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The Manhattan grand jury that is considering whether to bring charges against Donald Trump for a hush money payment he allegedly facilitated just before the 2016 election is also examining a second payment made to a woman who claimed she had an affair with the real estate mogul, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The $150,000 payment being examined by the grand jury was allegedly made to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had a relationship with Trump in 2006 that lasted 10 months. The panel is also looking into a $130,000 payment Trump allegedly arranged to be made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election, in exchange for her keeping quiet about an affair with him.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg was expected to last week indict Trump for the payment to Daniels, but the decision has been pushed back repeatedly. The revelation that the grand jury was hearing evidence of a second alleged hush money payment may explain the delay.
House Democrats unveiled legislation to protect abortion access nationwide, but the GOP’s control of the chamber and hostility to the procedure means the bill will remain a symbolic effort, at least for now. Meanwhile, it turns out that the grand jury empaneled by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg is hearing about not one, but two alleged hush money payments that Donald Trump may have facilitated ahead of the 2016 election. There’s still no telling if and when an indictment will happen.
Here’s what else went on today:
Joe Biden issued a proclamation in recognition of today’s Transgender Day of Visibility that decried an “epidemic of violence” against the group.
The squabbling in a Republican-convened House committee investigating “the Weaponization of the Federal Government” grew particularly intense.
Joe Manchin, the centrist Democratic senator who stymied progressive demands over the past two years, called on the White House to negotiate with Republicans over the debt ceiling.
Prayer is all one Republican lawmaker has to offer when it comes to solving America’s epidemic of gun violence.
Despite it all, Trump continues to gain support among Republicans, a new Fox News poll shows.
Despite all the investigations surrounding him, Donald Trump appears to be consolidating his standing among Republicans as he embarks on a second campaign for the White House.
A Fox News poll released yesterday shows the former president’s lead over other Republicans growing, with Trump polling at 54% support against the 24% backing Florida governor Ron DeSantis – his most strongest presumed challenger. That’s a gap of 30 percentage points, up from the 15 percentage point gap he had last month.
None of the other Republicans in the survey, including former vice-president Mike Pence, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and ex-congresswoman Liz Cheney, crack double digits, according to the poll.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a key indicator of which direction Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation is going is the presence of David Pecker.
Pecker is the former CEO of American Media, which owns tabloid the National Enquirer. According to the Journal, Pecker bought exclusive rights to Karen McDougal’s story in order to keep it out of the public eye in the weeks before the 2016 election.
Now it seems that Pecker is cooperating with Bragg. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal reports that Pecker spoke to the grand jury investigating Trump in January, and again earlier this week, with his testimony focused on a broader scheme by Trump to suppress negative stories from coming out as he ran for president.
The Manhattan grand jury that is considering whether to bring charges against Donald Trump for a hush money payment he allegedly facilitated just before the 2016 election is also examining a second payment made to a woman who claimed she had an affair with the real estate mogul, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The $150,000 payment being examined by the grand jury was allegedly made to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had a relationship with Trump in 2006 that lasted 10 months. The panel is also looking into a $130,000 payment Trump allegedly arranged to be made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election, in exchange for her keeping quiet about an affair with him.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg was expected to last week indict Trump for the payment to Daniels, but the decision has been pushed back repeatedly. The revelation that the grand jury was hearing evidence of a second alleged hush money payment may explain the delay.
Speaking of angry scenes in Congress, there have been some chaotic goings-on today over at the “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government”, chaired by Jim Jordan, the hardline Republican from Ohio.
It all hinges on how two Republican witnesses, the Missouri senator Eric Schmitt and the attorney general of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, appeared to give statements about supposed censorship involving the Biden administration and big tech platforms, but departed without being cross-examined.
Amid Democratic protests and Republican counters, Linda Sanchez of California, a Democrat, told Jordan: “If allowing them to leave is not weaponisation, I don’t know what is.”
In another confrontation, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a Republican, sought to introduce into the congressional record a letter from Landry in which, he said, the state AG “decries all political violence and calls for an end to that and asks for respect for all political viewpoints”.
The ranking Democrat on the panel, Stacey Plaskett, the delegate from the US Virgin Islands, sighed and said: “Another thing we can’t examine because he’s not here.”
Jordan said: “You can examine it, it’s a document.”
Plaskett said: “No, examine him for what he wrote and the intent behind what he said.”
As Johnson walked over and plonked the document on Plaskett’s desk, Jordan said: “I would just point out that … we got the document right here, I can hand it to you.”
Plaskett picked up the document, walked over the dais to Johnson, and threw it back on his desk.
Here’s the video:
Footage of an extraordinary confrontation between two members of Congress, the far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, from Georgia, and the Florida Democrat Jared Moskowitz, continues to spread widely online.
The exchange happened yesterday, during a House oversight committee hearing about the governance of Washington DC which grew contentious amid Republican attacks and questions about crime and, in particular, public urination.
Moskowitz said: “Do you think parents in this country, as they’re putting their young kids into pajamas at night and are tucking them into bed, you think they’re worried about public urination in Washington DC? Or do you think they’re worried about sending their kid to school and their kid not coming home?”
Referring to the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday in which three children and three adults were killed, Moskowitz said: “Mass murder in schools is crime. That’s crime. You want to talk about 1,300 cars being stolen? 550 people have been murdered in school. Who cares about the cars? What about the kids? No hearing for them.”
Greene said children could be made safer by arming more people in schools.
Growing angry, Moskowitz said: “You know, there are six people that are dead in that school [in Nashville] including three children because you guys got rid of the assault weapons ban. Because you guys made it easy for people who don’t deserve to have weapons, who are mentally incapable of having weapons of war, [to be] able to buy those weapons and go into schools.
“Did the good guys with the gun stop six people from getting murdered? No, but you know what? AR-15s, you ever seen what those bullets do to children? You know why you don’t hunt with an AR-15, with a deer? Because there’s nothing left. And there’s nothing left of these kids when people go into school and murder them while they’re trying to read.”
Moskowitz then referred to widespread Republican moves to ban books about race, sexuality, gender and other culture war issues from public schools.
“You guys are worried about banning books,” he said. “Dead kids can’t read.”
You can watch part of the exchange here.
After the White House remarks earlier, we also have brief comments from the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, about the reported arrest in Russia on espionage charges of Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen and reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Blinken says: “We are deeply concerned over Russia’s widely-reported detention of a US citizen journalist. We are in contact with the Wall Street Journal on this situation.
“Whenever a US citizen is detained abroad, we immediately seek consular access, and seek to provide all appropriate support.
“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices.
“The Department of State’s highest priority is the safety and security of US citizens abroad. We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger posed to US citizens inside the Russian Federation. US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately, as stated in our Travel Advisory for Russia.”
The charges against Gershkovich carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
Here’s the latest Guardian report, from Shaun Walker, our central and eastern Europe correspondent:
As the Democratic press conference concluded, a reporter asked Judy Chu about the chances of the Women’s Health Protection Act passing, given the GOP’s control of the House.
“We feel very confident that in two years we will be in a position to put it on the floor once again. And we are determined, also, of course, to keep our majority in the Senate. So, I think that the future is bright, and in two years, we can get this passed,” said Chu, who is introducing the bill that would protect abortion access nationwide.
Progressive Democrat Ayanna Pressley chimed in, saying that despite the bill’s dim chances, supporters of abortion had to keep fighting.
“They’re coming at us … using every tool available to them, to put their hands on bodies to deny access to this critical life saving healthcare,” Pressley said.
“And so we’re doing the same, whether it’s litigation, whether it’s legislation or mobilization, and we don’t stop organizing because we don’t have the gavel and we’re not in cycle. And we don’t stop legislating because we don’t have the gavel and we’re not in cycle. The other side isn’t stopping and neither are we.”
California Democrat Judy Chu is the sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, and is introducing it for the second time in the House.
She cast it as a necessary response to the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade, and the GOP’s commitment to cracking down on abortion nationwide.
“If Republicans had their way, this would be forever a nation of forced birth. They’ve already proposed a national abortion ban, so no matter where you live, politicians would have more say about what happens to your body than you do,” she said during an event with House Democratic leaders outside the Capitol.
“We are all standing here today because every person, no matter their circumstances, no matter how they became pregnant, deserves dignity, safety and care in seeking an abortion, because you should not have more rights if you’re pregnant in California than if you get pregnant in Texas,” Chu said.
“And most of all, because no one, not the president not a supreme court justice, not your partner, should be able to force you to remain pregnant if you do not wish to.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kicked off the press conference introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act by taking aim at “extreme Maga Republicans” he said want to control women’s health care choices.
“The Women’s Health Protection Act is so critical because extreme Maga Republicans want to impose a nationwide abortion ban. We’re gonna stop them,” Jeffries said. “Extreme Republicans want to criminalize abortion care across the nation. We’re gonna stop them.”
“Extreme Republicans think that they should be the ones who make a decision about abortion care and we’re here to say, back up off the women of America.”
House Democrats are about to reintroduce legislation to protect abortion rights nationwide, a symbolic effort that has no chance of passing the chamber as long as Republicans remain in control. We’ll keep you posted on the press conference set to begin shortly, at 12:45 pm eastern time. Meanwhile, Washington is reacting to news that Russia has detained an American reporter working for the Wall Street Journal.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Joe Biden issued a proclamation in recognition of today’s Transgender Day of Visibility that decried an “epidemic of violence” against the group.
Joe Manchin, the centrist Democratic senator who stymied progressive demands over the past two years, called on the White House to negotiate with Republicans over the debt ceiling.
Prayer is all one Republican lawmaker has to offer when it comes to solving America’s epidemic of gun violence.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
