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      Man who attacked speaker’s husband Paul Pelosi facing attempted homicide charge – live

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      Bill Scott, chief of the San Francisco police department, said the suspect in the attack on Paul Pelosi will face charges of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon, among others.In a brief press conference where he took no questions, Scott recounted what officers saw when they arrived at the Pelosi residence around 2.27am today to respond to a welfare call.“When the officers arrived on scene, they encountered an adult male and [M] Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Our officers observed Mr Pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” Scott said.The chief identified the suspect as 42-year-old David Depape. In addition to attempted homicide, he’ll also face charges of “elder abuse, burglary, and several other additional felonies”, Scott said.Julián Castro, the former Democratic presidential candidate and housing secretary, is calling for more security for Nancy Pelosi after the attack on the speaker’s husband.Protection is provided to family members of the President and VP but not to family of the Speaker of the House. That’s not good enough at a time when too many people, moved by hatred and paranoia stoked by Trump and right-wing media, embrace violence as a means to achieve power.— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) October 28, 2022
      Paul Pelosi has undergone a successful surgery for a skull fracture and “serious injuries” to his arm and hands, a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.“Earlier this morning, Paul Pelosi was attacked at home by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the Speaker,” Drew Hammill said. “Mr Pelosi was admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where he underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. His doctors expect a full recovery. “The Speaker and her family are thankful for the outpouring of support and prayers from friends, constituents and people around the country. The Pelosi family is immensely grateful to Mr Pelosi’s entire medical team and the law enforcement officers who responded to the assault. The family appreciates respect for their privacy during this time.”A relative of David DePape, the suspect in the attack against Paul Pelosi, said the 42-year-old has mental health issues and refused contact with family, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.Ron DePape, who said David DePape is a stepson of his brother’s from a previous marriage, told the newspaper: “We don’t have any contact with him and just feeling sad and sorry for the Pelosi family.” “It’s just a sad event. It has to be mental health issues that he’s been carrying around I would think.” The British Columbia resident told the San Francisco Chronicle that David DePape lived there but left “at an early age” to move to the US with a girlfriend: “He refused contact with any family. He just kind of disappeared.”David DePape appears to have an online blog filled with conspiracy theories about the government, media and tech companies, and appeared to be a follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to the newspaper. Republican Adam Kinzinger, a January 6 committee member, on the attack on Paul Pelosi:This morning’s terrifying attack on Paul Pelosi by a man obsessed with election conspiracies is a dangerous reality encouraged by some members of my own party.I’m thankful he will be okay. This must be condemned by every Member of Congress & candidate. Now. @SpeakerPelosi— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) October 28, 2022
      Congressman Bill Pascrell has described the attack on Paul Pelosi as an assassination attempt and blamed “big lies from many Republicans” for the violence.The congressman said in a statement Friday:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“This assassination attempt never should have happened. This guy has a background that shows he’s been moved, instigated, and influenced by those people who seek to divide us. Turn on rightwing media on any given day or night. You will see frothing hosts shrieking unspeakable lies and unfounded conspiracy theories about women, religious and ethnic minorities, city residents, young people and scores of others Americans. That some are radicalized to commit unspeakable violence against their perceived enemies cannot be a surprise. This terrorism is growing and threatens every community in America.”Early reports found that Pelosi’s attacker, David Depape, had embraced conspiracy theories about January 6, the 2020 election and Covid in online posts.I’m Dani Anguiano and I’ll be taking over our live blog for the remainder of the day.House speaker Nancy Pelosi is heading to San Francisco following the attack on her husband Paul Pelosi, Punchbowl News reports:Also: PELOSI is en route to SF. https://t.co/NalnyAiChv— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 28, 2022
      While the Capitol police are scrambling to provide extra security to family members of congressional leadership after the attack, CBS News says the agency has been facing a months-long deluge of threats to lawmakers:There were nearly 10,000 investigations into threats against Members of Congress …. last year alonePer our @CBSNews reporting— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 28, 2022
      The Guardian’s Dani Anguiano is now taking over this blog, and will cover the latest developments in this breaking story over the remainder of the day.NBC Bay Area reports Paul Pelosi is recovering from surgery on his head at a hospital in San Francisco.Previously, hospital sources had said he was undergoing brain surgery.Years before he reportedly embraced conspiracy theories and was accused of attacking House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, David DePape was associated with a uniquely San Francisco cause, according to Mission Local.The news site reports he was involved in protests against San Francisco’s anti-nudity ordinance, held about a decade ago in the Castro neighborhood:My sources also name the suspect in this morning’s hammer attack on Paul Pelosi as David DePape, born 1980, of Berkeley. He would appear to be a former Castro nudist protester. Things appear set to be bizarre for a while.— Joe Eskenazi (@EskSF) October 28, 2022
      His name is mentioned in some coverage from that episode. The San Francisco Chronicle has someone they identify as “David Depape” pictured alongside pro-nudity activist Gypsy Taub in 2013.In coverage of the protests from the same year, the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center names DePape as a photographer, spelling his surname “dePape”.The United States will next week put the United Nations spotlight on protests in Iran sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody and look for ways to promote credible, independent investigations into Iranian human rights abuses.The US and Albania will hold an informal UN security council gathering on Wednesday, according to a note outlining the event, seen by Reuters.Iranian Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and Iranian-born actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi are set to brief..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The meeting will highlight the ongoing repression of women and girls and members of religious and ethnic minority groups in Iran.
      It will identify opportunities to promote credible, independent investigations into the Iranian government’s human rights violations and abuses,” the note said.An independent UN investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, is also due to address the meeting, which can be attended by other UN member states and rights groups.Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody last month. The unrest has turned into a popular revolt by Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The meeting will underscore ongoing unlawful use of force against protesters and the Iranian regime’s pursuit of human rights defenders and dissidents abroad to abduct or assassinate them in contravention of international law,” read the note about the planned meeting.Rights groups have said at least 250 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested across the country. Women have played a prominent part in the protests, removing and burning veils.The deaths of several teenage girls reportedly killed during protests have fuelled more anger.UN secretary general António Guterres has called on Iranian security forces to refrain from unnecessary or disproportionate force against protesters and appealed to all to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.Iran: deaths reported as security forces open fire on protesters in ZahedanRead moreTop House Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi is recovering from an assault by a hammer-wielding intruder who broke into their home and shouted “where is Nancy?” Coming less than two years after the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol, the incident underscores the continued threat of political violence in the United States as voters prepare to cast ballots in the 8 November midterm elections.Here’s what else has happened today:
      Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter, but there are no signs that he has lifted the ban on Donald Trump – yet.
      Big name Democrats are out campaigning today to revive the party’s chances ahead of the midterms, including Barack Obama in Georgia, and Bernie Sanders in Nevada.
      Joe Biden stuck to his usual talking points in an interview yesterday, but sounded skeptical of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s insistence that he wasn’t planning to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
      David DePape, the 42-year-old man accused of attempted homicide and other charges for allegedly assaulting Paul Pelosi, has embraced conspiracy theories in online posts, CNN reports:.@SFPD identified the alleged attacker as 42-year-old David DePape. @CNN reached two of the man’s relatives who told CNN he is estranged from his family. A review of his FB page shows he posted memes and conspiracy theories about Covid, the 2020 election, and the 1/6 attack.— Whitney Wild (@WhitneyWReports) October 28, 2022
      Here’s more from the network:CNN looked through the attackers social media. He posted YouTube videos concerned about the 2020 election and January 6th committee. Posted a lot of theories COVID origins and January 6th pic.twitter.com/JnhD8wPJmr— Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2022
      Bill Scott, chief of the San Francisco police department, said the suspect in the attack on Paul Pelosi will face charges of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon, among others.In a brief press conference where he took no questions, Scott recounted what officers saw when they arrived at the Pelosi residence around 2.27am today to respond to a welfare call.“When the officers arrived on scene, they encountered an adult male and [M] Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Our officers observed Mr Pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” Scott said.The chief identified the suspect as 42-year-old David Depape. In addition to attempted homicide, he’ll also face charges of “elder abuse, burglary, and several other additional felonies”, Scott said.The San Francisco police department is beginning its press conference on the attack on Paul Pelosi.Follow along here for updates.House Republican Whip Steve Scalise has joined in condemning the attack on Paul Pelosi:Disgusted to hear about the horrific assault on Speaker Pelosi’s husband Paul. Grateful for law enforcement’s actions to respond.Let’s be clear: Violence has no place in this country. I’m praying for Paul Pelosi’s full recovery.— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 28, 2022
      In 2017, Scalise was shot when a gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball team practice in Virginia.Virginia shooting: gunman was leftwing activist with record of domestic violenceRead moreCNN is reporting more violent details of the attack on Paul Pelosi:More from @jamiegangel: The man who assaulted Paul Pelosi tried to tie him up “until Nancy got home,” according to two sources familiar with the situation.  When the police arrived, the assailant said he was “waiting for Nancy.” https://t.co/yAZdHrM7Hk— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) October 28, 2022
      The San Francisco police department is expected to soon hold a press conference on the attack. More

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      Democrats on the defensive as economy becomes primary concern over abortion

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      Democrats on the defensive as economy becomes primary concern over abortionPolls indicate tide shifting toward Republicans with high inflation rates and gas prices working in their favor With less than two weeks to go until election day, Democrats’ hopes of defying political history and keeping their narrow majorities in the House and Senate appear to be fading, as many of the party’s candidates go on the defensive in the final days of campaigning.Over the summer, many election forecasters wondered if Democrats could avoid the widespread losses typically seen by the president’s party in the midterms. With voters expressing outrage over the supreme court’s decision to end federal protections for abortion access and gas prices falling, Democrats had been hopeful that their endangered incumbents could win reelection.DeSantis’s old law firm received millions in Florida state funds, investigation findsRead moreIn August, Democrats took the lead on the generic congressional ballot, according to FiveThirtyEight. They held onto that lead for two and a half months – until last week.The national political environment now seems to have moved in Republicans’ favor, and Democrats are running out time to turn the tide. Gas prices started to rise again this month, although they have since started to moderate. With inflation at near record levels, the share of voters who name the economy as their top priority has increased since the summer.A New York Times/Siena College poll taken this month found that 44% of likely voters say economic concerns are the most important problem facing the country, compared to 36% who said the same in July. Just 5% of likely voters identified abortion as the most important issue right now. Voters’ renewed focus on inflation and gas prices could hurt Democrats’ chances in some key congressional races, given that Republicans consistently score better on surveys asking which party is better equipped to manage the economy.The shifting winds have prompted some Democrats to question whether they made a tactical error by focusing heavily on abortion rights in their campaign messaging. Just last week, Joe Biden promised to send a bill codifying Roe v Wade to Congress if Democrats fortify their majorities in the midterms.“I want to remind us all how we felt that day when 50 years of constitutional precedent was overturned,” Biden said last Tuesday. “If you care about the right to choose, then you got to vote.”With surveys indicating abortion rights are not top of mind for most voters, some progressive lawmakers are urging their colleagues to instead emphasize economic proposals like raising the minimum wage and creating a federal paid family leave program as they campaign for reelection.“In my view, while the abortion issue must remain on the front burner, it would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go unanswered,” progressive senator Bernie Sanders wrote in a Guardian op-ed earlier this month.Sanders added: “Now is the time for Democrats to take the fight to the reactionary Republican party and expose their anti-worker views on the most important issues facing ordinary Americans. That is both the right thing to do from a policy perspective and good politics.”Democrats worry that the strategy pivot may be coming too late for some candidates, as alarm bells go off in battleground states across the country.In Florida, a state that Donald Trump won by just three points in 2020, Republican governor Ron DeSantis appears likely to defeat his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, by double digits. DeSantis, a Trump-like figure who is widely expected to run for president in 2024, has already raised at least $177m this election cycle, setting a record for a gubernatorial campaign. DeSantis’ fundraising haul and Democrats’ bleak polling numbers have led many of the party’s national organizations and donors to abandon Florida candidates, effectively declaring a preemptive defeat.In the battle for the House, Republicans are poised to recapture the majority, as districts that Biden easily won less than two years ago now appear to be up for grabs. According to Politico, a recent internal poll conducted by the campaign of Julia Brownley, whose California district went for Biden by 20 points in 2020, showed the Democratic incumbent leading her Republican opponent by just 1 point.Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who is overseeing the party’s efforts to maintain control of the House, now faces the risk of being ousted himself. Earlier this week, the Cook Political Report changed the rating of Maloney’s race from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up”. If Maloney cannot hold his seat, the defeat would mark the first time since 1992 that a sitting House campaign committee chair lost reelection. Republicans are gleeful at the prospect of toppling the DCCC chair, dumping several million dollars into Maloney’s district.Maloney has remained optimistic about his chances, telling CBS News, “I’m going to win this election, and when I do, they’re going to wish they had that $9 million back.”But if the national environment is as dire as it appears for Democrats, a Republican wave could soon sweep Maloney and many of his colleagues out of office.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022DemocratsRepublicansHouse of RepresentativesUS CongressJoe BidenAbortionnewsReuse this content More

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      Republican senator Tom Cotton brags about ignoring Trump impeachment evidence in new book

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      Republican senator Tom Cotton brags about ignoring Trump impeachment evidence in new bookThe Arkansas senator, a Republican presidential hopeful, also suggests president did not know military procedures In January 2020, the rightwing Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton said he would vote to acquit Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial because despite senators having “heard from 17 witnesses … and received more than 28,000 pages of documents”, Democrats had not presented their case correctly.Trump bragged about new US nuclear weapons, Woodward tape showsRead moreAccording to Cotton, the senators who sat through so much evidence would “perform the role intended for us by the founders, of providing the ‘cool and deliberate sense of the community’, as it says in Federalist 63.”In a new book, however, Cotton boasts that he spent his time refusing to pay attention – pretending to read materials relevant to the president’s trial – but hiding his real reading matter under a fake cover.He writes: “My aides delivered a steady flow of papers and photocopied books, hidden underneath a fancy cover sheet labeled ‘Supplementary Impeachment Materials’, so nosy reporters sitting above us in the Senate gallery couldn’t see what I was reading.”“They probably would’ve reported that I wasn’t paying attention to the trial.”Reporters did report that Republicans were not paying attention. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee named the book she chose to read instead of participating in only the third presidential trial in history: “It was Resistance (At All Costs) by Kim Strassel.”Other Republicans fidgeted or doodled. But reporters noted that Blackburn violated decorum guidelines on relevant reading: “Reading materials should be confined to only those readings which pertain to the matter before the Senate.”Admitting the same infraction, Cotton – a leading China hawk – says he was reading “about the science of coronaviruses, the methods of vaccine development and the history of pandemics”.He adds: “I was paying attention – to the story that mattered most. The outcome of the impeachment trial was a foregone conclusion, and it wouldn’t impact the daily lives of normal Americans.”Cotton’s book, Only the Strong: Reversing the Left’s Plot to Sabotage American Power, will be published next Tuesday. The Guardian obtained a copy.Cotton is now among senators, governors and former members of the Trump administration jostling for position in the developing contest for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Publishing a book is a traditional preparatory step.The senator, 45, is a former soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and at Arlington Cemetery before entering politics as a foreign policy hawk. His book takes aim at Joe Biden and Barack Obama – and equally persistently, from the prologue to the note on sources, Woodrow Wilson, the president who took office in 1913, took the US into the first world war in 1917, left office in 1921 and died in 1924.Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination 100 years later, despite facing legal jeopardy for inciting the Capitol attack, trying to overturn the 2020 election, retaining classified records and being the subject of criminal and civil suits over his business affairs and an allegation of rape.Cotton voted to acquit Trump at both his impeachment trials, the second for inciting the Capitol riot, but he was not among the eight Republican senators who supported Trump’s attempts to overturn election results in key states.In his book, however, the Arkansan skips over domestic concerns, including his own advocacy of using the military against “Antifa terrorists” during protests for racial justice in summer 2020, a position which stoked huge controversy and brought down an editor at the New York Times.Cotton is largely careful to target only Democratic presidents. Hitting Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for not serving in the military before running for the White House, he omits mention of George W Bush’s avoidance of service in Vietnam by securing a post in the Texas air national guard, to which he did not always show up.Unchecked review: how Trump dodged two impeachments … and the January 6 committee?Read moreBut Cotton does risk angering Trump, by criticising him for “waiting too long to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal” and by dishing on a private call in which the then president professed ignorance of military protocol.Early in Trump’s term in power, Cotton writes, the president called him about a potential nominee – common Senate business.But Trump then said: “The other night, they called me and asked for approval to kill some terrorist. I never heard of the guy.”Cotton asked if Trump approved the strike.“Trump replied, ‘Oh yeah, but I asked why they called me in the first place. Didn’t they have some captain or major or someone who knew more about this guy? I mean, I’d never heard of him.’”With nudging, Cotton says, Trump worked out that the military was working according to protocols laid down by Obama, who he accuses of “impos[ing] needless layers of bureaucratic and legal review” on strikes on terrorist targets.TopicsBooksDonald TrumpTrump administrationTrump impeachment (2019)RepublicansUS elections 2024ArkansasReuse this content More

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      Republican Liz Cheney endorses Michigan Democrat in midterm elections – as it happened

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      Despite her fairly hard core conservative credentials, anti-Trump Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney has now endorsed a Democrat in the upcoming midterm elections.Having used her position on the January 6 committee to bludgeon Donald Trump for his role in the insurrection and for seeking to overturn the 2020 election result, Cheney clearly feels her split with her own party is nearly complete.Crossing America’s political divide and supporting a Democrat will infuriate the Trumpist-dominated Republican party.AP has the details:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday endorsed and plans to campaign for Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the first time that the critic of former President Donald Trump who lost her GOP primary has crossed party lines to formally support a Democrat.
      Cheney, of Wyoming, announced her support for the two-term House member from Holly, Michigan, in a statement by the Slotkin campaign that notes she plans to headline a campaign event with Slotkin in the Lansing-area district next Tuesday.
      Slotkin is competing against Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Their race is considered a toss-up by both sides and one of the Republicans’ chief targets in their campaign to win the House majority on Nov. 8.And this is likely the crucial detail..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Both [Cheney and Slotkin] have been vocal critics of House Republicans who have sought to downplay the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.The pieces on the American political chess board continued moving today, with less than two weeks to go until the 8 November midterms. Donald Trump announced a slate of campaign rallies, including a visit to Florida, where he will not be joined by Republican governor Ron DeSantis. Meanwhile, Joe Biden traveled to a New York semiconductor factory to promote legislation boosting domestic technological competitiveness, with the greater goal of drumming up voter support for his handling of the economy. And Trump foe Liz Cheney bucked her hardcore Republican credentials to endorse a Democrat running for another term in the House.Here’s what else happened today:
      A Capitol rioter was sentenced to seven-a-half years in prison for his part in the attack on Washington police officer Michael Fanone on January 6.
      Democratic lawmakers want the enhanced child tax credit restored in year-end legislation. During 2021, the program was credited with lowering child poverty.
      Democratic senator John Hickenlooper asked the Federal Reserve to hold off on increasing interest rates further. He is the second Democrat this week to urge the central bank exercise caution in its fight against inflation.
      Once a swing state, Democrats in Florida worry they are being pushed decisively into the minority, and could lose ground even in their strongholds in the upcoming elections.
      Call them the Arizona accords. A far-right Republican lawmaker invited the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to negotiate peace in the southwestern state. Don’t expect it to go anywhere.
      Why are there always reporters following Joe Biden around? Because people tell him interesting things.Such as top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, who Fox News overheard giving Biden his assessment of how things are looking in two states crucial to determining Senate control:Schumer on hot mic talking to Biden about the midterms:“Looks like the debate didn’t hurt us too much in Pennsylvania and we’re picking up steam in Nevada.” pic.twitter.com/6KPjJ4YfMc— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 27, 2022
      Despite Democrat John Fetterman’s rocky performance on Tuesday, Schumer said, “looks like the debate didn’t hurt us too much in Pennsylvania.” He can also be heard saying “we’re picking up steam in Nevada.” Polls in the western state have shown Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto in a very tight race against her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt.Control of Congress isn’t the only thing voters will decide in the 8 November midterms. In five states, Americans will vote on whether or not to approve ballot measures removing laws that allow slavery and involuntary servitude for prisoners, the Associated Press reports.The measures won’t immediately change conditions in state prisons, but could form the basis for future legal challenges over how convict labor is treated.Here’s more from the AP’s report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The effort is part of a national push to amend the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that banned enslavement or involuntary servitude except as a form of criminal punishment. That exception has long permitted the exploitation of labor by convicted felons.
      “The idea that you could ever finish the sentence ‘slavery’s okay when … ’ has to rip out your soul, and I think it’s what makes this a fight that ignores political lines and brings us together, because it feels so clear,” said Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, a criminal justice advocacy group pushing to remove the amendment’s convict labor clause.
      Nearly 20 states have constitutions that include language permitting slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. In 2018, Colorado was the first to remove the language from its founding frameworks by ballot measure, followed by Nebraska and Utah two years later.
      This November, versions of the question go before voters in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.
      Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat from Memphis, was shocked when a fellow lawmaker told her about the slavery exception in the Tennessee Constitution and immediately began working to replace the language.
      “When I found out that this exception existed, I thought, ‘We have got to fix this and we’ve got to fix this right away,’” she said. “Our constitution should reflect the values and the beliefs of our state.”A judge in Washington has sentenced a Tennessee man who participated in the January 6 insurrection to seven-and-a-half years in prison for attacking police officer Michael Fanone, The Wall Street Journal reports.Albuquerque Cosper Head, 43, was part of a group that overwhelmed Fanone as he tried to fend off the assault, dragging him into a mob and holding him down while he was tased by other rioters. Fanone, who resigned from the Washington police department last year, has become one of the most outspoken law enforcement figures who responded to the attack by supporters of Donald Trump.Here’s more from the Journal:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Calling him one of the “most serious offenders” during the Capitol riot, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed the 90-month sentence on Albuquerque Cosper Head during an emotional court hearing Thursday in the District of Columbia.
      Mr. Head, a 43-year-old construction worker, pleaded guilty in May to participating in a group attack on Michael Fanone, a former Washington Metropolitan Police Officer. Mr. Fanone has spoken extensively about the attack and the injuries he sustained, including a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury.
      According to a recent Justice Department court filing, Mr. Head “forcibly dragged Officer Fanone into the riotous mob” and “continued to restrain Officer Fanone while another rioter applied a Taser to the base of the officer’s skull.”
      Judge Jackson called Mr. Head’s actions “some of the darkest acts committed on one of our nation’s darkest days,” adding that he went after the officer like he was “prey” and a “trophy.”
      Mr. Head will receive credit for time spent in custody since his arrest in April 2021.
      The Justice Department had asked Judge Jackson to impose the maximum potential sentence of 96 months, citing Mr. Head’s criminal history, which includes convictions for domestic violence and approximately 45 arrests.
      Mr. Head’s lawyer, G. Nicholas Wallace, argued unsuccessfully for a 60-month sentence, saying his client was “embarrassed and remorseful” and has accepted responsibility for his actions.‘Devoid of shame’: January 6 cop Michael Fanone on Trump’s Republican partyRead moreRightwing Republican congressman Paul Gosar has invited Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to Arizona to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.In a letter posted on Donald Trump’s Truth social network, Gosar, who was censured and stripped of his committee posts last year for tweeting a violent anime sequence depicting him killing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking Joe Biden, proposed talks in Phoenix to end a conflict he feared poses nuclear peril.He described Arizona’s capital as “far enough away from the conflict, and away from the entities that are currently encouraging more war, to be a productive location.”Here’s how he put it, on Twitter:The horrible reality is that western leaders do not want peace between Russia and Ukraine.Our political and military leaders are marching straight into nuclear war for the sake of ‘our democracy’.We need peacemakers, not death cultists.— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) October 27, 2022
      The letter is unlikely to amount to anything more than a stunt for the Trump acolyte representing the southwestern state. But it does point to a larger reality: some Republicans are growing wary of Washington’s continued backing of Kyiv, saying it’s getting too expensive. Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy, who is poised to lead the chamber if the GOP wins a majority in the upcoming elections, said as much in an interview last week.‘The most dangerous man in Congress’: how Paul Gosar became a darling of the far rightRead moreDemocrat woes deepen in New YorkMuch has already been made of the unusually tight race in New York state for the governor’s mansion, where Kathy Hochul only has a relatively narrow lead over her Republican challenger.Now, adding to those New York woes, is evidence that other races are starting to look troublesome for Democrats, including the House Democratic campaigns chief Sean Patrick Maloney in the Hudson Valley.Once thought safe, the race there has tightened considerably.Politico has more: Republicans first targeted House Democratic campaigns chief Sean Patrick Maloney’s blue district here in the Hudson Valley as an act of trolling their arch-nemesis. Now they’re taking their prospects seriously.And so is Maloney. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair and his allies are answering the GOP’s escalation with millions of dollars from outside groups, while Maloney steps up his already grueling campaign schedule at home.Swooping in to rescue their own campaigns chief is the last place Democrats wanted to be in the final days of the midterms. His struggles have led some in the party to rethink their tendency to elect swing-seat DCCC leaders, but for the moment Maloney’s just looking to hang on.But also a note of optimism.“This is nothing new for me,” [Maloney] claimed of the GOP onslaught after a Wednesday town hall to promote his work on lowering prescription drug prices. Indeed, in 2016 he won reelection even as most voters in his then-district picked Donald Trump for presidentJoe Biden is undoing some of the Trump administration’s nuclear weapons policies, but critics want the White House to do more, The Guardian’s Julian Borger reports:The Biden administration has confirmed it will cancel a submarine-launched nuclear cruise missile programme begun by Donald Trump, as part of its review of nuclear policy.The administration will also retire a gravity bomb, the B63, from its arsenal as part of its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), but arms control advocates argued the changes from the Trump era did not go far enough.The administration is retaining another weapon variant introduced by Trump, a low-yield warhead called the W76-2, intended to deter an adversary like Russia using a low-yield weapon. The Democratic party manifesto in 2020 had called the W76-2 “unnecessary, wasteful, and indefensible”.The Biden NPR said that the “fundamental role of nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack on the United States, our allies, and partners”. That declaratory policy stops sort of saying deterring nuclear attack is the sole purpose of the arsenal, which is what Biden promised in his election campaign. Instead, the NPR says that the US could strike back against “a narrow range of other high consequence, strategic-level attacks”.Biden to scrap Trump missile project but critics attack US ‘nuclear overkill’Read moreDespite her fairly hard core conservative credentials, anti-Trump Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney has now endorsed a Democrat in the upcoming midterm elections.Having used her position on the January 6 committee to bludgeon Donald Trump for his role in the insurrection and for seeking to overturn the 2020 election result, Cheney clearly feels her split with her own party is nearly complete.Crossing America’s political divide and supporting a Democrat will infuriate the Trumpist-dominated Republican party.AP has the details:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday endorsed and plans to campaign for Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the first time that the critic of former President Donald Trump who lost her GOP primary has crossed party lines to formally support a Democrat.
      Cheney, of Wyoming, announced her support for the two-term House member from Holly, Michigan, in a statement by the Slotkin campaign that notes she plans to headline a campaign event with Slotkin in the Lansing-area district next Tuesday.
      Slotkin is competing against Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Their race is considered a toss-up by both sides and one of the Republicans’ chief targets in their campaign to win the House majority on Nov. 8.And this is likely the crucial detail..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Both [Cheney and Slotkin] have been vocal critics of House Republicans who have sought to downplay the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Could Donald Trump soon return to Twitter? With Elon Musk on course to meet a Friday deadline to finish his acquisition of the company, chances are rising that the former president will make a return to the social network he used as a megaphone in his presidency. Here’s the latest on the deal from The Guardian’s Alex Hern:Elon Musk has claimed he has “acquired Twitter” in a post to the social network reassuring advertisers it will stay a safe place for their brands, amid fears one of his first actions as chief executive will be to restore Donald Trump’s account.After months of uncertainty over whether or not his $44bn acquisition of the social media platform would go through, the Tesla chief executive’s post is the strongest acknowledgment yet that the deal is expected to be sealed before its deadline of 5pm in Delaware on Friday.Musk wrote in a statement attached to the tweet: “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”He added: “That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love.”Elon Musk claims he has acquired Twitter ‘to help humanity’Read moreLiving in conservative-run states takes a toll on Americans, according to a new study that found a gap in life expectancies based on a state’s political orientation. Martin Pengelly reports:Americans die younger in conservative states than in those governed by liberals, a new study has found.The authors wrote: “Simulations indicate that changing all policy domains in all states to a fully liberal orientation might have saved 171,030 lives in 2019, while changing them to a fully conservative orientation might have cost 217,635 lives.”The study was published on Plos One, “an inclusive journal community working together to advance science for the benefit of society, now and in the future”.The authors were from Syracuse University in New York, Harvard in Massachusetts, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Washington, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Western Ontario, in Canada.They wrote: “Results show that the policy domains were associated with working-age mortality.”Americans die younger in states run by conservatives, study findsRead moreFrom its central role in the disputed 2000 election to its more recent rightward shift under governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has long been one of the most politically interesting states in the union.The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland traveled to the Sunshine State, seeking answers to one of the biggest questions of the upcoming midterms: will it keep trending Republican, or is a Democratic revival possible? Here’s what he found:12:41Donald Trump has announced a slate of campaign rallies in the last days before the 8 November midterm elections, including a visit to Florida, where he will not be joined by Republican governor Ron DeSantis. Meanwhile, Joe Biden will today travel to a semiconductor factory to promote legislation he supported to boost domestic technological competitiveness, with the greater goal of drumming up voter support for his handling of the economy.Here’s what else is happening today:
      Democratic lawmakers want the enhanced child tax credit restored in year-end legislation. During 2021, the program was credited with lowering child poverty.
      Democratic senator John Hickenlooper wants the Federal Reserve to hold off on increasing interest rates further. He is the second Democrat this week to ask the central bank to exercise caution in its fight against inflation.
      Once a swing state, Democrats in Florida worry they are being pushed decisively into the minority, and could lose ground even in their strongholds in the upcoming elections.
      White House chief of staff Ron Klain broke a federal law with a retweet from his official account, an investigation has found, according to the Associated Press.The AP reports that Klain violated the Hatch Act when he retweeted from his White House account a message from Democratic group STRIKE PAC. The tweet was about deliveries of baby formula, but also included the message, “Get your Democrats Deliver merch today!”That’s a violation of the act, which bars government officials from trying to influence elections in their official capacities, and Klain was issued a letter of warning, according to the AP.Here’s more from their report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Klain removed the retweet as soon as he was notified of the complaint. No disciplinary action will be pursued and the office, an independent government watchdog that monitors violations of the Hatch Act, considers the matter closed. Klain was warned to be more careful in the future.
      The conservative legal group America First Legal, led by Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, complained about the tweet and sought an investigation.
      Miller and at least a dozen other former Trump administration officials repeatedly violated that same law, without consequence and with Trump’s approval, as part of a “willful disregard for the Hatch Act,” the Office of Special Counsel found in 2021. The office investigated comments by Trump officials leading into the 2020 presidential election, including at the Republican National Convention, which was held at the White House in a major break from historical norms.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre often cites the Hatch Act in deflecting political questions during news briefings. Earlier this week she was asked whether Biden was doing everything he can possibly do to get Democrats across the finish line in the Nov. 8 elections.
      “I have to be careful of what I say, because we do respect the Hatch Act here in this administration,” she said.Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidate for Senate John Fetterman has meanwhile hit out at Shell for reporting massive profits, accusing the oil giant of gouging American consumers while raking in cash.Here’s the statement from the candidate’s communications director:NEW: Statement from Fetterman on Shell’s reported $9.45 billion in profits for the third quarter, their second-highest profit on record. pic.twitter.com/0l7cldq81K— Joe Calvello (@the_vello) October 27, 2022
      The message that corporate profiteering is to blame for America’s ongoing inflation wave is one Democrats have pushed throughout this year, and polls indicate it has some resonance with voters.The House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has joined in on criticizing Democrat John Fetterman for his performance in Tuesday night’s Pennsylvania Senate debate. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, is recovering from a stroke and at times spoke haltingly in his face-off against Republican Mehmet Oz. His performance raised concerns among Democrats that voters will view Fetterman as not fit for the job, depriving them of one of their best chances to win a Republican-controlled seat in Congress’ upper chamber this year.Here’s what McCarthy had to say, on Fox News:House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy goes after Pennsylvania Sen. nominee John Fetterman (D) after his debate against Dr. Oz (R):“Even those Democrats on CNN were embarrassed of who their nominee was and the capability of carrying out the job. This is a big job in the Senate.” pic.twitter.com/yIMFrJVW2n— The Recount (@therecount) October 27, 2022
      ‘A lens of empathy’: disability advocates on John Fetterman and leadershipRead more More

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      Republican and Trump critic Liz Cheney to campaign for Michigan Democrat

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      Republican and Trump critic Liz Cheney to campaign for Michigan DemocratWyoming congresswoman, who lost her Republican primary, endorses Elissa Slotkin in seventh congressional district Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney on Thursday endorsed Democratic congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and plans to campaign for her.It is the first time that Cheney, a critic of Donald Trump who lost her Republican primary, has crossed party lines to formally support a Democrat.John Fetterman’s TV debate was disastrous – but he can still beat Dr Oz | Ross BarkanRead moreCheney, of Wyoming, announced her support for the two-term House member from Holly, Michigan, in a statement by the Slotkin campaign that notes she plans to headline a campaign event with Slotkin in the Lansing-area district next Tuesday.Slotkin is competing against Republican state senator Tom Barrett in Michigan’s seventh congressional district. Their race is considered a toss-up by both sides and one of the Republicans’ chief targets in their campaign to win the House majority on 8 November.Cheney and Slotkin serve on the House armed services committee, but their shared background in the federal government goes back further. Cheney worked in the state department before launching her political career, as did Slotkin, who worked in the CIA and the defense department as well.Both have been vocal critics of House Republicans who have sought to downplay the siege of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Cheney is vice-chair of the House January 6 committee, which recently issued a subpoena for Trump to testify.“I have come to know Elissa as a good and honorable public servant,” Cheney said in a statement included in the Slotkin campaign’s announcement.“While Elissa and I have our policy disagreements, at a time when our nation is facing threats at home and abroad, we need serious, responsible, substantive members like Elissa in Congress.”As of two weeks ago, Michigan’s seventh district was the most expensive House race in the country, according to AdImpact, a non-partisan political media tracking company. The two campaigns and outside groups had combined to spend $27m.Biden received more votes than Trump in the district in 2020 by less than 1 percentage point.TopicsRepublicansHouse of RepresentativesUS CongressUS midterm elections 2022US politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Is Herschel Walker the worst candidate the Republicans have ever run? | Jill Filipovic

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      Is Herschel Walker the worst candidate the Republicans have ever run?Jill FilipovicRepublican men can be accused of any number of horrors, and not risk their party’s support It’s possible that Herschel Walker is the worst candidate the modern Republican party has ever run for national office, and in an era of conspiracy theorists, Christian nationalists and Donald Trump, that’s saying a lot. Walker embodies everything the Republican party has claimed to oppose: violent crime, abortion, homes broken by absentee fathers, race-based affirmative action and straight-up incompetence. And yet no matter what Walker is accused of, up to and including acts many Republicans define as murder, he retains the support of the Republican party, and his race for a Georgia Senate seat remains a tight one.It’s not just that the modern Republican party has accepted as a norm that there should be absolutely zero moral or ethical expectations from the people they run for office. It’s that they seem to relish breaking the rules they want to set for others. It’s not hypocrisy so much as the celebration of conservative male impunity.Walker has now been accused by two different women of pressuring them to get abortions, and paying for the procedures – allegations which he denies. By the “pro-life” definition of abortion, one widely accepted within the Republican party, abortion is murder, which means that Walker allegedly paid to murder his own children. That Republican voters don’t see this as a problem suggests that they don’t really buy what their own movement is selling, and don’t actually believe that abortion is in fact murder. But they are nonetheless prepared to criminalize it.And the two women who say Walker paid for their abortions are different women from the ex-wife who has accused Walker of domestic violence. The latest woman to accuse Walker has remained anonymous, so it’s impossible to know if she is a different woman still from the one who accused Walker of stalking around her home and threatening her, or the other one who says Walker allegedly threatened to “blow her head off” if she left him. The first woman who came forward about Walker’s involvement in her abortion is, however, the mother of one of the several children Walker fathered out of wedlock and then did not publicly acknowledge – and had been sued to support – until after journalists tracked them down during his Senate campaign.Walker has described fatherless Black families as a “major, major problem” in the US. Last year, he told conservative celebrities Diamond and Silk that the typical irresponsible Black father “leaves the boys alone so they’ll be raised by their mom”, he said. “If you have a child with a woman, even if you have to leave that woman – even if you have to leave that woman – you don’t leave that child.”Walker did in fact leave his own children. At least one of their mothers had to sue him to get him to admit paternity.Still, this is the man selected by the party of “family values” to represent Georgia – and this is a man who believes he should get the job.Rightwing commentator Dana Loesch seemed to sum up the Republican view on Walker when she said of his abortion funding, “I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.” Walker has denied the accusations, but not even Republicans seem to believe him. “I don’t know if he did it or not,” Loesch said. “I don’t even care.”Republicans definitely care when women choose to have abortions, though. The Republican party line is that abortion is murder and should be criminalized. Walker himself believes as much, and has voiced his support for Georgia’s strict abortion criminalization law, as well as Republican efforts to outlaw abortion nationwide.And it’s not just that Walker is by any measure a profoundly immoral person, with his long string of violent criminal behavior and abuse of women. He is also almost indescribably vapid, a man with what seems to be a shockingly light grasp of the most basic of concepts (he at least seems to recognize his own intellectual limitations, saying, “I’m not that smart”). He struggles to string together a coherent sentence. Climate change, he has said, is not worth fighting because “since we don’t control the air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got to clean that back up, while they’re messing ours up.”He is also a serial fabulist, although it’s unclear if he’s purposely lying all of the time, or if he truly does not understand what is happening around him at any given moment. Walker claimed he was his high school’s valedictorian and in the top 1% of his graduating class in college; in reality, he did not graduate from college, although he has since lied about lying about it. Walker told a group of soldiers, “I spent time at Quantico at the FBI training school. Y’all didn’t know I was an agent?” They did not know he was an agent because Herschel Walker was not, in fact, an agent. Nevertheless, he has persisted in claiming that he was in law enforcement, holding up an honorary sheriff’s deputy badge as proof – the rough equivalent of a child brandishing their kiddie pilot wings and claiming they can fly the plane.And while Republicans are crowing about the Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman’s depressing debate performance and claiming that he is mentally unfit for office – Fetterman is recovering from a stroke, and though his doctors say he is not cognitively impaired, he still struggles with auditory processing and stumbles over his words – they are also excusing Walker’s bad behavior by pointing to his history of concussions. And Walker himself has said he simply doesn’t remember much of his violent past, and has pinned blame on what he says are his multiple personalities – a disorder he sought treatment for by a guy whose professional credentials are a degree in Bible from the Dallas Bible College and a master’s degree in theology, and who blames demonic possession for mental illnesses, claims to be able to cure homosexuality and diagnoses mental disorders based on what color crayon a patient selects (the therapist himself is colorblind).Imagine, for a moment, if Kamala Harris had what seems to be inadequately treated multiple personality disorder, a history of violent criminal behavior she blamed on her other personalities, and several children with multiple different men who she attempted to hide during her campaign – the rightwing outrage and attacks would be vicious and unending, and she would not be in office. Michelle Obama had the audacity to simply exist in the public eye, and for that was subject to a barrage of racist and sexist vitriol, including Fox News calling her “Obama’s baby mama”.Republican men, in the meantime, can be proudly incompetent, self-defined imbeciles, moral degenerates and violent misogynists, and they don’t risk their party’s support or conservatives’ ballots.This is hypocrisy, yes. But Republicans aren’t ashamed of it not just because they seem to lack the capacity for shame – although that is certainly true – but because the below-the-surface conservative ethos isn’t about any real attachment to family values, moral uprightness, or fetal life, but rather a return to a traditional gender order where men dominate political, social and economic life, and women are financially and socially dependent on them, primarily tasked with raising children and tending to the home. Outlawing abortion helps to reinforce this patriarchal order by constraining women’s opportunities and our ability to choose the course of our own lives, but it’s the “patriarchal order” part of the equation that’s more desirable than the “preventing abortion” part of it. When Walker wants the women he allegedly impregnated to end their pregnancies because additional out-of-wedlock children are inconvenient for him, his future and his political career, that upholds the kind of traditional male power structure conservatives seek to reinstate – and is the kind of abortion exception Republicans can apparently get behind.
      Jill Filipovic is the author of OK Boomer, Let’s Talk.
      TopicsUS newsOpinionUS politicsRepublicanscommentReuse this content More

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      Moral panic, culture wars and Ron DeSantis: will Florida stay red in 2022? – video

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      Oliver Laughland travels to Walt Disney World, Florida, to see how a law restricting the teaching of LGBTQ+ issues is affecting voters in the run-up to the midterm elections. Republicans extended their majority in the state in 2020, and with far-right Governor Ron DeSantis up for re-election, will his divisive culture wars help him win a second term? More

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      Second woman says Herschel Walker pressured her to have abortion

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      Second woman says Herschel Walker pressured her to have abortionLawyer Gloria Allred introduces woman as Jane Doe who alleges anti-abortion candidate drove her to a clinic in the 1990s A new woman has claimed that Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion and drove her to a clinic to obtain one.On Wednesday, lawyer Gloria Allred – who has represented numerous alleged victims of sexual misconduct and assault – introduced to reporters a woman who alleges Walker, the anti-abortion Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, took her to an abortion clinic to have an abortion in the 1990s.Abortion rights take centre stage as Oz and Fetterman clash in Pennsylvania Senate debateRead moreAllred said that her client, whom she introduced as Jane Doe, began dating the former football player in 1987 and had an intimate relationship with him for several years.At the news conference, Allred presented evidence of hotel receipts, handwritten letters and a voice recording that Walker left Doe during their relationship.In 1993, Doe found that she was pregnant, according to her attorney. When she told Walker, he “clearly wanted her to have an abortion, and convinced her to do so. Our client alleges that Mr Walker gave her cash to pay for the abortion,” said Allred.In an emotional statement that Doe presented without revealing her face, she recalled how she felt “confused, uncertain and scared”.“I simply couldn’t go through with it. I left the clinic in tears,” she said.Doe then explained that Walker drove her again to the clinic and waited for her for hours until the abortion was complete.“I was devastated because I felt that I had been pressured into having an abortion,” Doe said, adding that she felt “naive” and that Walker “took advantage of me”.“The reason I am here today, is because he has publicly taken the position that he is ‘about life’ and against abortion under any circumstances, when, in fact, he pressured me to have an abortion and personally ensured that it occurred by driving me to the clinic and paid for it,” she said.“I do not believe that Herschel Walker is morally fit to be a US senator,” she said. “And that is the reason why I am speaking up and providing proof,” Doe said, adding that she was an independent and voted for Donald Trump twice.In response to to the new reports, Walker said: “I’m done with this foolishness. I’ve already told people this is a lie and I’m not going to entertain.”Walker has voiced strict anti-abortion policies but has already been accused of paying for an abortion for another woman.The Georgia Senate race is one of a group of contests that could be key to deciding control of the Senate in the midterm elections on 8 November.The Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, was elected in 2020, and along with Jon Ossoff gave Democrats the seats they needed to split the Senate 50-50, and control it via the vote of the vice-president, Kamala Harris.Warnock is a pastor at a church where the civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King once preached. Walker is a former college and NFL football star with a chequered business career who is endorsed by Donald Trump.Nationwide, Democrats hope the supreme court ruling on abortion will help motivate turnout as they seek to hold the House and Senate.On Wednesday morning, before Allred’s intervention, the polling website FiveThirtyEight gave Warnock a three-point lead.The other woman said Walker encouraged and paid for an abortion in 2009. Walker denied paying for the abortion, telling the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt: “Had that happened, I would have said it, because it’s nothing to be ashamed of there. You know, people have done that, but I know nothing about it. And if I knew about it, I would be honest and talk about it, but I know nothing about that.”The same woman said he encouraged her to get a second abortion and had done “nothing” for their son.Walker has said he is in favour of a total abortion ban, in line with Republican policy in the aftermath of the US supreme court ruling which removed the right to abortion in June.On the debate stage earlier this month, Walker tried to deny being in favour of an outright ban and attacked Warnock for being a Baptist pastor but supporting abortion rights.TopicsRepublicansGeorgiaUS politicsUS SenateUS midterm elections 2022newsReuse this content More