"Where you can find almost anything with A Click A Pick!"
Go to content
US Monthly Headline News May 2024 - Page 1
Story by Io Dodds

Hardcore followers of Donald Trump are calling for riots, insurrection, and assassination after he was criminally convicted of falsifying business records on Thursday.

A New York jury found the former president guilty on 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels as part of a conspiracy to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

Republican politicians widely refused to accept the verdict from the Manhattan trial, decrying the process as "rigged", "corrupt", "ridiculous", and "bulls***".

But in messages seen by The Independent, and others reported by Reuters, Trump loyalists on right-wing social networks went much further.

"Find the jurors. All of them. Take no prisoners," wrote one user on a Trump-focused message board.

"Just give them the rope," said another, in an explicit reference to lynching. "The time for talking has long gone. Let them swing outside the courthouse."

Some posts used coded language, such as one which urged "short drops" – that is, execution by hanging – for the people responsible for Trump's trial.

A retired Navy Admiral and two business executives were arrested today on criminal charges related to their roles in a bribery scheme that involved a U.S. government contract.

As alleged in an indictment unsealed today, from 2020 to 2022, Robert Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Florida, was a four-star Admiral who oversaw Naval operations in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa, and commanded thousands of civilian and military personnel. Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, both of New York, are the co-CEOs of a company (Company A) that provided a workforce training pilot program to a small component of the Navy from August 2018 through July 2019. The Navy terminated a contract with Company A in late 2019 and directed Company A not to contact Burke.

Despite the Navy’s instructions, Kim and Messenger then allegedly met with Burke in Washington, D.C., in July 2021 in an effort to reestablish Company A’s business relationship with the Navy. At the meeting, the charged defendants allegedly agreed that Burke would use his position as a Navy Admiral to steer a sole-source contract to Company A in exchange for future employment at the company. They allegedly further agreed that Burke would use his official position to influence other Navy officers to award another contract to Company A to train a large portion of the Navy with a value Kim allegedly estimated to be “triple digit millions.”
By Joseph Tanfani, Ned Parker and Peter Eisler

May 31 - Supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged by his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, flooded pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent retribution.

After Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters responded with dozens of violent online posts, according to a Reuters review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president's own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.

Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed insurrection.
“Someone in NY with nothing to lose needs to take care of Merchan,” wrote one commentator on Patriots.Win. “Hopefully he gets met with illegals with a machete,” the post said in reference to illegal immigrants.

On Gateway Pundit, one poster suggested shooting liberals after the verdict. “Time to start capping some leftys,” said the post. “This cannot be fixed by voting."
The lawsuit was filed last year by a group of women who said they were denied abortions even when issues arose in pregnancies that endangered their lives.
By Janelle Griffith

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to the state's abortion ban — a response to a lawsuit filed last year by a group of women who had serious pregnancy complications.

The ruling from the nine justices, who are all Republicans, was unanimous.

Five women brought the lawsuit in March 2023, saying they were denied abortions even when issues arose during their pregnancies that endangered their lives. The case grew to include 20 women and two doctors.

The plaintiffs had not sought to repeal the ban, but rather to force clarification and transparency as to the precise circumstances in which exceptions are allowed. They also wanted doctors to be allowed more discretion to intervene when medical complications arise in pregnancy.

The lead plaintiff, Amanda Zurawski, said she was outraged by Friday's ruling on behalf of all the plaintiffs who, she said, “the Court deemed not sick enough.”
Manchin's decision, after years of bucking party leadership, could allow him to run for governor or try for another Senate term this fall after ruling out doing so as a Democrat.
By Scott Wong and Kate Santaliz

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has spent his entire decadeslong political career as a Democrat, said Friday he is leaving the party and registering as an independent, raising speculation about whether he may run for another Senate term or for governor this fall.

“To stay true to myself and remain committed to put country before party, I have decided to register as an independent with no party affiliation and continue to fight for America’s sensible majority,” Manchin said in a statement.

Manchin's move was first reported by longtime West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval. Despite his party change, Manchin will continue to caucus with Senate Democrats, his office said.

Last November, Manchin announced he would not seek a third term in 2024 but his decision to change parties will re-open questions about his political future.
Story by Charlie Jones

The news of Trump being found guilty in court was met with outrage among his supporters with some even threatening a "civil war".

The howls of violence were amplified by far-right figures in the MAGA movement. Far-right podcaster Stew Peters told his hundreds of thousands of followers on Telegram: "Our judicial system has been weaponised... we are left with NO other option but to take matters into our own hands".

His followers responded with talk of burning down courthouses and rioting. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk took to X, formerly Twitter, saying: "We must defeat these savages." He also said they had "executed a legal assassination."

Conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec described Trump's opponents as "unhumans" while podcaster Tim Pool tweeted: "war." The far-right online forum Patriots.Win was also flooded with threats. "They’re not going to get a Civil War. It’s going to be a very uncivil war," one user wrote. Trump himself called the verdict a “disgrace” and said the trial was rigged, claiming he’s “an innocent man.”
WTF

Story by Melissa Cruz, USA TODAY

“Please don’t make us report you to President Trump!”

Texas Republicans reportedly received a warning through a flyer sent to their homes before Tuesday’s primary runoff election. Viral posts on Reddit indicate that recipients in Victoria and Denton, spanning the opposite ends of Southeast and Northeast Texas, received this mailer.

“We see you haven’t voted yet,” the mailer notes. “Your voting record is public. … Your neighbors are watching and will know if you miss this critical runoff election. We will notify President Trump if you don’t vote. You can’t afford to have that on your record.”

The unofficial election notice claims the group will be “sending an official list of Republicans who fail to vote in the upcoming runoff to President Trump.” The mailer then promises to follow up after the election to ensure people voted.
By Jabin Botsford, Gregory WALTON

A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush money case Thursday in a seismic development barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.

The historic first criminal trial of a former US president ended with the 77-year-old Trump found guilty on each of the 34 charges of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump, who is all but certain to appeal, did not immediately react, but sat still, his shoulders dipping.

The conviction thrusts the United States into uncharted political territory but does not bar Trump from a White House run, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison time.  

Videos showing former President Donald Trump being met with loud boos during the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday night has gone viral on social media. Trump and President Joe Biden became the presumptive 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees respectively in March as both continue to campaign ahead of November's election. On Saturday, Trump spoke to the convention in Washington, D.C., ahead of them making their presidential nominee pick on Sunday.
Opinion by Neil Baron

Despite all evidence to the contrary, most voters in battleground states believe that former President Donald Trump would do more for the economy than President Biden in a second term.

A new poll shows Trump leading in all swing states except Wisconsin (where Trump and Biden tie), with 56 percent of voters saying the former president would do a good job on the economy versus just 40 percent for Biden.

These voters are sadly mistaken. Trump’s first term and current policy proposals are dire warnings that a second round of Trumponomics would be devastating to everyday Americans.

Trump is promising to give big tax cuts to everybody, and to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. But the truth is that his proposed tax cuts will benefit the wealthy at the expense of low- and middle-income Americans, and he will cut entitlements to cover any lost tax revenues.

We’ve seen this movie before. In 2016, Trump promised his tax cuts would favor working- and middle-class Americans. The cuts he delivered, however, favored the wealthy, widened income inequality, and encouraged massive tax fraud (which Trump may view as normal practice, given his own bogus tax write-offs).

By the time they expire next year, Trump’s tax cuts are projected to have boosted after-tax incomes of the top 1 percent of earners by 3 percent, to an average of $2.1 million. But they barely affect the bottom 60 percent of earners, increasing their 2025 incomes just 1 percent, to $41,800.
What is DeSantis trying to hide?  Tax payers pay their salaries we have a right to know.

Story by GistFest

In recent news, Governor DeSantis’s lawyer said that he requested that a Florida court grant privacy for all proceedings during the judicial nominations. The attorney asked the court to keep the information private, away from public view.

This comes days after a John Doe requested public records from DeSantis’ office relating to the court appointments. The executive privilege addressed the 1999 bar complaint and the later suit filed by Judge Angela Dempsey of the Leon County Circuit Court to deny the public records request.

During the proceedings, Padovano debated that the governor’s records are not free from the amendment allowing public access. Padovano argued that none of the preceding governors in the state had made such an exemption.

Padovano then traveled to Leon County from Tallahassee and argued before a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals in the name of the court that a 1972 Florida constitutional amendment regarding public access to public records prohibited the governor from stopping access.
Story by Troy Matthews

Republican Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin signed off on a budget change cutting a tuition waiver program for children of disabled vets just days before Memorial Day.

The Virginia Military Survivors Benefits Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP) provided 8 semesters of free tuition at public universities in Virginia for children of veterans who were at least 90% permanently disabled, killed in action, or taken prisoner.

Under the new Youngkin budget, these students must first apply for federal financial aid, and put up some tuition themselves before qualifying for any tuition relief. Veterans groups are calling the move "an absolute gut punch."

"Now we have to scramble and figure out how else to pay for college," said Air Force Veteran Pamella Newton.

Newton said Virginia gold star families are now expected to spend Chapter 35 funding to put up the initial tuition payments. Chapter 35 funding is federal aid for gold star families for college expenses other than tuition, such as room and board. So families are having to dip into their federal aid to pay for tuition, costing them funds to pay for college housing.
Story by Ewan Palmer

Steve Bannon has discussed plans to have federal departments like the Department of Justice be "purged" if former President Donald Trump wins the 2024 election.

Bannon, Trump's former White House chief strategist, named the DOJ and the FBI as two agencies that are at risk of being stripped down if Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is inaugurated as president on January 20, 2025.

The remarks made during an episode of Bannon's WarRoom podcast echo proposals set out under Project 2025, a conservative guideline led by the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank on how the next conservative administration could dismantle the United States government and replace it with one more in line with Trump's MAGA agenda, including an overhaul of the DOJ and taking steps to make it easier to fire federal workers.

The Democratic National Committee has accused the project of helping Trump "enact his dangerous agenda to be a 'dictator on day one.'" In December 2023, Trump was asked at a Fox News town hall to promise not to "abuse power as retribution against anybody." He replied, "Except for day one."
Samuel Alito says wife was responsible for flying two flags associated with people who claim 2020 election was stolen
Stefania Palma

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has refused to step away from cases involving Donald Trump and the 2021 attack on the US Capitol after reports of controversial flags flown at his properties had spurred calls for his recusal.

In a letter to US senators who had called for his withdrawal, Alito on Wednesday said the incidents did “not meet the conditions for recusal” and that he was “duty-bound to reject” their request.

The contention stems from recent media reports showing an upside-down American flag flying at Alito’s home in Virginia days after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 2021 in a bid to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. The upside-down flag was a symbol used by Trump supporters who claimed the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.

Later there were reports of a second flag raised at Alito’s holiday home in 2023 that read “An Appeal to Heaven” — an American Revolution-era design that had been displayed by participants in the January 6 attack, and which has also been associated with a push for Christianity to reshape the US government.
Story by Heather Digby Parton

With all the violence and vandalism on Jan. 6, it's easy to forget that Trump and his henchmen's real game plan was to send the election to the House and let them decide the winner as the Constitution anticipated would happen in case of a tie. This was to be accomplished by submitting competing sets of electors to the VP who would throw up his hands and say that he didn't know how to count the votes so Congress would have to decide the election. According to Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, they had hoped that in the event Pence didn't cooperate, having the mob storm the Capitol could have caused a delay which would have allowed Justice Samuel Alito time to stop the certification but they were thwarted when Speaker Nancy Pelosi reconvened Congress that night. (There is no word on whether Justice Alito had been apprised of his role but it's not a stretch to think he would have been happy to oblige considering his history of flying insurrectionist flags during that period.)

Had they persuaded Pence to twist the constitutional process for a tie vote into a process for resolving (fake) competing slates of electoral votes and had the House of Representatives taken it up, Trump would have won because votes are counted by state delegation and there are more Republican delegations than Democratic. There was a whole group of Republicans ready and willing to declare Trump the winner and let the courts and anyone else try and stop them under this unprecedented, unconstitutional plot. This was the coup.

Essentially, they were willing to stretch their undemocratic electoral college advantage in controlling rural, lower-populated states to an even more undemocratic electoral advantage in the House to steal the election. If Pence had cooperated, they might have pulled it off. It's obvious that the framers made a huge error with this silly process of having the House delegations decide the election in case of a tie. It should be the popular vote winner. (It should be the popular vote winner in all cases but for some reason, we seem to be stuck with this antediluvian artifact of a compromise that should have been fixed over a century ago.)
Story by Judi James & Chiara Fiorillo

Donald Trump's confidence took a hit as he sent a "warning signal" to a crowd booing him while addressing the Libertarian Party National Convention on Saturday, a body language expert has said.

The former US president is used to rallying before crowds of ardent fans but this time he was also met with hostility. The Libertarians, staunch advocates for minimal government and personal liberty, have long been wary of the ex-president, and his appearance at their convention sparked controversy within the party.

In an attempt to connect with the audience, Trump quipped about his four criminal indictments saying: "If I wasn't a Libertarian before, I sure as hell am a Libertarian now." According to Judi James, being booed, as Trump was, can "bring out telling response displays" with reactions including anger or fear.
Intelligence officials suspect Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek of colluding with the far-right Freedom Party on Moscow’s behalf.
Matthew Karnitschnig

VIENNA — The coup began with the sound of a doorbell.

Just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2018, Austrian police Commander Wolfgang Preiszler pressed the buzzer at the headquarters of the country’s domestic intelligence service and held his ID up to the security camera.

Within minutes, dozens of his colleagues armed with Glock pistols and a battering ram fanned out through the building in bullet-proof vests and balaclavas, seizing confidential data stored on the agency’s servers and sensitive documents lying on desks.

The incursion — pitting the police against the spy service, known as the BVT — unleashed a firestorm that shattered Austria’s reputation in the intelligence world and led to the agency’s closure.

More than six years later, the true scope of what transpired that day is only now coming into focus. Intelligence officials tell POLITICO that new evidence suggests the raid was part of a Moscow-led operation to discredit Austria’s spy services in order to rebuild them with new leadership under the Kremlin’s influence. Crucial to that effort, they say, was the junior partner in the government coalition at the time: the far-right, pro-Russia Freedom Party (FPÖ), which today is the most popular party in the country.

Last month, Austrian prosecutors revealed that the men believed to have laid the groundwork for the action were Russian agents directed by Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former chief operating officer of the collapsed payment processing firm Wirecard, who authorities say works for Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.
Judge Merchan threatened to remove Robert Costello for his audible reactions during final hush money testimony
Alex Woodward in Manhattan criminal court

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan cleared the courtroom and reprimanded a defense witness Robert Costello for his heavy sighs, eye rolls and audible reactions to a series of objections to his testimony.

New York Justice Juan Merchan excused the jury on Monday to school Costello about “proper decorum” in the courtroom moments after his testimony began.

“You don’t like my rulings? You don’t say ‘jeez’,” he said. “You don’t roll your eyes. Do you understand that?”

While in the middle of asking the jury to return, the judge fired back: “Are you staring me down right now? Clear the courtroom.”

Members of the press and public along with the former president’s entourage were asked to leave, with court officers shouting out “get out” to journalists who were abruptly forced out of an open court.

According to a court transcript, the judge had threatened to toss Mr Costello out of the courtroom.

“Sir, your conduct is contemptuous right now,” he told him while jurors, press and members of the public were no longer in the room.
‘Donald Trump doesn’t freeze,’ the ex-president claims
James Liddell

Donald Trump has hit out at Joe Biden in a furious response to appearing to freeze for more than 30 seconds mid-speech at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual meeting at the weekend.

The 77-year-old former president was encouraging gun-toting Texans to cast their votes ahead of November’s presidential election during his address in Dallas when, all of a sudden, he fell silent.

President Joe Biden’s supporters were quick to attack Mr Trump with his campaign team branding him “feeble” on X, hurling the Republican’s mental competency into question.

Mr Trump, however, has claimed the whole thing is a “made up Biden campaign story” in a rant on Truth Social.

“The Biden Campaign… put out a Fake Story that I ‘froze’ for 30 seconds, going into the ‘Musical Interlude’ section, when in actuality, the 30 to 60 second period of silence is standard in every one of my Speeches where we use the Music,” he said, with a typical sporadic use of capital letters.
Story by Khaleda Rahman

A conservative plan to execute every person on federal death row if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House has sparked alarm and outrage.

Thirteen prisoners were put to death in the final months of the first Trump administration in an unprecedented run of federal executions.

President Joe Biden has not kept a promise to abolish the federal death penalty, although his Justice Department announced a moratorium on federal executions in 2021—a pause that could end if Trump wins in November.

Much of the planning for a possible second Trump term has been unofficially outsourced to Project 2025, a coalition of conservative organizations, The Washington Post reported in November.

In April 2023, Project 2025 released a 900-page report called "Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise," which lays out policy proposals to thoroughly reshape the federal government in the event of a GOP win in the 2024 presidential election.

More than 500 pages into the report, Gene Hamilton, a former Trump administration official, wrote in a chapter on the Department of Justice that the next conservative administration should "do everything possible to obtain finality for the 44 prisoners currently on federal death row."
Story by Steve Benen

As Donald Trump’s first criminal trial drew closer, the former president lashed out at a variety of people across the legal system, including likely witnesses in his hush-money-to-a-porn-star case. With this in mind, Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on the Republican in March.

The criminal defendant responded soon after by going after the judge’s daughter — publicly and repeatedly. The result, not surprisingly, was a revised gag order.

To put it mildly, Trump has not dealt well with the court-imposed restrictions. He clearly wants to go after key figures in his ongoing trial, but the former president also wants to avoid going to jail.

A solution to the former president's dilemma has come into focus in recent days: Trump is turning to GOP allies, whom he’s described as his “surrogates,” to peddle the talking points that he can’t say publicly.

Andrew Rice, a contributing editor at New York magazine, added on MSNBC yesterday that he saw Trump “editing” and “making notations” to quotes his partisan allies were poised to make to reporters.

It was against this backdrop that Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who joined the partisan parade at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Monday, shed some additional light on his own motivations for the gesture. The Daily Beast reported:
Story by John Bowden

New unsealed court documents in the Florida case against Donald Trumpthis week reveal the extent of the involvement of Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet, in the storage and handling of classified documents found at the Mar-a-Lago resort and estate in Palm Beach.

The new documents reveal some of Nauta’s answers to questions from FBI agents investigating the case.

Referring to the effort by the National Archives to obtain some classified documents during Trump’s chaotic move-out process after January 6th, Nauta told investigators: “What I recall is every time he would leave for the evening, they would come up, and they would collect all the papers that he threw on the floor; or that – at the time – we understood that he didn’t need any more.”
Story by Andrew Goudsward

(Reuters) - Donald Trump's trial in Florida on charges of illegally keeping classified documents after leaving office has been indefinitely postponed, a judge decided on Tuesday, greatly reducing the odds he will face a jury in either of the two federal criminal cases against him before the Nov. 5 U.S. election.

Trump, seeking to regain the presidency, previously had been scheduled to go to trial on May 20 in the documents case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, but the prosecution and defense had both acknowledged that date would need to be delayed.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020, said on Tuesday the trial would no longer begin May 20 but did not set a new date. Cannon scheduled pre-trial hearings to run through July 22.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal counts accusing him of retaining sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing U.S. government efforts to retrieve them.
Story by Daniel Dale, CNN

Former President Donald Trump delivered a bombardment of dishonesty in his interviews with Time magazine.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, made at least 32 false claims in the two April interviews that Time released this week. His serial inaccuracy spanned a wide range of subjects, including the economy, abortion, the NATO military alliance, the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, his legal cases, his record as president and the 2020 election he has relentlessly lied about for more than three years.

Time published its own fact check of some of the 32 claims on Tuesday, when it released its cover story on Trump. Here is an in-depth CNN debunking.
DOJ charges that the Democratic congressman used his office to influence U.S. policy for Azerbaijan. He and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, are also accused of money laundering.
By Ryan Nobles, Rebecca Kaplan, Ken Dilanian and Scott Wong

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Friday released an indictment against longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda, charging the pair with bribery and money laundering related to their ties with a bank in Mexico and an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan.

NBC News was first to report that the charges were coming. The congressman and his wife were each released on a $100,000 bond after a first appearance in federal court in Houston, a DOJ spokesperson said Friday afternoon.

According to the indictment, from 2014 to 2021, the Cuellars allegedly accepted roughly $600,000 in bribes from the two foreign entities in exchange for the congressman performing official acts.

“The bribe payments were allegedly laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Joshua Dean, 45, died on Tuesday after two weeks in critical condition
Graig Graziosi, Maroosha Muzaffar

A second Boeing whistleblower has died after a sudden illness.

Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, went public with claims that the company’s leadership ignored manufacturing defects in Boeing’s 737 MAX. Spirit AeroSystems is a Boeing supplier.

Dean, 45, had an active lifestyle and was believed to be in good health prior to his “sudden” death on Tuesday, following the onset of a fast-moving infection. He was stricken with Influenza B and MRSA, and developed pneumonia, according to Fox59.

He spent two weeks in critical condition before he died on Tuesday in Oklahoma, according to The Seattle Times.

“My handsome brother Joshua passed away this morning and is with our baby brother. I don’t know how much more my family can take. I don’t know how much more I can take honestly,” his sister, Taylor Rae Roberts, wrote in a Facebook post.
Story by Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Donald Trump is in no way limited by what he can say about witnesses at his Manhattan hush money trial if he chooses to take the stand in his own defense, the judge presiding over the case told him Friday — correcting a claim Trump made outside court.

On his way out of court Thursday, Trump claimed Merchan’s gag order — the subject of ongoing debate – prevented him from taking the stand.

“Well, I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order, I guess. I can’t testify,” Trump said.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan started Friday’s proceedings by saying he needed to “clear up any misunderstandings” about the gag order preventing Trump from publicly remarking on witnesses and jurors.

“I want to stress, Mr. Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial, if that’s what you decide to do,” the judge said, noting his order applies to “statements that are made outside of court, it does not apply to statements made from the witness stand.”

The gag order prevents Trump from making public statements — or directing others to — about jurors, witnesses involved in the case, or relatives of court employees, prosecutors, the judge, and District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Story by Jeremy Childs

If Trump had gotten his way, he would have spent Jan. 6, 2021 looking upon his supporters as they stormed into the Capitol building.

During his first political rally since his hush money trial began, Trump told the crowd in Waukesha, Wisconsin that he wanted to join the rioters that fateful day. When he wasn't recapping the chaos of abortion rights post-Roe v. Wade, he reminisced about asking his Secret Service staff if he could join the burgeoning insurrection.

"I sat in the back, and you know what I did say? I said: ‘I'd like to go down there, ‘cause I see a lot of people walking down,'" Trump boasted. "And they said, ‘Sir, it's better if you don't.' I said, ‘Well, I'd like to.' ‘Sir it's better if you don't.'"
By Sean O'Driscoll

Donald Trump's $50 million Chicago loan continues to raise questions about its true nature, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has said.

In an interview released on April 30, Noah Bookbinder, the head of the watchdog organization and a former federal prosecutor, spoke with Jessica Denson, a presenter on the liberal news site MeidasTouch, about the loan, which he called "a little complicated and pretty weird."

Barbara Jones, the court-appointed independent monitor of the Trump Organization, previously wrote in a report that Trump's business managers said the loan never existed, even though it was listed on numerous federal election forms that Trump filed.

Trump borrowed the money from one of his companies in Chicago, according to federal election filings. Newsweek has contacted Donald Trump's attorney for comment via email.
Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen

What would a second Trump term really look like? You no longer need to guess:

   Former President Trump has laid out, publicly and unambiguously, designs to stretch traditions, norms and accepted law in historic ways.

Why it matters: We've written for months that Trump allies privately are plotting loyalty tests and policy proposals to vastly expand presidential power and punish critics. Trump himself is now saying the quiet part out loud. You should listen.

You might like this or loathe it. But, based on two interviews with Time magazine totaling more than 80 minutes, you no longer can ignore Trump's intentions:

   On whether states should monitor women's pregnancies so they can know if they've gotten an abortion that violates a ban (say, after 15 weeks of pregnancy): "I think they might do that. Again, you'll have to speak to the individual states." (President Biden tweeted about that quote: "This is reprehensible.")
Ken Tran | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on Wednesday she's calling up a vote next week to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., setting up a high-stakes clash inside her own party and where Democrats are vowing to help avoid another lengthy vacancy in the job that is second in line of succession to the presidency.

Greene's move is unlikely to succeed but still is certain to roil internal GOP tension as she continues to target Johnson, the most powerful elected Republican in the country.

Johnson has been defiant in the face of the existential threat to his speakership, saying he has no intention of resigning from his post as a vast majority of his conference backs him. House Democrats on Tuesday promised to kill any effort from Greene to oust him from his speakership.
Story by Mark Moran

The Iowa Environmental Council has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to invoke emergency powers to protect sensitive soil and groundwater in northeast Iowa.
The council is holding a public webinar today and wants the EPA to address groundwater contamination in northeast Iowa's so-called Driftless region. The groundwater there has a well-documented history of nitrate contamination.

Alicia Vasto, director of water program for the council, said the highly porous and soluble karst soil prevalent in the region is susceptible to contamination from centralized animal feeding operations.

"We did some analyses of private well data and public water systems and found that there was a lot of contamination of nitrate in those drinking water sources," Vasto reported. "The state has really failed to take action meaningfully that would address those problems."
Annie Nova

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced that it would forgive more than $6.1 billion in student debt for 317,000 former students of The Art Institutes, the once giant chain of for-profit schools.

The relief will go to borrowers who enrolled at any of the dozens of Art Institute campuses across the country between Jan. 1, 2004 and Oct. 16, 2017.

The U.S. Department of Education, which reviewed evidence provided by the attorneys general of Iowa, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, concluded that the schools and its parent company, the Education Management Corporation, or EDMC, made “pervasive and substantial” misrepresentations to prospective students about post-graduation employment rates, salaries and career services.
The Brennan Center survey also found 62% of local election officials are concerned about political leaders’ attempting to interfere with how they do their jobs.
By Julia Ainsley

A survey of local election officials across the U.S. found that 38% report experiencing “threats, harassment or abuse” and 54% are concerned about the safety of their colleagues, according to a report released Wednesday by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The survey of more than 925 local election officials in February and March also found 62% are concerned about political leaders’ attempting to interfere with how election officials do their jobs.

Thirteen percent of the local officials who responded said they are “concerned about facing pressure to certify results in favor of a specific candidate or party.”

“Election officials are adjusting to ensure workers and voters are safe. The numbers around threats, harassment and interference remain unacceptably high, but election officials aren’t being passive in the face of this hostile environment. They are investing in security trainings, increasing physical and cybersecurity measures, and building stronger networks with emergency management services,” said Lawrence Norden, senior director of elections and government at the Brennan Center, part of the New York University School of Law.
Multiple demonstrators were taken into custody as SWAT officers surround an encampment that was set up Monday
Anum Siddiqui

NEW ORLEANS — SWAT officers descended on Tulane University's campus with guns drawn Wednesday. Authorities surrounded an encampment of people protesting in support of Palestine.

NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick was also on scene as multiple law enforcement agencies began clearing the encampment around 4 a.m.

Multiple demonstrators have already been taken into custody since the protest began Monday. 14 were arrested Wednesday after authorities say they left private property and walked onto the neutral ground on St. Charles Avenue. Two of the 14 are reportedly Tulane students.

Some protestors say they were roughed up by police. Kirkpatrick told WDSU that an investigation is underway and that there are cameras in the area, which will show what unfolded on campus.
Heard on Morning Edition
By Ben Giles

PHOENIX - A potential vote to repeal a near-total abortion ban in Arizona on Wednesday will be closely watched by some conservative voters who are struggling to reconcile political party loyalty with their firmly held religious beliefs.

In the wake of last month's Arizona Supreme Court ruling that upheld an 1864 abortion ban that makes no exceptions for rape or incest, some GOP candidates have sought to distance themselves from the decision.

Former President Donald Trump called on Arizona state lawmakers to swiftly "remedy" the ruling. Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Kari Lake has also called for its repeal, stating that territorial law is "out of step with Arizonans."
newyork
By Katie Houlis, Naveen Dhaliwal, Alecia Reid, Ali Bauman

NEW YORK -- Columbia University protesters were taken into custody late Tuesday night after the school president asked the NYPD to clear them from campus.

Police set up a massive presence outside the university before officers began moving in around 9 p.m.

A dramatic scene unfolded as the NYPD brought in a large vehicle with an extendable ramp to enter a second-floor window of Hamilton Hall, which schools officials said had been occupied by protesters. Around 9:30 p.m., dozens of officers wearing helmets began to enter the building through a window they had pried open. Additional crowds of officers entered campus on foot through the main gate.

According to police, flash bangs were used to disorient the protesters as officers made their way inside Hamilton Hall. They said no tear gas was used.
More than 9,000 people traveled to Florida for abortions last year. The new law means the state is no longer a refuge for abortion access in the South.
By Marissa Parra, Juliette Arcodia and Aria Bendix

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy took effect in Florida on Wednesday just after midnight.

Before that, the state had been a refuge for abortion access in the South after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Florida banned abortions after 15 weeks in 2022, but the vast majority of its neighboring states had stricter restrictions, so more than 9,300 people traveled here last year for abortion care.

That's more than double the number in 2020, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion access. Around 84,000 abortions were performed in Florida last year, about 1 in 12 nationwide.
Back to content