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      Democrats secure breakthrough with Kyrsten Sinema on climate bill

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      Democrats secure breakthrough with Kyrsten Sinema on climate billThe Arizona senator said she had agreed to last-minute changes on the measure’s tax and energy provisions Senate Democratic leaders say they have reached an agreement on the party’s major $739bn climate and economic bill with Kyrsten Sinema – the centrist Democrat whose opposition remained a major hurdle to passing the most ambitious US climate legislation yet. Democrat apologises for saying Biden won’t run in 2024 – then says it againRead moreThe support of Sinema, a former member of the Green party who has evolved into one of Congress’s most conservative Democrats, was crucial to the passage of the bill, which tackles energy, environment, health and tax measures. Its success is seen as the Democratic party’s most substantive chance to deliver domestic policy progress before the midterm elections.Backing from all 50 Democratic senators will be needed to pass any legislation in the evenly divided Senate given the party’s narrow majority and Republican resistance to acting on the climate crisis.The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said lawmakers had achieved a compromise “that I believe will receive the support” of all Democrats in the chamber. His party needs unanimity to move the measure through the 50-50 Senate, along with Vice-President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote.Sinema, the Arizona senator seen as the pivotal vote, said in a statement that she had agreed to 11th-hour changes in the measure’s tax and energy provisions and was ready to “move forward” on the bill.She said Democrats had agreed to remove a provision raising taxes on “carried interest”, or profits that go to executives of private equity firms. That’s been a proposal she has long opposed, though it is a favorite of other Democrats, including the conservative West Virginia Democratic senator Joe Manchin, an architect of the overall bill.The carried interest provision was estimated to produce $13bn for the government over the coming decade, a small portion of the measure’s $739bn in total revenue.Securing Sinema’s support was the next challenge for Democrats after Manchin, the centrist Democrat famed for thwarting his own party’s climate goals, surprised Washington last week by backing the plan.Manchin, who has made millions of dollars from his ownership of a coal-trading firm, made an abrupt U-turn last week and announced support for $369bn in spending to support renewable energy and reduce emissions.Schumer has said he hopes the Senate can begin voting on the bill – known as the Inflation Reduction Act – on Saturday. Passage by the House, which Democrats control narrowly, could come next week.Final congressional approval of the election-year measure would be a marquee achievement for Joe Biden and his party, notching an accomplishment they could tout to voters as November approaches.The Senate and the House of Representatives are not in session on Friday but Schumer has indicated that he intends to move the bill forward this weekend and warned his Capitol Hill colleagues of some long days and nights of debate and votes ahead.Sinema agreed to the legislation in principle on Thursday night but added that before she can confirm, she needs it signed off by the Senate parliamentarian, the official who will check whether the spending bill complies with the rules to allow it to be passed using the reconciliation process that allows a simple majority vote, rather than being subject to the 60-vote majority filibuster rule.Schumer said that the deal first with Manchin and now with Sinema produced a bill that was now one step closer to becoming law.“The agreement preserves the major components of the Inflation Reduction Act, including reducing prescription drug costs, fighting climate change, closing tax loopholes exploited by big corporations and the wealthy, and reducing the deficit,” he said.Joe Biden urged the Senate to pass the bill swiftly. It must then return to the House for another vote before it can make its way to the US president’s desk.Bernie Sanders had been a big backer of the original $3.5tn Build Back Better bill, which was wide-ranging but has now shrunk down, after being blocked repeatedly by Manchin and Sinema, to the Inflation Reduction Act. The Vermont senator called the shrunken $739bn bill “better than nothing”, the Washington Post reported on Friday.Oliver Milman contributed reportingTopicsUS politicsDemocratsArizonaUS SenateUS domestic policyClimate crisisnewsReuse this content More

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      Hungary’s far-right PM Viktor Orbán speaks at CPAC summit – as it happened

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      Orban has opened his speech in Texas by saying that “Hungary is the Lone Star state of Europe”.He described Hungary as “under the siege of progressives, liberals day by day”, and noted that he was “the only anti-migration political leader on our continent”, which was greeted with applause.The Senate will meet this weekend to begin considering Democrats’ marquee spending plan to fight climate change and lower healthcare costs, which is the culmination of more than a year of fitful negotiations. Meanwhile in Texas, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban pitched his far-right vision of America and Europe’s future to an audience of conservatives.Here’s a rundown of what else happened today:
      The justice department has filed charges against four current and former Louisville police officers over the death of Breonna Taylor.
      A court in Russia sentenced American women’s basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison after finding her guilty of drug smuggling. President Joe Biden said Griner is “wrongfully detained”.
      Alex Jones’s defamation trial continued after yesterday’s shock revelation that his attorneys shared Jones’ phone data with lawyers for the people suing him.
      The White House declared monkeypox a public health emergency as the virus spread across the United States.
      House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited South Korea, as China expressed its rage at her stop in Taiwan by launching military exercises.
      New York Democratic House representative Carolyn Maloney continues to do damage control after suggesting Biden won’t stand for a second term, although she apparently hasn’t completely backed down from the comment.
      It looks like the Senate will convene this weekend to vote on Democrats’ plan to fight climate change, lower healthcare costs and tweak the tax code, CNN reports:Schumer says the Senate will vote on the motion to proceed to the reconciliation bill on Saturday afternoon— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 4, 2022
      After that, 20 hours of debate. After debate time or if time is yielded back, it’s vote-a-rama time. Then final passage. All at simple majority— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 4, 2022
      The bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, has no support from Republicans, and will require the votes of every Democrat to pass the evenly divided Senate. The House of Representatives, where the party has a slim majority, will then need to approve it before it goes to Joe Biden for his signature.Orban wrapped up his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference by declaring, “We must take back the institutions in Washington and in Brussels”, and saying the two capitals “will define the two fronts in the battle being fought for Western civilization”.After defeating Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, “Now the West is at war with itself,” Orban said. “We have seen what kind of future the globalist ruling class has to offer. But we have a different future in mind. The globalists can all go to hell, I have come to Texas.”A who’s who of American conservatives will appear at CPAC over the next two days, before Donald Trump makes the event’s closing remarks on Saturday evening.Orban didn’t mention Joe Biden directly, but appealed to the audience of conservatives for “strong leaders” – by which he presumably was not referring to the Democrats in control of the White House and Congress.He cited the impacts of the war in Ukraine on Hungary, which he notes has received one million refugees.“In my view, the globalist leaders’ strategy escalates and prolongs war and decreases the chance of peace. Without American-Russian talks there will never be peace in Ukraine. More and more people will die and suffer and our economies will come to the brink of collapse,” Orban said.“We in the neighborhood of Ukraine are desperately in need of strong leaders who are capable of negotiating a peace deal. Mayday, mayday, please help us. We need a strong America, with a strong leader.”Texas is a major crossing point for undocumented immigrants entering the United States, which Republicans have said is a “crisis” that president Joe Biden deserves blame for.Orban must realize this. He’s giving examples of “how to fight back by our own rules” and detailing to the conservative audience his own hardline policies against migrants, particularly from Syria.“We were the first ones in Europe who said no illegal migration and stop the invasion of illegal migrants,” he said. “We believe that stopping illegal migration is necessary to protect our nation.”Orban went on to attack American liberals, saying they tried to stop his speech and calling for unity between conservatives in the United States and in Hungary.“They hate me and slandered me and my country as they hate you and slander you and America’s transformation. We all know how this works. Progressive liberals didn’t want me to be here because they knew what I will tell you,” Orban said. “I’m here to tell you that we should unite our forces… because we Hungarians know how to defeat the enemies of freedom on the political battlefield.”Orban appears to be responding to the recent news of a top adviser resigning and accusing him of using “pure Nazi” rhetoric by arguing that his administration is misunderstood.Hungary “introduced a zero-tolerance policy on racism and antisemitism. So accusing us is fake news, and those who make these claims are certainly idiots. They are the industrial fake news corporation,” Orban said. Orban has opened his speech in Texas by saying that “Hungary is the Lone Star state of Europe”.He described Hungary as “under the siege of progressives, liberals day by day”, and noted that he was “the only anti-migration political leader on our continent”, which was greeted with applause.Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is minutes away from starting his speech to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, held this year in Texas.According to its agenda, Orbán will give a talk titled “How We Fight”. The leader has faced intensifying criticism for his far-right rhetoric, and last month, one of his longtime advisers resigned in protest over what she called his “pure Nazi” speech. Alarm grows as Orban prepares to take ‘pure Nazi’ rhetoric to USRead moreArizona Republican Rusty Bowers has lost his primary and won’t return to his post as speaker of Arizona’s House of Representatives after defying Donald Trump’s efforts to meddle in the state’s election results. As Martin Pengelly reports, Bowers has no regrets about how it ended:Rusty Bowers, the Arizona Republican who defied Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat in the state then testified to the House January 6 committee, has no regrets despite losing his bid for a state senate seat.“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” he told the Associated Press. “I’d do it 50 times in a row.”Term limits meant Bowers could not mount another house run. On Tuesday he was trounced in a primary by David Farnsworth, a Trump-endorsed former state senator.Trump was the first Republican to lose a presidential race in Arizona since Bill Clinton won there in 1996. Clinton was re-elected anyway. Trump wasn’t.Arizona Republican who defied Trump and lost primary: ‘I’d do it again in a heartbeat’Read moreAfter departing Taiwan following a visit that enraged China, House speaker Nancy Pelosi went to South Korea, where she visited the demilitarized zone separating it from North Korea.It was a special honor to engage with General LaCamera and other @USForcesKorea servicemembers on the ground at the DMZ/JSA and Osan Air Base. pic.twitter.com/Yi2u8YMXyS— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 4, 2022
      We conveyed the gratitude of the Congress and the Country for the patriotic service of our servicemembers, who stand as sentinels of Democracy on the Korean Peninsula. pic.twitter.com/SIz284fSWh— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 4, 2022
      Beijing has meanwhile started a series of live-fire drills in the waters around Taiwan, underscoring its fury over Pelosi’s trip to an island it considers a breakaway province. The Guardian has is keeping a live blog covering the ongoing spike in tensions:US watching Chinese military drills ‘very closely’ as ballistic missiles fired into Taiwan strait – liveRead more More

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      Democrat apologises for saying Biden won’t run in 2024 – then says it again

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      Democrat apologises for saying Biden won’t run in 2024 – then says it againCarolyn Maloney says sorry for broaching the issue in a debate but that she will support Biden if he does seek a second term A senior New York Democrat predicted on Thursday that Joe Biden will not run for re-election in 2024, even as she apologised for saying that previously and also said she would support him if he did stand again.On the chopping block? Ron Johnson denies threatening social securityRead moreSpeaking to CNN, the congresswoman Carolyn Maloney said sorry for broaching the issue in a debate – but then said again she thought Biden would not run.“Mr President, I apologise,” Maloney said, of her remark on Tuesday, when she said she did not “believe” Biden would seek a second term.She added: “I want you to run.”But then Maloney said: “I happen to think you won’t be running. But when you run, or if you run, I will be there 100%. You have deserved it. You are a great president, and thank you for everything you’ve done for my state, and all the states, and all the cities in America. Thank you, Mr President.”Maloney, 76, and Biden, 79, are senior figures in a Democratic party some members say should be led by younger figures. Maloney’s primary opponent in New York, the House judiciary chair, Jerry Nadler, is 75.Debating Maloney on Tuesday, Nadler said it was “too early to say” if Biden should run for re-election, and said “it doesn’t serve the purpose of the Democratic party” to debate the issue before the midterm elections in November.Among mooted successors to Biden, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, is 57; Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, is 54; and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, is 40.Biden was 78 when he was inaugurated in January 2021, the oldest president ever to take office. He will turn 82 shortly after the 2024 election. If he were to win that contest, he would be 86 by the end of his time in office.Republicans claim Biden is too old to perform his duties properly. Democrats reject such claims.Biden has repeatedly said he intends to run again. But polls consistently show majorities of Democrats and all voters saying he should not do so.As one voter who spoke to The Focus Group with Sarah Longwell, a Bulwark podcast, put it recently: “It’s not the 82 that’s the problem. It’s the 86.”As a 76-year-old let me say: Joe Biden is too old to run again | Robert ReichRead moreIn a recent Guardian column, Robert Reich, 76 and a former labor secretary in a Democratic administration, echoed such concerns.“It’s not death that’s the worrying thing about a second Biden term,” Reich wrote. “It’s the dwindling capacities that go with ageing.“… I think my generation – including Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W Bush, Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich, Clarence Thomas, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Biden – have fucked it up royally. The world will probably be better without us.“Joe, please don’t run.”TopicsDemocratsJoe BidenUS elections 2024US politicsNew YorknewsReuse this content More

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      The Kansas victory shows that Democrats can fight for abortion rights and win | Moira Donegan

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      The Kansas victory shows that Democrats can fight for abortion rights and winMoira DoneganEven in conservative Kansas, abortion rights are popular. The Democrats need to stop shying away from abortion and make it a campaign issue It wasn’t even close; it was a blowout. With an unexpectedly large turnout and a huge margin, Kansas voters on Tuesday rejected a measure that would have removed the right to an abortion from their state’s constitution. Nearly 60% of voters in the deeply conservative state rejected the anti-abortion measure. Only about 40% supported it.Tuesday’s primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall | Lloyd GreenRead moreThe so-called Value Them Both Act would have dramatically devalued women in Kansas. The bill was designed to amend the state’s constitution in response to a 2019 ruling by the state supreme court, which found that abortion was protected in the state charter’s guarantee of “equal and inalienable rights” to all citizens. In contrast to the US supreme court, the Kansas court rejected the idea that civil rights were frozen in time at the time of the document’s ratification; instead, they extended those equal rights to women. “We are now asked: is this declaration of rights more than an idealized aspiration?” the court wrote. “And, if so, do the substantive rights include a woman’s right to make decisions about her body, including the decision whether to continue her pregnancy? We answer these questions, ‘Yes.’” Overwhelmingly, by a margin of roughly 20 points, Kansan voters agreed with them.It was the first electoral test of support for abortion rights since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June, and the results were unambiguous. Even in conservative Kansas, abortion rights are popular with most Americans. Even in conservative Kansas, abortion bans are offensive to them.On paper, this shouldn’t have been surprising. Americans have a wide range of opinions on abortion, but broadly, the notion that women and others should have a legal right to end their pregnancy is very popular, capturing somewhere between 60% and 70% support. Accordingly, ballot initiatives asking voters to restrict abortion tend to fail, according to New York Magazine correspondent Irin Carmon. A measure that would have granted personhood rights to fetuses and embryos failed in very conservative Mississippi in 2011. A municipal ballot measure that aimed to ban abortions after 20 weeks in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, failed by a large margin in an unusually high-turnout election in 2013. When South Dakota passed an abortion ban in 2006, pro-choice advocates managed to collect enough signatures to put the measure to a popular vote. The electorate threw that out, too.The US supreme court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade is particularly unpopular with the public, and has incited renewed passion for the pro-choice cause. According to polling from CNN, 63% of Americans – almost two-thirds – say they disapprove of the court’s ruling. A little more than half of them, 51%, say they disapprove “strongly”. This public outrage is clearly translating into votes. After the court reversed Roe on 24 June, many states saw a surge in new voter registrations. In Kansas, 70% of those new voters were women.There were some indications that the anti-abortion side was nervous, even before their resounding defeat on election day. They played dirty. The vote was scheduled for a blindingly hot primary day in August, when turnouts are usually low and Republicans fare better. In the days before the election, a Republican-aligned firm in Nevada sent out texts to Kansas voters. “Women in Kansas are losing their choice on reproductive rights,” the texts read. “Voting YES on the Amendment will give women a choice. Vote YES to protect women’s health.” A yes vote on the constitutional amendment would have been a vote against abortion rights. Clearly, the anti-choice Republicans didn’t think they could win on the merits. Turns out, they couldn’t.But you would never know how resoundingly popular abortion rights are from the behavior of the Democrats, who for the past three decades, and since the election of Donald Trump specifically, have been allergic to full-throated defenses of reproductive rights and other so-called “culture war” issues.The party’s centrist leadership has made the calculation that only economic issues – defined, in practice, as issues that affect white men – can garner voters’ enthusiasm. The Biden administration was flat-footed and inept in its response to Dobbs, agreeing to take only the flimsiest and most risk-averse steps to restore abortion access and alienating huge swaths of its base as it attempted to keep the focus on its efforts to curb inflation. Biden hardly ever even says “abortion”. You get the sense he would much rather not be talking about it at all.But the results in Kansas suggest that he should be. The ballot initiative on abortion produced a massive turnout. Abortion rights got considerably more electoral support than Joe Biden did in most Kansas counties. It’s a so-called “culture war” issue that brought voters out in droves to vote for a Democratic agenda item. The Kansas vote shows that the overturning of Roe has created a moral emergency that voters will respond to. Ignoring these “culture war” issues does not make the Democrats look sensible and moderate. It makes them look like cowards, running away from a fight.What Republicans want to do to America, especially with regard to abortion rights, is unpopular. More importantly, it is anti-democratic and immoral. This is a fight that the voters want to take on. It’s time for the Democratic party to join them.
      Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist
      TopicsUS politicsOpinionDemocratsAbortionRoe v WadecommentReuse this content More

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      Kansas’s vote to protect abortion rights upends US midterm elections – as it happened

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      Kansas is an unlikely place for a triumph of abortion rights.Starting in the 1990s, abortion providers in the state were repeated targets of violence, and in 2009, physician George Tiller was assassinated in Wichita. The state is a reliable GOP vote in presidential elections, and mostly sends Republicans to represent it in the Senate and House of Representatives – all of whom currently oppose abortion.But as last night’s vote to keep abortion protections in the constitutions shows, its residents don’t necessarily share their views. Around 59 percent of voters rejected a measure to change the constitution to allow the procedure to be cracked down on – about matching the 58 percent of Americans Gallup found did not want Roe v. Wade overturned.Whether red or blue, many states appear to share this dynamic. The Public Religion Research Institute says only in 10 states do majorities of voters want to make abortion illegal in all or most cases. Nationally, only 40 percent of people would support doing that.Washington spent today digesting the results of primary elections across the country, in which Kansas voted to protect abortion rights while Trump-aligned candidates triumphed in Arizona and elsewhere. Here’s a recap of what happened today:
      Indiana congresswoman Jackie Walorski was among four people killed in a car accident in the state.
      The defamation trial of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones took a dramatic turn when his cellphone data was accidentally shared with attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case, drawing the attention of the January 6 committee.
      A poll from Monmouth University showed Democrats have taken a narrow lead when it comes to control of Congress, while Biden’s approval rating plunge may have halted.
      Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called for the chamber to approve Sweden and Finland’s entry to Nato, which it is expected to do later today.
      House speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded her visit to Taiwan with a reaffirmation that US leaders would stand up for the island, particularly against China.
      New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney had to walk back a comment suggesting Biden wouldn’t stand for a second term.
      The president, meanwhile, still has Covid-19, but he plans to sign a measure to boost semiconductor production next week in an outdoor ceremony.
      Jackie Walorski, a Republican House representative from Indiana, was among four people killed in a car accident while traveling in the state, WSBT reports:#BREAKING: U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-Indiana) has been killed in a crash that happened at 12:32 P.M. in Elkhart County on S.R. 19 south of S.R. 119. pic.twitter.com/SbvhWlHgxL— Erica Finke WSBT (@EricaFinkeTV) August 3, 2022
      A northbound passenger car traveled left of center and collided head on with a southbound vehicle.Walorski, Zachary Potts with the St. Joseph County Republican Party, and Walorski’s comm. director Emma Thompson all passed away.— Erica Finke WSBT (@EricaFinkeTV) August 3, 2022
      The northbound vehicle driver, Edith Schmucker, died as well. The investigation is continuing at this time.#RIP to everyone involved in this horrifying crash.— Erica Finke WSBT (@EricaFinkeTV) August 3, 2022
      A federal grand jury investigating the January 6 attack has subpoenaed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his deputy Patrick Philbin, according to media reports.Both men were present in the White House during the time of the insurrection, and Cipollone has provided testimony to the House committee investigating the attack, which was a major part of its most recent hearing and showed the lawyer trying to get Donald Trump to call off his supporters as they assaulted the Capitol.CNN first reported Philbin’s subpoena today, while ABC News broke the story of Cipollone’s subpoena yesterday.The January 6 committee plans to subpoena phone data from Alex Jones that was accidentally revealed in a defamation case against him, Rolling Stone reports.Citing two sources, the magazine said investigators for the House committee investigating the attack were planning to take advantage of the the surprise development today in Jones’ trial, where it was revealed his lawyer had accidentally shared a copy of Jones’ phone data with attorneys for the parents of a child killed at Sandy Hook elementary school, who are suing Jones.According to Rolling Stone, “It’s unclear what, specifically, the committee will be looking for in Jones’ communications but attorneys for the Sandy Hook plaintiffs have accused the InfoWars host of intentionally withholding relevant communications about the Sandy Hook shooting and lying about having conducted a search for them.”Saying that Republicans “don’t have a clue about the power of American women”, Joe Biden cheered Kansas voters’ rejection of a ballot initiative that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion.He made the comments while appearing virtually at a meeting where he signed an executive order that could allow Medicaid, the government health plan for poor and disabled Americans, to cover the travel costs of people who must cross state lines to seek an abortion.“[Republicans] don’t have a clue about the power of American women. Last night in Kansas they found out.”— President Biden celebrates Kansas’ defeat of a ballot initiative that would have repealed the state’s right to abortion pic.twitter.com/AsGe5t8FpR— The Recount (@therecount) August 3, 2022
      As the January 6 committee has explored the events surrounding the attack on the Capitol, one name has come up repeatedly: Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor and lawyer for Donald Trump has been involved in that White House’s many scandals, but the New York Times reports today that one inquiry appears to be reaching a conclusion.Federal investigators are unlikely to file charges against Giuliani after looking into whether he illegally lobbied for officials from Ukraine who had offered damaging information about Joe Biden. Here’s more from the Times’ report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} While prosecutors had enough evidence last year to persuade a judge to order the seizure of Mr. Giuliani’s electronic devices, they did not uncover a smoking gun in the records, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a federal investigation.
      The prosecutors have not closed the investigation, and if new evidence were to emerge, they could still pursue Mr. Giuliani. But in a telling sign that the inquiry is close to wrapping up without an indictment, investigators recently returned the electronic devices to Mr. Giuliani, the people said. Mr. Giuliani also met with prosecutors and agents in February and answered their questions, a signal that his lawyers were confident he would not be charged.This is unlikely to be the last time Giuliani hears from prosecutors, both at the federal or state level. In addition to the January 6 inquiry, he has been subpoenaed to appear before a special grand jury in Georgia that is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in that state.Giuliani ordered to go before grand jury in Trump election meddling caseRead moreThere was an unusual and dramatic turn in the defamation trial of Alex Jones this afternoon, when it was revealed that his attorney accidentally sent a copy of the data from Jones’ phone to a lawyer for the Sandy Hook parents who are suing him.The revelations seem to open up the possibility that Jones could have perjured himself during his testimony. Here’s the account of what happened from Ben Collins of NBC News:Wow. Sandy Hook parents’ lawyer is revealing that Alex Jones’ lawyers sent him the contents of Jones’ phone BY MISTAKE.”12 days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text” Jones has sent for years.”You know what perjury is?” the lawyer asks.— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
      Sandy Hook parents’ lawyer is now asking Jones about the times he has emailed about Sandy Hook over the last several years, despite testifying under oath he couldn’t find any emails about Sandy Hook. There are apparently a lot of them. One is on a screen right now.— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
      Even Jones is stunned by the fact Sandy Hook parents seem to have his emails. Jones just called it their lawyers’ “Perry Mason moment.” It’s shocking.— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
      Judge instructing the jury on the entire contents of Alex Jones’ phone, which was accidentally handed over from Jones’ lawyers to the Sandy Hook parents’ lawyers:”What we do know is that it was not properly turned over when it should have been.”— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
      These texts and emails are FINALLY revealing financials behind Infowars.Some days in 2018, InfoWars was making $800,000 a day.”Well after your deplatforming, your numbers keep getting better,” Sandy Hook parents’ lawyer says.If they keep that up, that’s ~$300 mill. a year.— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
      Per the Associated Press, closing arguments in the case are expected to begin today.The defamation trial of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones appears to be nearing a conclusion in Texas. The Associated Press reports Jones acknowledged in court that the Sandy Hook school shooting happened, after years in which he insisted it was a hoax:The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said on Wednesday he now understands it was irresponsible to declare the Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax, and now believes it was “100% real”.He was speaking in his own defamation trial, a day after the parents of a six-year-old boy killed in the 2012 attack testified about suffering, death threats and harassment they have endured because of what Jones has trumpeted on his media platforms.“It was … especially since I’ve met the parents. It’s 100% real,” Jones said, at the trial that will determine how much he owes for defaming the parents of Jesse Lewis, one of 20 children and six adults killed at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.‘It’s 100% real’: Alex Jones admits in court Sandy Hook shooting not a hoaxRead moreMitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, has said Finland and Sweden’s applications for membership of Nato – motivated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – are “a slam dunk for national security that deserves unanimous bipartisan support”.McConnell made the remarks on the Senate floor today, before a vote scheduled later. The short version of what he said, provided by his office, is as follows:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Today, the Senate will approve ratification protocols to welcome Finland and Sweden as the two newest members of Nato … There is just no question that admitting these robust democratic countries with modern economies and capable, interoperable militaries will only strengthen the most successful military alliance in human history … This is a slam dunk for national security that deserves unanimous bipartisan support.Approval is expected, though one prominent (and notably sprightly) Republican has said he will vote no. In an op ed last month, Josh Hawley of Missouri said: “Finland and Sweden want to join the Atlantic Alliance to head off further Russian aggression in Europe. That is entirely understandable given their location and security needs. “But America’s greatest foreign adversary doesn’t loom over Europe. It looms in Asia. I am talking of course about the People’s Republic of China. And when it comes to Chinese imperialism, the American people should know the truth: the United States is not ready to resist it. Expanding American security commitments in Europe now would only make that problem worse – and America, less safe.” Joe Manchin, the man in the middle of most things in Washington these days, spoke to the Senate rules committee this morning about reforming the Electoral Count Act, the creaky old mechanism which just about stood up to Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat in 2020.Reform to the act has emerged as a rare subject of bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill – and Manchin, being the only Democrat in statewide office in otherwise deep Republican red West Virginia, is generally a fan of bipartisan things.He said: “As we saw on 6 January 2021, a lot of the ‘fixes’ established by the original Electoral Count Act are not merely outdated but actually serve as the very mechanisms that bad actors have zeroed in on as a way to potentially invalidate presidential election results.“As I am sure you will hear from the panel of distinguished experts who will testify before you today – the time to reform the ECA is long overdue. The time for Congress to act is now.“To that end, I am proud of the bipartisan bill introduced by [the Republican] Senator [Susan] Collins [of Maine], myself, and my colleagues last month: The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act.”Manchin said the new act would “unambiguously clarifie that the vice-president is prohibited from interfering with the electoral votes; raise the objection [to electoral results] threshold from a single representative and a single senator to 20% of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; and set a hard deadline for state governors to certify … electoral results – and if they fail to do so or submit a slate that does not match with the electoral results from the state, it creates an expedited judicial process to resolve”.This week, the spotlight once again will be on Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (dubbed “Manchinema” by the Washington press corps when the two blocked much of Joe Biden’s agenda).Which is exactly where both of these politicians want it.It’s the Democrats’ last chance for a large package – Manchin agreed last week to $790bn – on the climate and healthcare, financed by a tax increase on the rich and big corporations. But will Sinema go along?It’s been joked that the word “politics” is derived from the Latin “poli”, meaning “many”, and “ticks”, meaning small blood-sucking insects. I don’t hold such a cynical view. But I do know from 50 years’ experience in and around Washington that most of the people who serve in our nation’s capital have very, very large – shall we say? – egos.Full column:Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema act out of ego, not principle | Robert ReichRead moreCould things be looking up for Democrats? Between the defeat of an anti-abortion ballot measure in Kansas and some positive polling data, president Joe Biden’s party has seen signs pulling out of the slump it fell into recently – but there’s still months to go before the November midterms.Here’s a look back at what has happened so far today:
      House speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded her visit to Taiwan with a reaffirmation that US leaders would stand up for the island, particularly against China.
      New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney had to walk back a comment suggesting Biden wouldn’t stand for a second term.
      The president, meanwhile, still has Covid-19, but he plans to sign a measure to boost semiconductor production next week in an outdoor ceremony.
      The supreme court has announced a new argument calendar for its cases in the fall, where the conservative majority could again move to upend laws across the United States.New #SCOTUS argument calendar. Affirmative action cases to be heard Oct. 31. pic.twitter.com/hgyVlENvRj— Adam Liptak (@adamliptak) August 3, 2022
      Of note is the 31 October argument of two cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in which the court could bar the usage of race as a factor in college admissions.Supreme court could strike blow against affirmative action in Harvard case rulingRead moreBiden remains positive for Covid-19 but is otherwise feeling well, the White House doctor said in an update on the president’s health.“The President continues to feel well,” Kevin O’Connor wrote, noting Biden “remains fever-free and in good spirits” and had completed “a light workout” today.Biden contracted the virus last month and appeared to have recovered, testing negative last week. But over the weekend, he tested positive again.Biden tests positive for Covid only days after testing negativeRead moreNew York Democratic House representative Carolyn Maloney is doing a bit of clean-up this morning after suggesting in a debate last night that president Biden won’t run for re-election.“I don’t believe he’s running for reelection,” Maloney said during the debate, according to CNN. The lawmaker appeared to be saying the quiet part out loud when it comes to Biden’s viability as a candidate in 2024, given his age (he’ll be 81 when the election is held) and dismal approval ratings.In a series of tweets Wednesday, Maloney tried to clear the matter up:I will absolutely support President Biden, if he decides to run for re-election. Biden’s leadership securing historic investments for healthcare, climate & economic justice prove once again why he is the strong and effective leader we need right now. 🧵— Carolyn B. Maloney (@CarolynBMaloney) August 3, 2022
      I urge all Democrats to stay united & focused on working towards winning the midterms. Right now, I am concentrating on the upcoming Democratic primary on August 23rd & the issues that matter to the voters of #NY12. Request your absentee ballot by Monday, August 8th— Carolyn B. Maloney (@CarolynBMaloney) August 3, 2022
      Maloney represents a district that encompasses part of New York City, but after redistricting, she’s vying to keep her seat against congressman Jerry Nadler, a fellow Democrat. More

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      Peter Meijer, Republican who voted to impeach Trump, loses Michigan seat

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      Peter Meijer, Republican who voted to impeach Trump, loses Michigan seatTrump-backed challenger John Gibbs triumphs, while Democrats hopeful Kansas abortion vote will energize voters in November On one of the most consequential nights of the US primary season, amplifiers of Donald Trump’s stolen-election myth won in Arizona and Michigan – in the latter state defeating a Republican who voted for Trump’s impeachment – while voters in Kansas decisively rejected an attempt to remove abortion protections from the state constitution.‘We could feel it’: Kansans celebrate upset abortion rights victoryRead moreWith fewer than 100 days left before the November midterm elections, the results confirmed Trump’s grip on Republican voters and advanced his efforts to purge critics and elevate loyalist standard-bearers.The verdicts rendered on Tuesday night are likely to have major implications for both parties.Democrats face a difficult election cycle, hampered by Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and widespread dissatisfaction with leadership in Washington in the face of economic problems. Historically, the opposition party makes gains in the first midterms of any presidency, often by framing the election as a referendum on the president.With narrow majorities in Congress, Democrats cannot afford to lose any seats in the Senate and only a handful in the House. But party leaders were hopeful on Tuesday that the abortion rights verdict in Kansas might energize voters and boost Democrats in close contests to come.Another midterm strategy employed by Democrats – boosting far-right candidates in Republican primaries in the hope of facing weaker opponents in November – met with success, despite bipartisan warnings that the approach could backfire, with dangerous consequences for US democracy.In a congressional primary in Michigan, John Gibbs defeated Peter Meijer, the Republican incumbent who was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump over the Capitol attack, after Democrats ran ads highlighting Gibbs’s pro-Trump credentials.In a statement, Meijer said: “I’m proud to have remained true to my principles, even when doing so came at a significant political cost.”But he published angrier words on Monday, assailing Democrats who spent heavily in support of Gibbs.In an online essay, Meijer wrote: “The Democrats are justifying this political jiu-jitsu by making the argument that politics is a tough business. I don’t disagree.“But that toughness is bound by certain moral limits: those who participated in the attack on the Capitol, for example, clearly fall outside those limits. But over the course of the midterms, Democrats seem to have forgotten just where those limits lie.”Meijer was the second Republican who voted to impeach to lose a primary contest. Four have opted to retire rather than to seek re-election. Two others were on the ballot on Tuesday in Washington state. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse were in close races against Trump-backed challengers which had yet to be called.So far, only one Republican who voted to impeach Trump, David Valadao of California, has survived, with a narrow victory in California.Michigan also saw a Trump-backed candidate win the Republican nomination for governor. Tudor Dixon, a conservative media personality, will face the Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, in November.In an incumbent-on-incumbent Democratic primary for a newly redrawn Michigan House district, Haley Stevens, a moderate backed by the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, defeated Andy Levin, a progressive from a prominent political family. Elsewhere, progressive members of “the Squad”, Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Cori Bush in Missouri, beat back moderate challengers.In Arizona, a battleground state that became the epicenter of election denialism in the wake of Biden’s 2020 victory, the Trump-endorsed Blake Masters won a crowded Republican primary to face Mark Kelly, the Democratic incumbent, in a contest that could determine control of the US Senate.In the race for Arizona secretary of state, a post that oversees elections, Republicans nominated Mark Finchem, a self-identified member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who has amplified false claims about the 2020 election and was backed by Trump.The Republican primary for governor was too close to call but by Wednesday Kari Lake, a former TV anchor backed by Trump, was narrowly leading Karrin Taylor Robson, backed by the former vice-president Mike Pence.Trump’s quest for retribution against Republicans who crossed him gained a win when Rusty Bowers, Arizona’s Republican House speaker, who rose to prominence when he testified to the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, lost his bid for a state Senate seat to David Farnsworth, who had Trump’s support.In Missouri, where Trump urged voters to choose “Eric” without specifying which in a Senate primary contest with three Erics, Republican leaders were relieved it was Eric Schmitt, the attorney general, who emerged victorious.Eric Greitens, the scandal-plagued former governor who resigned in 2018 and was attempting a political comeback, finished third. Schmitt will now face Trudy Busch Valentine, a deep-pocketed beer heiress who Democrats nominated over the more populist Lucas Kunce.Justice department urged to investigate deletion of January 6 texts by PentagonRead moreThough Trump’s endorsement record is mixed, his string of victories on Tuesday night underscored conservatives’ enduring allegiance to the former president despite a stream of damaging revelations about his efforts to overturn the election and his conduct during the deadly assault on the Capitol.Perhaps the most closely watched vote on Tuesday wasn’t an election, but a referendum. In the first test of the potency of abortion as electoral issue in the post-Roe era, voters in Kansas resoundingly rejected an amendment that would have erased the right to abortion from the state constitution.The decisive vote in a state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020 is the first major electoral victory for supporters of reproductive rights since the the supreme court invalidated the constitutional right to an abortion in June.It also serves as a warning to Republicans who have sought to downplay the significance of the issue in an election year otherwise dominated by inflation and economic woes.TopicsRepublicansUS midterm elections 2022US politicsDemocratsMichiganArizonaWashington statenewsReuse this content More

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      ‘This is huge’: Democrats hail abortion rights victory in Kansas

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      ‘This is huge’: Democrats hail abortion rights victory in KansasDemocrats celebrated the Kansas vote as a testament to the desire for abortion rights nationwide, even in Republican-held states01:01Democrats including Joe Biden hailed the outcome of an abortion rights ballot question in Kansas, after a majority voted to protect the right in the state constitution.‘We could feel it’: Kansans celebrate upset abortion rights victoryRead moreIn a statement, the president said: “Voters in Kansas turned out in record numbers to reject extreme efforts to amend the state constitution to take away a woman’s right to choose and open the door for a statewide ban.“This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own healthcare decisions.”The Kansas vote was the first time abortion rights had been on the ballot since the conservative-dominated supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling which guaranteed the right, in June.A yes vote would have allowed the conservative Kansas legislature to restrict abortion or ban it completely.Other senior Democrats celebrated the Kansas vote as a testament to the desire for abortion rights nationwide, even in Republican-held states.The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted: “This is huge: abortion rights were on the ballot for the first time since Roe, and the people of Kansas voted to preserve access. I’m grateful down to my toes for everyone who helped stop this dangerous ballot measure in its tracks.”The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison, tweeted a congratulatory message – but did not mention the abortion referendum.“While the GOP is pushing their ultra-MAGA agenda, Dems are nominating candidates who will work to cut costs and protect our freedoms,” he wrote.To many Democrats and analysts, the Kansas vote suggested that an emphasis on abortion rights could pave the way to success in the November midterms.The referendum question brought out a surge of new voters, with more than 800,000 people turning out, up on the 470,000 who participated in the 2018 gubernatorial primary, Insider reported.Republicans who celebrated the supreme court ruling on abortion rights have since rushed to pass state abortion bans.But the Kansas vote presents an unexpected challenge for Republicans seeking to galvanize the issue for support in November. Even in more conservative states, voters largely support abortion rights.“Kansans bluntly rejected anti-abortion politicians’ attempts at creating a reproductive police state,” Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, told the Associated Press.“Today’s vote was a powerful rebuke and a promise of the mounting resistance.”TopicsKansasAbortionDemocratsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Tuesday’s primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall | Lloyd Green

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      Tuesday’s primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fallLloyd GreenKansas voters affirmed a women’s right to choose. Meanwhile, Republicans across the US elevated extremist candidates who may be unpopular in general elections Republican candidates from Arizona to Pennsylvania ought to worry. On Tuesday, voters in Kansas rejected efforts to gut a woman’s right to choose. In 2020, Donald Trump trounced Joe Biden there 56-42. Two years later, an anti-choice referendum went down in defeat 59-41. Suburban moms and dads had thundered; turnout soared. The supreme court’s wholesale attack on Roe backfired.The competing opinions authored by Justices Alito, Thomas and Kavanaugh may gift the Democrats a two-seat gain in the Senate, and doom Republican pick-ups of governorships in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Grasp more than you can hold, and you will be left with nothing, the Talmud says. On primary day, the high court’s decision in Dobbs seems to have energized plenty of otherwise loyal Republicans. By the numbers, 65% of Americans believe the constitution enshrines a right of privacy even as they hold doubts about abortion.Trump-endorsed Senate hopefuls JD Vance (Ohio), Mehmet Oz (Pennsylvania), Herschel Walker (Georgia) and Blake Masters (Arizona) must now answer for the Republicans’ war on autonomy. Vance also wants to ban pornography as he gives a greenlight to guns and embraces Marjorie Taylor Greene. He claims smut harms fertility rates.A recent Fox News poll shows Democrats with double-digit leads in Pennsylvania’s Senate and governor’s races. Doug Mastriano, the Keystone state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, came under recent fire for his embrace of Christian nationalism and ties with antisemitic figures. And Dr Oz is Dr Oz.Tudor Dixon, the Trump-backed winner of Tuesday’s Michigan Republican gubernatorial primary, believes that a 14-year-old raped by a relative should be forced to carry her pregnancy to term. “Yeah, perfect example,” she told an interviewer.Her remarks now are a centerpiece of incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer’s re-election efforts. Dixon opposes exceptions to an abortion ban in cases of rape and incest. She trailed Whitmer by 11 points in a July poll.The Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative may also appear on the fall ballot. Once upon a time opponents of Roe claimed the ruling was wrong because it was “anti-democratic”.Adding fuel to this Great Lakes dumpster fire, Matt DePerno, Michigan’s prospective Republican attorney general, openly mused about restricting accessibility to contraception. At a Republican debate, he questioned the validity of Griswold, the pertinent 1965 supreme court ruling. For good measure, DePerno previously spearheaded efforts to undo Biden’s 150,000-vote win in Michigan.Tuesday’s contests were also about the 45th president exacting revenge and promoting the “big lie” – that he was defrauded of victory.To be sure, not all Republicans were buying what the former guy was selling. But he had greater success than Kansas’s pro-lifers. Trumpism remains very much alive.In the state of Washington, incumbents Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse stand on the verge of rebuffing primary bids by Trump-endorsed challengers. Both Representatives Herrera Beutler and Newhouse voted to impeach the ex-reality show host over his role in the January 6 insurrection.On the other hand, Michigan’s Representative Peter Meijer, who voted for Trump’s impeachment, lost to John Gibbs, a Trump-backed challenger. Gibbs had received a boost from congressional Democrats, as part of an audacious strategic move to empower Republicans they think will lose in the general elections. Meijer, a supermarket chain scion, lost by four points.With the rightwing Gibbs as the Republican nominee, the Democrats may actually pick up a House seat. Had Meijer emerged with the Republican nod, he would have been favored. All this raises the question of whether Democratic talk about putting the country ahead of party is partisan blather.Elsewhere, Trump claimed the head of Republican Rusty Bowers, the outgoing speaker of the Arizona senate. He had opposed efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and appeared before the January 6 select committee.Days after Bowers testified, Trump declared: “Bowers must be defeated, and highly respected David Farnsworth is the man to do it.”Farnsworth believes that Satan stole the 2020 election. Really.“This is a real conspiracy headed up by the devil himself,” he explained at a debate.Along with Farnsworth, Mark Finchem, a diehard election denier and conspiracy theorist, notched the Arizona Republican nomination for secretary of state. He too had Trump’s blessing.As for the state’s Republican primary for governor, Kari Lake holds a two-point lead with more than 80% of precincts reporting. Like Finchem and Farnsworth, Lake garnered a Trump endorsement and rejects Biden’s legitimacy as president. Whether she actually wins the primary and can prevail against Democrat Katie Hobbs, the current secretary of state, remains to be seen.With Kansas’s resounding no vote, Democrats have good reason to make abortion a major issue for the midterms. Of course, as Republicans learned on Tuesday, it is all too easy to go off the deep-end.
      Lloyd Green is a regular contributor and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
      TopicsUS politicsOpinionRepublicansDemocratsAbortioncommentReuse this content More