US Monthly Headline News November 2021
By Katelyn Polantz and Tierney Sneed, CNN(CNN) The DC US Circuit Court of Appeals cast major doubt on former President Trump's arguments that the court should block the release of his presidential documents for Congress' January 6 investigation. Over the course of a three hour and 40 minute hearing Tuesday, the judges expressed skepticism of Trump's claims, as they grappled with the question of what role courts should play in disputes when an incumbent president has declined to assert an executive privilege claim that a former president seeks to assert. "This all boils down to who decides. Who decides when it is in the best interest of the United States to disclose presidential records? Is it the current occupant of the White House or the former?" said Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The Trump team was battered with tough questions from the three judges, who signaled that they were not interested in doing document-by-document review of the records Trump says should be withheld. more...
Data leaks and breaches by so-called ‘ethical hackers’ – often assisted by poor security practices – have exposed inner workings of groups and the nature of the movement as a wholeJason WilsonThroughout 2021, websites associated with far-right extremist groups and extremist-friendly platforms and hosts have suffered from data leaks and breaches that have exposed the inner workings of far-right groups, and the nature of the movement as a whole. The data has been exfiltrated in breaches engineered by so-called “ethical hackers” – often assisted by poor security practices from website administrators – and by activists who have penetrated websites in search of data and information. Experts and activists say that attacks on their online infrastructure is likely to continue to disrupt and hamper far-right groups and individuals and makes unmasking their activities far more likely – often resulting in law enforcement attention or loss of employment. more...
By Jason LemonRoger Stone, an ally of former President Donald Trump, claimed this week that former Trump aide Katrina Pierson was "deeply involved" with the violence of the January 6 attack targeting the U.S. Capitol. Posting to Telegram early Thursday morning, Stone appeared to suggest that Pierson deserved a great deal of blame for the pro-Trump attack against the legislative branch of government. Stone also seemed to be unaware that Pierson—like himself—has been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack."Given what I know, I am perplexed as to why the January 6 committee has not issued a subpoena to Katrina Pierson, in other words, someone deeply involved in the violent and unlawful acts of January 6, rather than me, given that I was not there and have no advance knowledge or involvement whatsoever in the events at the Capitol That day #Jan6Cmte," Stone wrote in a message to his Telegram channel subscribers. more...
By Mike Hayes, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner and Melissa Mahtani, CNNA jury has found all three men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery guilty of murder. Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. were charged with malice and felony murder in Arbery's death, which sparked national outrage after a video of his shooting was made public. more...
By Gabby Orr, CNN(CNN) A pair of payments the Republican National Committee made to a law firm representing former President Donald Trump is raising questions among former and current GOP officials about the party's priorities in a critical election year and its ability to remain neutral -- as long-standing RNC rules require -- in the 2024 presidential primary. The separate payments to Fischetti and Malgieri LLP totalling $121,670, listed in the committee's latest filing to the Federal Election Commission, were first reported on Monday. Ronald Fischetti, a partner at the New York-based firm, was hired by the Trump Organization in April amid ongoing investigations into the real estate company's financial practices by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and state Attorney General Letitia James. more...
"This case provides a model for accountability."By Beatrice PetersonFour years after "Unite the Right" was held in Charlottesville, Virginia, a federal jury has ordered the white nationalist leaders and organizations who backed the deadly rally to pay more than $25 million in damages to nine plaintiffs. The rally began as a protest against removing a prominent statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and it turned deadly when James Alex Fields Jr., a self-proclaimed admirer of Adolf Hitler, drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring several others. Fields later was sentenced to life in prison. more...
By Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN(CNN) A federal judge took aim at former President Donald Trump on Monday for lying about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, saying that former Vice President Al Gore had a better standing to challenge the 2000 election results but that he was "a man" and walked away. "Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump, but he was a man about what happened to him," Senior District Judge Reggie Walton said of Gore's decision to end his presidential bid following weeks of legal battles. "He accepted it and walked away." The comments from Walton came during a plea hearing for Capitol riot defendant Adam Johnson, who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern through the Capitol building. He pleaded guilty on Monday to a low-level charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. more...
By Joe Sutton, Keith Allen, Travis Caldwell and Holly Yan, CNNThe lone suspect in Sunday's Wisconsin parade tragedy "intentionally drove his maroon SUV through barricades into a crowd of people celebrating the Waukesha Christmas parade, which resulted in killing five individuals and injuring 48," Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Monday. The five people killed ranged from 52 to 81 years old, Thompson said. The police chief acknowledged the heroism of onlookers at the scene, saying first responders and residents worked together to triage the victims and get them as stable as possible. He said officers and citizens took victims to the hospital in their personal vehicles. more...
Amazon.com Inc has amassed a vast amount of sensitive personal information on its customers. Internal documents reveal how a former aide to Joe Biden helped the tech giant build a lobbying juggernaut that has gutted legislation in two dozen states seeking to give consumers more control over their data.By JEFFREY DASTIN, CHRIS KIRKHAM and ADITYA KALRAIn recent years, Amazon.com Inc has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states, as the e-commerce giant amassed a lucrative trove of personal data on millions of American consumers. Amazon executives and staffers detail these lobbying victories in confidential documents reviewed by Reuters. In Virginia, the company boosted political donations tenfold over four years before persuading lawmakers this year to pass an industry-friendly privacy bill that Amazon itself drafted. In California, the company stifled proposed restrictions on the industry’s collection and sharing of consumer voice recordings gathered by tech devices. And in its home state of Washington, Amazon won so many exemptions and amendments to a bill regulating biometric data, such as voice recordings or facial scans, that the resulting 2017 law had “little, if any” impact on its practices, according to an internal Amazon document. more...
ANTHONY IZAGUIRRETALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republicans fighting President Joe Biden's coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough immunity and antibodies to not need COVID-19 vaccines, and the concept has been invoked by Republicans as a sort of stand-in for vaccines. Florida wrote natural immunity into state law this week as GOP lawmakers elsewhere are pushing similar measures to sidestep vaccine mandates. Lawsuits over the mandates have also begun leaning on the idea. Conservative federal lawmakers have implored regulators to consider it when formulating mandates. more...
David FolkenflikTwo longtime conservative Fox News commentators have resigned in protest of what they call a pattern of incendiary and fabricated claims by the network's opinion hosts in support of former President Donald Trump. In separate interviews with NPR, Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg pointed to a breaking point earlier this month: network star Tucker Carlson's three-part series on the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol that relied on fabrications and conspiracy theories to exonerate the Trump supporters who participated in the attack. "It's basically saying that the Biden regime is coming after half the country and this is the War on Terror 2.0," Goldberg tells NPR. "It traffics in all manner of innuendo and conspiracy theories that I think legitimately could lead to violence. That for me, and for Steve, was the last straw." more...
By Jason Lemon OnAn Ohio county was "shocked" after screen shots from its computer system were shared at MyPillow founder Mike Lindell's cyber symposium in August to promote baseless claims of election fraud. Lindell has been a key promoter of former President Donald Trump's unfounded conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen" in favor of President Joe Biden. Although Lindell and others continue to spread the misinformation, the "evidence" they have brought forward to support their theory has been consistently discredited and debunked. During an August cyber symposium organized by Lindell, screen shots from a Lake County computer system not involved in conducting elections were shared as alleged "evidence" of election fraud, The Washington Post first reported on Friday. more...
Tom BoggioniAccording to a report from the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, a dark money nonprofit with ties to the Koch family has been funneling millions of dollars into organizations promoting white supremacy as well as supporters of Donald Trump linked to the Jan 6th insurrection. Based upon an IRS filing from Donors Trust, reported upon by CNBC, the Beast explains that the nonprofit took in $360 million last year to disperse as it sees fit. According to the report, beneficiaries of donations have been linked to the organizers of the Jan 6th rally -- that turned into a riot at the U.S. Capitol -- as well private universities. more...
Kevin Gough has been condemned for trying to have Black pastors thrown out of the courtroom, complaining that the jury didn't contain enough "Bubbas or Joe six-packs" and for equating Black faith leaders with klansmen.By Janelle GriffithBefore the murder trial began for the three white men accused in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, who was Black, race was expected to be a major theme in the case. Jurors were asked if they supported Black Lives Matter, if they had participated in any racial justice demonstrations and if they considered the Confederate flag to be racist. All but one Black person was struck from the jury. Eleven of the 12 jurors selected are white. The topic of race, however, was hardly broached during testimony before the prosecution and defense rested their cases last week. But allegations of racism have persisted, directed not at the men accused in Arbery's killing, but at the attorney representing one of them. more...
Analysis by John Blake, CNN(CNN) The Brute. The Buck. And, of course, the Thug. Those are just some of the names for a racial stereotype that has haunted the collective imagination of White America since the nation's inception. The specter of the angry Black man has been evoked in politics and popular culture to convince White folks that a big, bad Black man is coming to get them and their daughters. I've seen viral videos of innocent Black men losing their lives because of this stereotype. I've watched White people lock their car doors or clutch their purses when men who look like me approach. I've been racially profiled. It's part of the psychological tax you pay for being a Black man in America -- learning to accept that you are seen by many as Public Enemy No. 1. But as I've watched three separate trials about White male violence unfold across the US these past few weeks -- the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, the Ahmaud Arbery death trial and the civil case against organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville -- I've come to a sobering conclusion: more...
Travis GettysBob Woodward predicted that evidence would emerge that could unravel Donald Trump's unconstitutional plot to block Joe Biden from the White House. The veteran journalist and his Washington Post colleague and co-author Robert Costa appeared Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," where they discussed the indictment of Trump ally Steve Bannon, who they said was at the center of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government -- and Woodward identified some of the key questions in the Jan. 6 investigation. more...
Matthew ChapmanOn Friday, NPR reported that extreme right groups are rejoicing at the acquittal of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse — and are fantasizing about instigating more violence in their private channels. "In one Telegram channel for the far-right Proud Boys, some noted they had taken the day off work to await the verdict," reported Odette Yousef. "'There's still a chance for this country,' wrote one. In another channel, a member stated that political violence must continue. 'The left wont stop until their bodie(s) get stacked up like cord wood,' he wrote." As the report noted, "Rittenhouse himself is not known to be a member of an extremist group. But the trial, which from its beginning became a cause and rallying cry among conservatives who champion gun rights, has been particularly alarming to extremism researchers." more...
Republicans will try to gerrymander their way to power across the South (again) — are Democrats ready to fight?By Igor DeryshRepublican control over redistricting in key Southern states, along with Supreme Court decisions that gutted protections for voters of color, could result in historically unfair congressional maps after the next round of gerrymandering, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School. The redistricting that followed the 2010 census resulted in "some of the most gerrymandered and racially discriminatory maps" in history but the next cycle of redistricting could be even more fraught with abuse in Southern states, according to the report. Florida, Texas and North Carolina, all of which are expected to gain House seats following the 2020 census, as well as Georgia, pose the highest risk of producing maps that are racially discriminatory and favor Republicans. more...
David EdwardsJudge Bruce Schroeder defended his actions and attacked the media at a hearing on Wednesday after the jury asked an unrelated question about the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Schroeder went off-topic at the hearing to address criticisms he has received in the media. The judge defended his decision to not allow the people who were shot to be called "victims" because he said it was unfair to Rittenhouse. "How would you like to be put on trial for a crime and the judge introduced the case to the jury by introducing you as the defendant and the person who's accusing you as the victim?" he asked. "Is it so difficult to use the term 'complaining witness' instead of prejudging what the jury is here to determine?" more...
John WrightPolice in Texas used Tasers and pepper spray on high-school students who reportedly were involved in a walkout to protest the administration's handling of an alleged sexual assault. "Parents were lining to pick up students after Little Elm Police responded to a disturbance at Little Elm High School late Friday morning, November 19," Dallas' Channel 11 reports. "According to Little Elm ISD, students who were participating in a planned student walkout behaved 'in a way that caused a major disruption.' Social media video showed the activity on campus as police approached students deploying pepper spray. A Taser appeared to be used on at least one student in the video." more...
By Gabby Orr and Steve Contorno, CNN(CNN)In a matter of months, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone from being a shining example in Donald Trump's eyes of a MAGA leader molded in his image to an average politician who forgot his roots as he rose to Republican stardom. People close to both men first noticed the palpable shift in Trump's posture toward DeSantis earlier this year as enthusiasm for the Florida governor swelled among donors and GOP operatives who praised his laissez-faire response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The more DeSantis' popularity soared, the more obsessed Trump became with receiving credit for his political celebrity. more...
Brad ReedDuring a Friday sentencing hearing of MAGA rioter John Lolos, United States District Judge Amit Mehta reflected on the fact that former President Donald Trump has not yet been held accountable for telling the lies that incited the January 6th mob at the United States Capitol. more...
By Ray Sanchez, Eric Levenson and Omar Jimenez, CNN(CNN) Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial in Wisconsin was highlighted by the emotional testimony of the 18-year-old man whose actions as a minor have become emblematic of a divided America. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges by a jury Friday related to the unrest that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed, and Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27, was wounded. Ever since Rittenhouse fatally shot Rosenbaum and Huber and wounded Grosskreutz just before midnight on August 25, 2020, the case has been seen by many as an example of vigilante justice carried out by an armed teen. more...
These personal care companies use varying levels of code to mask twisted agendas.Mark HayOn a cursory scan of its website and Instagram page, Mighty White Soap Co might look like an innocuous, cutesy personal care brand, albeit one with an arguably archaic and tone-deaf name. But a closer look turns up some offbeat offerings mixed in among its seasonal designs, colorful swirls, and floral patterns, like a soap embedded with glow-in-the-dark letters that read CIA. And a review of all their product names reveals a disconcerting mélange of unremarkable odor monikers (“Autumn Caress”), strange references to obscure far-right memes (“Clown World”), and an apparent fixation on white consumers (“Morally White,” “Caucasian Abrasion”). more...
A whopping 43% of white students weren’t admitted on merit. One might call it affirmative action for the rich and privileged.Tayo BeroEver wondered what it takes to get into Harvard? Stellar grades, impressive extracurriculars and based on a recently published study, having deep pockets and a parent who either works or went there. Those last two are pretty important for Harvard’s white students because only about 57% of them were admitted to the school based on merit. In reality, 43% of Harvard’s white students are either recruited athletes, legacy students, on the dean’s interest list (meaning their parents have donated to the school) or children of faculty and staff (students admitted based on these criteria are referred to as ‘ALDCs’, which stands for ‘athletes’, ‘legacies’, ‘dean’s interest list’ and ‘children’ of Harvard employees). The kicker? Roughly three-quarters of these applicants would have been rejected if it weren’t for having rich or Harvard-connected parents or being an athlete. more...
David MoyeSen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) attempted to insult Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Tuesday night only to get humiliated by her response. Cruz was on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show when he accused the Wyoming congresswoman of being more like a Democrat because of the way she has spoken out against the former president. Cruz may have thought he owned Cheney, but that was before the congresswoman responded to him on CNN with a mic drop moment. more...
In states where legislators drew the lines this decade, nearly 90 percent of congressional races were easy wins for one party or the other.By SCOTT BLAND and ALLY MUTNICKWhen most voters go to the polls to elect members of Congress next year, the general election will essentially be meaningless. That’s because winners are being determined right now, by a small number of party officials who are surgically ensuring preordained victories in the majority of the nation’s congressional districts. The current redistricting cycle is garnering more interest and scrutiny than ever because the power of the process has become so clear: When politicians control redistricting, they have the tools to render most or even all of the congressional districts in a state solid red or solid blue for years to come. more...
When the FEC started looking into Cambridge Analytica’s campaign work in 2016, a lawyer for billionaire backer Rebekah Mercer blamed Steve Bannon for any potential misdeeds.Roger SollenbergerWhen federal election officials announced this month that they closed an investigation into the Trump campaign allegedly coordinating with foreign nationals, they may have unintentionally opened the door to another case. On Nov. 4, the FEC’s office of general counsel published its final report on its three-year investigation into whether a number of political committees, including the Trump campaign, had illegally coordinated with Cambridge Analytica’s foreign employees in the 2014 and 2016 elections. more...
CBS NewsThere is a surge in gerrymandering as several states work to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. CBS News political reporter Aaron Navarro joins CBSN's Tanya Rivero with more. video...
CNNRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) criticized House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republicans for their response to Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) sharing a video to his Twitter and Instagram depicting violence and the apparent killing of Ocasio-Cortez. video...
Opinion: Nine days after Rep. Paul Gosar's anime video depicting the murder of @AOC, Republicans still won't chastise him, Meanwhile, Gosar has now recast himself. moving from anime hero to victim.Laurie Roberts | Arizona RepublicIt has now been 10 days since Rep. Paul Gosar posted an anime video of himself killing a fellow member of Congress and flying toward President Joe Biden with swords swinging. AsHouse Democrats prepare to vote on a resolution to censure Gosar, let's check in, shall we, with the condemnation flowing forth from his fellow Republicans, both here in Arizona and across the nation. Rep. Andy Biggs? Nope. Rep. Debbie Lesko? Nope. Rep. David Schweikert? Gov. Doug Ducey? Attorney General Mark Brnovich? Nope, nope, nope. more...
mkeith@insider.com (Morgan Keith)On January 2, 2020, Republican lawyer Cleta Mitchell joined then-President Donald Trump on a phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who Trump asked to "find" 11,780 votes to overturn the election in his favor. Nearly eight months later, Mitchell was appointed to a federal election advisory board, the Associated Press reported.Nominated by Republican-appointed members of the US Commission on Civil Rights, a federal agency that informs national civil rights policy and its enforcement, Mitchell was approved to join the Election Assistance Commission board of advisors by a majority vote of commissioners on August 21, AP reported. more...
Republican hate cancel culture except when they use it.CNNThe Wyoming Republican Party voted over to no longer recognize Rep. Liz Cheney as a member of the party, the Casper Star-Tribune reported, a new instance of GOP blowback as Cheney continues to speak out against former President Donald Trump. CNN's Maggie Haberman discusses. video...
Republican hate cancel culture except when they use it.By Caroline Linton, Aaron NavarroThe Wyoming Republican party voted this weekend to no longer recognize Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who represents the state, as a member of their party. Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump, is one of two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.Jeremy Adler, a spokesperson for Cheney, said in a statement that it is "laughable to suggest Liz is anything but a committed conservative Republican" "She is bound by her oath to the Constitution," Adler said. "Sadly, a portion of the Wyoming GOP leadership has abandoned that fundamental principle, and instead allowed themselves to be held hostage to the lies of a dangerous and irrational man." more...
Caitlin DicksonThe judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial in Kenosha, Wis., on Monday dismissed one count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. The misdemeanor charge, which carries a penalty of up to nine months in jail, was considered among the counts for which Rittenhouse was most likely to be convicted. Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he carried an AR-style semiautomatic rifle on the streets of Kenosha during a turbulent protest against racial injustice in the summer of 2020, and used it to kill two people and injure another. Because Wisconsin law does not permit the sale of a firearm to anyone under the age of 18, Rittenhouse had paid an older friend to purchase the gun on his behalf. more...
Zoe RichardsA Connecticut judge found InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones guilty by default in a defamation lawsuit brought by families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The Monday decision in the lawsuits brought by eight families comes weeks after a judge in Texas found Jones liable for damages in three other cases brought by the parents of a pair of students who were killed in the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and six educators. The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, turned the gun on himself after the massacre. more...
By Paul LeBlanc, CNNWashington (CNN)Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn's call for "one religion" in the US to win the battle of good versus evil has garnered sharp backlash from a range of critics. Flynn, who was subpoenaed last week by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, made the comment during a speech to a conservative Christian audience on the ReAwaken America tour in Texas this weekend. "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion," he said. "One nation under God and one religion under God, right? All of us, working together." more...
Ultra-conservative lawyers seek to have their cases heard in the fifth circuit in hope of a favourable rulinghe fifth circuit ruled that $3.6bn in military funds could be used to build Trump’s border wall – one of many rulings favorable to ultraconservatives.David SmithOne publicly mourned the “moral tragedy of abortion”. Another suggested that same-sex marriage “imperils civic peace”. A third tweeted negatively about Hillary Clinton using the hashtags #CrookedHillary, #basketofdeplorables and #Scandalabra. James Ho, Stuart Kyle Duncan and Cory Wilson are among six judges appointed by former president Donald Trump to the US court of appeals for the fifth circuit, skewing one of the most conservative – and influential – courts in America even further to the right. The consequences of Trump’s reshaping of the federal judiciary are being felt acutely at the fifth circuit on issues ranging from abortion to immigration to the coronavirus pandemic. The court’s willingness to entertain Republican extremism has effectively made it their principal legal bulwark against Joe Biden. more...
By Chris Isidore, CNN BusinessNew York (CNN Business) Elon Musk can thank investors for his staggering net worth of nearly $300 billion. But taxpayers played a crucial role as well. Just how much — or how little — Musk pays in taxes has gotten a lot of attention lately, and even prompted his Twitter poll last weekend that preceded his decision to sell $6.9 billion worth of Tesla stock. There have been calls in Congress for a billionaires' tax that would require at least some minimal payment from wealthy individuals like Musk who often have little in the way of taxable income. Musk has attacked that idea on Twitter. But just how much of his wealth is due to the government support his companies receive is not an easy question to answer. By some measures, little of his wealth is thanks to taxpayers. And in some ways, virtually all of it is. more...
Two Charges Filed for Failing to Honor House Subpoena From Select Committee Investigating Jan. 6 Capitol BreachStephen K. Bannon was indicted today by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress stemming from his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Bannon, 67, is charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to produce documents, despite a subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. An arraignment date has not yet been set in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. more...
Colby HallDo the producers of Fox & Friends have no shame? Or are they so wedded to criticizing President Joe Biden that they are willing to do anything — including airing a deceptive edit of comments he made — to portray him in the least favorable light? During a news break, former Real World star Rachel Campos-Duffy reported on “President Biden facing backlash for a comment during his Veterans Day address.” A clip of Biden’s speech then aired, showing the president saying “I have adopted the attitude of the great Negro at the time pitcher, name was Satchel Paige.” Following the clip, Campos-Duffy added “Biden’s choice of words, while referencing Satchel Paige, landing him in hot water. The remark came while Biden was wishing Secretary of State Blinken’s dad a happy birthday.” The clip that Fox & Friends aired, however, was deceptively edited to remove context from Biden’s comments. What he actually said was: more...
Vivian KaneInfrastructure is supposed to be one of the last truly bipartisan issues. Investing in things like roads and bridges—and even high-speed internet, which people are finally starting to recognize as an essential component of modern infrastructure—is so basic and beneficial, it’s not supposed to be controversial in the slightest. But the 13 House Republicans who recently voted in favor of President Biden’s infrastructure bill have had their offices flooded with viciously angry calls.“One caller instructed Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to slit his wrists and ‘rot in hell,'” writes the New York Times. “Another hoped Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska would slip and fall down a staircase. The office of Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York has been inundated with angry messages tagging her as a ‘traitor.'” more...
Brandon BradfordThe US has a fascism problem. In its culture, in its hero worship, in its ideological makeup. Donald Trump was the culmination of that. His supporters tried to whitewash the specifics, but they believed in a fascist hierarchy. There's no other explanation. Even for the current Republican Party, made of power-craving vultures whose only plan for America is inflaming white race hatreds and removing rights (voting, reproductive, et al.), January 6 should have been too far. Fascism isn't something I say lightly.Abuses of power and cults of personality can happen across the spectrum, but the current version of conservatism is something fascism easily maps over. The starting point on the right is "fascism now or fascism later," and it's intertwined with conversations about politics and society we have everyday. They are repeated and fundamentally false. A few ideas you've heard more than once: more...
Ed MazzaFormer Vice President Mike Pence is trying to block the release of official photos of him taken on Jan. 6 as supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent attempt to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election. ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl told Stephen Colbert that he saw the images while working on his new book, “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” and said they are “wild.” “He was in a loading dock in an underground parking garage beneath the Capitol Complex,” Karl said. “No place to sit. No desk, no chairs, no nothing. He was in this concrete parking garage.” more...
Louis JacobsonBy Louis JacobsonThe notion that just 10% of the infrastructure bill is “actual infrastructure” is a version of a Republican talking point that was inaccurate months ago and has been rendered even more inaccurate by changes to the bill. Because Biden and congressional Democrats split their agenda into an infrastructure-only bill and a second bill that dealt with social safety net spending, the bill that passed the House is virtually all infrastructure spending. more...
Fred LambertIn additional SEC filings late Wednesday, Tesla (TSLA) has confirmed that CEO Elon Musk has sold roughly $5 billion worth of stocks. More sales are expected throughout the week. Yesterday, we reported that Tesla revealed that Musk exercised about $2.3 billion worth of Tesla stock options and sold about $1.1 billion worth to cover the tax burden the comes with exercising the shares. Over the next few hours, the automaker filed several more transactions from Musk confirming that the CEO unloaded about 4.5 million shares worth over $5 billion. more...
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNNA federal judge sent a message to Donald Trump Tuesday that he cannot outrun the rule of law and the Constitution forever. But that doesn't mean he won't try. A late-night ruling eviscerated the ex-President's assertion of executive privilege to prevent the National Archives from turning over hundreds of documents pertinent to the House probe examining the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Although Trump is already mustering an appeal, the ruling represented a huge win for the House select committee probing one of the most alarming assaults on democracy in US history. It also came as a swift blow to Trump's efforts to run out the clock ahead of a possible Republican takeover of the House next year, which would mean an almost certain end to the investigation. more...
bmetzger@insider.com (Bryan Metzger)The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it had indicted 3 individuals for allegedly running a "scam PAC" operation that swindled donors out of $3.5 million dollars - and only spent $19 on any campaigns. Matthew Tunstall, Robert Reyes, and Kyle Davies have each been charged with some combination of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wirefraud, conspiracy to make a false statement to the Federal Election Commission, and money laundering. Tunstall and Reyes could face up to 125 years in prison, while Davis could face up to 65 years. The trio ran operated two political action committees, including a pro-Donald Trump PAC called "Liberty Action Group" and a pro-Hillary Clinton PAC called "Progressive Priorities," both of which were registered in 2016. more...
Joe DePaoloA House Republican was said to be “visibly shaken” Monday night, as former President Donald Trump tore into her, and 12 of her GOP colleagues, who voted for the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. According to the New York Post, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) was unnerved by the former president attacking her and 12 other House Republicans at a dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee on Monday. more...
By Devon M. Sayers and Pamela Kirkland, CNNBrunswick, Georgia (CNN) A second witness in the trial of three White men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery testified Wednesday that defendant Gregory McMichael didn't know during police interviews whether Arbery committed a crime prior to their pursuit of him. Roderic Nohilly, a police sergeant in Georgia's Glynn County, was the state's seventh witness in the trial. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot and killed on February 23, 2020, near Brunswick, Georgia. McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. are accused of chasing and killing him. more...
By Paul LeBlanc, CNNWashington (CNN) US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy stressed Tuesday that parents need to recognize that "Covid is not harmless in our children" after actor Matthew McConaughey said his kids aren't vaccinated and that he's against mandating vaccines for children. "Many kids have died. Sadly, hundreds of children -- thousands -- have been hospitalized, and as a dad of a child who has been hospitalized several years ago for another illness, I would never wish upon any parent they have a child that ends up in the hospital," Murthy told CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront." "And the vaccines have shown in these trials for children 5 through 11 they are more at 90% effective in protecting our kids from symptomatic infection, and they are remarkably safe as well." more...
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” the 18-year-old testified.By ASSOCIATED PRESSKENOSHA, Wis. — The murder case against Kyle Rittenhouse was thrown into jeopardy Wednesday when his lawyers asked for a mistrial over what appeared to be out-of-bounds questions asked of Rittenhouse by the chief prosecutor. The judge did not immediately rule on the request. The startling turn came after Rittenhouse, in a high-stakes gamble, took the stand and testified that he was under attack when he shot three men, two fatally, during a night of turbulent protests against racial injustice in Kenosha in the summer of 2020. more...
Donald Trump didn't just lose his case demanding secrecy for his Jan. 6 materials, he did so in dramatic fashion.By Steve BenenDonald Trump and his legal team have spent weeks fighting to keep secret White House documents related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. As NBC News reported overnight, a federal judge has handed the former president an important defeat. The federal judge seemed wholly unimpressed with Team Trump's legal arguments, explaining in her ruling that the former president "does not acknowledge the deference owed to the incumbent President's judgment. His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power 'exists in perpetuity.' But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President. more...
Paul Gosar pulled his controversial anime video, but that's done little to calm the political backlash.By Steve BenenRepublican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona created a new controversy for himself this week, releasing an altered anime video in which his character kills a character with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's face and attacks a different character with President Joe Biden's face. Twitter added a warning label to the Republican's tweet, describing it as "hateful content." The congressman's office acknowledged that it was responsible for the creation of the video. Not surprisingly, a political backlash is underway. The Washington Post reported: more...
By Jaclyn PeiserThe lavish lifestyle was part of the con. Jeff Carpoff and his wife, Paulette, wanted to give investors the illusion their solar energy company in the San Francisco Bay area was thriving. So they purchased luxury real estate in the Caribbean, Nevada, Mexico and Lake Tahoe, Calif. They bought a NASCAR racecar sponsorship, a minor league baseball team and a private jet, and amassed more than 150 luxury and collector vehicles — including a 1978 Firebird formerly owned by actor Burt Reynolds, according to court documents. more...
By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN(CNN) A New Jersey gym owner and former MMA fighter who punched a police officer during the January 6 riot was sentenced to 41 months in prison on Wednesday, becoming the first rioter sentenced for violence against the police during the attack. Scott Fairlamb pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding in August. He was also the first person to plead guilty to assault."It's such a serious offense... an affront to society and to the law to have the Capitol overrun and the function of government stopped" said Judge Royce Lamberth, noting that the assault struck "in the heart of our democracy." Fairlamb's sentence will likely set an early benchmark for how harshly rioters charged with violence may be punished and ushers in a new phase of the Capitol riot cases, which so far have only had non-violent defendants sentenced largely to no jail time. more...
Scott NeumanOn Nov. 10, 1898, a mob descended on the offices of The Daily Record, a Black-owned newspaper in Wilmington, N.C. The armed men then moved into the streets and opened fire as Black men fled for their lives. Finally, the rabble seized control of the racially mixed city government. It expelled Black aldermen, installed unelected whites belonging to the then-segregationist Democratic Party and published a "White Declaration of Independence." Historians have called it a coup d'etat. The number of people who died ranges from about 60 to as many as 250, according to some estimates. more...
Law enforcement has taken little action as backers of Donald Trump aim stark threats at election officials. Reuters tracked down nine of the harassers. Most were unrepentant.By LINDA SO and JASON SZEPIn Arizona, a stay-at-home dad and part-time Lyft driver told the state’s chief election officer she would hang for treason. In Utah, a youth treatment center staffer warned Colorado’s election chief that he knew where she lived and watched her as she slept. In Vermont, a man who says he works in construction told workers at the state election office and at Dominion Voting Systems that they were about to die. “This might be a good time to put a f‑‑‑‑‑‑ pistol in your f‑‑‑‑‑‑ mouth and pull the trigger,” the man shouted at Vermont officials in a thick New England accent last December. “Your days are f‑‑‑‑‑‑ numbered.” more...
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Reporter, Crime and Justice(CNN) A federal judge will allow the US House to access hundreds of pages of documents from Donald Trump's presidency leading up to and about the January 6 attack at the US Capitol, in a forceful rejection of Trump's recent attempts to control information from his White House. The ruling on Tuesday from Judge Tanya Chutkan of the US District Court in DC is a blow to Trump's efforts to keep more than 700 pages of records from his White House secret -- though his legal team has informed the court it intends to appeal.As of now, the National Archives remains on track to turn over to the House a number of documents on Friday, including White House call logs, video logs and schedules related to January 6 as well as three pages of handwritten notes from Trump's then-chief of staff. The outcome in court also could help the House in its pursuit of more information from those around Trump, including witnesses who've been subpoenaed and haven't spoken to the committee yet. more...
The Trump Organization secured a partial victory on Monday as a Washington, D.C., superior court judge dismissed a portion of a lawsuit brought by the D.C. attorney general over actions by former President Donald Trump's 2017 Presidential Inaugural Committee.The judge dismissed a claim by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine that Trump's inaugural committee "wasted" $1 million in rented ballrooms at Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel, writing that they have not met the standard of proof that would allow that part of the lawsuit to proceed."In short, there is no genuine dispute that the value paid for the space at the Trump Hotel reaches the extreme burden that Plaintiff need to carry a waste claim to its fruition," Judge José López wrote.But López did allow the case to proceed, in part, on the claim of "private inurement" -- the question of whether the inaugural committee used their funds for private benefit and not for nonprofit purposes -- which means the case could proceed to trial. more...
BBCProsecutors say Elaine Marie Thomas, 67, gave false positive readings for strength and toughness tests in at least 240 cases between 1985 and 2017. Authorities did not disclose which vessels were affected. But there was no indication that any submarine hulls had failed. Ms Thomas, of Auburn, Washington, was the director of metallurgy at a foundry in Tacoma that supplied steel castings used by Navy contractors to make submarine hulls, the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington said in a statement. more...
Evan Neumann, wanted for attacking a police officer and entering the Capitol during the insurrection, told a Belarusian state-run TV news channel that he crossed through snake-infested swamps and forests from Ukraine.Christopher Miller, Zoe TillmanA California man who allegedly joined the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 over what they falsely believed was a stolen election and is wanted by the FBI has fled the country and is seeking asylum in authoritarian Belarus.Evan Neumann, 48, was charged in March with six crimes related to the insurrection, including two felonies for assaulting an officer and participating in a civil disorder. He told the state-controlled Belarus 1 news channel on Nov. 7 that his lawyer had advised him to flee to Europe. He called the charges against him “unfounded” and claimed they amount to “political persecution.” more...
The Archives indicated it would turn documents over to lawmakers by Friday.By KYLE CHENEYIf you blinked you missed it. Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency request to a federal judge late Monday night to prevent the National Archives from sending sensitive records to Jan. 6 committee investigators by Friday. And just after midnight, Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected it, contending the request itself was legally defective and “premature.”The unusual exchange, which happened in a span of two hours, comes as Chutkan is already considering an earlier request by Trump to prevent Congress from peering into his White House’s records about his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Trump sued to block the National Archives from turning the records over last month, after President Joe Biden declined to assert executive privilege on his behalf. The Archives indicated it would turn the papers over to lawmakers by Friday, unless a court intervened. more...
Donald Trump takes the stage for a ‘Save America’ rally at York Family Farms on 21 August 2021 in Cullman, Alabama.Peter Stone in WashingtonEx-president wages a court battle to thwart House committee from obtaining White House records for inquiry into the Capitol assault. Donald Trump has suffered a series of legal setbacks and more loom, as he wages a court battle to thwart a House committee from obtaining White House records for its inquiry into the 6 January Capitol assault and a new grand jury begins hearing evidence about possible crimes by his real estate firm. Former justice officials and legal scholars say Trump’s long-standing penchant for using lawsuits to fend off investigations and opponents is looking weaker now that he’s out of the White House and facing legal threats on multiple fronts. more...
Tim MakSoon after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, senior leaders of the National Rifle Association huddled on a conference call to consider canceling their annual convention, scheduled just days later and a few miles away.Thirteen people lay dead at a high school in Colorado. More than 20 were injured. Images of students running from the school were looped on TV. The NRA strategists on the call sounded shaken and panicked as they pondered their next step into what would become an era of routine and horrific mass school shootings.And in those private moments, the NRA considered a strikingly more sympathetic posture toward mass shootings than the uncompromising stance it has taken publicly in the decades since, even considering a $1 million fund to care for the victims. more...
By Caitlin O'KaneBig Bird – the fictional yellow bird children have watched on "Sesame Street" since the 1970s – tweeted this weekend that he received his COVID-19 vaccine. While the tweet was meant to ease any fears young children may have about getting the shot, Republican Senator Ted Cruz took a swipe at Big Bird, calling the tweet "propaganda." "I got the COVID-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it'll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy," Big Bird's tweet reads. more...
By Zachary Cohen, Ryan Nobles and Annie Grayer, CNN(CNN) The House select committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot on Capitol Hill announced Monday it is issuing six additional subpoenas to top Trump campaign associates as it continues to seek testimony and documents from key witnesses in the sweeping probe. With this round of subpoenas, the committee is targeting top individuals from former President Trump's reelection campaign who the panel says were involved in promoting the lie that the presidential election was stolen. The six subpoenas are going to: more...
Dan ManganU.S. authorities are seeking the extradition of a Ukrainian man suspected of collecting $2.3 million in ransom after using REvil ransomware to attack about 2,500 targets. Earlier Monday, the European law enforcement agency Europol announced that Romanian authorities have arrested two other people suspected of cyberattacks in 17 countries that used the REvil ransomware to lock affected computers. The duo, who were not identified, are suspected of causing 5,000 infections with the ransomware, pocketing a half a million euros in ransom payments, according to Europol, which said the arrests were made Thursday. more...
A quarter of a century after Newt Gingrich went after funds for public broadcasting, some Republicans are apparently ready for Round Two against Big Bird.By Steve BenenShortly after Republicans made dramatic gains in the 1994 midterm elections, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich was eager to get to work on his plans to balance the budget. High on the Republican's list was eliminating federal funds for public broadcasting.The move was not well received. In fact, it led to headlines such as, "Are Newt and His Cronies Afraid of Big Bird?" When the Clinton White House prevailed in budget talks, and support for public broadcasting survived, there were related headlines such as, "Big Bird Taken Off Death Row." In other words, Republicans picked a fight with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — and Big Bird won. more...
BY RYAN SMITHFormer President Donald Trump was "fascinated with looking at" a Ku-Klux Klan display at a civil rights museum, Omarosa Manigault Newman has claimed. Manigault Newman, who served as assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison until her dismissal in December 2017, made the claim during a recent episode of Big Brother VIP in Australia. The TV personality, who rose to fame as a contestant on the first season of Trump's reality show The Apprentice, recounted her time in the real estate mogul's administration as she sat for an interview. more...
John L. DormanSen. Mitt Romney last week warned Democrats against changing filibuster rules in the upper chamber, pointing to the prospect of Republicans seizing control of Congress in 2022 and former President Donald Trump potentially retaking the White House in 2024. The Utah Republican, who was first elected to the Senate in 2018, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post and took part in opinion columnist James Hohmann's "Please, Go On" podcast to relay his message, pointing out that it would be foolhardy to alter the way in which the deliberative body operates. more...
In his new book, Jonathan Karl shares what Trump said before backing down.By Will SteakinIn an angry conversation on his final day as president, Donald Trump told the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee he was leaving the GOP and creating his own political party -- and that he didn't care if the move would destroy the Republican Party, according to a new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl. Trump only backed down when Republican leaders threatened to take actions that would have cost Trump millions of dollars, Karl writes his upcoming book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show." more...
When one pulls back and looks at Fox’s broader situation, letting Carlson engage in conspiracy-mongering makes a lot of sense.By Brian Rosenwald, author of "Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States"Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s new three-part documentary on the Jan. 6 insurrection began airing last week on Fox Nation, Fox’s subscription streaming service. The documentary has generated condemnation from across the political spectrum for its untruths. NPR media reporter David Folkenflik, to pick just one example, labeled it “pretty dark and often fact-free.” Its critics have blasted the documentary’s false claim that the insurrection was a “false flag” or “honeypot” staged by former President Donald Trump's foes in national security agencies and the left-wing group antifa to smear Trump backers. more...
NewsroomFox News host Tucker Carlson said that he has "never figured out" what Critical Race Theory actually is, despite talking about it for months. video...
Tucker Carlson's "Patriot Purge" miniseries uses deceptive tactics and false statements to rewrite history.Dan EvonAt the start of November 2021, Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired the first episode of his new miniseries, “Patriot Purge,” on the network’s online streaming service Fox Nation. The three-episode series makes a number of false claims regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and misleads viewers with the conspiratorial idea that the attack was staged by the federal government. Below are some of the most misleading aspects of the “Patriot Purge.”Are Millions of Trump-Supporters Being Stripped of Their Rights? No.One of the main arguments in “Patriot Purge” is that the Biden administration views the millions of American citizens who supported former U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 election as domestic terrorists. In the first episode of this miniseries, Carlson claims that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is being used a “pretense to strip millions of Americans” of their constitutional rights and “frame them as domestic terrorists.” more...
Gloomy landscape for Democrats for midterms as Biden's approval drops to 38%: USA TODAY/Suffolk pollSusan Page, Rick Rouan | USA TODAYA year before the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans hold a clear early lead on the congressional ballot as President Joe Biden's approval rating sinks to a new low of 38%. A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, taken Wednesday through Friday, found that Biden's support had cratered among the independent voters who delivered his margin of victory over former President Donald Trump one year ago.Biden and his party are poised for a rebound, advocates argue, after the House late Friday passed the $1.2 trillion "hard" infrastructure bill, sending the signature measure to Biden's desk for his signature. An encouraging economic report released Friday morning also showed stronger-than-expected job growth. more...
The iconic Sesame Street bird flew right into the culture wars by tweeting about his new COVID-19 vaccine.By Mary PapenfussSesame Street’s Big Bird character decided to get vaccinated to protect himself from COVID-19 — and it caused a massive flap among vaccine skeptics like Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz said the whole scene was government “propaganda” — a pretty big word for Sesame Street! One-time head of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub reminded Cruz on Twitter: “You are vaccinated.” Not a peep from Cruz about that. more...
“Eisenhower’s interstate system should be torn up or else the commies will be able to conveniently drive! Red Dawn in real life," mocked Rep. Adam Kinzinger.By Mary PapenfussRep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Saturday slapped down colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), reminding her that federal infrastructure funds she called “communist” built the nation’s highway system. Greene viciously slammed the 13 House Republicans (including Kinzinger) who voted to pass the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure and Jobs Act Friday. She claimed in a tweet late Friday after the vote that they “handed over their voting cards ... to pass Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America via infrastructure.” She named all 13 Republicans — with their phone numbers in a separate tweet — in the bipartisan effort. (Some on Twitter said they were grateful for the list so they could call in their thanks.) more...
Sarah Elbeshbishi | USA TODAYWASHINGTON – The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that the House approved late Friday passed with the help of several Republicans, who faced a swift backlash Saturday from their GOP colleagues. Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York was one of 13 Republicans who voted for the bipartisan bill, which passed 228-206, with some progressive Democrats voting against it.“After months of being held hostage by Progressive Democrats, the House was finally able to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Garbarino said on Twitter. “Make no mistake, tonight’s vote was about roads, bridges, and clean water. It was about real people, and the tangible actions Congress could take to better their lives by rebuilding and revitalizing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. more...
Jonathan Ponciano Forbes StaffThe House passed one of the largest infrastructure packages in U.S. history Friday night after months of bipartisan negotiations and tense political infighting, shoring up $1.2 trillion in funds, including $550 billion in new investments, for the nation's bridges, airports, waterways, public transit and more—here's everything you need to know about where the massive spending will go. more...
By Annie Grayer, CNN(CNN) The House on Friday voted 228-206 to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill after hours of delays and debating among Democrats, sending the bipartisan measure to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature. But while Democratic leaders managed to unify House progressives and moderates to hold a vote on the Senate-passed bill, not all members of the party ultimately supported it. A number of progressives -- who have consistently called for both the infrastructure and the separate economic package, known as the Build Back Better Act, to move together -- voted "no" on the legislation. more...
By Darragh RocheSix progressive Democrats voted against the passage of a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Friday after weeks of divisions within the party about the separate Build Back Better Act. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 228 to 206 with 13 Republicans joining the majority of Democrats in approving the bipartisan framework. The vote will be seen as a win for President Joe Biden, who negotiated the framework with a group of senators from both parties, and is now due to sign the bill into law as it had already passed in the Senate in August. more...
By: CBS NewsWASHINGTON D.C. - The House late Friday night passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that represents a key piece of President Biden's domestic agenda, following a day of Democratic discord over the infrastructure bill and the even larger social spending bill. Thirteen Republicans voted to pass the infrastructure bill, while six Democrats voted against it. The House floor erupted in cheers upon the bill's passage.Democrats are also expected to vote to pass a rule on the Build Back Better bill that will allow for a vote on that bill later this month. Democratic leadership had initially hoped to pass both bills Friday, but internal disagreement halted that plan. Progressives have been threatening to tank the infrastructure bill without passing the Build Back Better Act, while moderates have been threatening to not vote for the bill without further assurances that it will be fully paid for and won't hurt the economy. more...
By Bill McCarthyIn his controversial and conspiratorial documentary series attempting to rewrite the events of Jan. 6, Fox News host Tucker Carlson described the attack on the U.S. Capitol as a false-flag operation contrived to frame, trap and "purge" Trump voters in a "new war on terror." The series started airing Nov. 1 on Fox Nation, Fox News’ subscription streaming service. It was produced as part of a multiyear deal Carlson signed to make specials for Fox Nation, and it was co-written by Scooter Downey, who previously directed films for far-right figures. On Fox News’ flagship morning show, "Fox & Friends," Carlson defended it as "rock-solid factually." more...
Rep. Bennie Thompson said the committee was 'willing to take strong measures' after Jeffrey Clark refused to testify.By Dartunorro ClarkThe chairman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol excoriated a former Trump Justice Department official on Friday over his refusal to answer questions about the attack during a scheduled deposition. Jeffrey Clark, a former acting head of the Justice Department's civil division who played a key role in then-President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, frustrated members of the committee when he arrived on Capitol Hill with a 12-page letter from his attorney, obtained by Politico, explaining his refusal to testify. The letter, which included a statement from attorneys representing Trump in his lawsuit against the committee, argued that executive privilege prevented Clark from providing testimony. more...
CNN’s “New Day” hit the network, other media outlets and GOP lawmakers with a stinging supercut that pointed out the same statistic again and again.By Lee MoranCNN “New Day” anchors Brianna Keilar and John Berman hammered home the same point over and over on Wednesday — that 99% of people who are now dying from COVID-19 in the United States are unvaccinated. They also called out Fox News personalities including Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, other conservative media outlets and GOP lawmakers who have sown doubt about the COVID-19 vaccines that have been declared by scientists worldwide to safely slow the spread of the coronavirus. more...
Posted by Mike FlorioThe good news, if there is any, for the Packers arising from the positive COVID test generated by quarterback Aaron Rodgers is that, for 90 days after his positive test, the previously secretly unvaccinated quarterback won’t have to be tested. That’s one of the aspects of the joint NFL-NFLPA COVID protocols about which the delicate genius surely won’t be complaining. So when does the 90 days expire? MDS has done the count. Rodgers won’t be tested again until two days after the NFC Championship, if the Packers are still alive at that point. more...
Fox News host can be heard describing huge amounts of opioids he allegedly took after a surgeryAlisha Rahaman SarkarA day after Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s monologue on opioid painkillers was leaked, conservative political commentator Jesse Watters replaced him on his talk show. Watters appeared as a guest host on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Thursday night, where he discussed how an alleged Russian claim “changed the course of United States politics.” Carlson reportedly underwent an emergency back surgery on Wednesday morning and then went to the studio to host his show at night, Fox News said. more...
The chair of the Hill select panel probing the Capitol riot said a contempt of Congress referral for Jeffrey Clark is "on the table."By BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN and KYLE CHENEYA top Trump Justice Department official who aided the former president’s quest to overturn the 2020 election refused to answer substantive questions in a meeting with congressional investigators on Friday. The former official, Jeffrey Clark, instead delivered a 12-page letter from his attorney — a lawyer who worked on a post-election lawsuit aimed at overturning the results in Georgia — defending his refusal to testify. The attorney, Harry MacDougald, wrote that Clark intended to wait at least until courts resolve Trump’s own lawsuit challenging the Jan. 6 select committee’s access to his White House records. more...
insider@insider.com (Lauren Frias,Grace Panetta)The 17-year-old son of Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin attempted to vote in the election earlier this week, county election officials said Friday. Youngkin's son did not end up voting and did not violate any state election laws, Fairfax County officials added, per a report by The Washington Post. Youngkin, a Republican, won the competitive Virginia governor's election over Democrat Terry McAuliffe by a margin. of just over two points on Tuesday. Jennifer Chanty, a precinct captain serving in the district, told The Post that the teen went to a voting precinct inside the Great Falls Library on Tuesday, and she told him that he must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to vote upon seeing his driver's license. more...
By Marshall CohenWashington (CNN) A full year after the 2020 presidential election, new details are still emerging about former President Donald Trump's unprecedented effort to overturn the results.Many of Trump's actions were done in public view, including dozens of ill-fated lawsuits and tweets that undermined the electoral process. But congressional inquiries and news reports have shed new light on what happened behind the scenes as Trump tried to cling to power.Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Trump's attempted coup was how he relentlessly tried to weaponize the Justice Department to nullify President Joe Biden's victory. The Democratic-run Senate Judiciary Committee investigated Trump's conduct and concluded in a recent report that he "grossly abused the power of the presidency." more...
By Jeremy Herb, Jake Tapper and Michelle Rozsa, CNN(CNN) Retiring Rep. Anthony Gonzalez has a warning for his fellow Republicans: former President Donald Trump will try to steal the next election. Gonzalez was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. In the face of relentless attacks and threats directed toward him and his family afterward, the Ohio Republican chose to retire from Congress at the end of his term and avoid facing off with a Trump-backed primary challenger next year.With Trump appearing to prepare for another presidential run in 2024, Gonzalez told CNN he will try to stop Trump from running the same 2020 playbook to overturn another election, but he warned that Trump could have more help next time from those in charge of running -- and certifying -- elections. more...
Cuomo Prime TimeCNN obtained exclusive video that shows Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani, attorney Sidney Powell and others being deposed about their election lies. video...
Cuomo Prime TimeA federal judge expressed deep skepticism of former President Donald Trump's arguments that he can keep documents from his White House secret during a historic court hearing related to the January 6 riot. video...
By Sara Murray and Jason Morris, CNN(CNN) When former President Donald Trump fired off a letter in September demanding that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger decertify the election, investigators in Georgia were paying attention. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis made clear to her staff she wanted that letter -- the original copy, complete with the envelope -- as part of her probe into Trump's efforts to upend Georgia's 2020 election results, according to a person familiar with the matter.Trump, still stewing over his 2020 loss and eying a run in 2024, has continued to bellow complaints about the results of the last presidential election and insert himself into Peach State politics. And his antics have provided new fodder for Fulton County investigators as they examine whether his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were criminal. more...
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN(CNN) The House probe into the Capitol insurrection is making its most significant strides yet in gaining understanding of Donald Trump's behind-the-scenes maneuvering before and during his coup attempt against American democracy.The Democratic-led committee is acting on multiple fronts but is in a race against time. First, it is confronted by the ex-President's obstruction as he tries to dodge accountability. And haunting the panel's every move is the possibility of a new Republican-led House after the 2022 midterm elections that would likely close it down. The committee was in court Thursday fighting Trump's bid to keep documents about what happened in the White House on January 6 on dusty National Archives shelves. It's firing off new subpoenas as it tries to sketch a true picture of what really happened in the days running up to that shocking day. And on Friday, a key member of the inner circle that gathered around Trump ahead of those dark hours is expected to show up on Capitol Hill for an interview. more...
By Devan Cole and Tierney Sneed, CNNWashington (CNN) Allies of former President Donald Trump testified under oath that they had done little to verify debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election before spreading them on the national stage, according to tapes of their depositions obtained exclusively by CNN.The new footage of sworn testimony from Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell animates the behind-the-scenes movements of the two in their effort to sow doubt about the integrity of the presidential election results. The video details responses from the Trump allies as a lawyer representing former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer in his defamation case against them peppers them with questions about their allegations.Dominion has denied repeatedly that its vote-counting services allowed for fraud, and since the election, state and US authorities have repeatedly found no widespread fraud in the 2020 vote. more...
By Jason LemonSenator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, described former President Donald Trump as "unpopular" while commenting on Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin's win in Virginia. Youngkin, a businessman who had never run for elected office before, defeated former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe this week in Virginia, a state that President Joe Biden won by just over 10 points a year ago. While Trump endorsed Youngkin, the GOP governor-elect distanced himself from the former president throughout his campaign in the state. Graham, a close Trump ally, lauded Trump for understanding the dynamics of the race in Virginia in comments to Politico published Thursday. more...
The list of professors blocked from testifying in cases related to Gov. Ron DeSantis' policies keeps growing.By Steve BenenAfter Florida Republicans created wildly unnecessary new voting restrictions, legal fights soon followed. Under normal circumstances, we'd expect to see some of the state's leading scholars offering expert testimony, explaining in detail the effects of the new state statutes.As we were reminded last week, Florida's circumstances aren't normal at all: The University of Florida blocked three political scientists from testifying. The school said there was a "conflict": The university is a public institution and part of the state government. Since the lawsuit is challenging a state law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the professors, according to their employer, had to remain neutral. more...
By Karen FreifeldNEW YORK (Reuters) -The Manhattan district attorney has convened a new grand jury to weigh potential further charges in a case involving former President Donald Trump's Trump Organization, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The second grand jury was expected to examine how the company valued its assets, the Washington Post reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.The criminal case stems from a probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance in collaboration with New York State Attorney General Letitia James. James has been examining whether the company inflated the values of some properties to obtain better loans, while indicating lower values for tax purposes. more...
Kenneth NiemeyerThe FBI is investigating a Chicago hospital that gave COVID-19 vaccines to ineligible Trump International Hotel & Tower employees through a program meant to immunize communities of color, according to Block Club Chicago. Dr. Anosh Amhed, the former COO and CFO of Loretto Hospital, stepped down from his position in March after reports that he provided vaccines to employees at Chicago's Trump Tower, where he reportedly owned a $2 million condo. more...
By Evan Perez, CNN Justice Correspondent(CNN) The Justice Department is suing Texas over new voting restrictions that the federal government says will disenfranchise eligible voters and violate federal voting rights law. The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in San Antonio challenges the law known as SB1 passed earlier this year to overhaul election procedures in the state. The law, which bans 24-hour and drive-thru voting, imposes new hurdles on mail-in ballots and empowers partisan poll watchers, was signed by Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in September. more...
Investigators are trying to connect the dots between protesters who broke into the Capitol and whether they coordinated with Republican officials.By KYLE CHENEYCongressional investigators probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are examining the contacts between one of the rioters who breached the Capitol and state-level GOP officials who worked with former President Donald Trump as he attempted to overturn the 2020 election.The rioter, who interviewed with the committee twice in the past week, described knowledge of contacts between GOP officials in a key state Trump lost and allies of the former president in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. The person interviewed was one of the 650-plus defendants charged in the attack, and discussed those contacts in a voluntary interview with congressional investigators. more...
By Matthew Stanmyre | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comHours after Edward Durr seemingly solidified his stunning election victory over state Senate President Steve Sweeney, xenophobic and anti-Muslim social media messages have surfaced that were posted from his accounts. The posts came to light shortly after the Associated Press projected Durr’s victory over Sweeney on Thursday morning in the 3rd legislative district, putting him on the verge of one of the biggest upsets in New Jersey political history. With 100% of precincts reporting, Durr led Sweeney 32,742 votes to 30,444 — 51.8% to 48.2%. more...
Duane Rankin | Arizona RepublicPhoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver allegedly called Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green the N-word in 2016 after Suns lost to Golden State, ESPN's Baxter Holmes is reporting in a story that provides allegations of racism and misogyny.This incident allegedly occurred during two-time All-Star Devin Booker's second NBA season with the Suns, then-head coach Earl Watson said, according to the ESPN report, which was released Thurday and details multiple allegations of racist and sexist remarks by Sarver, creating a hostile work environment within the organization. more...
By ERIC TUCKERWASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian analyst who provided information for a dossier of research used during the Trump-Russia investigation was charged Thursday with lying to the FBI when questioned about his work. A grand jury indictment issued in federal court in Virginia charges Igor Danchenko with five counts of false statements. The case was brought as part of special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the FBI’s probe into ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. more...
Brett BachmanWhen former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-New York City Police Chief Bernie Kerik found themselves out thousands of dollars on hotel rooms and travel costs for their efforts to overturn Donald Trump's election loss, one person came to their rescue: Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. The longtime cable news staple arranged for the Trump campaign to reimburse Kerik and Giuliani, payments that may jeopardize the former president's claim to executive privilege, according to a new report in the Washington Post. more...
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to join Democrats on the voting bill named for the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).By MARIANNE LEVINE and ZACH MONTELLAROSenate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a fourth Democratic attempt to begin considering elections and voting legislation on the floor, casting fresh doubt on the majority party's ability to enact any type of reform this Congress. In a 50-49 vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined Democrats to move forward on legislation that would restore a requirement that certain jurisdictions receive a green light from the Justice Department or a D.C.-based federal court before changing voting laws or procedure. more...
By Jacqueline Alemany, Josh Dawsey, Emma Brown and Tom HamburgerIt was a month after the 2020 presidential election, and Bernard Kerik was starting to panic. The former New York City police chief and his friend Rudolph W. Giuliani were shelling out thousands of dollars for hotel rooms and travel in their effort to find evidence of voting fraud and persuade state legislators to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Yet President Donald Trump’s campaign had turned down Kerik’s request for a campaign credit card. The bills were piling up. “How do I know I’m gonna get my money back?” Kerik remembers thinking to himself at the time, according to a recent interview he did with The Washington Post. more...
MICHAEL KUNZELMANDuring his 27 years in the U.S. Army, Leonard Gruppo joined the Special Forces, served in four war zones and led a team of combat medics in Iraq before retiring in 2013 as a lieutenant colonel. During his six minutes inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Gruppo joined a slew of other military veterans as a mob of pro-Trump rioters carried out an unparalleled assault on the bastion of American democracy. He's among dozens of veterans and active-service members charged in connection with the insurrection. more...
CNNFormer President Donald Trump has continued his quest to purge the Republican party of those who speak out against him... starting with those 10 Republicans in Congress who voted to impeach him back in January. In the latest episode of The Point, CNN's Chris Cillizza talks about the latest retirement announcement, this time from Rep. Adam Kinzinger and the force behind a Trump endorsement. video...
Tom PorterSen. Lindsey Graham urged Capitol police to shoot at rioters who stormed the capitol on January 6, according to a new Washington Post report. The Post's extensive account provides new details of the chaotic attack on the Capitol, including the panic as lawmakers rushed to evacuate. Many were taken to a secure location, though some senators, Graham among them, remained on the Senate floor at first. more...
Troubling statistics show the post-election rancor that led to the US Capitol attack on 6 January is still very much in placeAdam GabbattAlmost a third of Republicans believe violence may be necessary to “save” the US, according to a new poll. Researchers at the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, found that 30% of Republicans agreed with the statement “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country”. Among Americans who believe the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, which it was not, 39% believe violence may be required. more...
By Brian Stelter, CNN BusinessThe distance between Trump America's perception of January 6 and the rest of America's understanding of the attack is growing so wide, it cannot be bridged. To see what I mean, watch Tucker Carlson's "false flag" conspiracy-theorizing -- coming to Fox's streaming service on Monday -- and compare it to the Washington Post's prize-worthy reconstruction of the "red flags" before Jan. 6, the bloodshed during the attack, and the "contagion" after.For conservative news consumers, history is being erased. For everyone else, history is still being written. New facts are still emerging. The Post's new three-part series was assembled by a team of 75 journalists. This project began "in late spring, after efforts in Congress to create a bipartisan panel to examine the Jan. 6 attack collapsed," exec editor Sally Buzbee explained in this editor's note on Sunday. more...
By Natalie ColarossiEverett Stern, a Republican candidate running to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, revealed Sunday that aides to former national security adviser Michael Flynn allegedly asked him to "gather intelligence" on various lawmakers and judges for extortion purposes.Speaking to a group of reporters, Stern said representatives for Flynn approached him through his Patriot Caucus group earlier this year with the objective to influence lawmakers to support election audits in favor of former President Donald Trump. more...
CBS MorningsThe Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday on the enforcement of Texas' controversial law that bans most abortions after six weeks. Next month, the court will consider Mississippi's 15-week abortion bill, a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. Jan Crawford reports how these cases could reshape reproductive rights for women across the country. video...
Miles ParksFor anyone hoping that voting and elections post-2020 would become less polarized, the recent Take Back Virginia rally outside Richmond was not a good sign. It opened with those in attendance pledging allegiance to a flag that was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when rioters stormed the building to stop the official counting of Electoral College votes in the belief that they could prevent Joe Biden from becoming president.For many of the speakers at the event, election integrity was at the top of their priority list — and not just opposition to ballot drop boxes or voting by mail. Instead, the emphasis was for direct involvement by regular voters and activists to monitor election workers. more...
Bruce Vielmetti | Milwaukee Journal SentinelMILWAUKEE — Kyle Rittenhouse will go on trial Monday in the shooting of three people, two fatally, during a protest against police brutality after the shooting of Jacob Blake.Since then, the case and its characters have provided a constant stream of intrigue, outrage and propaganda, in both mainstream and niche conservative media outlets where he has occasionally been portrayed as a patriot and symbol of gun rights as well as a self-defense hero and boy-next-door. Rittenhouse has been charged with intentional, reckless and attempted homicide, reckless endangerment and curfew violation. He’s also charged with possessing a firearm as a minor, which is a misdemeanor. more...
Celina Tebor, John Bacon | USA TODAYMore than 90% of New York City's employees have been vaccinated and half of the rest have applied for exemptions, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. The mayor's vaccine mandate requires that any of the city's 300,000 workers who haven't had their first dose be placed on unpaid leave today. The exemption requests are still being processed, de Blasio said. "A vast majority of city workers, 91%, stepped up to put the health and safety of their city first and got vaccinated," de Blasio tweeted early Monday. The number had been 83% Friday night. more...
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