We’ll close the blog here, on the Friday of the week the leak of a draft supreme court ruling heralded the end of the right to abortion and sent the nation into uproar.

Joan E Greve and Gloria Oladipo have been looking at what it all might mean for the midterm elections:

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Speaking to reporters on a Thursday press call, Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, argued that abortion rights will become a critical issue in the November midterms if the 1973 landmark decision in the Roe v Wade case is overturned.

“The Republican attacks on abortion access, their attacks on birth control and women’s healthcare – these things have dramatically escalated the stakes of the 2022 election,” Harrison said.

“In November, we must elect Democrats who will serve as the last lines of defense against the GOP’s assault on our established and fundamental freedoms.”

But Republicans have insisted that issues such as record-high inflation and Joe Biden’s handling of the US-Mexican border will weigh far more heavily on voters’ minds in November.

“Could be wrong, but I’d predict that all those issues that have 60% of Americans [feeling] we are on the wrong track (high inflation, rising crime, the border, etc.) will play a bigger role in the elections [than] a supreme court decision on Roe,” Republican strategist Doug Heye said on Twitter.

Here’s the full read:

Shortly before the 2020 election, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, “stunned” the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff by saying the president wanted to kill a senior Iranian military officer operating outside the Islamic Republic.

“This was a really bad idea with very big consequences,” Mark Esper, Trump’s second and last secretary of defense, writes in his new memoir, adding that Gen Mark Milley suspected O’Brien saw the strike purely in terms of Trump’s political interests.

A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Defense Secretary in Extraordinary Times will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.

Throughout the memoir, Esper presents himself as one of a group of aides who resisted bad or illegal ideas proposed by Trump or subordinates – such as the proposed strike on the Iranian officer.

Among other such ideas that were discussed, Esper says, were sending “missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs”; sending 250,000 troops to the southern border; and dipping the decapitated head of a terrorist leader in pig’s blood as a warning to other Islamist militants.

More:

Joe Biden just wrapped up speaking in Ohio where he announced a new program where large manufacturers will be partnering with small and medium firms on 3D printing.

Biden also used the opportunity to promote a new competition and innovation bill that he is hoping Congress will pass, legislation he says is critical to addressing production delays across the country.

Here are some clips from today’s speech.

From the Recount via Twitter:

From Now This via Twitter:

Tennessee governor Bill Lee also signed legislation today banning trans women from participating in collegiate athletics, reports the Associated Press.

After the legislation passed through the GOP statehouse, Lee signed the bill today, not providing comment on why he signed the law. However, previously, Lee has stated that allowing trans women to participate would “destroy women’s sports,” reports AP.

The bill will go into effect on 1 July. Tennessee is one of eight states that have passed anti-transgender sports bills. Other states include Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah.

Tennessee will strictly regulate the dispensing of abortion pills, including imposing harsh penalties on doctors who violate them, under legislation recently signed into law by Republican Governor Bill Lee, reports the Associated Press.

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The measure, which Lee signed on Thursday, will go into effect Jan. 1, 2023. Once enacted, a medical clinician will be required to be physically present when abortion pills are administered to a patient even though federal regulations now allow mail delivery nationwide.

The issue has become even more important as the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision as suggested through a recently leaked draft opinion. Notably, Tennessee is among the 13 states with a so-called trigger law that would make abortion illegal should Roe be overturned.

To date, 19 states have placed strict restrictions on accessing medication abortion. Under the Tennessee version, delivery of abortion pills by mail would be outlawed and anyone who wanted to use abortion pills would be required to visit a doctor in advance and then return to pick up the pills.

The drugs may be dispensed only by qualified physicians which would include barring pharmacists from doing so. Violators would face a Class E felony and up to a $50,000 fine.

However, according to abortion law experts, it’s an unsettled question whether states can restrict access to abortion pills in the wake of the FDA’s decision.

“The general rule is that federal law preempts conflicting state law,” Laura Hermer, a professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, recently told The Associated Press.

No lawsuit has been filed challenging Tennessee’s newly enacted restrictions.

Meanwhile, the in-person requirement had long been opposed by medical societies, including the American Medical Association, which said the restriction offers no clear benefit to patients

Use of abortion pills has been rising in the U.S. since 2000 when the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone the main drug used in medication abortions. More than half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills, rather than surgery, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Two drugs are required. The first, mifepristone, blocks a hormone needed to maintain a pregnancy. A second drug, misoprostol, taken one to two days later, empties the uterus. Both drugs are available as generics and are also used to treat other conditions.

Here’s a piece from the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly about Marjorie Taylor Greene allegedly lying to Congress during testimony on her involvement in the 6 January insurrection.

Greene was accused of lying by the lawyers of the same group who petitioned to have her excluded from the midterm ballot.

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Lawyers for voters seeking to bar the far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress over her support for the January 6 insurrection have accused her of lying in a hearing in the case.

In a filing Friday, lawyers for groups challenging Greene said a text from the Georgia congresswoman to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, released by the House committee investigating January 6, shows she lied in testimony.

At the hearing in Atlanta earlier this month, a fractious affair in front of an administrative judge, Greene said she could not recall advocating for Donald Trump to impose martial law after the Capitol attack, as the then president sought to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

In the text message released this week, Greene told Meadows on 17 January 2021, 11 days after the riot and three days before Biden’s inauguration: “In our private chat with only Members several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call Marshall [sic] law.

“I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next.”

As reported by Bloomberg News, attorneys for Greene’s challengers said: “Greene’s testimony at the hearing that she could not remember discussing martial law with anyone was already dubious.

Read the full article here.

In other GOP news, a judge in Georgia found that US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is eligible to run for re-election, despite challenges from a group of voters over allegations that Greene played a significant role in the 6 January insurrection, reports the Associated Press.

Judge Charles Beaudrot announced his decision after a daylong hearing in April that included extensive questioning of Greene.

Whether or not Greene is on the ballot will ultimately be decided by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who Beaudrot has to submit his findings to according to Georgia state law.

The Texas State Bar has published a statement in response to Ken Paxton’s claim that the bar is conducing a “witch-hunt” over him contesting 2020 election results in Pennsylvania.

Texas’s state bar said, in part:

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The system is designed to ensure fairness to all parties. Partisan political considerations play no role in determining whether to pursue a grievance or how that grievance proceeds through the system. Any claims to the contrary are untrue.

Here’s also a statement from Paxton who said he will be investigating the Texas Bar Foundation “for facilitating mass influx of illegal aliens,” shortly after the state bar announced their investigation.

Ken Paxton is a two-term incumbent and drew an unusual number of primary challenges after eight of his top deputies told the FBI in 2020 that the attorney general had been using his office to benefit a wealth donor, The Associated Press writes.

They accused him of bribery, abuse of office and other crimes prompting an ongoing federal investigation.

Paxton has denied wrongdoing and separately pleaded not guilty in a state securities fraud case that has languished since 2015. His defense lawyer, Philip Hilder, declined to comment.

Shortly after saying the bar plans to sue him, Paxton’s office announced that it will be investigating the Texas Bar Foundation for “its possibly aiding and abetting the mass influx of illegal aliens.”

The charitable group’s broad is partially appointed by the bar president.

Gary Ratner, a Maryland attorney with Lawyers Defending American Democracy, which brought one of the complaints against Paxton, declined to comment.

Kevin Moran, a Democratic Party activist in Galveston, who brought another, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.

More on the news that Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is apparently being sued by the bar in his own state for his efforts in the failed attempt to overturn Donald Trump’s election defeat in 2020.

In December 2020, the US supreme court unanimously rejected a baseless lawsuit filed by Paxton on behalf of Texas, seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

The suit had been yet another move by the right in the increasingly desperate and ludicrous efforts to reverse Trump’s loss and all nine justices (bearing in mind the six-to-three, ultra-conservative supermajority on the nine-member bench).

Paxton wasn’t even suing on behalf of Texas, of course, which Trump legitimately won, but to try to get the result overturned in four decisive states where Trump lost to Joe Biden – Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Associated Press adds that, in bringing a court action against an attorney, the bar can seek punishment ranging from a written admonition to suspension or disbarment.

The discipline process resembles a trial and could include both sides taking testimony and obtaining records through discovery.

The bar complaints against Paxton alleged that his petitioning the US supreme court to overturn the 2020 election was frivolous and unethical.

Paxton forecast the legal action against him during the final weeks of his Republican primary runoff against state land commissioner George P. Bush.

The Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has announced that the state bar plans to sue him over his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on bogus claims of fraud, raising yet another legal danger as the embattled Republican is locked in a primary runoff, the Associated Press reports.

Since last summer, the state bar of Texas has been investigating complaints over Paxton’s petitioning of the US supreme court to block Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.

The professional group has not publicly filed a suit but Paxton, saying it plans to bring one against him and his top deputy, suggests the agency may believe their actions amounted to professional misconduct.

The attorney general said he stood behind his challenge to the “unconstitutional 2020 presidential election,” even as he blasted the bar and announced an investigation into a charitable group associated with it.

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} I am certain that the bar will not only lose but be fully exposed for what they are: a liberal activist group masquerading as a neutral professional association,” Paxton said on Twitter.

The bar, which is a branch of the Texas supreme court, said in a statement that “partisan political considerations play no role” in its actions.

State law prohibits it from discussing investigations unless a public complaint is filed and a spokesman declined to comment.

Stay tuned for more on this….

A New York state judge’s son who dressed like a caveman and helped a pro-Donald Trump mob storm the US Capitol has received a prison sentence for his role in the 6 January 2021 attack.

Aaron Mostofsky, 35, must spend eight months in prison – and after his release, he must spend a year under federal supervision while also performing 200 hours of community service, a US district court judge in Washington, DC, ruled Friday.

The judge, James Boasberg, also ordered Mostofsky to pay $2,000 in restitution to the federal government, court documents show.

According to prosecutors, Mostofsky donned a caveman costume and wielded a walking stick while forming part of a crowd of Trump supporters who broke past a line of police officers trying to protect the Capitol, in the deadly insurrection that occurred on the day that Congress had convened to certify Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.

He broke into the Capitol through a door that was forced open, stole body armor and a riot shield from the police, and even gave an on-camera interview to a media reporter, prosecutors alleged in a summary of the case that Mostofsky endorsed.

Mostofsky, in the video interview, repeated Trump supporters’ lies that Biden had won thanks to election fraud. “The election was stolen. … We were cheated. … I don’t think 75 million people voted for Trump. I think it was close to 85 million,” Mostofsky said during the interview, according to court documents.

Prosecutors have charged about 800 people in the attack. More than 250 have already pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and about 160 have been sentenced.

Mostofsky in February pleaded guilty to felony civil disorder as well as two misdemeanors: theft of government property and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. He technically faced up to seven years in prison when he appeared for his sentencing Friday in front of Boasberg, though defendants who plead guilty without going to trial generally don’t receive the harshest punishments available.

Mostofsky’s father, Steven Mostofsky, is a judge in the Brooklyn-based New York supreme court’s second district.

Here’s fuller comments made by White House press secretary Jen Psaki today about claims that US intel helped sink the Russian ship Moskva.

From Bloomberg News’ Jennifer Jacobs:

The White House disputed a claim that US intel helped Ukraines sink the Russian ship Moskva last month.

During a gaggle on AF1, White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to a question on whether US intel helped sink the Russian ship.

“To speak to the reports, they’re inaccurate,” said Psaki.

Psaki said that the US was not involved in the decision to strike Moskva and had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to strike the ship, adding that any intel reports of US involvement are an “overclaiming” of the US’ role and an “underclaiming” of the role of Ukraine and their intelligence capabilities.

Jen Psaki began her last gaggle as White House press secretary, with her last day on 13 May.

While aboard AF1, Psaki joked:

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} This is my last gaggle on Air Force One. So I have a lot of things to get off my chest.

Stay tuned for more from today’s gaggle, happening now.

Joe Biden is currently en-route to Ohio, where he is set to announce that five US manufacturers have made commitments to boost their dependence on small and medium American firms for 3D printing, reports the Associated Press.

Biden’s visit to the Midwest and announcement of the 3D printing program coincides with his ask to Congress to approve a stalled competition and innovation bill.

Biden says the bill is critical to boosting domestic manufacturing and addressing production delays throughout the country, reports AP.

“I’m determined to make sure the United States holds the technological high ground in competition with other nations, especially China, as we move forward,” said Biden this week ahead of his visit.

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren said today that a roll back of Roe v Wade would “fall on the most vulnerable women in our country,” while appearing on a talkshow.

During her appearance on the View, host Joy Behar asked the senator: “What do you say to the American women who are just as angry as you are, about the fact that they are about to lose the autonomy over their own bodies?”

Warren replied: “So, I start with getting centered on what this is about. Understand, well-to-do women, they’re gonna do fine,” adding that more privileged women can travel to get abortions if they are in a restrictive state.

Warren continued: “Who is this going to fall on? This is going to fall on the most vulnerable women in our country,” adding that poor women, women of color, and victims of sexual violence will be disproportionately impacted.

“That is what makes me furious and gets me into this fight,” added Warren.

US congresswoman Cori Bush stopped by an abortion clinic in St. Louis, following news that the Supreme Court is prepared to roll back abortion rights.

In a Tik Tok posted by staff at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the St. Louis region, Bush is seen dancing and laughing with staff as the group attempts to replicate a dance on the app.

Bush wrote via Twitter:

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Joy is an act of resistance. I stopped by the our local abortion clinic, and we made a TikTok together.

Colleagues looking to support our community during this tough time: reach out to abortion clinics in your district. They deserve our love, especially right now.

Umi, a staff member who was retweeted by Bush, wrote:

.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} My Congresswoman is the absolute BEST! She is not only talking that talk but walking the walk for all Missourians and making sure that we have access to affordable healthcare. Thank you to all the staff at @PPSLR for truly doing the work you do. Our Congresswoman loves us.

Bush has publicly shared the story behind her own abortion, joining two other Democratic congresswoman last September who shared their personal stories during a House oversight committee meeting on reproductive rights.