Welcome to part VI of the Trump Transgressions Timeline, which has a start date of March 30, 2023, and runs all the way up to the present. Use the following links to get to Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V of the timeline.
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part I - 1927 to June 14, 2019
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part II - June 17, 2019 to February 28, 2020
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part III - March 1, 2020 to November 3, 2020
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part IV - November 4, 2020 to January 6, 2022
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part V - January 7, 2022 to March 29, 2023
Indictments and 2024 Election Transgressions
June 5, 2023 - Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following analysis of a second term for Donald Trump: "As Donald Trump begins another campaign for the presidency, his extremist rhetoric and lies about the 2020 election signal that in a second term, Trump would attempt to thwart the rule of law at the justice department and other agencies in an effort to expand his power and attack critics. Former DoJ officials, some Republicans and academics say that if Trump becomes the Republican nominee and is elected again in 2024, he would most likely appoint officials who would reflexively do his bidding, target dissenters he deems part of the 'deep state' and mount zealous drives to rein in independent agencies. Donald Ayer, a former deputy attorney general during the George HW Bush administration, told the Guardian: 'Of all the many reasons Donald Trump's candidacy should be rejected out of hand, none is more important than his utter disdain for the rule of law – the idea that we are a society governed by rules and not by the will of one person.'"
Mike Pence, the vice president under Donald Trump, has officially entered the 2024 race for president.
June 1, 2023 - According to Reuters, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Elon Musk. Investors are accusing Musk of manipulating the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which they say cost them billions of dollars. According to the lawsuit, a "deliberate course of carnival barking, market manipulation and insider trading" enabled Musk to defraud investors, promote himself and his companies.
Chuck Grassley, a Republican US senator from Iowa, and James Comer, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, have demanded that the FBI turn over a document that they say concerns an unspecified "alleged criminal scheme" involving Joe Biden when he was vice president. The document is connected to work done by Rudy Giuliani for then president Donald Trump in an effort to find dirt on Biden. Christopher Wray has refused to turn the document over, but has offered to let the Republicans see the document. While being interviewed on Fox News, Grassley complained saying "It's a non-classified document, [Wray] admits it exists. We aren't interested in whether or not the accusations against Vice-President Biden are accurate or not. We're responsible for making sure the FBI does its job and that's what we want to know." Responding to Grassley's comments on Fox, Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson tweeted: "Wow. Chuck Grassley admits the truth of his and James Comer's silly FBI form stunt." Sams also stated: "By congressional Republicans' own admission, this clearly is not an exercise to get to the truth or uncover facts. Instead, they are simply staging sad political stunts to push thin innuendo and spread insinuations to attack the president and get themselves booked on Fox News."
Roberto Minuta, a member of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to a four-year prison term for seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 insurrection.
May 31, 2023 - During a US Senate hearing on race and education, Oklahoma Republican senator Markwayne Mullin, an election denier and former cage fighter, was questioning a witness about whether a book meant to teach children about racism was appropriate. When the witness stated "The reality is..." Mullin cut her off saying "I don't want reality".
May 30, 2023 - Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, and candidate for president of the US, told Fox News that if elected he "will be able to destroy leftism in this country and leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history".
May 28, 2023 - According to data from the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (Pirus) project, a database tracking how US extremists came to be radicalized, 90% of the cases of US terrorists are classed as domestic. Of the domestic extremists, 95% are far-right (white supremacists, Proud Boys, anti-immigrant groups and anti-government groups). According to Michael Jensen, the leader of the Pirus project, and a senior researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (Start) at the University of Maryland, 70% of individuals committing terrorist acts in the US are individuals or part of "isolated cliques".
May 27, 2023 - The Republican led House of Representatives in Texas has impeached state attorney general Ken Paxton on articles that include bribery and abuse of public trust. The vote was 121 to 121 for and 23 against, making Paxton the sitting official in Texas' nearly 200-year history to have been impeached.
May 26, 2023 - Jessica Watkins, a member of the far-right group Oath Keepers, was sentenced today to eight and a half years in prison for her role in the January 6th insurrection.
According to NBC News, officials working in the Ron DeSantis administration in Florida have been asking lobbyists for contributions for his presidential campaign, something normally handled by campaign staff. While the tactic is unorthodox, it's unclear if it is illegal.
According to the AP, judge Clifton Newman, has blocked a South Carolina law that bans most abortions past the six-week mark. The law is being put on hold until the supreme court can review it. NOTE: Most women do not know they are pregnant at the six-week mark.
Writing for the Guardian, Poppy Noor offers the latest on the issue of the 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio who had to seek an abortion in Indiana. From the story: "The Indiana state medical board has ruled that it will allow Dr Caitlin Bernard to continue practicing in Indiana after she spoke out about a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indiana for abortion care due to restrictions in the girl's own state of Ohio. The doctor will not lose her license, although the seven-person board ruled that Bernard violated patient privacy laws in discussing the 10-year-old's case with media. Bernard was not found to have violated reporting requirements about child abuse in the case – another charge against her. The board was asked by the state attorney general to discipline Bernard last summer, in a nationally watched case that has drawn accusations of being motivated by anti-abortion politics."
According to the AP, a bill signed by Republican Iowa governor Kim Reynolds will ban teachers from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students up to grade six, and all books depicting sex acts will be removed from school libraries. From the story: "The new law is among similar measures that have been approved in other Republican-dominated statehouses around the country. As with many of those proposals, Iowa Republicans framed their action as a commonsense effort to ensure that parents can oversee what their children are learning in school and that teachers not delve into topics such as gender and sexuality. Despite the opposition of all Democratic legislators, Republicans who hold large majorities in Iowa's state House and Senate approved the measure in April and there was little doubt that Reynolds would sign it; she had made issues related to gender identity and sexuality a focal point of her legislative agenda this year. 'This legislative session, we secured transformational education reform that puts parents in the driver's seat, eliminates burdensome regulations on public schools, provides flexibility to raise teacher salaries, and empowers teachers to prepare our kids for their future,' Reynolds said in a statement. Under the new law, school administrators also would be required to notify parents if students asked to change their pronouns or names. Religious texts will be exempt from the library ban on books depicting sex acts. Democrats and LGBTQ+ groups argued that the restrictions would hurt children by limiting their ability to be open with teachers about gender and sexuality issues and to see their lives reflected in books and other curriculum. The law also requires schools to post online a list of books in libraries, along with instructions for parents on how to review them and classroom instructional material, and to request that any material be removed. Schools would need parental approval before they could give surveys to students related to numerous topics, including mental health issues, sex and political affiliation. This builds on two bills that Reynolds signed into law earlier in the year, restricting the restrooms transgender students can use and banning gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers, for people younger than 18."
May 25, 2023 - A Republican-led House investigative committee in Texas has recommended impeaching Texas attorney general Ken Paxton on 20 articles, including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust. The vote was unanimous. The state house of representatives could vote on the recommendation as early as tomorrow.
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6th insurrection, was sentenced today to 18 years in prison. Amit Mehta, the US district judge in the case, stated that Rhodes poses a continued threat to the US government saying it was clear he "wants democracy in this country to devolve into violence."
Robert Zeidman, a cyber forensics expert, has filed suit in federal court in Minnesota requesting enforcement of an arbitration ruling, in which Mike Lindell's LLC was ordered to pay $5m he had pledged to anyone who could disprove his data. Zeidman had proven that Lindell's data was "blatantly bogus data". Lindell has refused to pay Zeidman, which is what led to the lawsuit.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia Republican, who peddles antisemitic conspiracy theories, calls mass shootings false flag attacks, speaks at events staged by white supremacists, harasses political opponents, and who shouted "liar!" at Joe Biden during this year's state of the union address, was presiding over the House as Steve Scalise was speaking. Scalise had called for decorum after an unknown person yelled something from the Democratic side of the aisle, which was followed by Greene pounding her gavel while stating "The members are reminded to abide by decorum of the House." The response from Democrats to Greene's call for decorum was extended raucous laughter and catcalls as Greene continued to pound her gavel.
Donald Trump Jr, the oldest son of the former president, was talking on his online show called "Triggered" when he said the following: "Once you actually put out the facts I think a different image is going to emerge. Ron wants people to think that he's like 'Trump-lite' or something like that. He's not, either on policy grounds or personality. Trump has the charisma of a mortician, and the energy that makes Jeb Bush look an Olympian." NOTE: Jr did not acknowledge his gaffe.
May 24, 2023 - John Roberts, the chief justice of the US supreme court, told an audience at an awards dinner that he and the other justices were working to hold themselves to the "highest standards" of ethical conduct. Kyle Herrig, the president of the advocacy group Accountable.US, responded to the news saying Roberts "sat back and watched while the supreme court corruption crisis reached a fever pitch, causing public trust in his court to plummet. Now, he's admitting more can be done – but keeps pretending he isn't responsible for cleaning up his own court. Americans deserve more than a few noncommittal comments behind closed doors. Chief Justice Roberts himself has the power to change the ethics standards of our nation's highest court, but so far, he hasn't shown the courage. Instead of preaching to a private crowd, he should take action."
Harlan Crow, a Republican mega-donor, will not cooperate with the Senate judiciary committee according to his lawyers. The committee has asked for a list of gifts Crow has given to Clarence Thomas, the conservative justice who did not disclose gifts received from Crow.
Phil King, a Republican state senator in Texas, authored a bill that would require every public school in Texas to display the Ten Commandments in a conspicuous place in a durable poster or frame. Responding to the bill, the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union stated: "Parents should be able to decide what religious materials their child should learn." American United for Separation of Church and State also responded saying "Forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments is part of the Christian nationalist crusade to compel all of us to live by their beliefs." NOTE: The bill passed the Texas senate, but failed in the Texas House.
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, held a joint event on Twitter with Elon Musk to announce his candidacy for president. The event didn't go well. As users logged in they saw a screen that said "Preparing to launch", and when they did actually get content, it consisted of blank windows, choppy pieces of conversation and other technical glitches. The site was simply unable to handle the weight of more than half a million users. NOTE: Following the event, "Failure to Launch" began trending on twitter.
May 23, 2023 - A trial date has been set regarding criminal charges against Donald Trump over hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. The trial will begin on 25 March 2024.
May 22, 2023 - Time Scott, the only Black Republican serving in the US Senate, has formally launched a presidential campaign.
The NAACP has issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida. In a press release, the organization stated: "Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color" due to "attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools." NOTE: Other organizations have also issued travel advisories to Florida, including Equity Florida, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group and the Florida Immigrant Coalition who warned people of color, international travelers and those with an accent that "Florida is dangerous".
Writing for the Guardian, Hugo Lowell offers the following analysis of the latest news on the Trump classified documents case: "Federal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president. The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump's handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations. Last June, Corcoran found roughly 40 classified documents in the storage room at Mar-a-Lago and told the justice department that no further materials remained at the property. That was later shown to be untrue, after the FBI later returned with a warrant and seized 101 additional classified documents."
May 21, 2023 - A 17-year-old transgender girl in Mississippi, whose initials are LB, and who attended Harrison Central high school in Gulfport, was told by Kelly Fuller, the principal, that she must follow the boys' clothing rules to participate in the graduation ceremony. LB, who had worn dresses to class and extracurricular events throughout high school, including to prom, appealed the order with the help of the ACLU. Taylor McNeel, a federal judge in the city of Gulfport, refused to block the school's decision. Reacting to the court's decision not to intervene, Linda Morris, a staff attorney for the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, stated: "Our client is being shamed and humiliated for explicitly discriminatory reasons, and her family is being denied a once-in-a-lifetime milestone in their daughter's life. No one should be forced to miss their graduation because of their gender." NOTE: LB skipped the graduation ceremony.
May 20, 2023 - A story that has been circulating widely on rightwing media outlets has turned out to be false (go figure). The story began with the New York Post, a conservative tabloid, which ran a story that nearly two dozen unhoused veterans were removed from hotels in upstate New York to make room for migrants in search of asylum. Sharon Tony-Finch, the chief executive of Yerik Israel Foundation (YIT), a non-profit, was the source for the story. Local media outlets investigated the story, finding that the hotel had no record of transactions that were reportedly made to pay for the rooms for veterans. The hotel manager reported that there were no veterans staying at the hotel, and that none had been kicked out. The investigation also found that several unhoused men told the investigators that they were recruited to pose as displaced veterans. They were also told by Tony-Finch to say "I am too traumatized to talk about it" if asked to elaborate. Following the ruse becoming public, Laura Ingraham, who had covered the claims extensively, stated during her show "Turns out the group behind the claim made it up. We have no clue as to why anyone would do such a thing, but we'll bring you any updates should they come."
Matt Schaefer, a Republican state representative from Texas, has authored Texas House Bill 20, which seeks to create a new "border protection unit" that could include civilians with prior military experience whose purpose would be deterring migrants from unlawfully entering Texas using non-deadly force. The bill would also grant some immunity from prosecution for actions carried out by members of the force. Responding to the bill, Bernardo Cruz, an attorney for the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, stated: "It's really an unlawful action or exercise by the state government. We are really afraid it's going to lead to more racial profiling of current migrants, and also that it affects everyone who lives across the border and the states." NOTE: Human Rights Watch claims the bill will embolden state-sponsored vigilantism.
May 19, 2023 - Nina Jankowicz, the former executive director of the now defunct Disinformation Governance Board, who is suing Fox News for defamation following a campaign of "vitriolic lies" against her, sat down with the Guardian for an interview. Here are some highlights:
- Jankowicz stated that the attacks on her by Fox News hosts began the day after she was announced as the head of the new disinformation board on 27 April of 2022.
- In Tucker Carlson's opening monologue on 28 April, he called Jankowicz a "moron" and claimed that what she was doing amounted to a "full-scale attack on free speech" and called the disinformation board "the new Soviet America".
- Laura Ingraham labelled Jankowicz a "useful idiot", "janko-half-witz" and "insane".
- Sean Hannity called Jankowicz "one of the biggest perpetrators and purveyors of disinformation in the entire country".
- Jankowicz said the attacks continued long after she resigned from her federal position, stating that as recently as last month, Ingraham played a clip of Jankowicz describing the harassment she has endured, which Ingraham excused as "She's just upset that she didn't get to censor everybody".
- Jankowicz stated that "Every time they talked about me on Fox, a new wave of harassment would start. I would get a spike especially when Carlson and Hannity mentioned me."
- Jankowicz stated that Fox attacks made a point of focusing on her gender: "They were focused on belittling me, cutting me down to size – disregarding my serious work and the fact that I had been called as a Republican witness in Senate hearings – just to make me look like a silly little girl."
- Jankowicz stated that Fox mentioned more than 150 times that her intent was to monitor and censor free speech despite the fact that the disinformation board had no powers to censor or surveil anyone. It's purpose was to co-ordinate the efforts of other government entities. According to Jankowicz: "They depicted me as a fascist who didn't stand up for free speech, when precisely standing up for free speech had been the purpose of my entire career".
- Jankowicz stated that the Fox hosts claimed she was fired from the board, despite the fact that she resigned.
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, sent the following in a tweet: "We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny". The tweet raised eyebrows because Daniel Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter for putting Jordan Neely, a fellow passenger on a New York subway, in a chokehold, which led to Neely's death. Neely, a homeless black man, was acting erratically on the subway, which led to Penny grabbing him and putting him into the chokehold. The event has become a flashpoint in rightwing discourse on crime and vigilantism. Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo has raised more than $2.5m for Penny's legal defense.
According to the New York Times, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg is considering additional charges against Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who was sentenced to 5 months in jail earlier this year. From the story: "One of Donald J. Trump's longtime lieutenants, Allen H. Weisselberg, was recently released from the notorious Rikers Island jail complex after pleading guilty to a tax fraud scheme. Yet Mr. Weisselberg's legal troubles are far from over. The Manhattan district attorney's office is now considering a new round of criminal charges against Mr. Weisselberg, 75, and this time he could be charged with perjury, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The threat of new charges represents the latest effort in a two-year campaign to persuade Mr. Weisselberg to testify against Mr. Trump. And it comes at a crucial time, just weeks after the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, unveiled an indictment of the former president. Mr. Weisselberg has so far refused to turn against his former boss, but the prosecutors recently ramped up the pressure, warning his lawyers that they might bring the perjury charges if their client declined to testify against Mr. Trump, two of the people said. The potential perjury charges stem from statements Mr. Weisselberg made under oath during a 2020 interview with the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who was conducting her own separate civil investigation into Mr. Trump and his family business. It is not clear which part of his testimony raised red flags for prosecutors and Ms. James, or how Mr. Bragg might prove that Mr. Weisselberg intentionally made a false statement."
According to the AP, a Washington DC police officer has been arrested on charges that he lied about leaking confidential information to Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys, who with other members of his group destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner. From the story: "An indictment alleges that Metropolitan Police Department Lt Shane Lamond, 47, of Stafford, Virginia, warned Tarrio, then national chairman of the far-right group, that law enforcement had an arrest warrant for him related to the banner's destruction. Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before Proud Boys members joined the mob in storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Earlier this month, Tarrio and three other leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy charges. A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Lamond on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements. The indictment accuses Lamond of lying to and misleading federal investigators when they questioned him in June 2021 about his contacts with Tarrio. Lamond is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Friday. He was placed on administrative leave by the police force in February 2022. Lamond, who supervised the intelligence branch of the police department's Homeland Security Bureau, was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington. Lamond's name repeatedly came up in the Capitol riot trial of Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders."
According to the AP, Neil Gorsuch, a conservative supreme court justice, said that emergency measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic that left more than a million Americans dead, were "the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country". From the story: "The 55-year-old conservative justice points to orders closing schools, restricting church services, mandating vaccines and prohibiting evictions. Gorsuch's broadside is aimed at local, state and federal officials, and even his own colleagues. He says officials issued emergency decrees 'on a breathtaking scale.' His comments came in an eight-page statement that accompanied an order formally dismissing a case involving the use of the Title 42 policy to prevent asylum seekers from entering the United States. The policy was ended last week with the expiration of the public health emergency first declared more than three years ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency orders about which Gorsuch complained were first announced in the early days of the pandemic, when Trump was president, and months before the virus was well understood and a vaccine was developed. The Supreme Court got rid of a pandemic-related immigration case with a single sentence. Justice Neil Gorsuch had a lot more to say, leveling harsh criticism of how governments, from small towns to the nation's capital, responded to the gravest public health threat in a century. The justice, a 55-year-old conservative who was President Donald Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, called emergency measures taken during the COVID-19 crisis that killed more than 1 million Americans perhaps 'the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.' He pointed to orders closing schools, restricting church services, mandating vaccines and prohibiting evictions. His broadside was aimed at local, state and federal officials — even his colleagues. 'Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale,' Gorsuch wrote in an eight-page statement Thursday that accompanied an expected Supreme Court order formally dismissing a case involving the use of the Title 42 policy to prevent asylum seekers from entering the United States. The policy was ended last week with the expiration of the public health emergency first declared more than three years ago because of the coronavirus pandemic."
May 18, 2023 - Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Republican congresswoman known for her embrace of QAnon and other extreme conspiracy theories, spoke to reporters about an argument she had the prior day with congressman Jamaal Bowman on the steps of the US Capitol. According to Greene: "Jamaal Bowman [was] shouting at the top of his lungs, cursing, calling me a horrible ... calling me a white supremacist which I take great offense to that. That is like calling a person of color the N-word which should never happen. Calling me a white supremacist is equal to that. And that is wrong."
Ana Paulina Luna, a Republican US congresswoman from Florida, filed a motion to expel Adam Schiff, a Democratic US congressman from California, from congress. According to Luna, Schiff "lied to the American people. He used his position on House intelligence to push a lie that cost American taxpayers millions of dollars and abused the trust placed in him as chairman. He is a dishonour to the House of Representatives. The Durham report makes clear that the Russian collusion was a lie from day one and Schiff knowingly used his position in an attempt to divide our country." Schiff responded to Luna's claim saying: "When Republicans lacked the courage to stand up to the most unethical president in history, they consoled themselves by attacking those who did. I'm not backing down ... The Durham investigation was an investigation Donald Trump demanded, investigating the investigators. [Durham] spent four years trying to prove this deep state conspiracy theory that Trump kept telling his base was going to be proven ... The whole thing of course, was a big bust ... And so their response ... is, 'Let's go after Adam Schiff.' Let's go back to the person they most view as standing up for the rule of law, standing up against Trump, leading the first impeachment, participating in the January 6 committee. That's what this is about ... When Democrats do something for the right reason, [Republicans] use the precedent to do something for the wrong reason." NOTE: Republicans have removed Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the intelligence committee.
Walt Disney World has pulled the plug on a $1bn development project in Orlando, Florida in response to the ongoing feud with the entertainment giant and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor. NOTE: The feud began when the company spoke out against DeSantis' so-called "Don't Say Gay" law.
May 17, 2023 - A lawsuit has been filed against the Florida school district for implementing book bans. The parties who initiated the suit are PEN America, a non-profit organization that works to protect freedom of speech, Penguin Random House, a publishing company, and individual parents. The suit argues that the removal and restriction of access to books that discuss race, racism and LQBTQ+ identities violates the first amendment. At the heart of the far-right's book ban movement is Florida's Escambia county school district. Nadine Farid Johnson, the managing director of PEN America Washington and Free Expression Programs, stated that "it is time now to challenge this for the unconstitutional act that it is ... I think the important point here is ensuring students have access to books on a wide range of topics expressing a diversity of viewpoints. It really does implicate a core of public education, which is preparing students to be thoughtful and engaged citizens. And our supreme court has made clear that the government cannot be censoring books just because officials disagree with ideas they contain and that's what's happening here. And that's why we are taking this action." Suzanne Nossel, PEN America's CEO, stated: "Children in a democracy must not be taught that books are dangerous. The freedom to read is guaranteed by the constitution. In Escambia county, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to silence pluralism and diversity. In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand. The law demands that the Escambia county school district put removed or restricted books back on library shelves where they belong."
A resolution to expel George Santos from congress was sidelined after Republicans voted 221-204 to refer the resolution to the House ethics committee.
May 15, 2023 - James Comer, the Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives oversight committee was interviewed by far-right news channel Newsmax where he told the interviewer "The allegations and the things that we're investigating make Watergate look like jaywalking." The allegations Comer is investigating are claims that Joe Biden is compromised by a foreign power. Comer added that he has a "highly credible" whistleblower who will provide evidence for the allegations. Comer also claimed he had obtained thousands of pages of financial records showing that at least nine members of the Biden family allegedly exploited the Biden name in their business dealings by accepting money from foreign nationals in China and Romania. NOTE: The financial records show no evidence that Biden himself acted improperly or took any official action because of his family's business affairs. Notable responses to Comer's claims:
"We should always take the whistleblowers seriously, but this committee, at least so far, is cheapening the use of whistleblowers because they keep saying that they have found all this evidence for a whistleblower, and I think they even mentioned they might have more. But where is it?" - Maria Cardona, Democratic Strategist
"The reality is we don't even have a scandal here, much less Watergate." - David Brock, President of Non-Profit Watchdog Facts First USA
"Congressman Comer has a history of playing fast and loose with the facts and spreading baseless innuendo while refusing to conduct his so-called 'investigations' with legitimacy." - Ian Sams, White House Spokesperson
"If they have a whistleblower that's what the public would be interested in but, other than them talking about it, I haven't seen anything materialise from that." - Kyle Herrig, Executive Director of the Congressional Integrity Project
During an interview with Fox News, James Comer, the Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives oversight committee was schooled by host Steve Doocy who told Comer: "You don't actually have any facts to that point. You've got some circumstantial evidence. And the other thing is, of all those names, the one person who didn't profit is that – there’s no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally."
Xuan Kha Tran Pham, a resident of Fairfax, VA, walked into the office of Democratic congressman Gerry Connolly with a metal baseball bat where he proceeded to assault two of Connolly's staff members, hitting one in the head and one in the side. Pham also caused widespread property damage, shattering glass and breaking computers.
Daniel Gill, a grocery store worker who was arrested for assault last year for slapping Rudy Giuliani on the back and saying "What's up, scumbag?" during a campaign event for Giuliani's son Andrew, has filed a lawsuit against the elder Giuliani for levying a false accusation. According to the lawsuit, Giuliani and others present at the event "participated in an unlawful conspiracy ... to deprive [Gill] of his right to liberty, to his right to speak freely without retribution, and to be free from unreasonable seizures, in violation of his rights under the first, fourth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States". According to Gill, his slap on the back was to get Giuliani's attention, but Giuliani played it like he had been assaulted. Video of the incident confirms Gill's side of the story.
Noelle Dunphy, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, filed suit against the former New York mayor and attorney for Donald Trump for $10m, which alleges "abuses of power, wide-ranging sexual assault and harassment, wage theft and other misconduct" including "alcohol-drenched rants that included sexist, racist and antisemitic remarks". The suit includes the allegation that Giuliani "often demanded oral sex while he took phone calls on speaker phone from high-profile friends and clients, including then-President Trump" because "he enjoyed engaging in this conduct while on the telephone because it made him 'feel like Bill Clinton'". The suit also alleges that Giuliani asked Dunphy "if she knew anyone in need of a pardon" because "he was selling pardons for $2m, which he and President Trump would split".
May 14, 2023 - During a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing that focused partly on the DEA's budget, John Neely Kennedy, a Republican US senator from Louisiana, told Anne Milgram, the DEA administrator, that the Biden White House should pressure Lopez Obrador to let US military and law enforcement officials storm into his country "and stop the cartels". Kennedy continued: "Make him a deal he can’t refuse. Without the people of America, Mexico, figuratively speaking, would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent behind an Outback." Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the president of Mexico, responded to Kennedy's remarks by urging the 37 million Americans of Mexican descent "not to vote for people with this very arrogant, very offensive and very foolish mentality" in the future.
May 11, 2023 - George Santos, the US congressman from New York who has been charged with federal crimes, has signed a deal to avoid prosecution over stolen checks in Brazil, the details of which remain sealed.
Nina Jankowicz, the former head of the Disinformation Governance Board which was created by the US Department of Homeland Security, and whose purpose was to coordinate efforts to combat disinformation posing a threat to US security, has sued Fox News for defamation. According to Jankowicz, multiple Fox News hosts spread lies about her work, which fueled an internet campaign against her that caused her to be doxxed, threatened, harassed and cyber-stalked. The campaign ultimately led to her resignation and the disbandment of the group. The claims made against her by Fox included the following; that she intended to censor speech, that she was fired, and that she wanted to give verified twitter users, including herself, the power to edit others' tweets. She was also referred to as a "wicked witch", a "disinformation czaress" and a "lunatic", among other things. Jankowicz says that Fox News used her as a "punching bag" even after her resignation and the closure of the board, and declared that "It shouldn't be something we just accept that the most powerful cable network in the world can attack individuals willy-nilly and not face any consequences after they ruin their lives".
Tommy Tuberville, a Republican US Senator from Alabama, who is currently blocking promotions and appointments in the military in protest of Pentagon rules about abortion access, has come under fire for comments he made to Alabama station WBHM. A reporter from the station asked Tuberville "Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?" to which Tuberville replied "Well, they call them that. I call them Americans. We are losing in the military so fast. And why? I can tell you why. Because the Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don't believe in our agenda, as Joe Biden's agenda." NOTE: The Pentagon has prohibited "active participation" by members of the military in extremist groups since 1996. In 2020 the Pentagon sent a report to Congress that warned of a problem with white supremacists in the military. a 2022 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremism, showed that one in five applicants to one white supremacist group claimed ties to the military. Notable response to Tuberville's defense of white supremacists in the military:
"abhorrent that Senator Tuberville would argue that white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military, while he also threatens our national security by holding all pending DoD military and civilian nominations. Extremist behavior has no place in our military. None." - Adam Hodge, Spokesperson for the White House National Security Council
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following analysis of a CNN hosted town hall with Donald Trump: "The nausea came gradually, then suddenly, and with disconcerting familiarity. We had been flung back in time to the political hellscape of 2016. Only the second time around, it was somehow worse. Donald Trump, the former US president appearing on CNN for the first time since that fateful election year, lied and lied and lied. He was a leviathan of lying, a juggernaut of junk, an ocean liner of mendacity that left little boats of truth spinning and overturning in its wake. Trump called a Black police officer a 'thug'. He made racist comments about Chinatown in Washington. He described host Kaitlan Collins as a 'nasty person'. He made fun of a woman he sexually abused as a 'whack job'. He refused to say whether he wants Russia or Ukraine to win the war. Given the 45th president’s inability to change, it was the definition of shocking but not surprising. What may have come as a rude awakening to the pundit class is that many in the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire, were lapping it up and cheering him on. Some gave Trump a standing ovation as he walked in. Some clapped and hollered at his responses. Some laughed or put their hands to their mouths, visibly thrilled by his 'Can he really say that?' taboo-busting. Anyone taken aback by these reactions has not been paying attention to Trump rallies, where being outlandish and outrageous and cruel is the point. Although CNN's decision to devote more than an hour of prime time to Trump backfired horribly, it did perform the service of forcing the American public to look at itself in the mirror."
E Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who won a $5m civil judgment against Donald Trump for sexually abusing and defaming her, responded to Trump's comments on the CNN town hall saying she may sue him again over his comments.
Donald Trump filed a notice of appeal in the E Jean Carroll sexual abuse and defamation case.
May 10, 2023 - George Santos, the Republican congressman who admitted to lying about his past, has pleaded not guilty to charges he stole from his campaign and lied to Congress about being a millionaire, while collecting unemployment benefits he didn't deserve.
May 9, 2023 - Noah Bookbinder, the president of the ethics watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, declared that Clarence Thomas, a supreme court justice who has been embroiled in ethical controversies, must resign. In an open letter to Thomas, Bookbinder stated: "For the sake of the court and for the sake of our democracy which depends on a judiciary that the public accepts as legitimate and free from corruption, we urge you to resign. Your conduct has likely violated civil and criminal laws and has created the impression that access to and influence over supreme court justices is for sale ... It has become clear that over the last several decades you have engaged in a longstanding pattern of conduct to accept and conceal gifts and other benefits received from ... a billionaire political activist, and have disregarded your ethical duty to recuse yourself from cases in which you have a personal or financial conflict of interest ... For the sake of our judiciary and the sake of people's faith in its legitimacy, you must resign."
While the jury deliberates in the E Jean Carroll lawsuit alleging rape by the former president, Donald Trump posted the following to his Truth social account: "Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me. In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!" NOTE: Trump chose not to take the stand in the civil trial.
The New York jury in the civil rape trial of former president Donald Trump has found that he sexually abused E Jean Carroll in a New York department store 27 years ago. The jury awarded Carroll $2m for the sexual abuse, and $3m for defamation.
Donald Trump, the twice impeached, three times married, former president, responded to the verdict in the E Jean Carroll trial saying on his Truth social account: "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"
George Santos, a Republican congressman who has been under intense scrutiny for lies he told during his campaign for office, has been charged by federal prosecutors regarding irregularities in his 2022 campaign and financial activities. The indictment is currently under seal.
Bryan Slaton, a Texas state lawmaker who once proposed banning children from attending drag shows to shield them from being groomed for sexual abuse, has resigned. Slayton, who is 45, was found to have supplied alcohol to a 19 year-old intern and another young staffer, then had sex with the intern after she became intoxicated. The next morning, Slaton drove the intern home, but stopped first at a drugstore so the intern could get emergency contraception. Later, Slaton showed the intern a threatening email while telling her everything would be fine if she just kept quiet about the encounter. Slaton had also asked a fellow lawmaker to keep the encounter secret. Slaton's misconduct was brought to light after two 19-year-old legislative aides and a 21-year-old legislative intern filed complaints. NOTE: During his time in the legislature, Slaton had proposed penalizing the use of emergency contraception. Slaton had also sought a vote on whether Texas should secede from the US. Slaton's legislative biography describes him as holding values and principles formed by church and family gatherings. It also cites his degrees from a Baptist seminary and work as a youth minister before he was elected to represent his Dallas-area district in 2021.
May 8, 2023 - Steve Scalise, the US House Majority Leader, who was shot during a mass shooting at a 2017 congressional baseball game, was asked by Hugh Hewitt if he cares about what motivates mass shooters. Scalise's response: "Not really ... This is not a moment for politics. It should be a time for prayer."
Cleta Mitchell, an election lawyer and key ally of Donald Trump, who runs the Election Integrity Network at the pro-Trump Conservative Partnership Institute, recently told Republican donors that college voting, same day voting, and absentee voting should all be restricted.
George Alvarez, a Brownsville, TX resident, with an extensive criminal history, drove his SUV through a red light in Brownsville, then smashed into a group of migrants who were waiting at a bus stop. The crash left 8 dead and 10 others injured. According to witnesses, Alvarez yelled anti-immigrant statements and asked why so many migrants were "invading" the city.
May 7, 2023 - Ted Cruz, a Texas US senator, responded to a mass shooting at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas that killed 8 people by tweeting: "Heidi and I are praying for the families of the victims of the horrific mall shooting in Allen, Texas. We pray also for the broader Collin county community that's in shock from this tragedy." According to Axios and Open Secrets, Cruz has received more than $442,000 from organizations which support keeping guns as accessible as possible. NOTE: The gunmen was later revealed to have posted photos online displaying Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso. Here are some other notable responses from Cruz after other mass shootings:
"Heidi & I are praying for everyone in El Paso. As events continue to unfold, please heed any warnings from local authorities and law enforcement and stay safe. #Pray4ElPaso." - Ted Cruz, after a racist left 23 dead at an El Paso Walmart
"Heidi and I are lifting up in prayer those who were killed and injured in last night's shooting at an off-campus party at Texas A&M Commerce @tamuc." - Ted Cruz, after a shooter left 2 dead at Texas A&M
"Thank you to the brave men and women of law enforcement who worked tirelessly to apprehend this mass murdering illegal alien who killed 5 innocent people. The victims deserve justice. And this monster when convicted deserves the death penalty." - Ted Cruz, after a Mexican national killed 5 neighbors
Notable responses to Cruz's response to the Allen shooting:
"YOU helped arm him with guns, ammo and tactical gear. He did exactly what you knew he'd do. Spare us your prayers and talk of justice for a gunman who is ... dead. The only accountability we can hope for is that gun extremists like you are thrown into the ash heap of history." - Shannon Watts, Founder of Gun Safety Group Moms Demand Action
"You're worse than useless." - George Takei, Former Star Trek Actor
"Have you tried turning the prayer machine off and back on again." - Anonymous Twitter User
May 5, 2023 - According to the Guardian, 8 of the 16 fake electors in Georgia who sought to falsely declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election have accepted immunity deals.
US Republicans are meeting with their European allies at the second annual meeting in Budapest of the US Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC). During a segment in which the importance of free speech was highlighted, Kari Lake, a 2020 election denier and failed Republican gubernatorial candidate, made hostility towards the press a central theme of her speech. Lake claimed that "truth-tellers and peacemakers" were being destroyed by "fake news". Lake also said "It's always opposite day in the media: if they're telling what you're doing is bad, it's probably good." During the same segment, a Guardian journalist was ejected from the conference during an interview with Republican Rick Santorum. NOTE: Last year, the organizers refused entry to journalists from all US media outlets. This year, most independent journalists were refused accreditation for the event. Hungary is a country in which the International Press Institute (IPI) says that media freedom "remains suffocated".
Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, signed into law a bill that makes it possible to oust elected district attorneys if they are believed to not be adequately enforcing the law. Critics are calling this a thinly veiled power grab to push out Democratic prosecutors, some of whom have said they will not prosecute abortion-related crimes. One such DA is Deborah Gonzalez, a Democrat who adopted a number of criminal justice reforms including not charging for simple possession of marijuana, and announced with several district attorneys that she would not prosecute abortion-related crimes. Fani Willis, a Democrat who serves as the Fulton county district attorney, called the measure "racist" while noting that Republicans were pushing for the law after the number of minority district attorneys increased from 5 to 14 in 2020.
According to an investigation by the Washington Post, Leonard Leo, a leader of the Federalist Society, who led campaigns to nominate conservative supreme court justices, directed Kellyanne Conway, a GOP pollster, to bill the Judicial Education Project, which is a non-profit that Leo advises. Leo then told Conway to "give" Ginni Thomas, the wife of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas "another $25k" adding "No mention of Ginni, of course".
Kellyanne Conway, a former leading adviser to Donald Trump, responded on Fox News to a report in the Washington Post that she was involved in secret payments to Ginni Thomas saying: "These people will stop at nothing. They want Clarence Thomas to resign. So Joe Biden, of all people, can replace him with one of his own ... Ginni Thomas was one of my contractors and she had worked with the Heritage Foundation, she ... is part of the grassroots. She had worked in the Reagan administration. This is a serious person who for years had worked in public policy At the Polling Company, we did public opinion research and data analytics. We had no business before the court."
North Carolina Republican lawmakers have passed a 12-week abortion ban. Roy Cooper, the Democratic governor, promised to veto the bill saying it is an "egregious, unacceptable attack on the women of our state".
The court in New York overseeing the civil trial where E Jean Carroll has accused Donald Trump of raping her, has released footage of a pre-trial deposition of Donald Trump, where he points to a picture of E Jean Carroll and says "it's Marla, yeah, that's my wife". NOTE: Trump has previously claimed that Carroll is not his "type".
Peter Schwartz, a Kentucky man with a long criminal record, who participated in the January 6 insurrection, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in that attack. According to prosecutors, Schwartz attacked police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the US Capitol.
May 4, 2023 - According to a newly released report from an investigation by ProPublica, Mark Martin, a great-nephew of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, had his private school tuition paid for by billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crow. According to the investigation, Thomas did not disclose the tuition payments on his financial reports.
Robert Reed, a New York supreme court justice, has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump in 2021 in which he accused New York Times reporters of being involved in an "insidious plot" to obtain his tax returns. The New York Times' Pulitzer Prize winning stories that initiated the lawsuit showed that Trump had inherited hundreds of millions through "dubious tax schemes" and a history of tax avoidance. According to Reed, Trump's claims "fail as a matter of constitutional law", which allows reporters to engage in legal ordinary newsgathering. "These actions are at the very core of protected first amendment activity".
The Iowa legislature has passed a Republican-led bill that if signed into law will roll back child labor protections, including the hours teens are allowed to work and the establishments where they can be employed.
Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl, all members of the far-right neo-fascist organization known as the Proud Boys, have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6 insurrection. Domic Pezzola, another member of the group, was charged with lesser charges.
May 3, 2023 - Jim Marchant, a Nevada resident who describes himself as a "MAGA conservative" and who denies the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, has announced that he will be running for a US Senate seat against Democrat incumbent Jacky Rosen, who was elected in 2018. In his announcement, Marchant claimed he is running to "protect Nevadans from the overbearing government, from Silicon Valley, from big media, from labor unions, from the radical gender-change advocates". Rosen responded to the announcement saying: "Nevadans deserve a Senator who will fight for them, not a MAGA election denier who opposes abortion rights even in cases of rape and incest. While far-right politicians like Jim Marchant spread baseless conspiracy theories, I've always focused on solving problems for Nevadans."
Daniel Ball, a Florida man who was involved in the January 6th insurrection, was arrested and charged with setting off an "explosive device" in a US Capitol tunnel, along with other offenses which include assaulting police officers and entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon.
May 2, 2023 - Stephanie Scott, an Adams Township clerk in Hillsdale county, Michigan, who refused to turn over a voting machine for regular maintenance in 2021, and allegedly shared confidential voter data with a third-party IT analyst, and spread lies about election-rigging, has been stripped of power to administer elections by the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
Lisa Birnbach, a close friend of E Jean Carroll, testified that Carroll called her in 1996 "breathless, hyperventilating, emotional" within minutes of an encounter with Donald Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman department store. Birnbach recalled telling Carroll " E Jean, he raped you, you should go to the police." Birnbach said Carroll responded "No, no I don't want to go to the police." Birnbach said she then stated "He raped you. I'll take you to the police". Birnbach then said that Carroll made her promise she would "never speak of this again and promise me you will tell no one".
Jessica Leeds, who claims she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump, testified about her encounter with Trump in 1979 at the E Jean Carroll rape trial. Leeds testified that Trump, who was seated next to her on a flight to New York, suddenly "decided to kiss me and grope me. He was trying to kiss me. He was trying to pull me towards him. He was grabbing my breasts. It was like he had 40m hands. It was when he started putting his hand up my skirt, that gave me a jolt of strength". She also said that she ran into Trump three years later while volunteering at a Humane Society event. She stated that Trump "looked at me and he said, 'I remember you, you're that cunt from the airplane".
John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court has come under scrutiny after a whistleblower alleged that Robert's wife, Jane Roberts, made millions through recruiting for top law firms.
According to the AP, Kevin Stitt, the Republican governor of Oklahoma, signed a bill making it a felony for healthcare practitioners to provide children with gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and hormones. In response, Lambda Legal and the ACLU released a joint statement which stated in part "Gender-affirming care is a critical part of helping transgender adolescents succeed, establish healthy relationships with their friends and family, live authentically as themselves, and dream about their futures".
May 1, 2023 - According to the Guardian, E Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who sued Donald Trump for rape, "told the jury hearing her lawsuit for battery and defamation over the alleged sexual assault in a New York department store changing room in 1996 that she did not intend to sue Trump until he called her a liar when she went public with her accusations more than two decades later." Shortly after, Carroll met George Conway, the then husband of Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to the Trump White House. "Conway laid out the difference between criminal and civil cases. 'George said: you should seriously think about this,' she told the jury of six men and three women. Two days later, Carroll filed her first lawsuit against Trump, for defamation, after he called her a liar in denying the alleged rape at the luxury Bergdorf Goodman store."
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, held a press conference where he announced a reward for the capture of Francisco Oropeza, a Texas man who fatally shot five people after they complained about him shooting a rifle in his yard. During the press conference. Abbott went out of his way to describe the shooter and the victims as "illegal immigrants". At the time of the press conference, law enforcement authorities had not confirmed the immigrant status of the five victims. Notable responses to Abbott's description of the victims:
"Five human beings lost their lives" - Julian Castro, Former Mayor of San Antonio and Former Secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development
"They don't get to have an immigration narrative today. They need to own the narrative that they have made this state more dangerous ... An undocumented person was able to buy an AR-15 illegally somewhere because of their lax gun laws." - Roland Gutierrez, Democratic Texas Lawmaker whose District includes Uvalde
"disgusting lack of compassion and humanity" - Veronica Escobar, Democratic Congresswoman
According to the Guardian, A far-right group called Pastors for Trump, which is led by an Oklahoma-based evangelical pastor named Jackson Lahmeyer, is "drawing sharp rebukes from mainstream Christian leaders for being extremist, distorting Christian teachings and endangering American democracy by fueling the spread of Christian nationalism". According to Lahmeyer "We're going down a very evil path in this country. Our economy is being destroyed. It's China, the deep state and globalists. China interfered in our 2020 elections. This is biblical, what's happening. This is a spiritual battle." NOTE: Lahmeyer has attacked former House speaker Nancy Pelosi as a "demon", and described former Covid adviser Anthony Fauci as "a mass-murdering Luciferian". Lahmeyer has also described the attack on the Capitol as an "FBI inside job". Notable responses to Pastors for Trump:
"This kind of overt embrace of white Christian nationalism continues to pose a growing threat to the witness of the church and the health of our democracy. This pastor and this effort are trying to impose a Christian theocracy. It's imperative that Christian leaders of all backgrounds, including conservative ones, speak out about this effort as a threat to our democracy and to the church." - Adam Russelll Taylor, President of Christian Cocial Justice Group Sojouners
"For years, Trump has tried to co-opt religious leaders to serve his campaign, even attempting to change long-standing tax law to allow dark money to flow through houses of worship. Tragically, far too many pastors have confused political power with religious authority, and have thrown their lot in with Trump, no matter the cost to their ministry. Pastors for Trump is the next step in this unholy alliance, mixing Christian nationalism, election lies and vitriolic language in a gross distortion of Christianity." - Amanda Tyler, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
The Republican dominated Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by an Indianapolis abortion clinic and two women who underwent abortions at the facility. The appeal was a challenge to an Indiana law, which was passed in 2016 and signed into law by then Republican governor Mike Pence, which requires that embryonic or fetal remains be buried or cremated rather than the standard method of incineration for human medical waste. Todd Rokita, the Republican attorney general, stated the law was aimed at the "respectful disposition of human remains". The plaintiffs had argued that the law unconstitutionally compelled them to express the state's message that an embryo or fetus is a person and ran afoul of their moral or religious beliefs by treating embryonic tissue in the same manner as the remains of a deceased person. The case reached the supreme court after a district judge ruled the provision violated the challengers' religious freedom and free speech rights, which was overturned by the seventh circuit appeals court last year.
The board of directors that was hand picked by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to oversee Walt Disney has filed a suit against the theme park. The lawsuit seeks to overturn 11th hour actions taken by the outgoing board which nullified much of the new board's power by handing power to make decisions to the company itself. Disney filed a lawsuit also calling the attempted takeover by DeSantis loyalists "patently retaliatory, patently anti-business and patently unconstitutional". DeSantis called the Disney filing a meritless "political stunt".
In a lawsuit filed with the state district court in Helena, Montana, on behalf of state representative Zooey Zephyr, and several constituents who say they are being denied their right to adequate representation following a vote by Republican lawmakers to banish Zephyr from the House floor. Zephyr, who is transgender, told the Republicans in the Montana State House that they would have "blood on your hands" if they voted to deny gender affirming care for trans children. Republicans in the House stated that Zephyr's comment "violated decorum" and incited protests at the statehouse.
April 28, 2023 - According to the AP, Republican claims of "encouraging insurrection" has become increasingly common in state legislatures where Republicans rule. From the story: "Silenced by her Republican colleagues, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr looked up from the House floor to supporters in the gallery shouting 'Let her speak!' and thrust her microphone into the air — amplifying the sentiment the Democratic transgender lawmaker was forbidden from expressing. While seven people were arrested for trespassing, the boisterous demonstration was free of violence or damage. Yet later that day, a group of Republican lawmakers described it in darker tones, saying Zephyr's actions were responsible for 'encouraging an insurrection.' It's the third time in the last five weeks — and one of at least four times this year — that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections. The tactic follows a pattern set over the past two years when the term has been misused to describe public demonstrations and even the 2020 election that put Democrat Joe Biden in the White House. It's a move experts say dismisses legitimate speech and downplays the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Shortly after, the U.S. House voted to impeach him for 'incitement of insurrection.' Ever since, many Republicans have attempted to turn the phrase on Democrats. 'They want to ring alarm bells and they want to compare this to Jan. 6,' said Andy Nelson, the Democratic Party chair in Missoula County, which includes Zephyr's district. 'There's absolutely no way you can compare what happened on Monday with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Violence occurred that day. No violence occurred in the gallery of the Montana House.' This week's events in the Montana Legislature drew comparisons to a similar demonstration in Tennessee. Republican legislative leaders there used 'insurrection' to describe a protest on the House floor by three Democratic lawmakers who were calling for gun control legislation in the aftermath of a Nashville school shooting that killed three students and three staff. Two of them chanted 'Power to the people' through a megaphone and were expelled before local commissions reinstated them."
According to Politico, the North Carolina supreme court, which is newly Republican-dominated, has reversed a previous ruling which declared partisan gerrymandering to be illegal. This decision will allow Republicans in that state to get a more favorable map.
Micki Larson-Olson, a participant of the January 6 insurrection, and QAnon supporter, was pointed out to Trump at a campaign event in New Hampshire. Trump then sought her out and gave her a hug, and called her "terrific". Trump also told her to "hang in there". Larson-Olson then appeared on NBC for an interview where she called Trump the "real president" and also stated that she "would like a front seat of Mike Pence being executed." NOTE: Larson-Olsen was previously sentenced to six months in prison for her role in the January 6 riot.
During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Samual Alito, a supreme court justice and author of the court's decision overturning Roe v Wade, made the following statement about the leak of the decision: "Those of us who were thought to be in the majority, thought to have approved my draft opinion, were really targets of assassination. It was rational for people to believe that they might be able to stop the decision in Dobbs by killing one of us. I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that's different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody. It was a part of an effort to prevent the Dobbs draft ... from becoming the decision of the court. And that's how it was used for those six weeks by people on the outside—as part of the campaign to try to intimidate the court."
Two Michigan middle-school students have filed a lawsuit against their school district after they were banned from wearing "Let's Go Brandon" sweatshirts. NOTE: Let's Go Brandon translates to Fuck Joe Biden.
April 27, 2023 - Republican lawmakers in Montana have voted to silence Zooey Zephyr, the state's sole transgender lawmaker, for the duration of the current legislative session. Zephyr will be allowed to vote remotely, but will be unable to participate in debates on the floor. Republicans claim that she has placed lawmakers and staff at risk of harm for disrupting house proceedings by inciting protests in the house chamber.
According to the Washington Post, in 2020, Donald Trump's presidential campaign hired a second firm to prove his claims of election fraud. From the story: "Ken Block, founder of the firm Simpatico Software Systems, studied more than a dozen voter fraud theories and allegations for Trump's campaign in late 2020 and found they were 'all false,' he said in an interview with The Washington Post. 'No substantive voter fraud was uncovered in my investigations looking for it, nor was I able to confirm any of the outside claims of voter fraud that I was asked to look at,' he said. 'Every fraud claim I was asked to investigate was false.' Block said he recently received a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith's office and met with federal prosecutors in Washington, but he declined to discuss his interactions with them. Block said he contemporaneously sent his findings disputing fraud claims in writing to the Trump campaign in late 2020. 'I just don't believe it's appropriate at this point in time to discuss anything related to the grand jury process,' he said. Prosecutors have obtained extensive information about Block's efforts, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Federal records show the Trump 2020 campaign paid Block's firm more than $750,000 in six different payments. The first for $390,000 came three days after the election, records show, and the final payment came around Thanksgiving of that year. The payments were labeled 'Recount.'"
The following exchange took place today between E Jean Carroll, and Joe Tacopina (a Trump lawyer) in the trial of advice columnist Carroll's civil lawsuit alleging she was raped by Donald Trump:
TACOPINA - [Repeatedly inquires why Carroll did not scream when she was being raped]
CARROLL - "I'm not a screamer. You can't beat up on me for not screaming."
TACOPINA - "I'm not beating up on you, I'm asking you questions."
CARROLL - "Women don't come forward. One of the reasons they don't come forward is because they're asked 'Why didn't you scream?' I'm telling you: He raped me whether I screamed or not."
TACOPINA - "Do you need a minute, Ms. Carroll?"
CARROLL - "No, go right on. I don't need an excuse for not screaming."
April 26, 2023 - Brian Kolfage, a US air force veteran, and Andrew Badolato, both former associates of Steve Bannon, were sentenced to prison terms for their role in conspiring to defraud donors in a campaign to build a wall on the US-Mexican border. The campaign was called "We Build the Wall". NOTE: Steve Bannon was also charged in the case, but was pardoned by Trump in the final hours of his term.
John Roberts, the chief justice on the supreme court, declined an invitation from Senate Democrats to testify about the court's ethics. Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following analysis of the Democratic reaction to Robert's refusal to testify: "Democrats and progressives reacted angrily after John Roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court, declined an invitation to testify before the Senate judiciary committee about corruption allegations against members of his court. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut senator, said: 'The marble pillars of the supreme court and platitudes about its independence no longer provide refuge. He must face the nation.' Sheldon Whitehouse, from Rhode Island, said: 'The gaping hole in today's response from Roberts ... is that it overlooks the complete failure of process regarding ethics questions involving the justices. When there's no ref, there's no rule.'"
Zooey Zephyr, the transgender Democratic lawmaker who has not been allowed to speak on the Montana House floor after Republican leaders accused her of being disrespectful, was notified that during tomorrow's session, there will be a motion to either censure or expel her.
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following on the ongoing feud between Disney and Ron DeSantis: "Disney has sued Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida and presumed challenger for the Republican presidential nomination. The entertainment giant wants a court to overturn state efforts to exert control over the Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando. DeSantis moved against self-governing powers long granted to Disney after it opposed his so-called 'don't say gay' laws, concerning the teaching of gender and LGBTQ+ issues in Florida schools. In response, Disney passed covenants keeping such powers out of the hands of a board appointed by DeSantis. The governor said he would fight back, and joked with reporters about perhaps building a new state prison close to the Disney World park."
Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican Arkansas governor, has formally announced a bid for the Republican nomination for president.
April 25, 2023 - According to a new report from Politico, Neil Gorsuch, a supreme court justice, made as much as $500,000 in a 2017 real estate deal with Brian Duffy, the chief executive of a law firm with extensive business before the court. NOTE: Gorsuch failed to disclose the identity of the buyer.
Joe Biden formally announced that he is running for re-election in 2024.
April 24, 2023 - According to the Guardian, an independent panel appointed by the UN human rights council arrived in the United States to investigate police killings and other racial justice issues. The group, which is known as the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement, was established in response to the 2020 killing of the Black man George Floyd by a white police officer.
Tucker Carlson, the far-right conservative commentator on Fox News, has been let go by the network. The company gave no reason for his departure. NOTE: Last week, Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems 787.5m to settle a lawsuit alleging the network defamed it while telling baseless lies about the 2020 election. Carlson was one of the major players in spreading those lies.
Following the announcement of Tucker Carlson's departure, Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, saw it's share value drop by about 4%.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Tucker Carlson was fired after Rupert Murdoch gave the order. The reasons: 1) a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former producer of the show, and 2) concerns about Carlson's insistence that undercover government agents were involved in the January 6 insurrection. NOTE: There is no factual basis to support the undercover government agents claim.
April 21, 2023 - According to CNN, Matthew Kacsmaryk, the judge who issued the ban on mifepristone, failed to disclose two 2014 interviews on Christian talk radio during his confirmation process. In the interviews, Kacsmaryk called being gay a "lifestyle", and made comments that were critical of "no-fault divorce" and "permissive contraception policies".
According to the Texas Tribune, a new push by the Texas legislature to force schools to display the ten commandments was motivated by a supreme court decision last year in which the conservative majority decided that a public high school football coach should not have been fired for leading prayers with players. From the story: "Public schools in Texas would have to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom starting next school year under a bill the Texas Senate approved Thursday. Senate Bill 1515 by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, now heads to the House for consideration. This is the latest attempt from Texas Republicans to inject religion into public schools. In 2021, state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican, authored a bill that became law requiring schools to display donated 'In God We Trust' signs. King said during a committee hearing earlier this month that the Ten Commandments are part of American heritage and it's time to bring them back into the classroom. He said the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for his bill after it sided with Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach in Washington state who was fired for praying at football games. The court ruled that was praying as a private citizen, not as an employee of the district. '[The bill] will remind students all across Texas of the importance of the fundamental foundation of America,' King said during that hearing. The Senate also gave final passage to Senate Bill 1396, authored by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, which would allow public and charter schools to adopt a policy requiring every campus to set aside a time for students and employees to read the Bible or other religious texts and to pray."
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of voters rejecting rightwing candidates for school board seats in April elections: "Scores of rightwing US extremists were defeated in school-board elections in April, in a victory for the left and what Democrats hope could be effective for running against Republicans in the year ahead. In Illinois, Democrats said more than 70% of school-board candidates it had endorsed won their races, often defeating the kinds of anti-LGBTQ+ culture-warrior candidates who have taken control of school boards across the country. Republican-backed candidates in Wisconsin also fared poorly. Moms for Liberty, a rightwing group linked to wealthy Republican donors which has been behind book-banning campaigns in the US, said only eight of its endorsed candidates won election to school boards, and other conservative groups also reported disappointing performances."
According to the "database of mass killings", a database maintained via a partnership between the AP, USA Today, and Northeastern University, a mass killing in the US takes place about every week. Thus far this year, there have been 17 mass killings that have left 88 dead.
According to CNN, Connor Sturgeon, the man who killed five people at a Louisville bank last month, left notes for law enforcement before going on a shooting spree. One of the notes revealed that "part of the shooter's goal was to show how easy it is in America for someone dealing with a serious mental illness to buy an assault-style weapon".
According to the AP, the GOP leader of the house of representatives in Montana is refusing to allow a transgender lawmaker to speak on the house floor. From the story: "Montana’s house speaker on Thursday refused to allow a transgender lawmaker to speak about bills on the House floor until she apologizes for saying lawmakers would have 'blood on their hands' if they supported a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, the lawmaker said. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who was deliberately referred to using male pronouns by some conservative lawmakers demanding her censure, said she will not apologize, creating a standoff between the first-term state lawmaker and Republican legislative leaders. Speaker Matt Regier refused to acknowledge Zephyr on Thursday when she wanted to comment on a bill seeking to put a binary definition of male and female into state code. 'It is up to me to maintain decorum here on the House floor, to protect the dignity and integrity,' Regier said Thursday. 'And any representative that I don't feel can do that will not be recognized.' Regier said the decision came after 'multiple discussions' with other lawmakers and that previously there have been similar problems. Democrats objected to Regier's decision, but the House Rules committee and the House upheld his decision on party-line votes. 'Hate-filled testimony has no place on the House floor,' Republican Rep. Caleb Hinkle, a member of the Montana Freedom Caucus that demanded the censure, said in a statement. Zephyr said she stands by what she said about the consequences of banning essential medical care for transgender youth. The bill would ban transgender minors in Montana from receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgical procedures. Those are treatments for gender dysphoria, the clinically significant distress caused by feeling that one's gender identity does not match one's biological sex. Medical professionals who provided such care would lose their medical licenses for at least a year." NOTE: Zephyr's full comment was in reference to the opening prayer made at the beginning of the session. Zephyr stated: "I hope the next time there's an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands".
April 20, 2023 - According to Politico, a federal appeals court has temporarily stayed a subpoena issued by the Republican-led House judiciary committee that would have compelled the deposition of Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor for Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg. Pomerantz published a book in 2022 on why he believes there's a criminal case against Donald Trump for falsifying business records.
US House Republicans passed legislation they named the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which is a ban on transgender athletes playing in women's sports at schools and colleges that receive federal funding.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, responded to the House Republicans anti-transgender bill saying: "Transgender children simply want to live, make friends and belong. Instead they face bullying by Extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress. Voted NO on the cruel right-wing effort to ban kids from sports."
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Speaker, was asked if he had any concerns that Clarence Thomas received gifts from a GOP megadonor and didn't disclose them. McCarthy's response: "No, not at all."
Mark Jennings, a McCurtain county commissioner in Oklahoma, has resigned. Jennings was one of several officials caught on tape discussing killing reporters and lynching Black people. Some of those who were recorded are with the McCurtain county sheriff's office.
According to an arbitration panel, Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, must make good on a promise to pay $5m to a software expert who debunked data that advanced the lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. From the decision: "The data Lindell LLC provided, and represented reflected information from the November 2020 election, unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data."
Pen America, a writers' organization, has released a report called "Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools". According to the report:
- Book bans in US public schools increased by 28% in the first half of the 2022-23 academic year.
- Since July of 2021, there have been more than 4,000 instances of banned books, which includes 1,477 individual book bans affecting 874 unique titles during the first half of the 2022-23 school year.
- "Alarmist rhetoric about 'porn in schools' has been a significant factor behind such mischaracterizations, which routinely conflate books that contain any sexual content or include LGBTQ+ characters with 'pornography'"
- The most frequently banned books in the 2022-23 school year were Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, Flamer by Mike Curato, Tricks by Ellen Hopkins and The Handmaid's Tale: a Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault.
Suzanne Nossel, Pen America's chief executive, stated the following regarding the book bans: "Some politicians like Ron DeSantis have tried to dismiss the rise in book bans as a 'hoax'. But their constituents and supporters are not fooled. The numbers don't lie, and reveal a relentless crusade to constrict children's freedom to read."
April 19, 2023 - The Florida board of education has approved expanding the state's so-called "don't say gay" bill to all grade levels. Previously the law focused on kindergarten through third grade.
April 18, 2023 - The $1.6bn defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News is set to begin today. To win, Dominion will need to prove the network acted with actual malice. NOTE: The heart of Dominion's case are internal messages from Fox hosts and executives where they openly say they knew the claims being made by Trump loyalists were false. One such comment by Tucker Carlson: "Sidney Powell is lying, by the way. I caught her. It's insane." Despite comments like this from behind the scenes, Fox continued to air Powell's claims about Dominion.
Andrew Lester, and 85-year-old homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, has been charged with armed assault after he shot a Black teenager who rang his doorbell by mistake. Ralph Yarl, the victim, survived the shooting.
According to the Guardian, Dominion Voting Systems has settled with Fox News in its $1.6bn defamation lawsuit. The agreed upon amount that Fox must pay: $787.5m.
Notable responses to the Dominion lawsuit news:
"Fox News lied about the 2020 election; they all knew it was a lie, right up to the Murdochs themselves. What the Dominion trial offered was a keyhole view into the day-to-day industrial-scale deceit that takes place at Fox. It helped illustrate why the company is such a uniquely destructive force." - Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters for America
"We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues." - Fox News Statement
"Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees, and our customers. Nothing can ever make up for that. Throughout this process, we have sought accountability, and believe the evidence brought to light through this case underscores the consequences of spreading and endorsing lies. Truthful reporting in the media is essential to our democracy. Dominion, our employees and our partners are grateful to the court for allowing the process for the truth to come out." - John Poulos, Dominion CEO
Cori Bush, a Democratic Representative, has called for the impeachment of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas saying: "It is clear that Justice Thomas holds a complete disregard for law and ethics that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in federal judges. For these reasons, and because the federal judiciary has failed to hold Justice Thomas accountable, I am calling for impeachment proceedings to begin regarding Justice Thomas's apparent violations of federal law. Holding judges accountable for their behavior is a matter of life-or-death for our communities. They wield enormous power, and the current hands-off approach to the judiciary has only emboldened lawless, corrupt, far-right judges to strip away our rights and make our lives worse off."
The Republican led Iowa state senate voted to allow children under 16 to work longer hours and to work in previously prohibited industries. The new law is an attempt to combat a labor shortage. NOTE: Lawmakers in Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin are currently considering loosening regulations around child labor laws. In March, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor of Arkansas, signed legislation to roll back child labor protections.
April 17, 2023 - George Santos, the New York Republican who admitted to fabricating his resume, and is the subject of an inquiry by the House ethics committee, as well as complaints alleging sexual harassment and campaign finance violations, has announced that he will run for a second term in congress saying: "Since the left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence. Good is not good enough and I am not shy about getting the job done."
Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, both residents of New York, were arrested after being accused of running a Chinese police station in New York City which officials believe was used to surveil Chinese citizens in the US. Dozens of others have been indicted.
Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Donald Trump, argued in court today that the rape trial, in which Trump is accused of raping E Jean Carroll in a department store in the mid-1990s, should be delayed for a month due to negative pre-trial media coverage. Judge Lewis A Kaplan responded saying: "There was, of course, a great deal of media coverage – some of it invited and, indeed, provoked by Mr Trump – first of the apparently impending indictment, then the indictment itself, and finally the arraignment. But the connection that Mr Trump seeks to draw between that coverage and either the need for or the effectiveness of a 'cooling off' period is unsupported by any evidence ... It does not sit well for Mr Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay."
April 15, 2023 - Tucker Carlson, a far-right commentator on Fox News, responded to the arrest of Jack Teixeira, the air national guardsman accused of being behind the worst US intelligence leak in a decade, saying: "He revealed the crimes, therefore he's the criminal. That's how Washington works. Telling the truth is the only real sin. The news media are celebrating the capture of the kid who told Americans what's actually happening in Ukraine. They are treating him like Osama bin Laden."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is an election denier, a conspiracy theorist, and a far-right congresswoman from Georgia, responded to the arrest of Jack Teixeira, the accused leaker of Pentagon secrets, saying: "Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and anti-war. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more. Ask yourself who is the real enemy? A young low level national guardsmen [sic]? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-Nato nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?"
"Marjorie Taylor Greene makes clear yet again that she cannot be trusted with America's national security information and should not have a security clearance of any kind." - Liz Cheney, Former Republican Congresswoman
Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor, spoke at a National Rifle Association lobbying leadership forum in Indiana where she spoke about her 2-year-old granddaughter Addie, saying: "Now Addie, who you know – soon will need them, I wanna reassure you, she already has a shotgun and she already has a rifle and she's got a little pony named Sparkles too. So the girl is set up." Mike Pence, the former vice president under Donald Trump, also spoke at the conference, where he was loudly booed. NOTE: Indiana is Pence's home state.
Kyle Rittenhouse, who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020 with his AR-15 assault style weapon, where he shot and killed two people at an anti-racism protest and injured another, was a celebrity guest of honor at a Bonneville county Republican party event in Idaho Falls, Idaho. As part of the fundraiser, an AR-15 rifle that was signed by Rittenhouse was auctioned, and people could also buy tickets to "Trigger Time": a shooting event hosted by Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse gave a speech at the event where he told the crowd that the government is seeking to "take our guns" and "take the rest of our freedoms". Notable responses to Rittenhouse's appearance at the Republican event:
"Elected officials and media personalities should really be denouncing political violence, not embracing it" -Stephen Piggott, Researcher of White Nationalism, Paramilitary and anti-democracy Groups at Western States Center
"Make no mistake, this unfortunate, distasteful and insensitive event was in no way supported by the City of Idaho Falls. We are an inclusive and welcoming community and we join with so many others in voicing our dismay over such an insensitive and patently offensive event." - Rebecca Casper, Mayor of Idaho Falls
April 14, 2023 - Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old guardsman suspected of leaking Pentagon documents, has been charged with two separate counts under the Espionage Act. Teixeira faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty on both charges.
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, signed into law a bill that will ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. NOTE: Critics point out that many women do not know they're pregnant until after six weeks. Also, the procedure allows for exceptions due to rape and incest, but require the woman has documentation such as a restraining order or a police report. The law will replace a 15-week ban that is currently facing a legal challenge in the Florida supreme court. Notable responses to the new law:
"These policy decisions disproportionately hurt Black and Latino people, LGBTQ+ people, and people with low incomes due to systemic racism and discrimination. We will keep fighting back in the days, months, and years to come until all Floridians can get the care they deserve without barriers or delay." - Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
"As Republicans are learning in every single election since Dobbs, it is not a path to victory. The more harm DeSantis and extremists are willing to inflict on their constituents in their quest for power, the worse Election Night will be for them." - Mini Timmaraju, President of NARAL
According to the Guardian, the Biden administration has requested the supreme court to block a lower court's limitations on abortion pill mifepristone. From the story: "The Biden administration appealed to the US supreme court on Friday asking it to halt an appellate ruling that adds onerous restrictions to a key abortion drug. The restrictions were slated to go into effect at 12.01am on Saturday morning. The ruling at the center of the emergency application to the high court was issued on Wednesday night by the fifth circuit court of appeals. The US Department of Justice had asked the appeals court to block a lower court order revoking the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone in 2000. The Louisiana-based appellate court – considered one of the most conservative in the US – blocked part of that order, but allowed other parts to stand, and temporarily reimposed restrictions on the drug that the FDA had lifted starting in 2016. 'If allowed to take effect, the lower courts' orders would thwart FDA's scientific judgment and undermine widespread reliance in a healthcare system that assumes the availability of mifepristone as an alternative to more burdensome and invasive surgical abortions,' wrote the solicitor general, Elizabeth Prelogar, in the filing."
Tim Scott, a US senator from South Carolina, who is expected to announce a 2024 presidential run, was asked about his view on federal abortion restrictions. Scott's answer: "If I were president of the United States, I would literally sign the most conservative, pro-life legislation that they can get through Congress."
According to Reuters, US supreme court justice Samuel Alito issued an order that temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that limits access to abortion pill mifepristone.
April 13, 2023 - According to Reuters, an appeals court has preserved the availability of mifepristone. From the story: "The abortion pill mifepristone will remain available in the US for now but with significant restrictions, including a requirement for in-person doctor visits to obtain the drug, a federal appeals court ruled late on Wednesday. The New Orleans-based fifth circuit court of appeals put on hold part of last Friday's order by the US district judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, which suspended the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for the drug while he heard a lawsuit by anti-abortion groups seeking to ban it. The Biden administration and the maker of the mifepristone brand, Danco Laboratories, had quickly asked for an emergency stay of that order. However, the appeals court declined to block portions of Kacsmaryk's order that in effect reinstate restrictions on the pill's distribution, which had been lifted since 2016. In addition to a requirement of in-person doctor visits to prescribe and dispense the drug, those restrictions include limiting its use to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, down from 10 weeks. Kacsmaryk’s order will take effect on Friday."
According to the Guardian, investigators are getting close to identifying the person behind the leak of military documents regarding the US's views of the war in Ukraine and other matters. From the story: "The man responsible for the leak of hundreds of classified Pentagon documents is reported to be a young, racist gun enthusiast who worked on a military base, and who was seeking to impress two dozen fellow members of an internet chat group. The Washington Post interviewed a teenage member of the group, who described the man, referred to by the initials 'OG', from their online correspondence, and shared photographs and videos. The Post also viewed a video of a man identified as OG at a shooting range with a large rifle. 'He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target,' the report said. OG told fellow members of the same internet group that he worked on a military base, which was not named in the report, where his job involved viewing large amounts of classified information."
Republican senator Tim Scott, who recently announced an exploratory committee regarding a run for the White House, stated that if he becomes president, he will support a 20-week federal ban on abortion.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader of the US Senate, responded to a judge's ruling that put new restrictions on Mifepristone saying: "The majority Maga panel of judges on the fifth circuit appellate court continue to undermine the FDA's lawful expansion of access to safe medication abortion based on dubious legal grounds and baseless pseudo-science. These extremist judges are putting their own anti-choice opinions before the medical expertise of providers and the FDA and the interests of patients. Senate Democrats will continue to fight back against this right-wing campaign against women."
Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General, stated that the Justice Department will appeal to the Supreme Court a Fifth Circuit judges opinion in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA to add additional restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone.
Justin Pearson, a Black Democratic lawmaker who was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives by the Republican majority for participating in a gun protest on the House floor, was sworn back into office today.
Kamala Harris, the vice president, responded to the fifth circuit opinion that placed further restrictions on mifepristone saying: "Last night, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision which invalidates the scientific, independent judgment of the FDA about when and how a medicine is available to Americans. The Justice Department has already announced that they are seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court. More than 20 years ago, the FDA approved medication abortion as safe and effective for the American people. Last week, a Texas district court ruled to block access to this medication in every state in the country. The Fifth Circuit's decision—just like the district court's—second-guesses the agency's medical experts. If this decision stands, no medication—from chemotherapy drugs, to asthma medicine, to blood pressure pills, to insulin—would be safe from attacks. This decision threatens the rights of Americans across the country, who can look in their medicine cabinets and find medication prescribed by a doctor because the FDA engaged in a process to determine the efficacy and safety of that medication. This lawsuit is the next step to a nationwide abortion ban. The decision severely limits access to mifepristone, standing between doctors and their patients. President Biden and our Administration remain firmly committed to protecting access to medication abortion, as the President and I have made clear since the day of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs. There is a reproductive health care crisis in America. Our Administration will continue fighting to protect women's health and the right to make decisions about one's own body."
Hatchet Speed, a former navy reservist, and Donald Trump supporter who invaded the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sentenced to three years in prison on firearms charges in the state of Virginia. Speed will be sentenced next month for his participation in the insurrection. NOTE: During conversations with an undercover FBI agent, Speed, who collects neo-Nazi memorabilia, expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and domestic terrorists in the US. Speed also made antisemitic comments, and proposed targeting Jewish people with acts of violence.
According to ProPublica, Clarence Thomas, a far-right conservative supreme court justice, sold three real estate properties to Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor, but didn't report the deal on a disclosure form. From the story: "The transaction marks the first known instance of money flowing from the Republican megadonor to the Supreme Court justice. The Crow company bought the properties for $133,363 from three co-owners — Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas' late brother, according to a state tax document and a deed dated Oct. 15, 2014, filed at the Chatham County courthouse. The purchase put Crow in an unusual position: He now owned the house where the justice's elderly mother was living. Soon after the sale was completed, contractors began work on tens of thousands of dollars of improvements on the two-bedroom, one-bathroom home, which looks out onto a patch of orange trees. The renovations included a carport, a repaired roof and a new fence and gates, according to city permit records and blueprints. A federal disclosure law passed after Watergate requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000. Thomas never disclosed his sale of the Savannah properties. That appears to be a violation of the law, four ethics law experts told ProPublica. The disclosure form Thomas filed for that year also had a space to report the identity of the buyer in any private transaction, such as a real estate deal. That space is blank. 'He needed to report his interest in the sale,' said Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer now at the watchdog group CREW. 'Given the role Crow has played in subsidizing the lifestyle of Thomas and his wife, you have to wonder if this was an effort to put cash in their pockets.' Thomas did not respond to detailed questions for this story."
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old US air national guardsman, has been arrested on suspicion that he leaked highly classified Pentagon files. Teixeira led an online group known as Thug Shaker Central, where 30 to 40 people shared their love of guns, racist memes and video games. According to the Guardian: "The leaked documents, which were disseminated widely online, have laid bare secrets about Ukraine's preparations for a spring counteroffensive, US spying on allies, such as South Korea and Israel, and the tensions between Washington and allied capitals over arming Kyiv."
According to the Guardian, Andy Biggs, a US House Republican, has introduced two pieces of legislation intended to frustrate Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution of Donald Trump. From the story: "The first, called the Accountability for Lawless Violence In Our Neighborhoods (ALVIN) Act, 'prohibits federal funds from being awarded to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and requires the Office to repay federal funds granted after January 1, 2022,' according to a press release from the Arizona lawmaker's office. The second stops state and local law enforcement from using money obtained through asset forfeitures for criminals prosecutions of presidents, vice-presidents and presidential candidates. 'This weaponized prosecutor's office has spent thousands of federal taxpayer dollars to subsidize this political indictment and is demanding millions more in federal grants,' Biggs said in a statement. 'It's disturbing to see District Attorney Bragg waste federal resources for political purposes rather than addressing the serious crime in his city. As a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight & Accountability Committees, and with an almost insurmountable national debt that exceeds $31 trillion, the nation simply cannot afford to support Mr. Bragg's politicization of the criminal justice system.' House Republicans have rushed to Trump's defense since his indictment late last month, demanding documents and testimony from Bragg and sending a subpoena demanding testimony from Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in Bragg's office who wrote a book detailing why he believes there's a criminal case against Trump. Earlier this week, Bragg sued the chair of the House judiciary committee Jim Jordan to quash the subpoena against Pomerantz."
April 12, 2023 - Justin Pearson, one of two black Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee who were ousted last week by a Republican supermajority for taking part in a demonstration on the chamber's floor in which they used bullhorns to join protesters calling for more gun protection following a mass shooting in their city late last month, wrote an essay for the New York Times, here's part of that essay: "It's not just our individual voices that were sanctioned and silenced last Thursday. It was the voices of the nearly 135,000 Tennesseans we represented — many who are desperate for protection from the absence of many common-sense gun safety laws in our state. Since the Covenant School shooting, the Republican supermajority in the State House has done little but advance a bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in school and propose a $140 million budget increase to pay for the presence of armed guards in public schools, further militarizing them without adequate evidence that this makes schools safer. Besides expanding already expansive gun rights, Republican-led statehouses across the country are proposing and passing staggering numbers of bills that serve a fringe, white evangelical agenda that abrogates the rights and freedoms of the rest of us. They're passing legislation to control the intellectual freedom of writers and educators, proposing laws that would restrict the bodily autonomy of transgender children and people who can become pregnant, and curtailing even our right to vote. Combined with a shrinking social safety net as people lose access to resources to meet basic health, housing and food needs, we have a nation in pain and peril. In a small victory for our people clamoring for change, Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that he would sign an executive order strengthening background checks for buying firearms and called for Republican lawmakers to support a red flag law. I was elected early this year by the people of Memphis and Millington to stand up for all of us against encroachments on our freedoms. I will continue to fight with and for our people, whether in or out of office. We and the young protesters are the future of a new Tennessee. Those who seek to silence us will not have the final say."
According to the Guardian, a coalition of media organizations has filed a lawsuit asking for the release of surveillance footage from the January 6 insurrection. The suit argues that since Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, released the footage to Fox News but no other outlet, it should be made available to the public at large. NOTE: Tucker Carlson, a conservative Fox commentator, has used the footage to downplay the severity of the insurrection.
Donald Trump, the one term, twice impeached former president, has filed a 30 page, $500m lawsuit against Michael Cohen, his former attorney. According to the lawsuit, Cohen breached his attorney-client relationship and unjustly enriched himself, among other allegations.
According to the Associated Press, Justin Pearson, one of two black lawmakers who was ejected from the Tennessee house of representatives, has been reappointed to his position by the Shelby county board of commissioners via a unanimous vote.
April 11, 2023 - According to a newly released study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in five Americans have lost a family member to gun violence. Among Black people, that number is one in three.
Webster Barnaby, a self-described "proud Christian conservative", created controversy after he spoke out at a Florida hearing on a contentious bathroom bill. The bill would ban individuals from bathrooms that do not match the gender identity they were assigned at birth. After members of the transgender community spoke out against the bill, Barnaby told those speakers "The Lord rebuke you, Satan, and all of your demons and all of your imps who come parade before us. That's right, I called you demons and imps who come and parade before us and pretend you are part of this world. We have people that live among us today on planet Earth that are happy to display themselves as if they were mutants from another planet. This is the planet Earth where God created men male and women female." After the bill subsequently passed the Florida House, Barnaby took to the House floor where he stated: "I referred to trans people as demons – I would like to apologize to the trans community for referring to you as demons." Notable response in regard to Barnaby's comments, and subsequent apology:
"When Republican Webster Barnaby called trans people 'demons', 'imps', and 'mutants' it wasn't a mistake or gaffe. It was the hatred and bigotry that's really motivating Florida's 20+ anti-LGBTQ proposals finally being spoken into words. Now it's exposed." - Carlos Guillermo Smith, Former State Democratic Representative
Chuck Schumer, the senate's Democratic leader, responded to calls by Donald Trump and his supporters for the FBI and the Department of Justice to be defunded. From Schumer's letter to his colleagues: "Donald Trump's call for defunding federal law enforcement agencies is a baseless, self-serving broadside against the men and women who keep our nation safe. The good work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice sends criminals to prison for bank robbery, sex trafficking, child pornography, hate crimes, terrorism, fraud and so much more. The former president and his allies in Congress must not subjugate justice and public safety because of their own personal grievances. Senators from across the political spectrum and of both political parties should denounce such attempts by the former president and his allies to degrade public trust in our federal law enforcement agencies. The Senate must recommit that the United States is a nation of laws. As free people, we rely on the necessary and professional work of our federal law enforcement agencies to promote the safety and general welfare of our country."
Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following analysis of efforts by election deniers to undermine voter rolls nationwide: "An influential conservative group that has filed numerous lawsuits to force states to clean up their voter rolls, has joined Donald Trump and other election denial groups in attacking the most robust tool that accurately improves those voter rolls. Judicial Watch, whose leader Tom Fitton urged Trump in 2020 to claim victory before all the votes were tallied, released a flawed report alleging potential violations of federal law by the Electronic Registration Information Center (Eric), a bipartisan consortium of over two dozen states that exchange voter registration data to ensure election security. Fitton's attack on Eric is part of a growing campaign by Trump-allied election denialist groups and Trump to urge member states to leave the consortium, prompting scathing criticism from voting rights advocates and election experts including some GOP officials."
According to the New York Times, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, has filed a lawsuit against Jim Joran, the Republican chair of the House judiciary committee, to stop Jordan's efforts that are aimed at publicizing details of Bragg's office's prosecution of Donald Trump. The lawsuit accuses Jordan of a "brazen and unconstitutional attack" on Bragg's prosecution, and a "transparent campaign to intimidate and attack" the Manhattan prosecutor. The lawsuit also asks a judge to halt Jordan's subpoena of Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in Bragg's office, who wrote a book about why he thinks Trump should face charges. Notable response to the lawsuit:
"First they indict a president for no crime. Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they use to do it." - Jim Jordan, Republican House Judiciary Chair
April 10, 2023 - The city of Nashville's governing council has voted unanimously to reinstate expelled lawmaker Justin Jones to the Tennessee state legislature. NOTE: Following the vote, Jones walked several blocks to the Capitol, where he took to the house floor and stated: "To the people of Tennessee, I stand with you. We will continue to be your voice here. And no expulsion, no attempt to silence us will stop us, but it will only galvanize and strengthen our movement. And we will continue to show up in the people's house. Power to the people".
The Department of Justice has appealed a ruling by a Texas judge to suspend approval of a key abortion drug, saying the decision "upended decades of reliance by blocking FDA's approval of mifepristone and depriving patients of access to this safe and effective treatment, based on the court's own misguided assessment of the drug's safety."
During an interview with ABC News, William Barr, the former US attorney general, said that Donald Trump "has a penchant for engaging in reckless and self-destructive behavior ... He's dug himself a hole on the documents, and also on the January 6 stuff ... That was reckless behavior that was destined to end up being investigated. So it doesn't surprise me that he has all these legal problems."
An open letter signed by 250 pharmaceutical leaders criticizes the Texas federal judge's ruling on mifepristone saying in part: "The decision ignores decades of scientific evidence and legal precedent. Judge Kacsmaryk's act of judicial interference has set a precedent for diminishing FDA's authority over drug approvals, and in so doing, creates uncertainty for the entire biopharma industry. As an industry we count on the FDA's autonomy and authority to bring new medicines to patients under a reliable regulatory process for drug evaluation and approval. Adding regulatory uncertainty to the already inherently risky work of discovering and developing new medicines will likely have the effect of reducing incentives for investment, endangering the innovation that characterizes our industry."
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have called on Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate claims in a ProPublica report that Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in luxury trips from a GOP megadonor. From their letter to the Chief Justice: "And if the court does not resolve this issue on its own, the committee will consider legislation to resolve it. But you do not need to wait for Congress to act to undertake your own investigation into the reported conduct and to ensure that it cannot happen again. We urge you to do so."
April 7, 2023 - Clarence Thomas, the far-right supreme court justice who has come under fire for not disclosing luxury gifts from a Republican megadonor, has responded to the ProPublica investigation saying: "Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable. It is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future."
Justin Thomas, one of the authors of the Propublica investigation report, responded to Justice Thomas's claim that "this sort of personal hospitality" is not reportable, saying: "This is the text of the law ethics lawyers told us he violated. Gifts – such as private jet travel – need to be reported, unless they are 'food, lodging, or entertainment received as personal hospitality'. This is in the statute itself and predates the recent filing guidance update."
Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, responded to Clarence Thomas's claim that Harlan Crow did not have business before the court saying: "For three decades, Crow has served on the board of trustees of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which has published and taken credit for multiple amicus briefs filed with the supreme court by the group's president and scholars ... First Justice Thomas hid decades of lavish gifts and travel funded by Harlan Crow, but now he's outright lying when he says this major conservative donor had no interest in the work of the supreme court. The truth is clear: this is an unprecedented story of corruption at the highest levels, and those involved must be held accountable." NOTE: Crow joined the AEI in 1996, which is also the same year he became friends with Clarence Thomas.
Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee, were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives by Republicans who objected to the duos participation in a gun control demonstration following a mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school.
Matthew Kacsmaryk, a US district judge in Texas, issued a preliminary injunction that orders the FDA to pause mifepristone's approval while a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the drug proceeds. Mifepristone is used for medication abortions. The lawsuit was brought by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian conservative legal advocacy group that argued the FDA exceeded its regulatory authority when it approved mifepristone in 2000.
Notable responses to the Texas Judges ruling:
"If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription, approved by the FDA, that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks" - Joe Biden, US president
"threatens the rights of women nationwide to make decisions about their healthcare and the ability to access medication prescribed to them by their doctors" - Kamala Harris, US Vice President
"The justice department strongly disagrees with the decision of the district court for the northern district of Texas in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v FDA and will be appealing the court's decision and seeking a stay pending appeal. Today's decision overturns the FDA's expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective." - Merrick Garland, US Attorney General
"if plaintiffs can just bring lawsuits like this, based on junk science, the impact goes far beyond medication abortion. It really seeks to undermine the entirety of FDA authority over drug approval." - Jenny Ma, Senior Counsel to the Center for Reproductive Rights
April 6, 2023 - According to an investigation by ProPublica, for over 20 years, Clarence Thomas, a far-right supreme court justice, has accepted multiple luxury trips from Harlan Crow, a Republican real estate developer and megadonor, and failed to disclose them on his financial disclosures.
Notable responses to the ProPublica investigation of Clarence Thomas:
"When a justice's lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust" - Virginia Canter, Chief Ethics Counsel of the Watchdog Group CREW
"Justice Thomas accepted and failed to disclose lavish vacations gifted to him by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow in a shameless abuse of power and an affront to the American people. Sadly, these actions are part of a pattern of corruption that betrays Thomas' deep-seated contempt for the rule of law. No one is above the law-not even Supreme Court justices. Our highest court must be held to a higher ethical standard. Congress has a constitutional duty to act quickly by passing a Supreme Court code of ethics and investigating the full extent of Justice Thomas' wrongdoing." - Brett Edkins, Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs for Advocacy Organization Stand Up America
Harlan Crow responded to the Pro Publica investigative report about Clarence Thomas through a released statement which reads in part: "The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas's over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends ... We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue".
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the son of the late Robert F Kennedy and nephew of John F Kennedy, has filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to challenge Joe Biden in 2024. NOTE: Kennedy has a history of spreading myths surrounding vaccines. Public health officials have described his activism as misleading and dangerous. Kennedy's family disavows his views.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic US Representative from New York, has called for Clarence Thomas to be impeached, saying: "This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking - almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached. Barring some dramatic change, this is what the Roberts court will be known for: rank corruption, erosion of democracy, and the stripping of human rights."
According to NBC News, Juan Merchan, the judge involved in Trump's arraignment, has received "dozens" of threats against himself and his family.
During an appearance on Fox News with Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right conspiracy theorist and US Representative, gave the following description of New York City: "I compared it to what I called Gotham City ... The streets are filthy, they're covered with people basically lying, on drugs. They can't even stand up. They're falling over. There's so much crime in the city. I can't comprehend how people live there."
Samual Montoya, a former employee of fake news site Infowars, was sentenced to four months of home detention over his role in the January 6 insurrection.
April 5, 2023 - Donald Trump gave a speech at Mar-a-Lago, here are some highlights:
- Trump stated: "I never thought anything like this could happen in America. I never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it."
- Speaking of the prosecutor Alvin Bragg, Trump called him "a local failed district attorney charging a former president of the United States for the first time in history on a basis that every single pundit and legal analyst said there is no case. There's no case. They kept saying there's no case. Virtually everyone. But it's far worse than that because he knew there was no case. The criminal is the district attorney because he illegally leaked massive amounts of grand jury information for which he should be prosecuted or, at a minimum, he should resign."
- Trump stated "I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris."
- Regarding the Georgia investigation Trump stated: "In the wings they've got a local racist Democrat district attorney in Atlanta who is doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect phone call".
- Trump called special counsel Jack Smith a "lunatic"
- Trump claimed: "Our justice system has become lawless. They're using it now – in addition to everything else – to win elections."
- Trump complained the military has "gone woke"
- Trump claimed "millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes"
- Trump claimed Hunter Biden's laptop "exposes the Biden family as criminals".
April 4, 2023 - The New York hush money indictment against Donald Trump has been unsealed. According to the indictment, Trump is accused of having "orchestrated a scheme" with the intent "to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the defendant's electoral prospects".
Writing for the Guardian, Sidney Blumenthal offers the following analysis of Trump criminal indictments: "The indictment of Donald J Trump has not driven a wooden stake through his heart. He has risen, omnipresent and ominous again, overwhelming his rivals, their voices joined into his choir, like the singing January 6 prisoners, proclaiming the wickedness of his prosecution. As he enters the criminal courthouse to pose for his mugshot and to give his fingerprints, evangelicals venerate him as the adulterous King David or the martyred Christ. Trump does not have to raise his hand to signal to the House Republicans to echo his cry of 'WITCH-HUNT'. He owns the House like he owns a hotel ... From the report of every new indictment to its reality, Republican radicalization will accelerate. Every concrete count will confirm every conspiracy theory. Every prosecution and trial, staggered over months and into the election year, from New York to Georgia to Washington, will be a shock driving Republicans further to Trump. Every Republican candidate running for every office will be compelled to declare as a matter of faith that Trump is being unjustly persecuted or be themselves branded traitors."
Donald Trump surrendered to the Manhattan criminal court, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records that, according to prosecutors, were part of a conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election by silencing claims of extramarital affairs. Juan Merchan, the judge in the case, advised Trump to "Please refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest."
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have begun the process of expelling three Democratic lawmakers over their support of a gun control protest at the state capitol last week following the mass shooting in Nashville. The Democratic lawmakers are Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson. Jones and Pearson are black. According to accounts of the incident, Johnson, Jones and Pearson approached the house podium without being recognized, and with a bullhorn, cheered on the protestors. The chamber's Republican leadership compared the protest to an "insurrection", and has accused the trio of "knowingly and intentionally [bringing] disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions".
Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal candidate for supreme court justice in Wisconsin, has defeated her conservative opponent, giving liberals a majority on the Wisconsin supreme court.
April 3, 2023 - Donald Trump is being criticized after he made some controversial posts to his social media account on Truth Social. In one post, Trump called New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg an "animal" who is backed by liberal megadonor George Soros. In another post, Trump shared an article that included an image of himself wielding a baseball bat juxtaposed next to an image of Bragg's head. Trump later deleted that post. In yet another, Trump stated: "OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED, AS THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL!" Trump also posted the following: "What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country? Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely [sic] hates the USA!"
According to the Washington Post, the justice department has obtained more evidence that Trump obstructed the investigation of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago. According to the story: "Investigators now suspect, based on witness statements, security camera footage, and other documentary evidence, that boxes including classified material were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area after the subpoena was served, and that Trump personally examined at least some of those boxes".
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, signed into law permitless carry for firearms. The law allows anyone over 18 to carry a concealed weapon and removes all permitting and training regulations. NOTE: Florida is number three in the nation for mass shootings.
April 2, 2023 - According to sources close to Trump, he has told advisers and associates that he is prepared to escalate attacks against Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan prosecutor who indicted him over hush money payments to a porn star.
Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, announced that will run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
April 1, 2023 - According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Anton "Tony" Lazzaro, a former well connected Republican donor, was convicted on seven counts involving "commercial sex acts" with five girls aged 15 and 16 in 2020. Lazzaro was 30 years old at the time. One of the witnesses who testified against Lazzaro was 21-year-old Gisela Castro Medina, the former leader of the University of St Thomas's College Republican chapter, who after accepting payment for sex from Lazzaro, then agreed to recruit other teenagers - preferably minors - who were white, small, vulnerable or "broken". Medina plead guilty to two counts last year. Pictures on Lazzaro's social media accounts show him with prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Lazzaro had contributed more than $270,000 to Republican campaigns and political committees over the years.
March 31, 2023 - Donald Trump released a lengthy statement regarding the New York indictment. Here's a taste: "The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to 'Get Trump,' but now they've done the unthinkable – indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference. Never before in our Nation's history has this been done."
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following analysis of Trump's behavior following the New York indictment: "Florida-based Trump is now expected to surrender himself on Tuesday to the Manhattan district attorney (DA) to be fingerprinted and photographed for a mugshot – something guaranteed to delight his many opponents, appall his fans and divide the United States even more. 30 March 2023 is therefore a day for the history books. It offered an affirmation of the Magna Carta principle that no one, not even the onetime commander in chief, is above the law. The 45th president of the United States is set to stand trial and, if convicted, could find himself behind bars instead of running for re-election. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss said on the MSNBC network: 'Tomorrow, in terms of American history, we will be waking up in a different country. Before tonight, presidents in this country were kings.' But while the law is clear, the politics are murky. A criminal charge or even conviction does not prevent someone running for the White House, and Trump is currently leading in opinion polls for the 2024 Republican presidential primary. In the pre-Trump universe, an indictment over a hush money payment to an adult film star would have been career-ending. Candidates have withdrawn from election races for much less. But since 2016, Trump has been a political judo master, turning the weight of opponents and allegations against them to his own advantage. The bigger the alleged crime, the louder he airs grievances and the more he plays the victim – and so far the Republican party has been mostly willing to indulge him."
Writing for the Washington Post, Marc Fisher offers the following analysis of Trump's history with the legal system: "50 years after federal officials first accused Trump and his father of violating laws that barred racial discrimination in apartment rentals, the former president has been indicted. The indictment in the Daniels case comes amid an Atlanta-area investigation into Trump's role in seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, and a special counsel's federal investigations into Trump's actions leading up to the 6 January riot at the Capitol, as well as his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Already, Trump's statements about the Daniels case have followed a pattern he set in 1973, when federal prosecutors accused Trump and his father, Fred, a prominent New York City apartment developer, of turning away Black people who wanted to rent from them. In that case, Trump first denied the allegation, then said he didn't know his actions were illegal, and then, through his lawyer, accused the government of conducting a bogus 'Gestapo-like investigation.' This time, Trump initially said he'd never had any sexual relationship with Daniels or that, as he told friends privately, Daniels was not his type. Then, he said he didn't know Daniels had been paid $130,000 to remain silent about their alleged relationship, which he denies existed. And then he said that perhaps he had known about the payment, but that he never ordered his attorney, Michael Cohen, to make it."
Donald Trump issued the following statement on Truth Social: "The Judge 'assigned' to my Witch Hunt Case, a 'Case' that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME"
Eric Davis, a Delaware superior court judge, has ruled that Dominion Voting Systems won its argument that Fox News made false, defamatory statements about the company, but it would be up to a jury to decide if those statements were done with malice. As such, the defamation case will go to trial.
Fox News released a statement regarding the Dominion defamation ruling saying in part: "This case is and always has been about the first amendment protections of the media's absolute right to cover the news. Fox will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press as we move into the next phase of these proceedings."
Douglas Mackey, AKA "Ricky Vaughn", who has 58,000 followers on twitter, has been charged with conspiracy against rights for his role in interfering in the 2016 election. According to the indictment, Mackey conspired with other prominent accounts to convince Hillary Clinton supporters to vote using text message or social media. From the indictment: "For example, on November 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting 'black turnout,' the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an 'African Americans for Hillary' sign. The ad stated: 'Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,' 'Text 'Hillary' to 59925,' and 'Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.' The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: 'Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.' The tweet included the typed hashtag '#ImWithHer,' a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton."
March 30, 2023 - Writing for the Guardian, Richard Luscombe offers the following analysis of the Right Wing response to the recent Nashville shooting now that it is known that the shooter was transgender: "An already vigorous assault by Republicans on LGBTQ+ rights around the US is certain to gather pace in the wake of the Nashville school shooting, advocacy groups are warning. Hard-right figures wasted little time in seizing on the reported transgender identity of the Covenant school killer to advance tenets of a 'hateful' agenda that has become an obsession of Republican-controlled statehouses from Florida to Tennessee. In contrast to a muted response to numerous mass shootings in which the majority of the killers were white, male and cisgender, these extremists appear to be manipulating the Nashville shooter's self-identification to make their case for even more anti-trans legislation, even as they eschew gun control. They include Donald Trump Jr seeking an end to what he calls 'bullshit' gender-affirming care; Marjorie Taylor Greene having her Twitter account temporarily suspended for misrepresenting a planned protest against anti-trans laws; and homophobic and transphobic rants from Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, the latter blasting the trans movement as 'the natural enemy of Christianity'."
A grand jury in New York has voted to indict Donald Trump over a $130,000 hush money payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. This is the first time in US history that a former president has faced a criminal indictment. Trump will appear in court for his arraignment on Tuesday of next week.
Notable responses to the Trump indictment:
"This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history ... I can't get a fair trial in New York" - Donald Trump
"The indictment of a former president is unprecedented. But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged. A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office. Especially when they do. To do otherwise is not democracy." - Adam Schiff, Democratic Representative from California
"shocking and dangerous day for the rule of law in America ... one of the most irresponsible decisions in American history by any prosecutor" - Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator from Alabama
"I have so many messages coming in that I can't respond ... also don't want to spill my champagne." - Stormy Daniels, Adult Film Star
"The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents. Outrageous." - Steve Scalise, Republican Representative
"The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American." - Ron DeSantis, Republican Governor of Florida, and 2024 Presidential Candidate
"one more example of the two-tiered justice system" - Mike Pence, Former Vice President Under Donald Trump
"Mr Trump is subject to the same laws as every American. He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law. There should be no outside political influence, intimidation or interference in the case. I encourage both Mr Trump's critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law." - Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senate Majority Leader
"This is repulsive. This is a disgusting political hit job the likes of which we have never seen in this country anymore." - Sean Hannity, Far-Right Fox News Host
"The politicized indictment of former President Trump is just the latest example of the Dem establishment putting their own personal and partisan political interest ahead of the interests of the American people and our country. It is a despicable, extremely dangerous turning point for our country." - Tulsi Gabbard, Former Candidate for the Democratic Nomination for President in 2020
"Pure politics. One system of Justice for Dems another for Republicans. FBI has had information about hunter & james biden potential criminal conduct for several years & no prosecution With trump it's a different outcome" - Chuck Grassley, Republican US Senator from Iowa
"I'm going to New York on Tuesday. We MUST protest the unconstitutional WITCH HUNT!" - Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican Representative
"See you on Tuesday pal" - Michael Cohen, Former Trump Attorney
Jeff Sharlet, a journalist, author and professor, who has spent a dozen or so years speaking to far-right Americans about their predilection for violence, calls their movement a "global fascist moment".
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