carlson said Jackson was nominated “because of how she looks”. He said: “Do you want to live in that country? Most people don’t, of all colors. They think you should be elevated in America based on what you do, on the choices not on how you were born, not on your DNA, because that’s Rwanda.” more...
In 10 years since shooting of teenager, the laws, purported to protect the public, have done the opposite, writes Andrew Buncombe

Hundreds of Americans, a disproportionately high number of them Black people, are being shot and killed as a result of controversial “stand your ground” laws that have swept across the nation since the killing of Trayvon Martin, activists say. A decade after the unarmed Black teenager, walking home from a store, was shot and killed by a neighbourhood watch coordinator who claimed he was acting in self-defence, in a moment that shook the nation, activists say an additional 150 people each month have been killed in gun homicides as a result of laws now in effect in 38 states. The total death toll, according to those estimates, amounts to 18,000 people over the past decade. more...
From CNN's Sonnet Swire

After a source told CNN that President Biden has selected Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed his displeasure via Twitter — even though he has previously voted for her. more...
By Maria Cartaya and Dakin Andone, CNN

(CNN) A Florida jury acquitted retired Florida police captain Curtis Reeves in the shooting death of a man in a movie theater eight years ago. Reeves was accused of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2014 killing of 43-year-old Chad Oulson, who was on a movie date with his wife. Reeves pleaded not guilty and claimed self-defense, previously telling authorities he feared he would be attacked after he and Oulson got into an argument. The argument started after Oulson sent a text message to his young daughter's babysitter during previews and Reeves told him to put his phone away, authorities previously said. more...
John Wright

Republican Party canvassers tricked more than 100 South Florida voters — many of them elderly and/or immigrants — into switching their party affiliation to the GOP last year, according to a bombshell investigative report published Friday by the Miami Herald. The newspaper sent a team of reporters to eight low-income housing projects in Hialeah and Little Havana, where voter registration data showed unusually high numbers of switching from one party to another. "The reporters knocked on every door where someone’s party affiliation had changed," according to the Herald. "Four out of every five voters who spoke to the Herald — 141 in total — said that their party affiliation had been changed without their knowledge. In all but six cases, records show they were registered as Republicans by canvassers from the Republican Party of Florida." more...
wmur.com

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed an executive order Saturday directing the state Liquor and Wine Outlets to remove Russian made and branded spirits. more...
By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz and Casey Gannon, CNN

(CNN) The man photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern during the January 6 riot was sentenced to 75 days in jail Friday after the judge warned about political divisions in the US, pointing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a cautionary example. "We're on a dangerous slide in America," Judge Reggie Walton said during the sentencing of Adam Johnson, "when one side of our country, when the other side wins, rather than accepting it as the American way, believes that they can do whatever to get who they want in power sitting in the White House. "That's what we see in countries like what we're experiencing now in Ukraine," Walton added. "That's where we're heading if we don't do something about it." more...
Joe Hernandez

Florida's House of Representatives passed a controversial bill on Thursday limiting when and how teachers and school staff can discuss gender and sexual orientation in the classroom. Opponents — many of whom have taken to calling the measure the "Don't Say Gay" bill — say it will make life harder for LGBTQ youth, who already face a higher rate of bullying and a higher risk of suicide than their straight, cisgender peers. But the Republican sponsor behind HB 1557 says it aims to have schools teach gender and sexuality at an appropriate age and to keep parents informed about what's happening in the classroom. more...
By Samuel Benson

Like many GOP primaries this year, the challenge to Sen. Mike Lee in Utah turns on the question of fealty to Donald Trump. Unlike in most of those primaries, however, the issue isn’t whether he’s loyal enough. It’s whether he’s gone too far. In most red states, that wouldn’t be a problem. But in Utah, where many Republicans continue to harbor reservations about Trump’s character, the appearance that Lee has bent over backwards to curry favor with the former president is complicating his bid for a third term. Lee’s predicament is a reflection of Utah’s singular politics. But it’s also a test of the limits of Trump’s appeal in one of the most conservative states in the nation. more...
By Lorraine Ali

The conflict in Ukraine and backpedaling were the main themes of Tucker Carlson’s show Thursday after the Fox News host was slammed for defending Russian President Vladimir Putin, and dragging U.S. President Joe Biden, in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European nation. “I don’t think anybody approves of what Putin did yesterday,” he said. “I certainly don’t.” That wasn’t the note he sounded 24 hours earlier, just before tanks rolled over the border between Ukraine and Belarus, bombs detonated over the capital, Kyiv, and families sought shelter in underground subway stations. As on-scene reporters stressed the gravity of the situation, and American media outlets reacted with equal solemnity, one notable exception emerged: Fox News. more...
Trump has called Russian president ‘smart’ twice in two days amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Sravasti Dasgupta

Moments after Russia announced a military operation in Ukraine, former US president Donald Trump once again praised president Vladimir Putin’s move as “smart” at an event in Florida and subsequently appeared on Fox News to blame the invasion on a “rigged election”. On Thursday morning Moscow time, Mr Putin said that he planned to conduct a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine, confirming fears that he has been massing troops along the border for weeks in preparation for a strategic offensive. Soon after his announcement, gunfire and explosions could be heard in at least five places in Ukraine or near the Russian border, including the capital Kiev. more...
The Senate voted 24-15 in favor of Ladapo after about 40 minutes of debate, mostly from Democrats who criticized the Harvard-trained medical doctor for not fully supporting Covid-19 vaccines.
By Arek Sarkissian

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate on Wednesday confirmed Joseph A. Ladapo to be the next state surgeon general despite warnings from Democrats that the state’s new top doctor is merely a political lackey for Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senate voted 24-15 in favor of Ladapo after about 40 minutes of debate, mostly from Democrats who criticized the Harvard-trained medical doctor for not fully supporting Covid-19 vaccines. State Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Miami) said Ladapo’s reluctance to offer definitive answers about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines or wearing face masks left him convinced the nominee posed a threat to the state’s 21 million residents. “When you are noncommittal to everything, then the optics are that you’re a ‘yes’ man,” Pizzo said. “And we can’t have the third largest state country’s top doctor being a ‘yes’ man to a politician.” more...
Jake Lahut

Former President Donald Trump erroneously said US troops were deploying in Ukraine. "You told me about the amphibious attack by Americans. You shouldn't be saying that," Trump said. "No, those are the Russians," Fox News host Laura Ingraham replied. After former President Donald Trump was cut off during a call-in interview on Fox News Thursday night, he returned to the airwaves shortly afterwards with a gaffe about the US military. "You know what's also very dangerous is you told me about the amphibious attack by Americans," Trump mistakenly said on "The Ingraham Angle." more...
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

(CNN) Former President Donald Trump has signaled to Republicans that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "genius" for invading Ukraine. Now we shall see what happens. Will the party's lawmakers back President Joe Biden as he stands up to Putin? Or, as the majority did with a collective amnesia on the January 6 insurrection, will they retreat on promised sanctions and support for Ukraine? The GOP, already changed by Trump, may be molting again. more...
Maia Vines

New York-based cosmetics company Estee Lauder suspended John Demsey, an executive group president, due to a recent Instagram post that included a racial slur, according to The Wall Street Journal. The social media post, which has since been removed from Demsey’s personal account, displayed a spoof book cover of the TV show “Sesame Street,” and contained the N-word and jokes about Covid-19, said the Journal. “The content posted does not represent the values of The Estée Lauder Companies,” the company said in an internal memo obtained by the Journal. more...
America's old and weak infrastructure isn't just a matter of politics. A yearslong failure to update America's infrastructure has put us all in grave danger.
By Ja'han Jones

As several world leaders, including President Joe Biden, previously promised, sanctions have been levied against Russia for the country’s recent military aggression against Ukraine. It’s possible the sanctions won’t have an impact on the Russian government in the immediate term, given that President Vladimir Putin has spent years trying to financially fortify the Kremlin against financial repercussions over his attempts to re-create the Soviet Union. more...
Gov. Greg Abbott said those who fail to report instances of minors receiving gender-affirming medical care could face “criminal penalties.”
By Jo Yurcaba

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on “licensed professionals” and “members of the general public” to report the parents of transgender minors to state authorities if it appears the minors are receiving gender-affirming medical care. The directive was part of a letter Abbott, a Republican, sent Tuesday to the Department of Family and Protective Services, calling on it to “conduct a prompt and thorough investigation” of any reported instances of minors undergoing “elective procedures for gender transitioning.” Abbott’s letter follows an opinion released Monday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which stated that allowing minors to receive transition care such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery is child abuse under state law. more...
by Jake Offenhartz

Former Sergeant's Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins surrendered to federal authorities on Wednesday morning, amid allegations that he defrauded the police union’s membership out of nearly $1 million over four years. Mullins, who led the 13,000-member union for two decades until his resignation in October, pleaded not guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud. He was released on $250,000 bail. Between 2017 and 2021, prosecutors allege that Mullins raked in hundreds of fraudulent reimbursements from the union’s dues fund for non-work related expenses, including high-end meals, jewelry, home appliances and a relative’s college fund. As part of the alleged scheme, Mullins regularly inflated the cost of his meals by an order of magnitude, seeking as much as $800 in reimbursement for a $45 check at a wine bar, according to the complaint. more...
By Sonia Moghe and Devan Cole, CNN

Washington (CNN) Two top prosecutors working on the Manhattan district attorney's criminal investigation into the Trump Organization resigned Wednesday, leaving the years-old probe without two key players as it appeared to have entered a crucial phase. Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz submitted their resignations to the DA's office, Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for the office, told CNN in a statement, adding that "we are grateful for their service." "The investigation is ongoing," Filson said. "We can't comment further." The New York Times first reported the prosecutors' resignations. CNN has reached out to Pomerantz and Dunne for comment. more...
By Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand and Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes will be held in jail while he awaits trial, a federal judge in Washington, DC, ruled on Friday after prosecutors revealed new Signal app messages where Rhodes allegedly called January 6 "the final nail in the coffin of our republic" and instructed his followers to prepare for violence. The messages from the encrypted app, which were presented during hearings Wednesday and Friday, allegedly show how Rhodes advocated for then-President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act. If Trump didn't, prosecutors allege, Rhodes repeatedly suggested that his followers should be ready to act without Trump's support. "Be prepared for a major letdown on the 6th to the 8th, and be ready to do it ourselves," one message read aloud in court said. "He must know that if he doesn't act, we will. He has to understand that we will have no choice," said another message. After the riot, Rhodes allegedly messaged associates that if Trump failed to invoke the Insurrection Act before he left office, "patriots should... prepare to walk the same path as the founding fathers." more...
Rebecca Falconer

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) called out fellow House Republicans on Tuesday for criticizing President Biden's response to Russia invading Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized former President Trump, saying by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a genius, he "aids our enemies."

Driving the news: House Republicans tweeted a screenshot of Biden walking away with the comment: "This is what weakness on the world stage looks like."

What he's saying: Kinzinger retweeted the post with the comment: "As still 'technically' a member of house Republicans, let me, with all my might, condemn this damn awful tweet during this crisis. You can criticize policy but this is insane and feeds into Putins narrative. But hey, retweets amirite?" more...
Alana Wise

Former President Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's moves in Ukraine, calling him "savvy," after the Kremlin recognized the independence of two breakaway, Russian separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine. "I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius.' Putin declares a big portion ... of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent," Trump said in an interview Tuesday on the conservative Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show. The former president was referencing two rebel-controlled territories, Luhansk and Donetsk, which make up a larger region called Donbas that borders Russia. The two territories have been led by pro-Russia separatists for nearly a decade. more...
Bob Brigham

Republicans in Arizona were blasted for attacking public school teachers in a new column by E.J. Montini of The Arizona Republic. He noted that Republican state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita called teachers “educational terrorists" and Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon said they are "a scourge on our society." Salmon, a former Republican congressman, vowed a "confrontational" relationship with the Arizona Education Association if elected governor. "So, teachers are the problem? Has Salmon not been paying attention to what the Arizona Legislature and lawmakers like Ugenti-Rita have done to the state’s public school system over the past several years?" he asked. "As in, wreck it." more...
The incident in Midvale, Utah, began after the father received an incorrect order, police said.
By Chantal Da Silva

A man was arrested Monday after ordering his 4-year-old son to shoot at Utah police officers in a McDonald's drive-thru during an incident that began over an incorrect order, police said. The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake said in a statement that officers were called to a McDonald's in Midvale, a city in Salt Lake County, at around 1:30 p.m. following a report of a man brandishing a firearm at employees after receiving a wrong order. Police said employees asked the man to pull over to the front of the store while they corrected the order. During this time, they also put in a call to police. When officers arrived on the scene, they issued several verbal commands ordering the man to exit the vehicle, but he did not cooperate, police said. more...
Will Carless | USA TODAY

A year ago, conservative pundits couldn’t air enough breathy reports about Antifa. Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and Alex Jones warned of a veritable anarchist army ready to overthrow the U.S. government and impose a communist regime. It didn't. After hordes of supporters of former President Donald Trump invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Antifa was nowhere to be seen. Two weeks later, when Joe Biden was inaugurated as president, experts warned far-right activists might descend on Washington again. more...
By Saranac Hale Spencer

The National Archives recovered 15 boxes of materials from former President Donald Trump’s time in office. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, claimed that the law allowed Trump to “take documents when he left the White House.” But a former president isn’t allowed to take possession of official records, which Trump has said these are. more...
TMZ

Spare D.L. Hughley the outrage over Kim Potter getting a 2-year sentence for killing Daunte Wright -- he says America's judicial system consistently lets cops off lightly, while ordinary Joes get the max. We got the comedian and author at LAX Friday ... just a few hours after ex-officer Potter was sentenced for first and second-degree manslaughter. She could have gotten up to 15 years in prison, but D.L. says that almost never happens because, "There's a certain amount of accountability they refuse to ascribe to police officers." more...
Republicans are trying to Whitewash American History

Northwest Moinfo.com

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is talking about what he wants to see in public schools. He introduced his so-called “Love America Act” last year. It would require first-graders to read and be able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, fourth graders to read the U.S. Constitution and be able to recite its preamble and tenth grade students to read and be able to identify the Bill of Rights, among other rules. It would also block federal funds to schools that teach issues such as white supremacy and racism, including Critical Race Theory. more...
Bill Bostock

Lawyers representing former President Donald Trump in his battle with the New York attorney general's office got so tense in court proceedings on Thursday that the judge had to call several time-outs, The New York Times reported. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled on Thursday that Trump and two of his children had to sit for depositions in Attorney General Letitia James' civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization broke state laws in its business dealings. James has long tried to compel Trump to submit to questioning as part of her investigation, and Trump has fought those efforts in court. more...
Hannah Miao

Stocks slumped Thursday amid heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine with confused investors dumping risky assets and rotating into bonds. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its worst daily performance of the year on a points and percentage basis. The blue-chip average shed about 622.24 points, or 1.8%, to 34,312.03, steadily declining throughout the trading day. The S&P 500 dipped 2.1% to 4.380.26. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.9% to 13,716.72. more...
By MICHAEL R. SISAK

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in New York state’s civil investigation into his business practices, a judge ruled Thursday. Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with subpoenas issued in December by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump and his two children must sit for a deposition within 21 days, Engoron said. Engoron issued the ruling after a two-hour hearing with lawyers for the Trumps and James’ office. The ruling is almost certain to be appealed, but if upheld it could force the former president into a tough decision about whether to answer questions, or stay silent, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination. Spokespeople for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. more...
By Sean Lyngaas, CNN

Washington (CNN) Russian government-backed hackers have acquired sensitive information on the development and deployment of US weapons by breaching American defense contractors over the last two years, US security agencies said in a public advisory on Wednesday. The information gathered is unclassified, but offers "significant insight into US weapons platforms development and deployment timelines," and also covers export-controlled technology, according to the FBI, National Security Agency and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It's one of the clearest public statements yet from the US government on how Kremlin-linked hackers have gathered intelligence on US defense contractors — a problem Washington has faced for years. The intrusions hit contractors supporting every US military branch, including the Air Force, Army, Navy and Space Force, as well as firms that work on defense and intelligence programs, US officials said. more...
By Alexander Bolton

Senate Republicans are scrambling to figure out how former President Trump’s mounting legal troubles will affect his grip on the party and chances of running for office again in 2024. Allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has worked behind the scenes to counter Trump, are wondering whether the former president’s clout may fade regardless of what happens in the 2022 midterm elections because of his many legal entanglements, including investigations by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D). The latest development came Monday evening when Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, severed ties with him and his business empire and said it could no longer vouch for the reliability of a decade’s worth of financial statements it prepared for the Trump Organization. more...
On paper, 900,000 Americans have died from covid-19—but excess death tracking tells a different story.
By Ed Cara

Over a million more Americans than expected have died during the covid-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found. An overwhelming majority of these excess deaths can be directly tied to the coronavirus, but others may be the result of increased fatalities from conditions indirectly worsened by the pandemic. The CDC has been keeping track of excess deaths (deaths above the average baseline of a given time period) throughout the pandemic. As of last week, their tally climbed to over a million dead, and as of Wednesday morning, it stands at 1,045,389. Officially, just around 925,000 Americans have died from covid-19. more...
Cheryl Teh

A video of police officers breaking up a fight at a New Jersey mall has sparked anger over accusations that law enforcement treated the two teenagers involved in the scuffle — one Black and one white — differently. In a video documenting the fight at the Bridgewater Commons mall in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, the teens can be seen getting into a verbal argument. "Get your hand out of my face," the Black teen said. They then begin shoving each other, and a physical fight breaks out. The Black teen is thrown on the floor by the white teen during the fight. Two police officers — one male and one female — arrive. The female officer pushes the white teen onto a nearby couch and motions for him to stay there. At the same time, the male officer tackles the Black teen to the floor, sitting on him and handcuffing him, while the female officer quickly kneels on his back to keep him down on the ground. "It's cause he's Black. Racially motivated," someone can be heard saying in the video's background. more...
CBS News

San Francisco residents have recalled three members of the city's school board for what critics called misplaced priorities and putting progressive politics over the needs of children during the pandemic, in a year of controversy that captured national attention. Voters overwhelmingly approved the recall Tuesday night, according to tallies by the San Francisco Department of Elections. The special election was the first recall in San Francisco since 1983 -- a failed attempt to remove then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein. more...
By Michael Warren and Gabby Orr, CNN

(CNN) David Perdue kicked off his campaign for governor of Georgia with an emphatic endorsement from former President Donald Trump. But since then, his primary challenge to unseat Brian Kemp -- the Republican governor Trump loves to hate -- has been a big flop. Perdue, a former US senator, has so far raised a fraction of what Kemp has in his campaign war chest. Very few Republican elected officials, operatives, donors and activists in Georgia have abandoned Kemp in favor of Perdue. And limited public polling hasn't been promising, either. "I think Perdue is on life support and knows it," said one neutral GOP operative who requested anonymity to speak freely. "The Kemp momentum is palpable." more...
By Cameron Jenkins

Four employees for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) were fired this week after it was discovered that nearly 2,100 drivers were given licenses without taking road tests. Officials at the RMV confirmed the news to The Boston Globe on Wednesday, saying that the situation is currently under investigation. “Upon discovering suspicious activity regarding the issuance of road tests in 2020, the Registry of Motor Vehicles launched an investigation and referred the issue to law enforcement,”  RMV spokesperson Jacquelyn Goddard told the Globe. “The RMV has determined 2,100 drivers were granted licenses without taking a road test. All of the impacted individuals have been contacted and will be required to take and pass a road test within 10 days. The RMV has terminated four employees involved in this matter and will continue to work with law enforcement on their ongoing investigation.” more...
Reuters

Sea levels around the United States will rise up to a foot over the next 30 years due to climate change, as much as they have risen in the previous century, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects. video...
Miriam Marini | Detroit Free Press

A week of protesting at the Ambassador Bridge has cost the auto industry more than a quarter of a billion dollars, according to an analysis Monday by an East Lansing-based economic research group. Stemming from opposition to vaccine border mandates by the Canadian government, the Freedom Convoy gained international attention when it moved to the Windsor bridge from Ottawa, effectively interrupting traffic between the United States and Canada. The bridge reopened for travel late Sunday night and a few demonstrators remained at an intersection Monday, with a continued heavy police presence. In just one week, automakers, including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, and Toyota suffered an estimated $155 million in losses, Anderson Economic Group said in the study released Monday analyzing the impact of the blockades thus far. Within hours, assembly plants were troubled with shortages and slowdowns. more...
By Sonia Moghe, CNN

New York (CNN Business) The New York Times has prevailed in defending itself against a defamation lawsuit brought by Sarah Palin after jurors found she had not proven her case. The jury of nine, which had been deliberating since Friday afternoon, found the Times not liable for defamation against Palin. Unbeknownst to them, during deliberations, Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that Palin's attorneys did not prove a key element of their case, and that he would set aside the jury's verdict should it have found for Palin. After the jury delivered its unanimous verdict Tuesday, Judge Rakoff briefly told jurors about his decision to dismiss the case and said he and the jurors both came to the same decision. "Your job was to decide the facts. My job was to decide the law," Rakoff said. more...
Development follows claims about ‘fraudulent or misleading’ valuations
Gino Spocchia

Donald Trump’s second son has vowed retaliation against New York’s attorney general after his family’s accountancy firm cut ties. Mazars USA reportedly told the Trump Organization last week that a decades worth of financial statements should no longer be relied on, and that it could no longer work for the Trump family. The accountancy firm said it followed the work of New York Attorney General Leticia James, who is involved in two separate probes into the Trump Organization’s finances, as well as its own investigation. Mr Trump tweeted that attorneys “will be in front of a New York Judge outlining the blatantly unethical behaviour of Tish James the NY Attorney General” on Thursday after Mazars’ announcement was made public in a court filing on Monday. The executive vice president of the Trump Organization added: “There are 81 pages of videos, tweets & fundraising solicitations (some as recent as two weeks ago) in our lawsuit for the judge to see” No further details about the allegations were given. more...
Anderson Cooper 360

Former President Donald Trump's long-time accounting firm informed the Trump Organization last week that it should no longer rely on nearly 10 years' worth of financial statements and that they would no longer be their accountants, citing a conflict of interest. video...
By Sarah Jorgensen, Jason Hanna and Erica Hill, CNN

(CNN) The families of five children and four adults killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have reached a $73 million settlement with the now-bankrupt gun manufacturer Remington and its four insurers, the plaintiffs' attorneys said Tuesday. The settlement comes more than seven years after the families filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Remington, the manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the massacre that left 20 children and six adults dead in Newtown, Connecticut. The families have also "obtained and can make public thousands of pages of internal company documents that prove Remington's wrongdoing and carry important lessons for helping to prevent future mass shootings," the plaintiffs' attorneys said in a news release. "These nine families have shared a single goal from the very beginning: to do whatever they could to help prevent the next Sandy Hook. It is hard to imagine an outcome that better accomplishes that goal," plaintiffs' attorney Josh Koskoff said. more...
U.S. intelligence officials allege a conservative financial website with a significant American readership is amplifying Kremlin propaganda
By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday accused a conservative financial news website with a significant American readership of amplifying Kremlin propaganda and alleged five media outlets targeting Ukrainians have taken direction from Russian spies. The officials said Zero Hedge, which has 1.2 million Twitter followers, published articles created by Moscow-controlled media that were then shared by outlets and people unaware of their nexus to Russian intelligence. The officials did not say whether they thought Zero Hedge knew of any links to spy agencies and did not allege direct links between the website and Russia. more...
CBS New York

Despite the jury still deliberating, a federal judge in Manhattan said he will dismiss the suit, which centered on a 2017 editorial. CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reports. video...
Maroosha Muzaffar, Andrew Naughtie

The Trump Organization’s long-time accounting firm, Mazars USA, is cutting ties with the company, writing in a court filing that a decade’s worth of Donald Trump’s financial statements could no longer be relied upon. And that’s just the beginning of an onslaught of investigations encircling the former president. As a US congressional committee prepares to investigate Donald Trump’s handling of administration documents after 15 boxes of records were transferred from his Mar-a-Lago residence. more...
Historians say the destruction or misappropriation of White House records is a threat to posterity and the public interest. It could also be a criminal act.
By Jonathan Allen

Former President Donald Trump says he never flushed history down a White House toilet. But some historians and public-interest advocates say that new details about Trump's habit of destroying documents — along with his decision to take at least 15 boxes of items home from Washington — have exposed holes in the law governing the preservation of White House records and threatened to muddy the picture of his presidency in ways that are significant for posterity and the rule of law. "You can’t hold anyone accountable and you can’t write an accurate history if you don’t know all that’s there," said Lee White, a lawyer who is executive director of the National Coalition for History. "For historians, it’s the old 'if the tree falls in the forest and no one is there,' how are you going to know a record is missing if it’s missing?" more...
By Melissa Quinn

Washington — Former President Donald Trump's alleged improper handling of White House records while he was in office and after he decamped to Florida has prompted fresh scrutiny over whether he flouted federal law and, if he did, whether he can be held accountable for doing so. The law governing the records-keeping responsibilities of presidents is the Presidential Records Act, which was enacted in 1978 and requires any memos, letters, emails and other documents related to the president's duties be preserved and given to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of an administration. But the Archives has recently revealed that Trump tore up documents while in office, some of which were pieced back together by White House records management officials, and brought with him more than a dozen boxes of items and letters to Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, after leaving office last year. The boxes were retrieved by the Archives last month, the agency said. more...
Deepa Shivaram

California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing is suing Elon Musk's company Tesla over racism and harassment toward Black employees at Tesla's plant in Fremont, Calif., according to a lawsuit filed by the state this week. The company has called the lawsuit "unfair." The lawsuit follows three years of investigation into Tesla and alleges that Black and African American employees at the company's Fremont plant are "segregated to the lowest levels." The lawsuit describes multiple instances of racist language and drawings toward Black employees, penalizing Black employees more harshly than white employees and denying Black employees career advancement opportunities and equal pay for work similar to that of other employees. more...
Situation Room

Despite repeated attacks on Hillary Clinton emails in 2016, Former President Trump's White House record-keeping is in the spotlight after accusations of destroying documents. CNN's Brian Todd has more. video...
By Martin Pengelly

Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, stoked outrage on Sunday by predicting members of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack will be imprisoned if Republicans retake the chamber this year.  One of two Republicans on the committee, Liz Cheney, said : “A former speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent attack on our Capitol and our constitution. This is what it looks like when the rule of law unravels.” Gingrich made his name with scorched-earth opposition to Bill Clinton in the 1990s and ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. He is now, among other pursuits, a prominent Trump supporter and rightwing gadfly. more...
Leaked documents show that about 18 out of 87 applicants, or 21%, to Patriot Front were currently or formerly affiliated with military
Maya Yang

One in five applicants to the white supremacist group Patriot Front claimed to hold current or former ties to the US military, according to leaked documents published and reviewed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and alternative media collective Unicorn Riot. Some 18 out of the 87 applicants, or 21%, said they were currently or previously affiliated with the military. One applicant, who claimed to be a former Marine, also said he currently worked for the Department of Homeland Security, according to the SPLC’s Hatewatch, a blog that tracks and exposes activities of American rightwing extremists. A white supremacist and neo-fascist hate group, Patriot Front emerged as a rebrand of the neo-Nazi organization Vanguard America in the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. more...
Basically, they were just some dudes chit-chatting about the affairs of the day
By Leonard Pitts Jr. | Opinion | Miami Herald

They stormed through police barricades, these “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” They shattered windows and chanted death to the vice president, these “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” They smeared their own feces on the wall, “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Over the past 13 months, we’ve heard Republicans offer all sorts of rationalizations for the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. We’ve heard the white-nationalist thugs who perpetrated it called patriotic and good and likened to tourists. We’ve borne repeated insults to intelligence, memory and the service of police who defended against these gangsters as they tried to overthrow an American election. But even that was scant preparation for the resolution the party adopted last week. It accused the Jan. 6 Select Committee — the one Democrats in the House impaneled after Republicans refused to support a full Congressional probe — of “the persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Mind you, that “legitimate political discourse” gouged eyes and broke bones, erected a gallows and paraded a traitor’s flag through the people’s house. more...
By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

(CNN) The top two Republican leaders in Congress were at odds Tuesday over the Republican National Committee's recent resolution that formally censured GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, pressed by CNN's Manu Raju on the RNC's decision to refer to that day as "legitimate political discourse" in the resolution, said that what occurred on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol was "a violent insurrection." "We all were here. We saw what happened," McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Tuesday. "It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That's what it was." In a rare break with the RNC, McConnell said the committee should not be "singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority," adding that it's "not the job of the RNC." more...
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

The Republican National Committee has officially decided that the mob riot at the Capitol was not lawless violence, but a reasonable public debate on constitutional nuances. That was part of a resolution drafted by the RNC, when it condemned Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for joining the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, which the RNC refers to as a “Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” The party of Donald Trump supports vandals who smashed windows, assaulted police officers, ransacked offices, threatened lawmakers, and defecated on floors, a Trump-triggered strike on democracy that left five dead and 140 cops injured. Apparently, the party that believes kneeling during the anthem desecrates the flag also thinks that using the flag to bludgeon a cop is “legitimate political discourse.” more...
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN) Before he bowed and scraped to Donald Trump in the 2016 GOP primary, Chris Christie had built a national reputation as a straight shooter. Now the former New Jersey governor is trying to reinvent himself as what he used to be -- someone who tells the truth even when it's uncomfortable for his side. Witness what he told conservative radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt about the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol:

"January 6 was a riot that was incited by Donald Trump in an effort to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress into doing exactly what he said in his own words last week: overturn the election. He wanted the election to be overturned." more...
The national party is supposed to be a unifying force. But its vote to censure two anti-Trump House Republicans is having the opposite effect.
By Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Olivia Beavers

Senate Republicans are not happy with the Republican National Committee. In interviews on Monday evening, GOP senators lashed out at their own national party's overwhelming vote to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for working on the House's investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. They warned that alienating a portion of the party for being overly anti-Trump is not a political winner heading into the midterms, a sharp message from sitting members that goes far beyond criticism already aired by a handful of GOP pundits. Several Republican senators took more direct action: Both Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) were in communication with RNC chair Ronna McDaniel about the censure, with Graham calling her and Romney texting his niece. more...
By Ariane de Vogue and Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, allowed a congressional map drawn by Alabama Republicans to remain in place Monday, freezing a lower court ruling that said the map likely violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. The lower court had ordered a new map to be drawn, which could have led to Democrats gaining another seat in the House in the fall. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in dissent. The justices also said they would hear arguments over the map, adding another potentially explosive issue -- concerning the scope of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act -- to the court's docket. more...
By Gustaf Kilander

Joe Rogan claimed Black people have “a different brain” in a resurfaced video that came to light as the podcaster was forced to apologize for using the N-word in his past shows. “Powerful combination genetic wise,” Mr Rogan told a guest who said he had a Black father and a white mother. “Right? You get the body of the Black man and then you get the mind of the white man altogether in some strange combination.” “That doesn’t, by the way, mean that Black people don’t have brains, it’s a different brain,” Mr Rogan can be heard saying in the old clip. more...
Youngkin’s campaign named and posted photo of Ethan Lynne, 17, on Twitter after he criticized the Republican
Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin.
Gloria Oladipo

The Virginia governor, Glenn Youngkin, was accused of creating “a culture of toxicity” in his first months in office, after campaign aides attacked a high-school student, naming and picturing the boy, for sharing a news story about the Republican official. On Saturday, Ethan Lynne, 17 and according to his Twitter biography a Democrat, posted an article which suggested Youngkin could be trying to stop work to highlight the history of enslaved people at the Virginia executive mansion. In response, Youngkin’s campaign account posted a picture of Lynne with the former governor Ralph Northam, next to a picture from Northam’s medical school yearbook of two men in racist costumes: one in Blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan costume. more...
Promising pardons for insurrectionists and calling for protests if indicted could help make a case for obstruction of justice
Peter Stone

Donald Trump’s incendiary call at a Texas rally for his backers to ready massive protests against “radical, vicious, racist prosecutors” could constitute obstruction of justice or other crimes and backfire legally on Trump, say former federal prosecutors. Trump’s barbed attack was seen as carping against separate federal and state investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his real estate empire. Trump’s rant that his followers should launch the “biggest protests” ever in three cities should prosecutors “do anything wrong or illegal” by criminally charging him for his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, or for business tax fraud, came at a 30 January rally in Texas where he repeated falsehoods that the election was rigged. Legal experts were astonished at Trump’s strong hints that if he runs and wins a second term in 2024, he would pardon many of those charged for attacking the Capitol on 6 January last year in hopes of thwarting Biden’s certification by Congress. more...
By Sarah Fortinsky

(CNN) A since-deleted tweet featuring photos of a mask-less Stacey Abrams posing among masked schoolchildren has prompted swift backlash from political opponents who chastised the Georgia Democrat for what they describe as hypocritical behavior after she championed more stringent masking policies in schools. The photos were originally tweeted Friday by the school's principal, Holly Brookins, who wrote, "Extraordinary way to kick off the 3rd Annual African-American Read-In at Glennwood and Black History Month. Thrilled to host @staceyabrams author of Stacey's Extraordinary Words!" Abrams, a prominent Democratic organizer running for governor in Georgia, quote-tweeted the photos and thanked the principal for hosting her. Both tweets have since been deleted, and it appears as though Brookins' account has also been deactivated. more...
By Andrew Feinberg

The wife of one of the Supreme Court justices who could be charged with deciding whether the House January 6th select committee can view Trump administration White House records has signed on to an open letter calling for the committee’s two Republican members to be ousted from the House GOP conference. Virginia “Ginny” Thomas, a longtime conservative activist and the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas , was one of more than 60 signatories to the open letter, which was organised by the pro-Trump Conservative Action Project and asks House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to “act immediately to remove” Reps Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the Republican conference “due to their egregious actions as part of the House of Representative’s January 6th Select Committee”. more...
Joshua Zitser

It has been widely reported that former President Donald Trump had a penchant for tearing apart presidential documents, but new details have emerged about how his aides disposed of potentially important papers. According to The Washington Post, staffers frequently put documents into "burn bags" to be incinerated at the Pentagon. Burn bags resemble paper grocery bags and are widely available throughout the White House complex. Organizations dealing with top-secret information, like the CIA and NSA, often use them because destruction via burn bags is considered superior to shredding. more...
Podcast host apologises for ‘shameful’ matter, but says comments were taken out of context
PA Media

The podcast host Joe Rogan has offered “sincere and humble apologies” after footage emerged of him repeatedly using the N-word on his hit show. The comedian, 54, who has a lucrative deal with the streaming giant Spotify, said it was the “most regretful and shameful thing” he has ever had to speak about, but stressed the clips were “taken out of context”. Rogan has come under fire recently for sharing coronavirus misinformation on his hugely popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. Prominent musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have withdrawn their music from the service over its decision to continue hosting the show, which was reportedly acquired for more than $100m (£77m) in 2020. more...
AARON KATERSKY

Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was convicted Friday of stealing from the client that helped him flirt with fame. He was found guilty of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after he surreptitiously diverted $300,000 that rightfully belonged to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic performer who hired Avenatti to represent her in litigation against former President Trump. Avenatti had pleaded not guilty and argued the evidence against him was insufficient but the jury sided with federal prosecutors who said Avenatti convinced Daniels her book publisher was late with payments owed to her for her memoir, “Full Disclosure,” when he already had the money in an account he controlled. He will be sentenced on May 24. more...
Republicans are banning and burning books they do not like, Americans should be very afraid of the rabbit right.

By Maya Yang

A controversial Tennessee pastor led a book burning on Wednesday night to fight “demonic influences”, with a crowd incinerating copies of books including Harry Potter and Twilight. The burning, which was livestreamed on Facebook, followed last month’s decision by a Tennessee school district to ban the Holocaust-based graphic novel Maus . “We are well aware what we are stepping into. Bring it all. Stop allowing demonic influences into your home,” pastor and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Greg Locke wrote in a Facebook post that has since been removed.  more...
By Gabby Orr, CNN

Salt Lake City (CNN) Republican National Committee members voted Friday to formally censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for their involvement with the House investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The unprecedented move marks the first time the national party has rebuked an incumbent congressional Republican -- much less two -- with a formal censure backed by its members. Prior to its passage, RNC members pushed to have the resolution watered down to remove language calling for Cheney and Kinzinger's expulsion from the House GOP Conference -- a strictly symbolic measure given that the party does not have the authority to decide who does or does not serve in Congress. Cheney and Kinzinger have both played active roles in the House select committee's probe of former President Donald Trump's activities before and during the riot at the Capitol last January. Their status as the lone Republicans on the panel has drawn scorn from fellow GOP lawmakers and party officials who believe they are enabling an unfair investigation led by congressional Democrats. more...
If Republicans really wanted to stop the steal, they should have told Trump and his minions to stop trying to steal the election.

The Beat with Ari

In a bombshell statement, Donald Trump has admitted that he wanted Pence to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Trump said “Pence did have the right to change the outcome… Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” At the same time, Trump is also saying he will consider pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters if he wins the 2024 election. video...
Shasta county’s recall efforts highlight how distrust in the government has led to increasing extremism in local politics
Dani Anguiano

A retired police chief and self-described Reagan Republican with decades of public service, Leonard Moty checked all the boxes to represent his community in one of California’s most conservative counties. But on Tuesday, voters ousted Moty, handing control of the Shasta county board of supervisors to a group aligned with local militia members. The election followed nearly two years of threats and increasing hostility toward the longtime supervisor and his moderate colleagues in response to pandemic health restrictions. While it’s not yet clear who will replace Moty, the two candidates in the lead attended a celebration on Tuesday with members of an area militia group, the Sacramento Bee reported. more...
Sam Levin

Training documents reviewed by the Guardian show the Orange county department is also warning about the ‘extreme left’ and Black Panthers, raising concerns about false equivalency The sheriff’s department in Orange county, California, advised its officers earlier this year not to affiliate with far-right extremist groups and warned them against engaging with white supremacist websites, according to internal documents reviewed by the Guardian.

The Orange county sheriff’s department’s “extremism awareness” training document from February instructed officers not to share disinformation and to avoid associating with militias, QAnon, rightwing platforms like Gab and 4chan, as well as second-amendment groups or law enforcement “clubs” that could be “avenues for exploitation”. The 66-page PowerPoint presentation for staff also included a lengthy section on “the extreme left”, warning officers about “Karl Marx’s influence”; the history of the Black Panther party; anti-fascist groups’ vandalism and “improvised weapons”; and animal rights and anti-war protesters. more...
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN) On Sunday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz offered his take on President Joe Biden's pledge to pick a Black woman for the forthcoming opening on the Supreme Court. "The fact that he's willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a Black woman, I gotta say that's offensive," the Republican senator said. "You know, you know Black women are what, 6% of the US population? He's saying to 94% of Americans, 'I don't give a damn about you, you are ineligible.'" Which, well, huh. On the percentage of the population that Black women comprise, at least, Cruz is right. Just over 13% of the population is Black. Women represent slightly more than half the country's population. So, 6% is roughly accurate for the percentage of Black women in the US. more...
The minors appear to be using sophisticated methods to disguise the source of the threats, which seem to have a racist motivation, a law enforcement official says.
By Antonio Planas and Ron Allen

Six "tech savvy" juveniles have been identified as persons of interest by the FBI in threats to historically Black colleges and universities that appear to be racially motivated. More than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities received bomb threats on Tuesday, the first day of Black History Month. A law enforcement official says the FBI has identified six persons of interest around the country, all juveniles, who are suspected of making the threats. The official says they appear to be “tech savvy,” using sophisticated methods to try to disguise the source of the threats, which appear to have a racist motivation. Howard University was among the first to issue a shelter-in-place order early Tuesday — just a day after the school and several other historically Black colleges and universities received similar threats. more...
By Joseph O’Sullivan

OLYMPIA — In the 2020 general election, Washington counties were more likely to reject ballots by younger voters, men and people of color, compared to other racial and demographic groups, according to a review by the state auditor’s office. The analysis — which was requested by state lawmakers — also shows that where a person lives was the most significant factor to whether their election ballot was rejected. Released Tuesday, the audit comes amid a yearslong discussion in Olympia about access to voting, and more recently, questions by conservatives over election processes and results. While fewer than 1% of ballots cast in the 2020 general election were rejected, according to the audit, there was a broad difference among Washington’s 39 counties. more...
The minors appear to be using sophisticated methods to disguise the source of the threats, which seem to have a racist motivation, a law enforcement official says.
By Antonio Planas and Ron Allen

Six "tech savvy" juveniles have been identified as persons of interest by the FBI in threats to historically Black colleges and universities that appear to be racially motivated. More than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities received bomb threats on Tuesday, the first day of Black History Month. A law enforcement official says the FBI has identified six persons of interest around the country, all juveniles, who are suspected of making the threats. The official says they appear to be “tech savvy,” using sophisticated methods to try to disguise the source of the threats, which appear to have a racist motivation. Howard University was among the first to issue a shelter-in-place order early Tuesday — just a day after the school and several other historically Black colleges and universities received similar threats. more...
Cheryl Teh

On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham again broke with former President Donald Trump, releasing a new statement doubling down on his position that the Capitol rioters should not receive pardons of any kind. "I reject politically motivated violence in all forms. Those who take the law into their own hands for political reasons — whether they are Antifa, Black Lives Matter protestors, the Proud Boys, or others — must be held accountable," Graham said, calling for the January 6 rioters to be "held accountable."  "I was in the Capitol on January 6 and know it was one of the darkest days in American history," he added. more...
By Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver

Democrats on Capitol Hill are faced with a potpourri of issues this week as they deal with a near-term blow to their slim majority, the looming confirmation process of President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court and the dormant status of Build Back Better talks. Through his office, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) on Tuesday disclosed that he suffered a stroke on Thursday last week and underwent “decompressive surgery to ease swelling” in his brain. According to Carlos Sanchez, Luján's chief of staff, the New Mexico Democrat remains hospitalized. In addition to concerns among his colleagues about Luján's health, his absence presents potential near-term trouble for Senate Democrats. They are down a vote in the evenly divided chamber for the immediate future. While Luján’s representatives say the senator is expected to make a “full recovery,” it is unknown when he might return to Washington, leaving Democrats unable to advance nominees or legislation that could require Vice President Harris to cast a tie-breaking vote. Unlike in the House, senators must vote in person. more...
Newsroom

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) disagreed with Donald Trump's vow to pardon Jan. 6 rioters, should he return to the White House. CNN's Manu Raju reports. Source: CNN video...
By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

(CNN Business) ABC News suspended "The View" host Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks on Tuesday night, one day after she drew significant criticism for falsely declaring that the Holocaust was "not about race." "Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments," ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a statement. "While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments," Godwin added. "The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities." As Godwin said in her statement, Goldberg had in fact apologized for her remarks. On Monday night, Goldberg apologized in a note posted to Twitter. And on Tuesday, Goldberg opened up "The View" offering yet another apology. more...
The South Carolina Republican swung from Trump critic to supporter, and now he's swinging from Biden antagonizer to potential ally.
By Burgess Everett

Lindsey Graham was at the garbage dump this weekend when he got some unsolicited input on his favored Supreme Court nominee: Judge Michelle Childs of the U.S. District Court for South Carolina. “Three guys in pick-up trucks came up to me and said she ‘seems like a nice lady. I’m tired of this Harvard-Yale stuff.’ The great equalizer is the garbage dump because everybody’s got to throw out garbage,” Graham said in an interview Tuesday. “I was just struck by what they thought.” The South Carolina senator has often seemed like President Joe Biden’s biggest antagonist over the past couple years, calling for investigations into his son and aligning himself at times with former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. But at this moment, on the critical issue of the upcoming high-court vacancy, Graham might be Biden’s best Republican ally. more...
CNN

Former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush administration, reacts to the news that former President Donald Trump's advisers drafted two versions of an executive order to seize voting machines -- one directing the Department of Defense to do so and another the Department of Homeland Security -- as part of a broader effort to undermine the 2020 election result. The idea of using the federal government to access voting machines in states that Trump lost was the brainchild of retired Col. Phil Waldron and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, the sources said. Both Army veterans spread misinformation about the election being stolen from Trump. video...
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