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US Monthly Headline News March 2022 - Page 1
Investigators are looking into the rally that preceded the Capitol attack.
By Katherine Faulders, John Santucci, Alexander Mallin, and Luke Barr

The Department of Justice is expanding its criminal probe into the events of Jan. 6 to include preparations for the rally that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol, as well as the financing for the event, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. Over the past two months, grand jury subpoenas have been sent to those who assisted in the organizing and planning of former President Donald Trump's "Save America" rally on the Ellipse near the White House, the sources said.
As Bolton sees it, Putin saw an American president moving in a direction Moscow liked, and the Russian leader was waiting for Trump to finish the job.
By Steve Benen

About a week ago, Donald Trump was apparently feeling a bit defensive after his praise for Vladimir Putin created some political troubles for him. It led him to release a ridiculous written statement in which he suggested he was responsible for rescuing NATO. This is, as we discussed soon after, utterly bonkers: The only thing threatening NATO’s existence was Trump himself, who not only repeatedly disparaged the alliance, but who, on several occasions, expressed an interest in abandoning NATO altogether. By all accounts, it was a plan he intended to follow through on in a second term. It was against this backdrop that John Bolton, who served as the White House national security adviser during the former president’s term, told The Washington Post late last week that he believes Trump would’ve withdrawn the United States from the NATO alliance in a second term. That wasn’t a surprising observation, but take note of its possible relevance:
Some conservatives have echoed the Kremlin’s misleading claims about the war and vice versa, giving each other’s assertions a sheen of credibility.
By Sheera Frenkel and Stuart A. Thompson

After President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia claimed that action against Ukraine was taken in self-defense, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the conservative commentator Candace Owens repeated the assertion. When Mr. Putin insisted he was trying to “denazify” Ukraine, Joe Oltmann, a far-right podcaster, and Lara Logan, another right-wing commentator, mirrored the idea. The echoing went the other way, too. Some far-right American news sites, like Infowars, stoked a longtime, unfounded Russian claim that the United States funded biological weapons labs in Ukraine. Russian officials seized on the chatter, with the Kremlin contending it had documentation of bioweapons programs that justified its “special military operation” in Ukraine. As war has raged, the Kremlin’s talking points and some right-wing discourse in the United States — fueled by those on the far right — have coalesced. On social media, podcasts and television, falsehoods about the invasion of Ukraine have flowed both ways, with Americans amplifying lies from Russians and the Kremlin spreading fabrications that festered in American forums online.
America's far right shares a common enemy with Putin and Russia: the West's liberal values and the cabal of elites they believe controls the economy and the media.
Will Carless, Jessica Guynn | USA TODAY

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there has been near unanimous denunciation of President Vladimir Putin, from President Joe Biden calling Putin a "war criminal," to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell describing him as a "ruthless thug." But the Ukraine invasion has found a significant pocket of support from prominent figures on the far right including white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who regularly gushes about Putin on his Telegram channel. The war is also a hot topic in QAnon chatrooms where Putin is often portrayed as a hero.
Russian president has enjoyed support among US conservatives, but Ukraine attack now prompts criticism.
By Chris Moody
Published On 4 Mar 20224 Mar 2022

As Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine continues, a number of prominent American conservatives who had previously been complimentary of Vladimir Putin have been forced to confront past comments praising the Russian president. For years, Putin has enjoyed support from an unlikely coalition of elected Republican officials, conservative Christian leaders and right-wing television hosts, whose praise has ranged from admiration of his intelligence to his hardline position against progressive cultural ideas.
The Russian leader is an autocrat with a homophobic and misogynistic worldview. No wonder he is admired by so many Republicans.
Arwa Mahdawi

Say what you like about Vladimir Putin; he may be slaughtering innocent Ukrainians, but, on the plus side, he has never once called the Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson a racist. Last Tuesday, Carlson, who is reportedly paid $10m (£7.5m) a year for his piercing insights and analysis, told Americans that they had been brainwashed into thinking Putin was a baddie. Think critically, Carlson instructed his depressingly large audience. Ask yourself this, he posited: “Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? … Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs? These are fair questions – and the answer to all of them is no.” To be clear: these are inane questions and the answer to all of them is: “Turn off Fox News before the rest of your brain turns to mush.” Carlson, it should be said, has significantly toned down the pro-Putin rhetoric in the past few days. What is noteworthy, however, is the fact that Carlson is far from the only person on the US right to have a soft spot for old Vlad. While Donald Trump has called the Russian attack on Ukraine “appalling”, he has also called Putin’s actions “genius”, “savvy” and “smart”.
From Trump adviser Roger Stone to Fox Nation host Lara Logan to rocker Aaron Lewis, MAGAworld has unleashed a flood of praise for Putin
By Tim Dickinson

Vladimir Putin is ramping up his brutal assault on Ukraine, shelling civilians from Odessa to Kharkiv, and leveling the port city of Mariupol — leading President Joe Biden to denounce the Russian dictator as a “war criminal.” But if the initial days of the war were marked by some conservatives muting their admiration for the Russian state, a spate of notorious right-wing figures are now dropping the mask to defend Putin, and even claim his fight as their own. Over the weekend, former Trump adviser Roger Stone, MAGA media maven Cassandra MacDonald (née Fairbanks), and former Staind rocker Aaron Lewis all spoke out to praise Putin, denounce Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky — or both. This week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene joined the parade, blaming Ukraine for getting itself invaded, while insisting that the war is a lost cause and that Putin is “being very successful” in Ukraine. Then Lara Logan, the former “60 Minutes” correspondent who has her own show on the streaming service Fox Nation, trumped them all, touting Putin as a heroic global actor, declaring: “He’s the man who is standing between us and this New World Order.”
From Tucker Carlson to Tulsi Gabbard, these prominent Moscow apologists tried to tell you Ukraine’s fate shouldn’t matter to America
By Tim Dickinson

As Vladimir Putin ramps up his military offensive against Ukraine, not everyone is upset that the Russian bear is mauling its European neighbor. Across the American right, prominent figures from Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones to senate candidate J.D. Vance and CPAC star Tulsi Gabbard, have been cheering Putin on, broadcasting their disdain for Ukraine — or both.

Tucker Carlson
Fox News host Carlson has long toasted to Ukraine’s ill health. As far back as 2019, Carlson said out loud that he was for Moscow in its clash with Kyiv. “Why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia?” Carlson asked of a guest. “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which, by the way, I am.”
Ross A. Lincoln

It’s part of a conspiracy theory Tucker Carlson discusses that the U.S. is funding bioweapons labs in Ukraine. Tucker Carlson once again used his tony spot atop Fox News’ primetime lineup to advance some conspiracy theories about the Russian war against Ukraine. This time it was a twofer: 1) the idea America was running secret bioweapons labs in Ukraine, and 2) that the U.S. is actually the one attacking Russia with a disinformation campaign, rather than the other way around. Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in the Biden administration, testified this week before the Senate and discussed biolabs in Ukraine. Right wingers say this is proof that Vladimir Putin isn’t lying — and that the U.S. apparently has been funding secret weapons research in Ukraine. But as even a Fox News’ own Jennifer Griffin explained tonight to Sean Hannity, “those are Soviet-era biolabs that U.S. has been engaged since 2005 in trying to help Ukraine convert the research facilities safely.”
Martin Pengelly in New York

A Republican congressman attacked by Donald Trump at a rally in South Carolina on Saturday called the former president a “would-be tyrant”. Tom Rice voted to impeach Trump over the deadly Capitol attack and will face a Trump-endorsed challenger later this year. In a statement, Rice said: “If you want a congressman who supports political violence in Ukraine or in the United States Capitol, who supports party over country, who supports a would-be tyrant over the constitution, and who makes decisions based solely on re-election, then Russell Fry is your candidate.” Trump has praised Vladimir Putin and avoided invitations to condemn him but he has called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “crime against humanity”. more...
By Mary Papenfuss

Justice Clarence Thomas , whose conservative activist wife has battled to throw out the results of a legitimate presidential election, ironically warned in a speech Saturday that efforts to politicize the Supreme Court could compromise its credibility. “You can cavalierly talk about packing or stacking the court,” Thomas told an audience Friday at a Salt Lake City hotel, the Guardian reported . “You can cavalierly talk about doing this or doing that. At some point the institution is going to be compromised.” “By doing this, you continue to chip away at the respect of the institutions that the next generation is going to need if they’re going to have civil society,” he added, according to the Associated Press . more...
By Morgan Chalfant and Rebecca Beitsch

As Russia began amassing troops on Ukraine’s border deep late last year, CIA Director Bill Burns was ready. A career ambassador, Burns spent two tours at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and is one of the Biden administration’s foremost experts on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. President Biden in November quietly dispatched the former U.S. ambassador to Russia to try to negotiate with the Kremlin and warn them of consequences should they move forward into Ukraine. Eventually, Burns was central to the unusual decision by the administration to proactively declassify and release intelligence on Russian “false flag” operations in Ukraine as a way to disrupt Putin’s messaging and endgame. more...
By Alexander Bolton

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has revealed tensions within the Republican Party over how hard to push back on the aggression and how to respond to former President Trump’s glowing praise of Putin. The national security crisis has shown Trump to be seriously out of step with GOP leaders on characterizing Putin’s motives and moves, even though Trump looks increasingly likely to run again for president in 2024. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday contradicted Trump’s recent praise of Putin as “smart” and “savvy” by declaring that he views the Russian president as a “ruthless thug.” more...
By Katherine Rodriguez | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The average price of gas across all 50 states and the District of Columbia was $4.33 as of Friday, according to AAA. New Jersey ranks in the upper half of the list at No. 14, with an average gas price of $4.38. New York (No. 11) and Pennsylvania (No. 12) also were around there. more...
Critics say party has seized on price hikes to exploit war in Ukraine for its own benefit – ‘an unconscionable act of political cowardice’

In a Washington riven by discord, it can seem like a throwback to a gentler time. “I’m proud to stand with my Republican and Democrat colleagues” to send help to Ukraine, Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the US House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee, said this week. Imports of vodka will be halted in retaliation against the invasion of Ukraine. But even as they express solidarity with Joe Biden’s stance on Russia with one hand, Republicans are launching partisan attacks against the president with the other. The party has, critics say, seized on soaring US gas prices to exploit the tragedy in Ukraine for its own political benefit. more...
The secrecy around the Scheherazade has piqued the interest of Italian officials
By Erin Marquis

Officials across Europe are seizing the yachts of rich and powerful Russian Oligarchs due to sanctions put in place following that country’s invasion of Ukraine. One mysterious vessel in the Tuscan port town of Marina di Carrara is under scrutiny for its over-the-top secrecy as the possible superyacht of a well-connected Oligarch. It’s rumored to be the vessel of Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. The Scheherazade is a 459-foot superyacht almost as long as a U.S. guided-missile destroyer. It’s estimated to have cost $700 million and is one of only 14 such vessels in the world of such an enormous size, the New York Times reports. It’s also the only vessel in that cohort to completely obscure the owner. more...
Over 30 people were defrauded by the man's lease return scam.
By Lawrence Hodge

A good car salesman without a job can be a dangerous person. All that industry know-how under their belt can create the perfect storm for fraud if one wanted to go down that road of finessing people out of their money. That’s what happened with one Detroit car salesman. Fox 2 Detroit reports that this man, posing as a salesman, created an elaborate scam that involved lies and resold cars. Ricardo Perez was at one point a salesperson at Dick Scott Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler in Plymouth, Michigan. But apparently just sticking to selling cars wasn’t enough for Perez. He was fired in the summer of 2021 for fraud and theft. Rather than try to find a position at another dealership, he decided to take his dealer contacts and continue grifting by creating an elaborate web of a scam. more...
By Meredith BlakeStaff Writer

“Real Housewives” reunions are a reality TV ritual: Cast members put on gaudy evening wear, gather for hours on an elaborately decorated set and submit to probing questions from Bravo ringmaster Andy Cohen. Petty sniping, hypocritical finger-pointing and melodramatic storm-offs are all standard — even expected. Productive conversations about racial justice and white privilege, less so. more...
Tim Stelloh

One person has been arrested after a group of spring breakers from West Point suffered a mass fentanyl overdose at a vacation rental in Florida, authorities said Friday night. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the city of Wilton Manors, north of Fort Lauderdale, did not provide details about the arrest, but said authorities from the city's police department and the Broward County Sheriff's Office took someone into custody. In a statement earlier, the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. said it was "aware of the situation involving West Point cadets" that occurred in Wilton Manors on Thursday night. more...
By Cameron Jenkins

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Friday expressed regret for failing to vote to impeach former President Trump the first time over his dealings with Ukraine in light of the recent Russian invasion. Trump was impeached the first time in December of 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. However, he was later acquitted in the Senate. "I want to be honest, in congress I have only a few votes that in [hindsight], I regret. My biggest regret was voting against the first impeachment of Donald Trump," the congressman wrote in a Twitter thread on Friday. more
By Sarakshi Rai

Former President Trump is asking his supporters to help fund his new "Trump Force One" private plane just days after a jet flying him to Mar-a-Lago made an emergency landing when one of its engines failed. Trump, through his Save America PAC, sent his supporters an email titled "Update Trump Force One" in which he said that "my team is building a BRAND NEW Trump Force One." He added that the construction of this plane has been under wraps and said "I can't wait to unveil it for everyone to see." more...
By Peter Sullivan,Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi


The Texas Supreme Court handed a new defeat to abortion providers in the battle over the state’s controversial abortion law. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that state licensing officials lack authority to enforce the state’s six-week abortion ban, handing a major defeat to abortion providers in their legal challenge to the restrictive law. The unanimous 23-page ruling eliminated the final legal avenue providers had pursued in their bid to obtain a federal court order blocking state officials from enforcing Texas’s S.B. 8, the nation’s strictest abortion measure. The ruling effectively determined that the last remaining group of state officials who were named as defendants are beyond the reach of federal courts in the case. Essentially, since state officials don’t enforce the law, there’s nobody left to sue. more...
Kevin Breuninger

President Joe Biden on Friday issued an executive order blocking U.S. imports of key Russian products, including vodka, and banning exports of high-end goods to Russia. The executive action bans imports from key sectors of Russia’s economy, such as seafood, alcohol and non-industrial diamonds, according to the text of the order. That action will block more than $1 billion in Russian revenues and help ensure American citizens are not “underwriting” President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the White House said in a fact sheet. more...
Sam Meredith, Chloe Taylor, Kevin Breuninger

More cities in Ukraine have been targeted by Russian airstrikes Friday, local authorities say, in a move that suggests Moscow is expanding its attack further into the country. It comes after new satellite images appear to show that a large Russian convoy approaching Kyiv has been redeployed to towns and forests outside the city, potentially signaling a renewed push to bear down on the capital. more...
Sonam Sheth,C. Ryan Barber

A federal judge dinged prosecutors from the special counsel John Durham's office for creating a "sideshow" with a court filing last month that former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely claimed provided proof that he was illegally spied on by the Clinton campaign. At the center of the hearing was a conflict-of-interest motion that Durham's office filed in its ongoing case against the former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann. The conflict motion contained almost no new information and highlighted potential conflicts of interest regarding Sussmann's legal representation. But right-wing news outlets and former President Donald Trump took several details in the filing out of context and falsely said that it showed the Clinton campaign illegally surveilled Trump. more...
The vice president is visiting Poland and Romania to reassure the NATO allies as Russia steps up its attacks on Ukraine.
By Josh Lederman

WARSAW, Poland — Vice President Kamala Harris’ mission to reassure Poland amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is hitting early diplomatic speed bumps after a very public communication breakdown between Poland and the U.S. over efforts to send Soviet-era fighter jets to Kyiv. The U.S. has sought to project lockstep unity with its 29 NATO allies ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin opened his assault on Ukraine last month, insisting that any aggression from Moscow that spills beyond Ukraine's borders will be met with unanimous resolve. But NATO and Harris now face a major test after Poland caught the Biden administration off-guard with a proposal — immediately rejected by Washington — to make the U.S. the middleman in supplying Ukraine with Polish-owned MiG planes. more...
By Annie Grayer, Kristin Wilson and Clare Foran, CNN

(CNN) The House of Representatives voted late Wednesday night to pass a massive government funding bill that includes $13.6 billion in desperately needed aid to Ukraine as the country fights back against Russia's deadly invasion. Congress is racing the clock ahead of a Friday deadline when government funding is set to expire, but a shutdown is not expected, in part because many lawmakers are anxious to demonstrate support for Ukraine amid Russia's unprovoked assault on the country. As part of the effort to prevent a shutdown, the House passed by voice vote on Wednesday night a stopgap bill to extend government funding through Tuesday. The Senate is now expected to next take up and pass the short-term funding extension in addition to the broader spending bill so that congressional clerks have time to finish processing the text of the larger bill before sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature. more...
Tresa Baldas, Frank Witsil | Detroit Free Press

Jurors got more than earful Tuesday as the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping trial kicked off with several wild tales, everything from alleged plans to hog-tie the governor and prepare for a second civil war to the suspects being so stoned that they talked about attaching her to a kite and flying her over a lake. The jury also heard plenty of f-bombs, and stories of real bombs, with claims about lying FBI snitches thrown in the mix. And it's just day one. In a historic case that puts extremism on trial, the prosecution and defense offered conflicting stories about four self-proclaimed patriots and militia members who are accused of plotting to kidnap the governor out of anger over her COVID-19 restrictions. more...
Jeff Cox

Inflation grew worse in February amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine and price pressures that became more entrenched. The consumer price index, which measures a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, increased 7.9% over the past 12 months, a fresh 40-year high for the closely followed gauge, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The February acceleration was the fastest pace since January1982, back when the U.S. economy confronted the twin threat of higher inflation and reduced economic growth. more...
Guy Reffitt was a member of ‘Three Percenters’, a militia group named after American colonists who defeated the British during the Revolutionary War.
Justin Vallejo | New York

Prosecutors won a landmark ruling in the first case of the 6 January US Capitol riot to go before a jury trial. Texas man Guy Reffitt was found guilty on five felony charges including obstructing an official proceeding and bringing a gun onto the grounds of the US Capitol. more...
Conservatives are promoting the "independent legislature" theory, which would hand vast election powers to GOP legislators in battleground states.
By Zach Montellaro

A legal argument lurking in two Supreme Court cases could give Republican legislators in battleground states sweeping control over election procedures, with ramifications that could include power over how states select presidential electors. Republicans from Pennsylvania and North Carolina challenged court-ordered redistricting plans in their states based on the “independent legislature” theory. It’s a reading of the Constitution, stemming from the 2000 election recount in Florida, that argues legislators have ultimate power over elections in their states and that state courts have a limited ability — or even none at all — to check it. more...
BY ANALISA NOVAK

When former President Donald Trump summoned then U.S. Attorney General William Barr in early December, he says he knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting and thought Trump was going to fire him. "I told my assistant as I left the office she may have to pack up for me because often he would tell you not to come back," Barr told "CBS Mornings."  When he entered the Oval Office, Barr said the conversation quickly turned into a back and forth between Barr and Trump about the former president's allegations of widespread fraud. more...
No man is above the law. If Trump broke the law, he should be prosecuted just like anyone else.

By Alexander Bolton

Republican lawmakers are warning that any Department of Justice prosecution of former President Trump will turn into a political battle, setting a high bar for Attorney General Merrick Garland to act on an expected criminal referral from the House’s Jan. 6 committee. The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol previewed its likely referral to the Justice Department in a court filing made public last week and experts say the evidence assembled by House investigators would provide a strong impetus for prosecutors to act. more...
Kevin Breuninger, Thomas Franck

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, a major escalation in the international response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The move came as Western-allied nations work to sever Russia from the global economy to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for his unprovoked aggression. “Today I am announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” Biden said at the White House. “That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.” “This is a step we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin,” Biden said. more...
Enrique Tarrio will face a detention hearing on Friday in South Florida.
By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein

Enrique Tarrio, the national leader of the Proud Boys, has been indicted on conspiracy charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. A grand jury indictment, docketed Tuesday, charges Tarrio with conspiracy to obstruct Congress. Prosecutors have already leveled conspiracy charges against four Proud Boys leaders — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Charles Donohoe and Zachary Rehl — who the Justice Department says played a central role in fomenting the breach of the Capitol. IN addition to Tarrio, prosecutors added another Proud Boy to the conspiracy indictment: Dominic Pezzola, who breached the Capitol when he shattered a Senate-wing window with a riot shield.
kcci.com

DES MOINES, Iowa — Des Moines police on Tuesday released new details in a deadly drive-by shooting outside of East High School that took the life of a 15-year-old boy. On Tuesday afternoon, Des Moines police said the victim in the shooting was 15-year-old Jose David Lopez, of Des Moines. On Monday, police confirmed that Lopez was not a student at East High. According to police, six teens have been charged with first-degree murder after detectives determined that shots were fired by multiple shooters from multiple vehicles. Police executed five search warrants in Des Moines since the shooting. They said they have recovered six firearms during the investigation. more...
Crude prices spike, Dow futures fall about 350 points
By Mike Murphy

U.S. stock-index futures fell sharply after trading began late Sunday, as investors remain rattled by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -0.72% tumbled more than 400 points, while S&P 500 futures ES00, -0.64% and Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, -0.74% each fell more than 1.5% early Monday. Last week, all three major indexes booked losses, with the Dow falling for a fourth straight week. Dow DJIA, -0.97% dropped 179.86 points, or 0.5%, to close at 33,614.80, while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.95%  fell 34.62 points, or 0.8%, to finish at 4,328.87, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.01%  shed 224.5 points, or 1.7%, to end at 13,313.44. more...
Cheryl Teh

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla revealed in a new op-ed published on Forbes that he and Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser,  once had a "heated" debate over whether the US should receive its vaccine doses first. In the op-ed, Bourla said he and Kushner disagreed over the supply time for an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 jab that the Trump administration ordered. Bourla wrote that the conflict arose because the US was topping up on its original order of 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, but that other countries had already signed contracts with Pfizer to secure their vaccine doses. more...
Rasha Ali, USA TODAY

After paying a solemn tribute to the people of Ukraine last week during its normally raucous cold open, "Saturday Night Live" returned to its boisterous roots Mar. 5, mocking Fox News, Donald Trump and Russia. The cold open featured a Fox News special titled "Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular" with hosts Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) and Tucker Carlson (Alex Moffat). The Fox News anchors kicked off the show by attempting to apologize for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "pathetic" and reducing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "border dispute," respectively, by hosting a fundraiser for the real victims: the Russian oligarchs. more...
Stephen Proctor

Following a segment Wednesday on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson, who is Fox News's most popular opinion host, came under fire for questioning the credentials of President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson. This came just days after he attacked her nomination, saying it would humiliate the Supreme Court, and make the U.S. look like Rwanda. Taking a different approach than he did for any of former President Trump’s three nominees, all of whom are white, Carlson demanded to know what Brown got on her Law School Admission Test, otherwise known as LSAT. more...
Carley Lanich South Bend Tribune

ELKHART, Ind. — An Indiana school board voted unanimously this week to grant an early retirement to Jimtown High School teacher Mike Hosinski, who was captured on video striking a student on the head during morning classes last week. Hosinski will be allowed to retire, effective last Friday, and collect his pension. The decision was applauded by dozens of parents who defended the longtime social studies teacher during a school board meeting at Jimtown High in Elkhart. Parents who spoke at the meeting said Hosinski's actions came as a shock but were indicative of a larger problem, pointing to what they claimed was a lack of support for teachers who face repeated disciplinary problems among students. more...
by: Gerald Harris

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Republican supermajority at the capitol is going after more books, this time books the GOP says contain pornographic material in them. The bill (HB 1944) is receiving backlash and could criminally charge librarians. Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) is moving forward with the support of his party on a bill to ban library books and criminally punish educators providing access to what they call “pornography and inappropriate content in books.” more...
Molly Beck Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and the former Supreme Court justice he hired to review the 2020 election violated the state's public records law by refusing to turn over some documents to a liberal group that requested them and delaying the release of others, a judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling from Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington was issued a day after a report was issued by Michael Gableman, the former justice who is leading the Assembly Republicans' taxpayer-funded review of the last presidential election. more...
While executing a warrant at a bagel shop, Grand Junction police officers seized the iPad Peters was accused of recording with.
Erin Powell

DENVER — A Mesa County District Court judge on Wednesday issued embattled Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters (R) a contempt citation for allegedly recording a court proceeding with an iPad against a judge's orders. The Mesa County District Court judge cited Peters with "indirect contempt," meaning contempt that happens in direct sight or hearing of the court (judge), but not contempt that the court (judge) hears or sees. The citation is for "indirect contempt" because the judge did not have firsthand knowledge of the alleged recording. more...
Andrew SolenderJonathan SwanLachlan Markay

Far-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) are untouchable inside the House Republican conference.

Why it matters: Greene and Gosar can attend as many white supremacist conferences as their hearts desire, safe in the knowledge there's nothing they need from leadership — and nothing left for leadership to take from them.

They've already been stripped of their committees. They have zero need or interest in leadership's endorsements or money. And their power actually comes from offending Republican leadership in Washington. "They literally have nothing tangible [to punish them] in terms of the traditional congressional levers," a GOP leadership source told Axios. more...
By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz and Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) An Oath Keeper who served as private security for right-wing figures around January 6 pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and is cooperating with the Justice Department, becoming the first person charged with seditious conspiracy related to the attack to strike a plea deal. Joshua James, who led the Alabama chapter of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, also pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding. He faces up to nine years in prison and up to a $300,000 fine, according to the deal read aloud during Wednesday's hearing. The development is a major step forward for prosecutors who brought the ambitious case, with some of the most serious charges in the January 6 investigation. Other Capitol riot defendants with ties to the Oath Keepers who did not face sedition charges have already agreed to cooperate. more...
By Sonia Moghe, CNN

(CNN) In a legal win for the National Rifle Association, a New York State Supreme Court justice has blocked the state attorney general's attempt to dissolve the organization but has allowed her suit against it to move forward. New York Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen said the attorney general's suit paints a "grim" picture of "greed, self-dealing, and lax financial oversight" at the highest levels of the NRA. But, Cohen writes in his opinion, the attorney general also describes the NRA as a victim of its executives' schemes to siphon millions of dollars away from the organization's legitimate operations. more...
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN) Ron DeSantis is apparently not above scolding high school students to make his, uh, point about Covid-19. The Florida Republican governor approached a group of students wearing masks who were standing behind a podium at the University of South Florida, where he was scheduled for a news conference Wednesday.
"You do not have to wear those masks. I mean please take them off," DeSantis said to, at first, polite laughter. But he wasn't kidding around. "Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you want to wear it, fine. But this is ridiculous," he continued. more...
By Cristina Marcos

The House passed a resolution on Wednesday to declare support for Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, while urging an “immediate cease-fire.” Lawmakers in both parties voted near-unanimously in favor of the resolution, 426-3. The only votes in opposition were from three Republicans: Reps. Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.). Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said it was “unreal” that three fellow Republicans voted against the resolution. more...
Currently, the law requires Ohioans to go through eight hours of training and a background check to obtain a CCW permit.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio General Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow anyone 21 and older to carry a gun without a permit as long as they lawfully possess it. Currently, the law requires Ohioans to go through eight hours of training and a background check to obtain a CCW permit. Senate Bill 215 would no longer require gun owners to obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon from their local sheriff. more...
Yahoo!News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two-term U.S. Representative Van Taylor on Wednesday withdrew from a Republican primary run-off race, ending his reelection bid after admitting he had an extra-marital affair with the widow of an American who joined the Islamic State, according to media reports. Taylor, who represents a northeast Texas district, last year voted for the creation of a special congressional panel to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, earning the ire of former President Donald Trump, whose supporters mounted the deadly attack. more...
By Stella Chan and Holly Yan, CNN

(CNN) Almost 15 months ago, Orrin and Orson West's adoptive parents told police the young boys disappeared from the family's Southern California yard, authorities said. Now, authorities say the brothers were actually killed by their adoptive parents months before they were reported missing -- though their bodies "have not been found," Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said Wednesday. "This morning, I am saddened to announce that the investigation has revealed that Orrin and Orson West are deceased," Zimmer said. more...
By Amir Vera, Ashley Killough and Ed Lavandera, CNN

(CNN) A district court judge in Travis County, Texas, granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday to prevent the state from performing a child abuse investigation of a family seeking gender-affirming health care for their transgender child. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and LGBTQ civil rights organization Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the parents of a transgender girl. The child's mother, an employee of the state's Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), had been suspended from her job because of last week's legal opinion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton saying gender-affirming treatments and procedures for transgender children can constitute a form of child abuse. more...
Find out what Kanye "Ye" West thinks about ex Kim Kardashian's new relationship status as their divorce proceedings continue.
By Corinne Heller

On March 2, Kim won a legal victory against her estranged ex by getting a judge to agree to an official request to terminate her marital status before any finalization of their divorce, which began a year ago when she filed papers to end their seven-year marriage. Now, Kanye "Ye" West's attorney Samantha Spector wants to "dispel a few mistruths" regarding the court hearing, which she attended on behalf of the rap artist, who is now legally single as well. more...
Michael Madigan Illinois: Democrat once most powerful politician in state
By Diane Pathieu, Chuck Goudie, Craig Wall, Eric Horng, Liz Nagy and Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel, Ross Weidner and the ABC7 Chicago Digital Team

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, once the most powerful politician in Illinois, has been indicted on an array of corruption charges, the U.S. attorney announced Wednesday afternoon. Federal prosecutors announced the charges in downtown Chicago Wednesday afternoon. The full indictment, obtained by the I-Team, contains a complex list of 22 counts, including for bribery and racketeering, allegedly executed by Madigan and a web of co-conspirators. more...
By Katelyn Polantz and Ryan Nobles, CNN

(CNN) Former President Donald Trump and a right-wing lawyer were part of a "criminal conspiracy" to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot alleges in a court filing Wednesday. The filing is part of an attempt to convince a judge to allow the panel access to emails from lawyer John Eastman, who is claiming attorney-client privilege. The committee said he helped to orchestrate the plot. The filing is the most extensive release to date from the House's January 6 investigators as they try to obtain Eastman's emails -- and comes well before the House select committee releases its final report on its findings on Trump. House members have also signaled they may make a criminal referral to the Justice Department about Trump, depending on their findings, and the House's arguments Wednesday could be seen as a preview of a case that could be made by federal prosecutors. more...
By Callie Patteson

Current and former members of Congress on both sides of the aisle criticized Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia over their heckling of President Biden during Tuesday’s State of the Union address. more...
Rose Jolie

The newest developments from the horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine rightly overshadowed the large media information of the weekend: Puck reporter Dylan Byers broke the information that CBS exec and Colbert showrunner Chris Licht will supplant Jeff Zucker because the fresh president of CNN. But the scoops and scandals from inside our media’s boardrooms and newsrooms abide for nobody. Week in and week out, Source Material will peel advocate the curtain on the nexus of media, politics, and leisure with out fright or favor. There’s no time to blow, so let’s get going. more...
Is Manchin a republican claiming to be a democrat?

By Alexander Bolton

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) poured cold water on President Biden’s attempt to revive the core elements of his Build Back Better agenda, questioning the president’s claim that passing a $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion spending package would “lower costs” for most Americans. “They just can’t help themselves,” Manchin quipped when asked by reporters after Biden’s State of the Union speech whether he was surprised by the president’s effort to try to use the moment to try to revive his stalled climate and social spending plan. “I don’t know where that came from,” he joked. “Nothing’s changed,” he said. more...
The Associated Press

A bill awaiting the governor’s signature that would temporarily keep secret the names of lottery winners in Florida has at least one unexpected supporter: the woman in prison for murdering the winner of a $30 million lottery payout. more...
Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman for months has been conducting a probe of the 2020 election.
By Zach Montellaro

A draft report for a GOP-run investigation of the 2020 election in Wisconsin, authored by a former state Supreme Court justice, embraces the fringe theory that election results could be decertified after the fact — advancing former President Donald Trump’s calls to overturn an election he lost well over a year ago. Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman for months has been conducting a probe of the 2020 election, authorized by state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the most powerful Republicans in the state. more...
Gloria Oladipo

The Nevada governor and his wife were accosted and chased from a restaurant in Las Vegas on Sunday, as two men, one a rightwing “digital creator”, shouted profanities and threats. In a statement, Steve Sisolak said the men shouted “racist threats” at his wife, Kathy Sisolak, who is of Chinese heritage. more...
By Amy Simonson, CNN

(CNN) A former Delaware officer seen on surveillance footage appearing to slam a suspect's head against plexiglass has been indicted on multiple charges, including two felonies, officials announced Monday. The state's Department of Justice's Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust secured the indictment against former Wilmington Police Officer Samuel Waters, 27, Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced in a news release. more...
By Ewan Palmer

The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime, with just three congressmen, all GOP members, voting against the proposal. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act [HR 55], named after the Black 14-year-old who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955, was introduced by Rep. Bobby L. Rush. The bill aims to amend section 249 of title 18 of the United States Code to specify lynching as a hate crime act and anyone who conspires to commit such an act resulting in death or serious bodily injury shall be punished by up to 30 years in jail. more...
William Anthony Spivey, 36, allegedly staged his own death in the Lumber River in North Carolina on Feb. 21 and was arrested three days later in South Carolina.
By Marlene Lenthang

A former North Carolina police chief who was charged with more than 70 felony crimes is accused of staging suicide and fleeing to South Carolina, where he was arrested, officials announced. William Anthony Spivey, 36, who served as chief of the Chadbourn Police Department, was relieved of duty last spring due to a misconduct investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, the Horry County Police Department said in a news release. His charges included evidence mishandling, drug trafficking and embezzling, police said. more...
By JOCELYN GECKER and ADAM BEAM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Schoolchildren in California, Oregon and Washington will no longer be required to wear masks as part of new indoor mask policies the Democratic governors of all three states announced jointly on Monday. “With declining case rates and hospitalizations across the West, California, Oregon and Washington are moving together to update their masking guidance,” the governors said in a statement. There are more than 7.5 million school-age children across the three states, which have had some of the strictest coronavirus safety measures during the pandemic. more...
Amy Graff, SFGATE

In a highly anticipated announcement, the state of California said Monday it will lift the indoor mask requirement for schools and child care settings on March 12 but will continue to "strongly recommend" face coverings, officials said. Local jurisdictions have the option to continue to require masking in schools. The San Francisco Department of Public Health said Monday that the city will align its guidance with the state, but districts can be more restrictive. The San Francisco Unified School District said that there will be no changes to the district's mask protocols and it will continue to require face coverings indoors. Masks are not required outdoors. more...
By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter

(CNN) Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is receiving another major endorsement from a prominent Republican on Tuesday, this time a lawyer who represented President Donald Trump's former White House counsel, Donald McGahn, among other former Trump White House officials. Lawyer William Burck, in a statement obtained exclusively by CNN, said of Jackson that "no serious person can question her qualifications to the Court and to my mind her judicial philosophy is well within the mainstream." more...
NBC News

Authorities say a man killed four people, including his three children, before turning the gun on himself in a church in Sacramento, California. video...
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