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US Monthly Headline News March 2024 - Page 1
Story by Natalie Venegas

An ex-associate of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, accused former President Donald Trump on Saturday of working with Russia, stating that "it's blatant."

Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman, worked with Giuliani when the former attorney for Trump attempted to find information on the Biden family. Parnas, meanwhile, was convicted in 2021 of fraud and campaign finance crimes and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

As Trump continues his 2024 reelection campaign, his team is reportedly in discussions with Paul Manafort, his 2016 campaign chairman, to potentially help with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, according to CNN.

Manafort was found to have committed financial fraud in 2019 as those convictions were obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigated Manafort's alleged collusion with the Russian government in 2016.
If Biden did what Trump did republicans would be calling for Biden’s arrest.

By Kate Sullivan and Shania Shelton, CNN

CNN — Former President Donald Trump on Friday posted a video that featured an image of President Joe Biden tied up in the back of a pickup truck.

Trump indicated that the post was filmed on Long Island on Thursday, when he was attending the wake of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed during a traffic stop this week. The video shows two trucks with flags and decals expressing support for Trump; the image of Biden was on the back of the second truck.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, “That picture was on the back of a pick up truck that was traveling down the highway. Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, they are actually weaponizing the justice system against him.”

Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler told CNN in a statement, “This image from Donald Trump is the type of crap you post when you’re calling for a ‘bloodbath’ or when you tell the proud boys to ‘stand back and stand by.’ Trump is regularly inciting political violence and it’s time people take him seriously — just ask the Capitol Police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6.”
Opinion by Mark Z. Barabak

The arc of the moral universe — the one that is supposedly long and bending toward justice — seems finally to be edging closer to its mark.

A series of events in recent days — the defenestration of Ronna McDaniel, threatened disbarment of John Eastman, capitulation of Kari Lake in a defamation lawsuit — suggests a reckoning is upon us.

It’s taken a while. Too long to satisfy those who would rather justice be swift than sure.

But the humiliation visited on McDaniel, the sanctioning of Eastman and Lake, as well as the jailing of Peter Navarro, the Clinton-Democrat-turned-Trump-flunky, all bring a welcome and much-needed measure of accountability.

Perhaps their punishment will deter others who might similarly endeavor to overthrow a free and fairly conducted election, affronting the country's values and assaulting our democracy with their deceit.

The four differ in their deeds. But all are sprung from the same poisoned seed: Donald Trump's lie about the 2020 election, which he lost, clearly and indisputably, to Joe Biden.
By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - A federal court in Texas that has become a favored destination for conservatives suing to block President Joe Biden's agenda has decided not to follow a policy adopted by the judiciary's top policymaking body that aims to curtail the practice of "judge shopping."

Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey of the Northern District of Texas announced the decision in a Friday letter to Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had urged him to implement a new policy that aimed to ensure cases challenging federal or state laws are randomly assigned judges.

The policy announced by the U.S. Judicial Conference on March 12 would require a lawsuit challenging federal or state laws to be assigned a judge randomly throughout a federal district rather than stay in the specific, smaller division, or courthouse, where the case was initially filed.
By Dalia Faheid and Aditi Sangal, CNN

CNN — It could take weeks for the Port of Baltimore to reopen as an arduous cleanup process to clear the massive wreckage from this week’s catastrophic bridge collapse begins, leaving commuters and workers in limbo and supply chains in disarray, officials said.

The Chesapeake 1000 – the largest crane on the East Coast – arrived Friday to help clear debris from where a 213-million-pound cargo vessel slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroying the vital thoroughfare and killing six construction workers. Four of their bodies have not been found.

Crews will try to work quickly so the search for the missing victims can resume and a cargo channel critical to the local and national economies can reopen, authorities said.

“I don’t think we’re talking days, I don’t think we’re talking months … I think we’re talking weeks,” said Scott Spellmon, commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers, of the cleanup effort and the reopening of the channel. “I just can’t put a number on it yet until we get our analysis complete.”
Story by Sky Palma

After Donald Trump attended the wake of a slain NYPD police officer who was shot and killed during a traffic stop this week, Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan took to X and praised the former president for what he sees as his unparalleled support for law enforcement.

"No one Backs The Blue more than President Trump," Jordan wrote while sharing a video of Trump's press conference at the wake of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed earlier this week after he approached two suspects whose vehicle was parked illegally.

"We have to stop it. We have to stop it," Trump told reporters in video shared by ABC News. "We have to get back to law and order. We have to do a lot of things differently, because this is not working."

In the comment thread beneath Jordan's post, his critics pointed out that Trump's relationship with law enforcement is inconsistent at best.
Most presidents usually grasp for unity after tragedy. Trump stokes division.
By Paul Waldman, author and commentator

When Donald Trump announced that he would attend a wake for slain New York City Police Officer Jonathan Diller, the conservative New York Post wrote approvingly that the former president was “expected to cite the young cop’s shooting death as another example of runaway crime.” And so he did. At the ceremony for Diller, who was killed at a traffic stop Monday. Trump was uninterested in trying to bring the country together to make sense of the tragedy. In other words, he was himself.

“It’s happening all too often and we’re just not going to let it happen,” he said to the press outside the funeral home. “We have to get back to law and order,” he went on. “The only thing we can say is, maybe something is going to be learned. We’ve gotta toughen it up, we’ve gotta strengthen it up. This should never be allowed.”

Trump’s picture of a national hellscape in which law and order have disappeared is false. Crime is down dramatically over the last year, including in the very cities that Trump characterizes as thunderdomes of mayhem and murder. Boston, for instance — a city of 650,000 people — has had only two homicides so far in 2024. Perhaps the Massachusetts liberals have something to teach the rest of the country about preventing crime?
Story by Will Carless, USA TODAY

A judge ends Elon Musk's lawsuit against a nonprofit group that called out hate speech on X. Meanwhile, white supremacist propaganda hit a record high last year, according to a new report. And prosecutors say a parenting blogger accused of horrific child abuse was driven by “religious extremism.”

On Monday, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by X Corp., the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, against a small nonprofit that published reports about the continued spread of hate speech on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

X Corp.’s lawsuit, filed in July, claimed the Center for Countering Digital Hate unlawfully accessed X’s data and cherry-picked results to try to show growing hate speech. It called the group’s Washington, D.C.- and London- based operations “activist organizations masquerading as research agencies.”

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer sided against X, ruling in favor of a motion brought by CCDH to have the lawsuit thrown out of court.
Story by Betsy Woodruff Swan

Arizona Republicans who falsely posed as electors for Donald Trump in 2020 have appeared before a grand jury in recent days and invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, as state prosecutors near a decision on potential criminal charges against those who helped Trump try to overturn his loss in the state.

The prosecutors' decision to require these people to appear in person is the latest escalation of the long-running probe by the state’s attorney general, Kris Mayes, into election interference by Trump allies. The tactic is also highly unusual and risks biasing the grand jury against key targets of the probe, according to independent legal experts who have worked as both prosecutors and defense lawyers.

If the grand jury charges them, it could even provide a longshot basis for the targets to challenge the indictment.

“My view is that the better practice is not to call people before the grand jury who you know are going to invoke the Fifth Amendment,” said Paul Charlton, a former Arizona assistant attorney general. “Why? Because all that does is unnecessarily prejudice the grand jury.”
Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into Patapsco River on Tuesday after cargo ship collided with crucial support, leaving at least six construction workers dead
Joe Sommerlad, Stuti Mishra, Martha McHardy, Michelle Del Rey

The first two bodies have been recovered from the Patapsco River after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, authorities said at a press conference on Wednesday.

State officials announced they have suspended recovery operations, citing safety concerns for divers and an inability to reach vehicles still trapped within the submerged remains of the structure. The mission is now a salvage one, officials said.

The men have been identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26.

Questions remain about the collision, including why the ship hit the bridge in the first place, but many of them are structural, experts say.
Story by Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump is facing criticism after attending the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller even as he’s pushing for the pardoning of January 6 rioters who battled with US Capitol and Washington DC police officers just over three years ago.

Mr Diller was shot and killed as he was doing traffic stops this week. On Monday, he approached a car that was illegally parked with a fellow officer. The suspects in the car – Lindy Jones and Guy Rivera – refused to roll down the windows or to move their car. They also didn’t show their hands when asked to. Mr Rivera allegedly then shot Mr Diller, who died after being taken to hospital.

At the age of 42, Aquilino Gonell had to retire from his career as a police officer because of the injuries he sustained on January 6, 2021 during the insurrection.

In a statement to The Independent on Thursday, Mr Gonell said of Mr Trump: “As the opportunistic grifter that he is, he claims to support the police, law and order, the rule of law yet, he has not met with any officers from Capitol Police who were injured and assaulted or the ones that lost their lives because of his actions and inaction in his attempt to cling to power and the mob that he incited and wanted to lead.”
Story by Zoë Richards and Dareh Gregorian

A judge ruled this week that a top Georgia Republican Party official, who has promoted former President Donald Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud affecting the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, has repeatedly voted illegally.

Brian Pritchard, first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and conservative talk show host, was fined $5,000 for voting illegally and registering to vote while serving a sentence for a felony conviction. Pritchard was also ordered not to commit further violations, to face public reprimand for his conduct, and to pay the State Election Board's investigative costs.

Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs affirmed in a 25-page ruling on Wednesday the board's finding that Pritchard had voted illegally nine times in defiance of his extended probation in connection with a pair of felony convictions dating back nearly 30 years.

Pritchard was initially sentenced in 1996 to three years’ probation in connection with felony forgery charges in Pennsylvania, according to the ruling.

Pritchard's probation was revoked three times, including in 1999, when he moved to Georgia, and again in 2002 and 2004. A judge in 2004 imposed a new seven-year probationary sentence, which made Pritchard illegible to vote in the state until 2011.
Story by JONATHAN MATTISE, Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed off on the repeal of police traffic stop reforms made in Memphis after the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by officers in January 2023, despite pleas from Nichols’ parents to GOP lawmakers and the governor to give them a chance to find compromise.

The Republican governor’s signature means the law immediately renders some of Memphis’ ordinances null and void, including one that outlawed so-called pretextual traffic stops, such as for a broken taillight and other minor violations. Lee echoed arguments from Republican lawmakers who argued Nichols’ death needed to result in accountability for officers who abuse power, not new limits on how authorities conduct traffic stops.

“I think what’s most important for us to remember is that we can give law enforcement tools, but we’ve got to hold law enforcement to a standard of using those tools appropriately, where there’s an appropriate interaction with the public,” Lee told reporters Friday, earlier this month of his decision to sign the bill. “That’s not what we understand has happened all the time, and certainly their family would attest to that.”
Story by John Kruzel

By John Kruzel

(Reuters) - A federal court that previously threw out a Republican-drawn South Carolina electoral map for bias against Black voters decided on Thursday that it can be used in this year's congressional elections, a ruling that could undercut Democratic chances of winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The federal three-judge panel acknowledged the "unusual" nature of its decision to reinstate a map that it found to have moved 30,000 Black residents out of a congressional district based on their race in violation of their constitutional rights.

But the panel said the approaching election calendar and the U.S. Supreme Court's delay in ruling on an appeal by Republican state officials had left the judges little choice. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on Oct. 11 but has not issued a ruling. The parties in the case had asked the Supreme Court to decide the case by the end of last year.
Story by Alex Kasprak

Claim:
The top donor to a major super PAC supporting Donald Trump for president in 2024 is also the top donor to the super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president.

Rating:
True (About this rating?)

On March 27, 2024, the claim that super PACs for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. share a top donor went viral, thanks in part to a February 2024 story by Newsweek and its March 2024 promotion by former CBS News anchor Dan Rather on Facebook:
By Melissa Quinn

Washington — A panel of federal district court judges in South Carolina said Thursday that the 2024 elections for a congressional district in the state can be conducted using a map it determined was racially gerrymandered.

The three judges overseeing the redistricting dispute granted a request from South Carolina Republican legislative leaders, who asked the court to reinstate the lines for Congressional District 1 that GOP state lawmakers drew following the 2020 Census.

The Republicans had asked the court to pause its own January 2023 decision invalidating the lines of the district, represented by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, while it awaits a ruling from the Supreme Court on whether to uphold the map. They argued that the 2024 election cycle in South Carolina is now underway — the candidate-filing period opened March 16 and closes April 1 — and last-minute changes to congressional district lines and the state's election calendar would confuse voters and lead to disorder.

At least five candidates have filed to run in the primaries and have begun campaigning in Mace's coastal district, as well as the neighboring district represented by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn.
Story by David Badash

Last year House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer acknowledged former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner had “crossed the line” when he accepted $2 billion in foreign investment funds from the government of Saudi Arabia as he started up a private investment firm just months after leaving the White House.

Now, Chairman Comer says he will not open an investigation into any possible wrongdoing, Huffpost reports, despite top Democrats alleging Kushner engaged in “apparent influence peddling and quid pro quo deals.”

On Tuesday, the top Democrat on Comer’s Oversight Committee, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, and Democrat Robert Garcia, the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, formally requested Comer “convene a hearing regarding Jared Kushner’s apparent influence peddling and quid pro quo deals involving investments in exchange for official actions and to examine the resulting threats to our national security.”
Story by Kyle Cheney

ACalifornia judge on Wednesday recommended the disbarment of John Eastman, calling to revoke the law license of one of Donald Trump’s top allies in his failed last-ditch gambit to subvert the 2020 election.

Judge Yvette Roland, who presided over months of testimony and argument about the basis of Eastman’s fringe legal theories, ruled that the veteran conservative attorney violated ethics rules — and even potentially criminal law — when he advanced Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results based on weak or discredited claims of fraud.

Though Eastman may appeal Roland’s decision, including to the state Supreme Court, the ruling forces his law license into “inactive” status while any review is pending, meaning he can no longer practice law in California.

“Given the serious and extensive nature of Eastman’s unethical actions, the most severe available professional sanction is warranted to protect the public and preserve the public confidence in the legal system,” Roland ruled.

Roland’s 128-page opinion was a lacerating rebuke of Eastman’s conduct and his subsequent lack of remorse. She concluded that he made knowingly flimsy claims of fraud and irregularities in legal filings on Trump’s behalf, including his brief for Trump in a Supreme Court fight.
Story by Gerren Keith Gaynor

“Mark Robinson’s hateful rhetoric – including his comments toward the Black community – jeopardizes companies’ desire to be in our state and, consequently, our state’s economy,” Josh Stein, Robinson’s gubernatorial opponent, told theGrio.

Controversial North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who continues to grab headlines for his comments on race, women, and the LGBTQ+ community, could potentially cost economic growth in the state, particularly for Black residents.

After Democrats in Connecticut indicated that they are eyeing businesses to attract away from North Carolina since Robinson’s primary election win made him the GOP nominee for governor, there is some concern about his rhetoric’s impact on the state’s economy and, more specifically, the state’s Black economy.
Story by Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON — An environmental lawyer whom Donald Trump wanted to take over the Justice Department in the days before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol repeatedly asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a disbarment hearing on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department civil lawyer with no criminal law experience, had wanted to investigate a conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen, including via smart thermostats. Just hours before the Jan. 6 attack, Trump nearly made Clark the acting attorney general of the United States but backed off when Justice Department leadership threatened to resign en mass.

Federal authorities searched Clark's home in June 2022, and he now faces criminal charges in Georgia in the state racketeering case against Trump and others. Clark surrendered to authorities in August in that case and entered a not-guilty plea. He is also unindicted co-conspirator no. 4 in the federal election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith against Trump.

Clark briefly testified during a disciplinary hearing unfolding this week before the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee for the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, which is deciding whether Clark should lose his bar license for his involvement in attempts to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss. The case was initiated in 2022 by the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel and has been held up in litigation for nearly two years.
Story by Gareth Vipers

Abridge in Baltimore collapsed into the Patapsco River after being hit by a large containership, sending vehicles and people into the water in what police are treating as a mass-casualty incident.

Around 20 people and multiple cars were likely to have fallen in the water, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said during a media briefing early Tuesday.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a big steel crossway that carries Interstate 695, was struck by a boxship at around 1:30 a.m. ET, he said.“We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point and will continue to be for some time,” Wallace added.

Video from the incident shows the ship slamming into one of the bridge’s support pillars and the structure completely collapsing into the river. A police official said the case was being treated as a mass-casualty incident.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning. “We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyone’s safety,” he said in a statement.
Story by JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr., AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the first nine months of 2023, Sean “Diddy” Combs triumphantly performed at the MTV VMAs, released an R&B album that garnered a Grammy nomination and was a suitor to buy the BET network.

But several lawsuits filed late last year raised allegations of sexual assault and rape against Combs — one of hip-hop’s most recognizable names as a performer and producer.

The music mogul's homes in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigators and other law enforcement. Officials said the searches were connected to an investigation by federal authorities in New York.
Story by Isaac Schorr

Jeremy Boreing, the CEO of The Daily Wire who announced Candace Owens’s departure from the outlet last Friday, blasted his former employee for using the phrase “Christ is King” to justify her descent into overt anti-Semitism over the last few months.

The refrain first gained attention last fall when Owens used it amidst a row with her then-colleague Ben Shapiro. She has since fallen back on it a number of times in order to justify her advancement of various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

It has been useful to her in that many have defended here by wondering how the phrase — an uncontroversial assertion in Christianity — can be anti-Semitic.

“I’m asking this sincerely. I’m a student of life. I’m not that smart. There are many things I do not know. This is a sincere question without snark or sarcasm or trolling. How is saying ‘Christ is King’ anti-semetic [sic]? When did this become true? Is it true?” wondered Jason Whitlock.
ABC News

On Nov. 10, 1898, more than 2,000 white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, ransacked a Black-owned newspaper, Black-owned banks and forced the city's local leaders, which included a mix of white and Black elected officials, to resign in what historians call the only successful coup in U.S. history.

Now historians, residents and descendants of the victims are working to ensure that one of the darkest days in Wilmington's history doesn't remain lost and forgotten.

While the city has been working to identify and honor the victims of the insurrection who lost everything, some of their descendants, like Inez Campbell-Eason, say more needs to be done to rectify the sins of the past.

"I was really angry. I used to cry all the time, like angry, fiery, angry tears, because this is generational wealth that was taken away from my family," she told ABC News.

Campbell-Eason said she only found out a few years ago about the insurrection and how her great, great grandfather Isham Quick was evicted from town banks that he successfully managed.
Don the con aka Don Poorleone

Story by Katie Hawkinson

As Donald Trump approaches his $464m bond payment deadline on Monday, social media users have come together to coin yet another nickname for the former president: “Don Poorleone.”

The meme uses an image of the iconic Marlon Brando character, Vito Corleone, from “The Godfather“ and adapts his famous line.

While Vito Corleone vowed to “make him an offer he can’t refuse”, the Trump meme states: “I made an offer everyone refused.”

The hashtag also inspired posts about other members of the Trump family.

“#DonPoorleone and his #FamilyFullOfFredos,” one X user wrote, including a photo of Mr Trump and his two sons, Eric and Don Jr, and referring to wayward son Fredo Corleone from the Godfather movies.
Story by Tony Bonnani

A recent budget proposal by a significant group of House Republicans has stirred controversy, as it calls for raising the retirement age for Social Security and restructuring Medicare. These proposals, while unlikely to pass into law this year, offer insights into the governance strategies Republicans may pursue if successful in the 2024 elections. President Joe Biden has seized upon this development as fodder for a contentious battle with former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party as he campaigns for re-election.

Republicans’ Social Security Plan Unveiled
The Republican Study Committee, comprising over 170 representatives, unveiled its budget proposal, which includes plans to adjust the retirement age for future Social Security recipients, among other measures. While the proposal emphasizes that adjustments would not immediately affect current retirees, it suggests modest alterations to address increases in life expectancy. Additionally, it proposes reducing benefits for higher-earning beneficiaries.

The Math Behind the Proposal
Raising the retirement age would have significant financial implications for future retirees. For example, if the retirement age were raised from 67 to 70, individuals would lose out on thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits. To be more exact, in three years, people would lose $63,720 on average. This move, touted as a means to bolster the program’s financial stability, effectively translates into substantial cuts for retirees.

Addressing Funding Concerns
While the proposal acknowledges that Social Security funding could be shored up by raising taxes, it expresses opposition to taxing higher-income earners. Instead, it advocates against burdening individuals and the broader economy with increased taxes, citing the potential negative impact on economic growth.
Dan Mangan

A New York appeals court on Monday paused for 10 days a massive civil business fraud judgment against Donald Trump — and sharply reduced to $175 million the bond amount he will have to post to obtain a longer stay of that award.

The ruling came the same day that New York Attorney General Letitia James would have been allowed to start seizing the former president’s real estate assets and bank accounts to satisfy the $454 million-and-rising judgment after he failed to obtain an appeal bond.

James is prevented from doing so — for now — due to the order from the five-judge panel in Manhattan Supreme Court’s appellate division.

Trump in a social media post quickly said that he would  “post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash” in the new amount set by the appeals court.
Story by Jacob Miller

The specter of changes to Social Security and Medicare is once again ruffling feathers across the political spectrum. The Republican Study Committee (RSC), an influential faction of the House Republicans comprising over 170 members, has put forth a budget blueprint that has sparked a maelstrom of debate and concern. At the heart of the controversy are proposals that, if realized, would substantially overhaul two of the nation’s most cherished social safety net programs.

For Social Security, the RSC’s budget plan calls for “modest adjustments to the retirement age for future retirees to account for increases in life expectancy,” a move that would effectively push back when individuals can claim full retirement benefits. Moreover, the plan suggests decreasing benefits for higher-earning beneficiaries, with the assurance that “The RSC Budget does not cut or delay retirement benefits for any senior in or near retirement.”

But the proposals go further, envisioning a fundamental restructuring of Medicare. Echoing a proposal once championed by Republican former Speaker Paul Ryan, the RSC suggests converting Medicare into a “premium support model.” This model would pit traditional Medicare against private plans, offering beneficiaries subsidies to purchase insurance in a competitive market. The proposal resonates with a similar policy play from the 2012 elections, which was met with fierce opposition from Democrats who argued it would “end Medicare as we know it.”
Michael Luciano

Former President Donald Trump addressed Cuba’s food shortage, which prompted rare protests in the country this week.

In a video posted on Truth Social on Friday, the presumptive Republican nominee acknowledged the situation in the communist country and hinted that if elected again, he will attempt to initiate regime change in the island nation 90 miles off the southern tip of Florida.

“I want to express my admiration and support for all of the brave people of Cuba, who are standing up against the vile communist regime,” he began. “It’s not easy and we appreciate it. And it’s gonna be changed.”

As president, Trump reversed an Obama-era policy that had eased travel and commercial restrictions on Cuba.
The former president must post the bond for the full amount he owes on Monday or New York Attorney General Letitia James could try to seize his bank accounts or properties.
By Rebecca Shabad and Dareh Gregorian

Former President Donald Trump claimed early Friday morning that he has "almost" $500 million in cash, undercutting his lawyers' claims that he would not be able to comply with the $464 million judgment against him and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"Through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash, a substantial amount of which I intended to use in my campaign for president," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in all caps. "The often overturned political hack judge on the rigged and corrupt A.G. case, where I have done nothing wrong, knew this, wanted to take it away from me, and that’s where and why he came up with the shocking number which, coupled with his crazy interest demand, is approximately $454,000,000."

Trump wrote that he did "nothing wrong except win an election in 2016 that I wasn’t expected to win, did even better in 2020, and now lead, by a lot, in 2024. This is communism in America!"
Opinion by Daniel Hodges, opinion contributor

When I received my acceptance letter almost a decade ago to the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., my imagination raced with the intense, life-or-death scenarios I would be confronted with on a regular basis in order to protect and serve the residents of our nation’s capital.

But even while contemplating such scenarios, I never imagined what I experienced on Jan. 6, 2021, or that I would be one of a few dozen officers standing in between former President Donald Trump’s authoritarian dreams and American democracy. The attack on the Capitol, perpetuated by a mob commanded by Trump, was and still is an existential threat to both my city and the country at large.

The world looked on in horror as thousands of Trump’s most loyal followers overran police barricades, stripped law enforcement officers of our equipment and savagely beat us. They looked us in the eyes and called us — the ones protecting the Capitol — traitors.
Story by Claude Wooten

Rep. Jim Comer (R-KY) led the House Oversight Committee hearing yesterday where witness Lev Parnas testified that MAGA majordomo Rudy Giuliani sent him to “dig up dirt” on Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden and that Giuliani did so at the behest of President Donald Trump.

Democrats on the Committee including Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) continue to mock Comer and fellow MAGA congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) for allowing the impeachment inquiry to drag on for more than a year without providing evidence that President Biden committed a crime. (Moskowitz recently wore his “funeral shoes” to a hearing to express his belief that the inquiry was dead.)

At the hearing yesterday Moskowitz taunted Comer and told him to go ahead and impeach the President of the United States. “I’ll make the motion, Mr. Chairman. I want to help you out. You can second it, right?”
Story by Andrew Feinberg

A White House valet who was with former president Donald Trump on the day Congress certified his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden told the House January 6 select committee that Mr Trump threatened then-vice president Mike Pence’s future political viability in a phone call just before Mr Pence was to preside over a joint session of Congress to count electoral college ballots.

According to a transcript of the interview of the unnamed White House valet, the valet overheard Mr Trump telling Mr Pence: “Mike, this is a political career killer if you do this” as the two men spoke by phone while Mr Trump was in the Oval Office.

The valet also told investigators that he heard Mr Trump tell Mr Pence: “Do what’s right” and said Mr Trump’s voice at the time indicated that he was “disappointed and frustrated”.

The transcript, which was first reported on by The New York Times, also shows that the anonymous White House employee told the committee that he did not hear Mr Trump denigrate the then-vice president by calling him by a vulgar term used to refer to female reproductive anatomy, though several Trump administration officials did say under oath that Mr Trump suggested that Mr Pence would be a “p***y” were he to allow Congress to certify their loss to Mr Biden and Kamala Harris, then a California senator.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/no-country-for-law-men-the-gop-votes-to-defund-the-fbi-opinion/ar-BB1kldvO
Story by Thomas G. Moukawsher

It is a supreme irony that with urban Democratic leaders easing ill-advised restrictions on police, Republicans in Congress have managed the only successful federal attempt to defund the police. And not just any police. The GOP has bitten a sizable chunk out of the FBI's budget.

Republicans criticized the Bureau for investigating the more than 100 contacts ultimately found insufficiently collusive between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia during that country's interference with our presidential election. Republicans in Congress also blamed the FBI for not making more out of the Hillary Clinton emails, many of which were exposed by the Russians, and Hunter Biden's dealings in Ukraine—despite the most serious claims coming from a now arrested source with extensive Russian connections. They opposed FBI action against those who attacked the Capitol in 2021 and castigated it for investigating former President Donald Trump's role in the attack and his violation of laws concerning classified documents.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republican-congressman-tweets-russian-propaganda/ar-BB1kivXV
Story by Jordy Meiselas

Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett tweeted out an article from RT, which is Russian State TV and often promotes anti-American propaganda. After being called out on it, Burchett quickly deleted the tweet, but, as you know, the internet is forever.
Parnas also called out Trump allies in Congress such as former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., for spreading misinformation about the Bidens.
By Sarah Fitzpatrick and Summer Concepcion

Ex-Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas slammed former President Donald Trump and his associates for pushing what he said were false allegations against the Biden family during the House Oversight Committee's hearing Wednesday in the GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who worked closely with former Trump attorney Giuliani in 2018 and 2019 to try to find damaging information on Joe Biden, appeared as a witness at the invitation of committee Democrats alongside Hunter Biden’s former business partners Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis.

“The American people have been lied to, by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and various cohorts of individuals in government and media positions,” Parnas said in his opening statement. “They created falsehoods to serve their own interests knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation."

Parnas called out Trump allies in Congress such as former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., as well as some prominent right-wing media figures for spreading misinformation about the Bidens.

“Congressman Pete Sessions, then-Congressman Devin Nunes, Senator Ron Johnson and many others understood they were pushing a false narrative,” he said. “The same goes for John Solomon, Sean Hannity and media personnel, particularly with Fox News, who use this narrative to manipulate the public ahead of the 2020 elections. Sadly, they are still doing this today as we approach the 2024 elections.”
Christian Dedmon described by one victim as ‘the sickest’ of six former officers who pleaded guilty to torturing two Black men
Associated Press

A fourth former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced for his part in the racist torture of two Black men by a group of white officers who called themselves “the Goon Squad”. Christian Dedmon was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in federal prison, hours after Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years.

Dedmon, 29, did not look at the victims as he apologized and said he would never forgive himself for the pain he caused.

All six of the white former officers charged in the torture pleaded guilty, admitting that they subjected Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture in January 2023 after a neighbor complained that the men were staying in a home with a white woman.
The court temporarily paused the enforcement of the law late Tuesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court said hours earlier that it could take effect.
By Rebecca Shabad and Kyla Guilfoil

Judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared unreceptive to arguments by Texas' solicitor general Wednesday that the state's new immigration law should take effect because it "mirrors" federal law.

A three-judge panel of the court had ruled 2-1 late Tuesday that the measure, known as Senate Bill 4, should be temporarily blocked while the judges hear the case. Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court said that it could take effect.

"Texas has a right to defend itself," state Solicitor General Aaron Nielson said, adding that the district court had acknowledged that "sometimes those associated with the cartels cross over the border with malicious intent."
The immigration law would be among the strictest in the nation.
By Devin Dwyer, Armando Garcia, and Quinn Owen

The Supreme Court has rejected a Biden administration request to intervene and keep Texas's strict immigration enforcement law, known as SB 4, on hold while it is challenged in lower courts.

The law would authorize local and state law enforcement to arrest migrants they suspect crossed into the state illegally. It would also also give judges the power to order migrants to be transported to a port of entry and returned to Mexico regardless of their country of origin.

The Biden administration has argued that immigration law is solely the responsibility of the federal government, and not local jurisdictions, as laid out in the Constitution.
Hunter Elward, former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy, was sentenced Tuesday to about 20 years in prison for his part in torturing two Black men last year.
By The Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — A former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy who was part of a self-described "Goon Squad" was sentenced Tuesday to about 20 years in prison for his part in torturing two Black men last year, after a neighbor complained that the men were staying in a home with a white woman.

Hunter Elward was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee, who handed down a 241-month sentence. Lee is also due to sentence five other former law enforcement officers who admitted to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture.

Before sentencing, Lee called Elward’s crimes “egregious and despicable,” and said a “sentence at the top of the guidelines range is justified — is more than justified.” He continued: “It’s what the defendant deserves. It’s what the community and the defendant’s victims deserve.”
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