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      Pence was 40ft from mob on January 6: ‘Vice-president’s life was in danger’

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      Pence was 40ft from mob on January 6: ‘Vice-president’s life was in danger’Committee hearing details how Trump whipped up hostility towards Pence for refusing to overturn election Marching on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, a supporter of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election recorded himself on his phone.Ginni Thomas sought by panel over role in Trump’s bid to overturn electionRead moreHe said: “I’m telling you, if Pence caved, we’re gonna drag motherfuckers through the streets. You fucking politicians are gonna get fucking took to the streets.”Mike Pence, Trump’s vice-president, refused to stop certification of Joe Biden’s victory. In the eyes of Trump and the mob, he did indeed “cave”.On Thursday, in their third hearing, the seven Democrats and two Republicans on the House January 6 committee also displayed a court filing from the Department of Justice revealing the shocking scope of the threat to Pence during the attack on the Capitol.The document, the California Democrat Pete Aguilar said, “explains that a confidential informant in the Proud Boys [extremist group] told the FBI the Proud Boys would have killed Mike Pence if given a chance.“The witness whom the FBI affidavit refers to stated that other members of the group … said that anyone they got their hands on would have been killed, including Nancy Pelosi”, the House speaker.Politicians were not killed, or dragged through the streets of Washington. But the mob that smashed its way into Congress gave every indication of trying. Some chanted “Hang Mike Pence”. A gallows was erected outside.In its Thursday hearing, the January 6 committee examined Trump’s pressure campaign against Pence and shone a harsh spotlight on the peril in which it placed the vice-president.Bennie Thompson, the panel chair, said: “Mike Pence’s courage put him in tremendous danger. When Mike Pence made it clear that he wouldn’t give in to Donald Trump’s scheme, Donald Trump turned the mob on him.”The committee focused on a tweet sent by Trump at 2.24pm, when he knew the Capitol had been breached and when Pence had been hustled from the Senate chamber.Trump wrote: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”The committee’s first hearing was watched by 20 million in primetime. That session revealed Trump’s chilling response when told rioters chanted that Pence should hang.Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican and deputy committee chair, said then: “Aware of the rioters’ chants to ‘hang Mike Pence,’ the president responded with this sentiment: ‘Maybe our supporters have the right idea.’ Mike Pence ‘deserves it’.”That bombshell came at the very start of televised hearings. In the second half of the third hearing, the committee came back to the very real threats to Pence’s safety.In recorded testimony about a conversation on 5 January 2021, Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, said: “The concern was for the vice-president’s security so I wanted to make sure the head of the vice-president’s Secret Service was aware it was likely, as these disagreements became more public, that the president would lash out.”Aguilar read tweets sent by Trump on 6 January in which he claimed Pence had the authority to reject electoral college results. Witnesses including Ivanka Trump discussed a call Trump placed to Pence. Nick Luna, Trump’s former body man, said: “I remember hearing the word ‘wimp’.” Ivanka Trump’s former chief of staff, Julie Radford, said Donald Trump used “the p word”, presumably a reference to “pussy”.The committee played footage of Trump telling a rally near the White House Pence could stop certification and should “come through”.Pence issued a letter saying he would not.Aguilar said: “We all know what happened next. The president’s words had an effect. President Trump’s supporters became angry. When the vice-president issued his public letter, the crowd at the Capitol erupted in anger. Rioters who had erected makeshift gallows began chanting, ‘Hang Mike Pence.’”The committee played more footage of Trump supporters.One said: “Pence is nothing but a traitor and he deserves to burn with the rest of them. Pence didn’t do what we wanted. Pence voted against Trump. That’s when we marched on the Capitol.”In the Senate chamber, a Trump supporter said: “Justice is coming.”At 2.26pm, Pence had been rushed to a secure location, an underground parking bay, where he stayed for four and a half hours.“Approximately 40ft,” Aguilar said. “That’s all there was: 40ft between the vice-president and the mob. Make no mistake, the vice-president’s life was in danger.”TopicsJanuary 6 hearingsUS Capitol attackMike PenceDonald TrumpUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Fauci tests positive for Covid with mild symptoms – as it happened

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      Steve Bannon, former president Donald Trump’s one-time campaign manager and senior White House strategist, will face trial on contempt of Congress charges, a federal judge has ruled.BREAKING: Judge Carl Nichols DENIES Steve Bannon’s motion to dismiss the indictment against him for contempt of Congress. Trial set for July 18. Story to come.— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) June 15, 2022
      Bannon was indicted for the offense last year after he refused to cooperate with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. He pled not guilty to the charges, which are rarely used and punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.Following the ruling, Bannon vowed to call the committee members to testify at his trial.BANNON used the post-ruling avail to say he expects his lawyer to call members of the Jan. 6 select committee to testify at his trial. That seems…highly unlikely. pic.twitter.com/ZG46vPUjrW— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 15, 2022
      Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to criminal contempt of CongressRead moreJudges in Washington were busy today. The supreme court started Wednesday off with a slew of rulings that touched on the farthest reaches of federal law, while a federal judge ruled Trump confidante Steve Bannon will have to stand trial on contempt of Congress charges and another judge found two January 6 rioters guilty at a bench trial. Here’s what else happened today:
      The Federal Reserve made its biggest rate hike in nearly 30 years to fight runaway inflation.
      The Biden administration announced another $1 billion in weapons for Ukraine as it tries to defend cities in the east from Russia’s advance.
      The justice department has brought federal hate crimes charges against the alleged shooter at a Buffalo supermarket who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack.
      Questions continue to swirl over the actions of Republican House representative Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, after the January 6 committee released video evidence of a man who accompanied the lawmaker on a tour taking photos of Capitol hallways and a security checkpoint the day before the insurrection.
      A special election in Texas ended with bad news for the Democrats when voters sent a Republican to represent their district for the first time. GOP voters also embraced a number of candidates who endorsed Trump’s “big lie.”
      The US politics live blog returns Thursday at 9 am eastern time, ahead of another hearing of the January 6 committee.The January 6 committee hasn’t publicly said whether they’ll recommend prosecuting Trump, but CNN reports that its members agree the former president committed a crime by acting to stop Joe Biden from entering the White House. The question is, what to do about it?From CNN’s article:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The internal debate, which has heated up in recent weeks, spilled into the open on Monday night when the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, repeatedly told a group of reporters at the Capitol that the committee would not be issuing any criminal referrals.
      “No, that’s not our job,” Thompson said when pressed.
      Thompson’s off-the-cuff remarks sparked an immediate response from several of his fellow committee members who rushed to knock down the notion they would not be pursuing criminal charges.
      “The January 6th Select Committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals. We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time,” GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the vice chair of the committee, tweeted 15 minutes after Thompson’s comments.
      Sources tell CNN Cheney is a leading voice among those members who believe the committee should issue a criminal referral.
      Committee member Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat, took it one step further, tweeting Monday night that the committee has yet to vote on whether it will recommend criminal referrals but made clear she believes “if criminal activity occurred, it is our responsibility to report that activity to the DOJ.”
      In a video released Tuesday, Cheney said that Trump likely violated two criminal statues in his efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count lawful electoral votes.
      The episode Monday night illustrates that after nearly a year of work, the committee remains divided over what is likely the most pressing question it faces: whether to seek criminal charges against Trump based on the evidence it has uncovered.Also under pressure as the committee airs its evidence is attorney general Merrick Garland, who could order the opening of an investigation into Trump. He’s only said that he’s watching the hearings, but Democrats want him to do more than watch.Garland says he is watching January 6 hearings amid pressure to investigate TrumpRead moreTwo more January 6 rioters have been found guilty by a federal judge today, including one who jabbed Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman with a flagpole.Kevin Seefried and his adult son Hunter Seefried opted for a bench trial before judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee who sits in Washington. Goodman, who was hailed for diverting the rioters away from lawmakers, testified at their trial.Reminder:Kevin Seefried === > pic.twitter.com/Igf0bgZzyK— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 15, 2022
      Mixed verdict coming here for kevin Seefried’s son Hunter NOT GUILTY – of some destruction charges. Judge says it wasn’t shown Hunter smashed window. But GUILTY – of disorderly and entering restricted building— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 15, 2022
      But as for Kevin Seefried .. who carried the Confederate flag …. GUILTY of top charge of obstruction Also guilty of other charges: disorderly, entering restricted building Among many other things, judge cites Seefried jabbing Confederate flag at Capitol officer.— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 15, 2022
      Federal courts are working through the many cases of people who participated in the January 6 insurrection, with a former West Virginia city councilmember sentenced yesterday to a brief stint in jail for breaking into the Capitol.The primaries held yesterday in states across the country confirmed that the spirit of Donald Trump is very much still alive in the Republican party. My colleague Lauren Gambino reports that voters embraced candidates who campaigned on the former president’s “big lie” about the 2020 election:In pivotal primary races from Nevada to South Carolina on Tuesday, Republican voters chose candidates who fervently embraced Donald Trump’s lie about a stolen election, prompting warnings from Democrats that US democracy will be at stake in the November elections.Victories of pro-Trump candidates in Nevada set the stage for match-ups between election-deniers and embattled Democrats in a state both parties see as critical in the midterms.In South Carolina, a vote to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection proved one Republican’s undoing while another survived the former president’s wrath to win the nomination.Pro-Trump Republicans’ primary wins raise alarm about US democracyRead moreMore than two years after he became the public face of the US government’s response to the world’s largest Covid-19 outbreak, top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has tested positive for the coronavirus, National Institutes of Health (NIH) said.“He is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice. He is currently experiencing mild symptoms. Dr. Fauci will isolate and continue to work from his home,” according to the NIH.“He has not recently been in close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials,” the NIH said, noting Fauci will return to the institutes when he tests negative.The 81-year-old is a frequent guest in media outlets and in Congress, and also the target of ire from people opposed to Covid-19 restrictions, particularly Trump supporters. Fauci has, in turn, criticized the former president for his handling of the pandemic’s early months.Fauci says he will resign if Trump retakes the presidency in 2024Read moreOn the complete opposite end of the pay spectrum from the world of Washington politics, The Guardian’s Dani Anguiano has delved into a new American Civil Liberties Union report that has found people who work while imprisoned are often paid literally pennies for their labor, or not at all:Incarcerated workers in the US produce at least $11bn in goods and services annually but receive just pennies an hour in wages for their prison jobs, according to a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).Nearly two-thirds of all prisoners in the US, which imprisons more of its population than any other country in the world, have jobs in state and federal prisons. That figure amounts to roughly 800,000 people, researchers estimated in the report, which is based on extensive public records requests, questionnaires and interviews with incarcerated workers.ACLU researchers say the findings outlined in Wednesday’s report raise concerns about the systemic exploitation of prisoners, who are compelled to work sometimes difficult and dangerous jobs without basic labor protections and little or no training while making close to nothing.US prison workers produce $11bn worth of goods and services a year for pittanceRead moreRemember Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager in 2020 who told the January 6 committee he never believed the election was stolen, and implied he had somehow cut ties with the former president? Stepien played a major role in Monday’s hearing of the committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, but HuffPost has discovered that Stepien seems to still have plenty of ties to Trump:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Yet Stepien never really left Trump, with his firm receiving $20,000 in both February and March of 2021, and as much as $30,000 and no less than $10,000 in every month since. His work for Trump to this day, according to an adviser to the former president, is to coordinate Trump’s political strategy, including Trump’s efforts to defeat candidates who challenge his false claim that the election was stolen from him or, worse, voted to impeach him for inciting the Jan. 6 attack.
      Each week, Stepien is on an hourlong call with other top Trump aides, including Dan Scavino, Jason Miller, and Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. The last such call was June 6; Monday’s call was canceled because it conflicted with the Jan. 6 committee hearing.
      “He’s trying to tell the world he quit,” the Trump adviser, who is familiar with Trump’s political operation, said on condition of anonymity. “He has been on every call since Jan. 6. He gets paid every month to do that. … I mean, come on, man.”The article doesn’t say how Stepien’s relationship with Trump is following the airing of the campaign manager’s testimony to the committee.The Federal Reserve has announced its largest increase rate increase in almost 30 years as it looks to tame inflation by reducing demand. Dominic Rushe explains what the central bank’s decision means:With soaring inflation and the shadow of recession hanging over the United States, the Federal Reserve announced a 0.75 percentage-point increase in interest rates on Wednesday – the largest hike since 1994.In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed said “overall economic activity appears to have picked up after edging down in the first quarter”.But it warned that “inflation remains elevated”, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia had created “additional upward pressure on inflation and [is] weighing on global economic activity. In addition, Covid-related lockdowns in China are likely to exacerbate supply-chain disruptions.”It added: “The committee is highly attentive to inflation risks.”Federal Reserve announces biggest interest rate hike since 1994Read moreSteve Bannon, former president Donald Trump’s one-time campaign manager and senior White House strategist, will face trial on contempt of Congress charges, a federal judge has ruled.BREAKING: Judge Carl Nichols DENIES Steve Bannon’s motion to dismiss the indictment against him for contempt of Congress. Trial set for July 18. Story to come.— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) June 15, 2022
      Bannon was indicted for the offense last year after he refused to cooperate with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. He pled not guilty to the charges, which are rarely used and punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.Following the ruling, Bannon vowed to call the committee members to testify at his trial.BANNON used the post-ruling avail to say he expects his lawyer to call members of the Jan. 6 select committee to testify at his trial. That seems…highly unlikely. pic.twitter.com/ZG46vPUjrW— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 15, 2022
      Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to criminal contempt of CongressRead moreJoe Biden’s optimism persists. In fact, he has “never been more optimistic about our future”, he often tells the public.Today on Twitter is no exception and it’s because of America’s trade unions, the perseverance and revival of which was a strong theme during his 2020 election campaign to restore a Democrat to the White House after Donald Trump’s corrosive one-term presidency.Wall Street didn’t build this country.The middle class built this country.And unions built the middle class.— President Biden (@POTUS) June 15, 2022
      Biden was in Philly yesterday with organizers, and is still aglow about it.It was great to be with AFL-CIO yesterday in Philadelphia. These folks are a big reason why I’ve never been more optimistic about our future. Unions have never let this country down, and we’re going to keep building a better America – together. pic.twitter.com/NT1Jqmcd5h— President Biden (@POTUS) June 15, 2022
      Joe Biden has freshly reaffirmed American commitment to Ukraine’s efforts against the Russian invasion as US and NATO allies meet in Europe amid talk of cracks opening in the west’s resolve.The US president announced more aid for Ukraine, $1bn more in military aid and $225m in humanitarian assistance, and back up his defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, who said in Brussels earlier today that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was at a “pivotal” moment and America and its allies “cannot afford to let up and lose steam”.Biden said in a statement just released by the White House that he had spoken with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy this morning:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} To discuss Russia’s brutal and ongoing war against Ukraine. I reaffirmed my commitment that the United States will stand by Ukraine as it defends its democracy and support its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression.He announced more funding for “additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems that the Ukrainians need to support their defensive operations in the Donbas,” the heart of Ukraine’s industrial east where Russia has focused its bombardment to increasingly powerful effect in recent weeks.The pledge came amid clear signs that Zelenskiy is hardening his determination to try to beat back Russia in the east, against the odds, amid fierce combat, and has been urging the west for more weaponry.Biden added:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} We also discussed Secretary Austin’s efforts in Brussels today to coordinate additional international support for the Ukrainian armed forces. We also remain committed to supporting the Ukrainian people whose lives have been ripped apart by this war….The bravery, resilience, and determination of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire the world. And the United States, together with our allies and partners, will not waver in our commitment to the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom.The New York Times has reported western unity “seems to be fraying among some Western allies”, with those further east close to Russia hardening their resolve while countries such as Italy, France and Germany were wary of stagnation in Ukraine (and stagflation at home, among other fears), but without a clear path to resolution. Meanwhile, the US continues, for now, to bolster Ukraine’s resistance.The day thus far has been busy, with the supreme court releasing a slew of decisions in cases that touched on the farthest reaches of federal law. In the Senate, signs emerged that the bipartisan compromise on gun control was facing obstacles that could delay its passage.Here’s a rundown of the day’s events:
      The Biden administration is set to announce another $1 billion in weapons for Ukraine as it tries to defend cities in the east from Russia’s advance.
      The justice department has brought federal hate crimes charges against the alleged shooter at a Buffalo supermarket who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack.
      Questions continue to swirl over the actions of Republican House representative Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, after the January 6 committee released video evidence of a man who accompanied the lawmaker on a tour taking photos of Capitol hallways and a security checkpoint the day before the insurrection.
      A special election in Texas ended with bad news for the Democrats when voters sent a Republican to represent their district for the first time.
      June is Pride Month, and President Joe Biden’s administration announced today he had signed an executive order that would counter “legislative attacks” against LGBTQ+ children and adults.“President Biden believes that no one should face discrimination because of who they are or whom they love. Since President Biden took office, he has championed the rights of LGBTQI+ Americans and people around the world, accelerating the march towards full equality,” the White House said.Among the provisions of Biden’s executive order detailed by the White House:
      Addressing discriminatory legislative attacks against LGBTQI+ children and families, directing key agencies to protect families and children;
      Preventing so-called “conversion therapy” with a historic initiative to protect children from the harmful practice;
      Safeguarding health care, and programs designed to prevent youth suicide;
      Supporting LGBTQI+ children and families by launching a new initiative to protect foster youth, prevent homelessness, and improve access to federal programs; and
      Taking new, additional steps to advance LGBTQI+ equality.
      The provision addressing “legislative attacks” is meant to deal with the more than 300 “anti-LGBTQI+ laws” the White House said were introduced in statehouses over the past year, many of which are targeted at transgender youth. The order directs the federal health and human services department to “release new sample policies for states on how to expand access to comprehensive health care for LGBTQI+ patients.” The education department is also directed to release “a sample school policy for achieving full inclusion” of students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.The alleged gunman who killed 10 people in a racist massacre at a Buffalo, New York supermarket last month could face the death penalty after prosecutors brought hate crimes charges against him.The Associated Press reports:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Payton Gendron already faced a mandatory life sentence without parole if convicted on state charges in the 14 May shooting which also wounded three survivors – one Black, two white.
      The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, was in Buffalo on Wednesday to visit families of the 10 people killed. He was expected to address the federal charges during the visit.
      Gendron’s radical, racist worldview and extensive preparation for the attack at the Tops Friendly Market are laid out in documents he apparently posted online.
      The documents embrace a conspiracy theory about a plot to diminish white Americans’ power and “replace” them with people of color, through immigration and other means.
      The posts detail months of reconnaissance, demographic research and shooting practice for a bloodbath meant to scare anyone not white and Christian into leaving the country.
      Gendron drove more than 200 miles from his home in a nearly all-white town near the New York-Pennsylvania border to a predominantly Black part of Buffalo. There, authorities say, he killed shoppers and workers using an AR-15-style rifle, wearing body armor and livestreaming the carnage from a helmet-mounted camera.
      The 18-year-old surrendered to police as he exited the supermarket.Buffalo mass shooting suspect charged with federal hate crimesRead moreWhile Washington has publicly stated it remains committed to defending Ukraine, Bloomberg News reports that some in the White House worry the sanctions on Russia have worsened the American economy more than expected while doing little to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.From their story:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Some Biden administration officials are now privately expressing concern that rather than dissuading the Kremlin as intended, the penalties are instead exacerbating inflation, worsening food insecurity and punishing ordinary Russians more than Putin or his allies.
      Officials were initially impressed by the willingness of companies from BP Plc. to McDonald’s Corp. to abruptly “self-sanction,” sometimes selling assets at fire-sale prices. But the administration was caught off-guard by the potential knock-on effects — from supply chain bottlenecks to uninsurable grain exports — due to the companies’ decisions to leave, according to people familiar with internal discussions.
      In some cases, companies have signaled that they are being extra-cautious or want clearer guidance from the US before continuing business with Russia. Until that happens, they are going beyond any legal requirements to ensure they don’t accidentally violate sanctions policies, according to Justine Walker, the head of global sanctions and risk at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, an industry group.
      “Because we just have so many changes at once, governments are not able to step in and give precise clarification and we are seeing many, many examples of authorities coming to different positions,” Walker said in an interview. “Companies ask, ‘Should we be applying sanctions to this entity?’ and the government will come back and say, ‘You need to make your own decision.’”The war in Ukraine has played a role in driving inflation higher in the United States, and in particular the price of gas, which has played a major role in the Biden’s deepening unpopularity.According to an article in Politico, the White House is growing frustrated with its ability to respond to the increase in costs across the economy:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Prices keep rising. And the clock keeps ticking.
      So the White House has started to change up its messaging on inflation, even though President Joe Biden has limited tools at his disposal to battle the crisis. The president stepped up efforts to draw contrasts with Republicans, unleashing a series of new attack lines Tuesday in a speech delivered amid a flurry of sobering headlines on rising costs and interest rates.
      “America still has a choice to make. A choice between a government by the few, for the few,” Biden said at an AFL-CIO union convention in Philadelphia. “Or a government for all of us – a democracy for all of us, an economy where all of us have a fair shot.”
      But with the midterms rapidly approaching, voters’ patience appears likely to run out – and the president and party in power stand poised to pay the political price.
      “The political environment is brutal for Democrats. There are few more economic issues more politically painful than high food and high gas prices and we are heading into high stakes midterms,” said Dan Pfeiffer, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama. More

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      Pro-Trump Republicans’ primary wins raise alarm about US democracy

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      Pro-Trump Republicans’ primary wins raise alarm about US democracyCrucial races from Nevada to South Carolina returned candidates who back ‘big lie’ of stolen election while Democrats lost Hispanic votes in south Texas In pivotal primary races from Nevada to South Carolina on Tuesday, Republican voters chose candidates who fervently embraced Donald Trump’s lie about a stolen election, prompting warnings from Democrats that US democracy will be at stake in the November elections.Victories of pro-Trump candidates in Nevada set the stage for match-ups between election-deniers and embattled Democrats in a state both parties see as critical in the midterms.Is rising Maga star Ron DeSantis the man to displace Trump in 2024?Read moreIn South Carolina, a vote to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection proved one Republican’s undoing while another survived the former president’s wrath to win the nomination.In south Texas, where Hispanic voters have shifted sharply toward the Republican party, a Republican flipped a House seat long held by a Democrat. The loss was a stark warning that Democrats’ standing with a crucial voting bloc is slipping.Nevada, a swing state that has trended Democratic in past election cycles, will play host to a number of consequential races this fall, for House, Senate, governor and secretary of state, as Democrats seek to defend narrow majorities in Congress.In the 50-50 Senate, every race will matter. But the party is saddled with a deeply unpopular president in a political system primed for revolt against the party in power. Inflation and the war in Ukraine have caused the cost of food and gas to shoot up while angst over gun violence and a shortage of baby formula deepens voter frustration.Republicans view the Nevada Senate race as one of their best chances of flipping a Democratic seat. They also sense an opportunity to make inroads in a state dominated by Democrats who were guided to power by the late Senate majority leader, Harry Reid. The senator up for re-election, Catherine Cortez Masto, was his chosen successor.Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general endorsed by Trump, easily won the Republican primary to take on Cortez Masto in one of the most fiercely contested races of the cycle.Jim Marchant, a former lawmaker who has dabbled in the QAnon conspiracy theory and openly embraced the idea of overturning elections, will be the Republican nominee to become secretary of state, and therefore the top election official in a swing state that could be crucial to determining the presidential contest in 2024.The elevation of election-denying Republicans across the US comes even as a bipartisan House panel investigating the Capitol attack unspools damning testimony from Trump’s inner circle, discrediting the former president’s claims.In South Carolina, Republicans ousted the five-term incumbent, Tom Rice, who crossed Trump and loyalists by voting to impeach the former president.Rice was defeated by Russell Fry, a Republican state lawmaker backed by Trump. The result was a welcome one for Trump after setbacks last month in races where Trump sought retribution against Republicans who rebuffed his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.But as in Georgia, there were limits to his influence. Another Republican House incumbent, Nancy Mace, fended off a Trump-backed challenger. Unlike in Rice’s staunchly conservative district, Mace – who did not vote to impeach but did criticise Trump – held on by attracting support from suburban voters who abandoned the party during the Trump years.On social media, Trump spun the evening as a resounding success. Mace’s challenger, Katie Arrington, he said, was a “very long-shot” who “did FAR better than anticipated”.“The ‘Impeacher’ was ousted without even a runoff. a GREAT night!,” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, about Rice.In Maine, Jared Golden, one of the few Democrats to represent a House district Trump carried, will attempt to defy political gravity in a rematch against the seat’s former representative, Bruce Poliquin. Golden narrowly beat Poliquin in the anti-Trump wave of 2018. With political winds reversed, Poliquin hopes to regain the seat.The state’s combative former governor, Paul LePage, is also attempting a comeback. Facing no opposition, he clinched the Republican nomination to run against the incumbent, Janet Mills.Perhaps most worrying for Democrats was the loss in south Texas. A Republican state representative, Mayra Flores, cruised to victory, avoiding a runoff against her main Democratic opponent, Dan Sanchez, in a special election to fill a seat vacated by a Democratic congressman, Filemón Vela.Flores will have to run again in November. Because of redistricting, she is set to square off against the Democratic congressman Vicente Gonzalez in a district considerably more left-leaning than the one she will temporarily represent.Nevertheless, some prognosticators moved their ratings for the district in Republicans’ favor, citing gains among Hispanic voters in the Rio Grande Valley.In a memo from the National Republican Congressional Committee obtained by CNN, the party touted Flores’ victory as the culmination of efforts to recruit and run more diverse candidates and said it offered a “blueprint for success in South Texas”.It concluded: “This is the first of many Democrat-held seats that will flip Republican in 2022.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsRepublicansDemocratsDonald TrumpNevadaSouth CarolinanewsReuse this content More

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      Man who took part in Capitol riot was given tour of building by Republican on January 5

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      Man who took part in Capitol riot was given tour of building by Republican on January 5Video evidence shows tourists taking photos of security checkpoints and contradicts Barry Loudermilk’s previous denial he led a tour02:50About 24 hours before the January 6 Capitol attack, a Republican member of Congress, Barry Loudermilk, led an unofficial tour through the House office buildings, passing by the security checkpoints located at the entrances to the tunnels leading towards the Capitol building.The tour included a man who took photos of the tunnel entrances and the US Capitol police checkpoints, and then joined thousands of Donald Trump supporters the following day to march on the Capitol from the rally on the Ellipse.That person’s activity was captured on security cameras and turned over to the House select committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol. The panel made the footage publicly available on Wednesday in a letter demanding cooperation in its inquiry from Loudermilk.The footage showing the man, and others, stopping to photograph the tunnels and checkpoints bolsters the allegation from Democrats that the tour amounted to a reconnaissance event in preparation for the Capitol attack.It also cast doubt on Loudermilk’s previous denials that he led a tour connected in any way to January 6. Loudermilk first denied he led a tour, then said he gave a tour only to families with young children, then said he gave a tour to about 16 people.The video evidence additionally challenged a recent letter from the US Capitol police chief, Tom Manger, who informed Loudermilk that “we train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance … we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.”The tour was also notable because officially, tours were banned at the time due to Covid measures. The only people in the Capitol that day should have been members of Congress and staff, reporters, US Capitol police and official business visitors.But members of Congress tend to bend rules as they see fit. For instance, two sources familiar with the matter said, a member wanting to give a tour could have given one name to the appointments desk and have an entire group let in.The Loudermilk tour was cleared into a House office building by a staffer, the select committee said in the letter. The group would probably have been registered as an official visit to Loudermilk’s office but took the “scenic” route on the way in or out, the sources said.The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss how the group might have been authorized to be in the complex. They added it was possible the names of the entire group were never recorded, but if they were, it would be in the possession of the House sergeant at arms.Member-led tours – including to the Capitol dome, which then congresswoman-elect Lauren Boebert managed on 12 December 2020 – have since returned to the Capitol, though the procedure is more stringent and visitors must be submitted and vetted in advance.According to the select committee, Loudermilk led an hours-long tour for approximately 10 people around the Rayburn, Cannon and Longworth House office buildings, as well as the tunnels leading from Rayburn and Longworth to the Capitol building itself.“Individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists,” the panel’s chairman, Bennie Thompson, wrote in the letter to Loudermilk. “The January 5, 2021 tour raises concerns about their activity and intent.”The man who took photos of the tunnels travelled to Washington on 4 January 2021, appearing to depart Georgia in the early morning on one of several “Keep America Great” coaches. It made a short stop in South Carolina before continuing to Washington.He then toured the House office buildings the following day as part of Loudermilk’s group, recording himself in the basement rotunda of Cannon around 1pm on 5 January 2021, according to a Facebook live video he posted.The select committee added that it had learned that some of the people on Loudermilk’s tour attended the Save America rally that took place on the Ellipse on the morning of January 6, where Trump spoke and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol.Citing additional video clips obtained in its investigation, the panel said the man that took a photograph of a staircase in Longworth, located next to a hallway leading to one of the tunnels, joined the march to the Capitol and threatened members of Congress.“There’s no escape Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler,” the man said as the Capitol was being breached, the video shows. “They’re coming in, coming in like white on rice for Pelosi, Nadler, even you, AOC. We’re coming to take you out and pull you out by your hairs.”The select committee had previously requested voluntary cooperation from Loudermilk last month, which he flatly refused as he denied any wrongdoing. The latest request came with screenshots of the tour group taking photos of secure areas inserted in the letter.TopicsUS Capitol attackJan 6 hearingsRepublicansHouse of RepresentativesnewsReuse this content More

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      Tuesday’s Republican primaries should be an alarm bell to Democrats | Lloyd Green

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      Tuesday’s Republican primaries should be an alarm bell to DemocratsLloyd GreenTrump-backed candidates did well, Latino voters continued to drift to the right and the January 6 hearings had no discernible impact On Tuesday, Republicans flipped a congressional seat in a heavily Hispanic district in south Texas, sent packing a pro-impeachment Republican congressman from South Carolina and nominated a passel of Trump loyalists in Nevada. It was a good night for the 45th president and an even better one for his party.In Texas’s 34th congressional district, Mayra Flores, a Republican, garnered 51% of the vote in a special election in a district that voted for Joe Biden by double digits. Flores is the first Republican elected from the district, and the first Latina Republican in Texas’s congressional delegation.The Democrats have plenty to worry about. Flores campaigned on being born in Mexico and arriving in the US with her migrant parents. From the looks of things, the Democrats’ hold on Latino voters appears to be rapidly eroding. The cracks that appeared in the 2020 elections continue to grow.Concerns over the economy and crime have supplanted immigration as a driving issue. With Trump’s name not on the ballot, the collapse of the stock market and inflation rampant, Flores’s win is a foretaste of the coming midterms. The special election also served as a blunt reminder of the lack of rapport between Joe Biden and the Latino community.In the 2020 Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders won Latinos over with a platform of Medicare for all and higher wages, lunch-bucket issues that resonate with a demographic group that leads Americans in workforce participation. In the February 2020 Nevada caucuses, the Vermont senator netted half the Hispanic vote, and triumphed in that contest by more than 25 points.Beyond that, a significant portion of US Hispanic voters categorize themselves as “white”, including more than half of Cubans in the Miami area, a 2020 Pew survey found. Contrary to what some progressives have convinced themselves, not all Hispanics feel woke, let alone are inclined to refer to themselves as “Latinx”.White voters with college degrees and Black voters in general comprise the heart of the Democrats’ coalition. But other demographic blocs appear to be heading for the door. Against this backdrop, the supreme court’s expected decision to overturn Roe v Wade should not be viewed by Democrats as a magic bullet that will rescue them from an expected Republican wave this fall.Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Trump exacted a combination of fealty and revenge. His grip over Republicans may have loosened but the love affair continues.In South Carolina’s seventh congressional district, incumbent representative Tom Rice suffered defeat after voting to impeach Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection.The congressman lost to Russell Fry, a state legislator endorsed by Trump. Rice remained unrepentant to the end. “I was livid,” he said. “I took an oath to protect the constitution and I did it then and I would do it again tomorrow.” His constituents were unimpressed.Elsewhere in South Carolina, Representative Nancy Mace defeated Katie Arrington, a one-term former state legislator who had Trump’s backing. Mace offended Trump by voting to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and criticizing the insurrection.Unlike Rice, Mace opposed impeachment. Beyond that, on the campaign trail, she repeatedly stressed her personal support for Trump, and let his backers know that she still stood with them.Mace also received the active support of Nikki Haley, South Carolina’s former governor and a Trump UN ambassador. The congresswoman also attacked Arrington for losing her security clearance while a civilian at the Pentagon. On Tuesday, Mace’s strategy paid off.Trump loyalists also had a good night in Nevada. There, denial of Trump’s loss in the 2020 election emerged as the coin of the realm. Jim Marchant won the Republican nomination for secretary of state. His embrace of the big lie was a central tenet of his candidacy.Elsewhere on the ballot, Trump’s pick for the US Senate, Adam Laxalt, prevailed in the Republican primary with a 55-36 win over Sam Brown, an Afghanistan war veteran. Laxalt is a former Nevada attorney general, and the grandson of the late Paul Laxalt, a US senator.He will face the Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto in the fall. That contest will again highlight a battle for the ballots of Nevada’s Hispanic voters. Indeed, control of the Senate may rest with Nevada.Likewise, Joe Lombardo, another Trump-backed candidate, won the Republican nod for governor. He is the sheriff of Clark county, and will take on Steve Sisolak, the Democratic incumbent.Hearings held by the House special committee did not affect Tuesday’s primaries; they were irrelevant. Whether that is the case in November remains to be seen.
      An attorney in New York, Lloyd Green is a regular contributor and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
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      Elon Musk suggests he may vote for Republican Ron DeSantis in 2024

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      Elon Musk suggests he may vote for Republican Ron DeSantis in 2024World’s richest man says in tweet he is leaning towards Florida governor after voting Republican in Texas special election The tech billionaire Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he would possibly vote for Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, if he were to run in the 2024 US presidential election.The billionaire tech mogul’s expression of support for DeSantis, albeit vague, was among several tweets in which he discussed some of his political leanings after he recently declared himself a Republican.Musk claimed to back the successful Republican congressional candidate Mayra Flores during a special election in Texas on Tuesday.“I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican. Massive red wave in 2022,” Musk said.Mayra Flores wins special election to turn Texas House seat RepublicanRead more“I assume republican for president 2?” an account called Tesla Owners Silicon Valley asked.Musk replied, “tbd,” prompting the follow-up: “What are you leaning towards?”“DeSantis,” Musk said.Musk’s seeming support of DeSantis comes as the high-profile Republican – who is both a staunch ally to Donald Trump as well as a potential rival – appears to be a strong contender in the party’s presidential primary.The rising star has bested Trump in recent polls of Republican activists, as some conservative diehards seem to be tiring of the ex-president’s insistence that he won the 2020 election.Trump’s “big lie” claim has repeatedly been proven wrong. Joe Biden won the presidency and there is no evidence that he did so unlawfully.DeSantis has been ramping up his efforts to position himself as a true conservative. He has signed into law legislation that strips Black voters’ power through gerrymandering congressional districts to benefit Republicans, for example. DeSantis also curtailed the discussion of race and diversity in schools and businesses. He has also signed off on bills that ban discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in some Florida classrooms with his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.His attack on what he called “wokeism” has come to include bans on math textbooks that supposedly include “prohibited” subjects, such as critical race theory. He has also tried banning medical care for transgender youths and engaged in a sparring match with Disney.Disney publicly opposed DeSantis’s attack on LBGTQ+ rights. DeSantis’s dogged rhetoric on social issues has built a strong brand, with political science professor Michael Binder previously telling the Guardian: “He’s nicknamed Governor Grievance.”TopicsRepublicansElon MuskUS politicsRon DeSantisnewsReuse this content More

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      Mayra Flores wins special election to turn Texas House seat Republican

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      Mayra Flores wins special election to turn Texas House seat RepublicanSouth Texas congressional district goes Republican for first time as party continues to make inroads among Latino voters A south Texas congressional district will be represented by a Republican for the first time following a special election on Tuesday. The election of Mayra Flores, who bested her Democrat competitor in a 51%-43% vote, comes as Republicans continue to make inroads among Latino voters in south Texas.Bernie Sanders skewers Republican critic of ‘full-on socialism’ in Fox debateRead moreFlores, reportedly the first Latina Republican to serve Texas in Congress, is expected to face a more challenging race in November, however. Her victory was to replace Democrat Filemon Vela, who retired before his term ended – meaning she was elected to serve out the remainder.During November’s general election, voters will determine who will serve as the district’s permanent congressional representative starting in 2022. Flores, who is running for this seat in the general election, will face off against Democratic nominee Vicente Gonzalez.Gonzalez now serves as the representative for a neighboring congressional district. He is reportedly expected to beat Flores in the election.Flores’s victory comes as Republicans ramp up efforts to court Latino voters and amid a slew of polls and elections showing a broader shift among Latino voters away from the Democrats.“If you look at things like the Texas local elections, the New Jersey elections, Nassau County elections, the Virginia elections, they all point to Hispanics not just not snapping back but continuing to get more Republican in relative terms than they were before,” David Shor, a political data analyst of the left, told Yahoo News.Indeed, Flores touted her conservative bona fides on the campaign trail. She invoked elements of Trump’s rhetoric, and leaned heavily on law-and-order motifs in describing her background.Flores, a respiratory care worker, was born in Mexico. On her website, Flores boasts that her parents and grandparents “raised her with strong conservative values and to always put God and family first”.She has made clear that her immigration to the US at age six was done “legally” and “with the help of her father … gave her family the biggest gift, the gift of becoming a proud, naturalized American citizen”.Flores has also voiced alignment with “America First”, an exceptionalist rightwing clarion call to those who feel neglected by politicians. She has claimed her district has long had “to beg for scraps from Nancy Pelosi” and said “for over 100 years, the Democratic party has taken for granted the loyalty and support south Texas has given them for decades”.“They do nothing to earn our vote or our support,” Flores also said on her campaign site. She also faulted President Joe Biden by claiming that he signed “a record number of executive orders to kill Texas jobs, weaken border security, and remove protection for the unborn”.TopicsRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Democrats voice concerns over Biden’s Saudi trip: ‘Their values are not ours’ – as it happened

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      Democrats in the Senate are raising their eyebrows at Biden’s decision to travel to Saudi Arabia, objecting to the country’s human rights record and worrying the visit won’t meaningfully lower gas prices.As Oregon’s Ron Wyden told Manu Raju of CNN:Dem pushback this morning on Biden’s decision to meet with MBS. “I don’t see any evidence that the Saudis are going to significantly lower gasoline prices,” Ron Wyden said.On the other hand, I see their horrendous human rights record.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Here’s Maryland’s Ben Cardin, who referenced the murder of Jamal Khashoggi:Asked about WH sidestepping queries yesterday on responsibility for Khashoggi murder, Cardin told us: “I hope they’ll be very clear in the conversation. America’s strength is in our values.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Kaitlan Collins, also of CNN, heard this from Illinois’s Dick Durbin:’I have mixed feelings on this and if the President called me, I would say, ‘Mr. President, you can’t trust these people. Their standards are not our standards, their values are not ours,'” Sen. Dick Durbin says about President Biden’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia.— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 14, 2022
      Congress was at the center of the action today, where the January 6 committee announced the surprise postponement of its Wednesday hearing. Meanwhile, the top Senate Republican said he would support the gun control compromise reached with Democrats, while the House voted to approve a bill to improve security around the supreme court, sending it to the president’s desk.Other top stories today:
      President Joe Biden made official his plans to visit Saudi Arabia, which is widely seen as a bid to increase oil supply and lower gas prices at home. Several Democrats have expressed disapproval over the visit, citing the kingdom’s human rights record.
      The president meanwhile traveled to in Philadelphia to address a convention of the AFL-CIO trade union federation, in which he defended his economic record and attacked Republican policies.
      A top Biden ally in the Senate proposed levying a windfall tax on oil companies as Democrats try to convince voters corporate greed is fueling record-high gas prices.
      An investigation by the Capitol Police determined a Republican House representative did not give Trump supporters a tour of the building the day before the January 6 attack.
      It’s about to get really hot in America. The National Weather Service is advising more than 100 million people to stay indoors due to high humidity and temperatures.
      The US politics live blog will return on Wednesday, with the supreme court set to announce more decisions at 10am ET.The Republican Party is launching a nine-day “election integrity” tour throughout Wisconsin, less than two months before the battleground state’s primary elections. The tour, which begins Wednesday, will start in La Crosse, Wisconsin and go through Wisconsin’s most liberal cities, including the state’s capital, Madison. Planned events will include an appearance from conservative former state Supreme Court judge Daniel Kelly. The tour has already received pushback from those who say it is meant to spread lies that the 2020 election was fraudulent ahead of the primaries and November’s midterm election. Republicans have argued that the roundtable events are meant to recruit poll workers, voting deputies, and other election day staff as well as connect campaign staff with volunteers. The Capitol Police have determined that a Republican House representative did not give a tour to Trump supporters the day before the January 6 attack.CNN reports that the investigation into Barry Loudermilk of Georgia was requested by the chair and vice chair of the House committee investigating the insurrection, over allegations he was seen hosting visitors on 5 January, 2021.“There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,” Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger wrote to the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. “We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.”Following the attack on the Capitol, several Democrats accused their Republican colleagues of granting tours to people who went on to storm the building as Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s election win.According to CNN:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Manger said the video shows Loudermilk with “a group of approximately 12 people which later grew to 15 people” walking through the Capitol office buildings on January 5. It also states that the group of visitors did not “appear in any tunnels that would lead them to the US Capitol.”
      House Republicans suggested they may release video they believe exonerates Loudermilk of any insinuation that he led a so-called “reconnaissance” tour the night before the January 6 riot.
      The House select committee declined to comment on Manger’s letter.
      The letter the committee sent to Loudermilk last month indicated the panel has reviewed evidence that “directly contradicts” previous claims by Republican lawmakers who said security footage from the days before January 6 shows there were “no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on” at the US Capitol complex.
      “Based on our review of evidence in the Select Committee’s possession, we believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, wrote at the time.The House has passed a measure to increase security for the supreme court, sending it to the president’s desk for his signature.A vote was requested and postponed on S. 4160 – Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022. https://t.co/CcET8jSBAI— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) June 14, 2022
      The Senate had unanimously approved the measure back in May, but the House delayed its passage. Republicans in the Senate began attacking Democrats over their failure to pass the measure following last week’s arrest of a man who is charged with planning to kill justice Brett Kavanaugh.Senate approves beefed-up security for US supreme court after abortion leakRead moreVice-president Kamala Harris is meeting with attorneys and activists ahead of a widely expected supreme court decision that could weaken or overturn nationwide abortion rights.VP Harris meeting with legal experts and activist on pending SCOTUS decision on Roe: “I do believe that overturning Roe could clear the way for challenges to other fundamental rights” Named women’s data privacy, IVF, contraception, gay and trans rights pic.twitter.com/qNZnyUEiqo— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) June 14, 2022
      CNN reports that Harris has been encouraged by people outside the Biden administration to lead the charge against any supreme court decision restricting abortion, as a way to better connect with voters. The network quoted an unnamed official as saying Harris’s “goals really have been around ensuring that people in this country have an understanding of what is at stake here.”The supreme court will issue another batch of decisions on Wednesday beginning at 10 am eastern time, though it’s unknown if that will include the abortion case.The Senate’s top Republican Mitch McConnell said he will support the compromise measure on gun control reached with Democrats over the weekend.The two parties have seldom found agreement on gun control legislation, and McConnell’s endorsement sends a positive signal that the proposal will win enough votes from his party to pass the evenly divided Senate.“If it leads to a piece of legislation, I intend to support it,” McConnell said at a press conference. “I think it’s progress for the country, and I think the bipartisan group has done the best they can to get total support.”While the bill hasn’t been written yet, it doesn’t go as far as many Democrats would like, such as by raising the age to buy an assault weapon to 21 from 18. Many of its provisions focus on improving mental health, as well as offering states money to implement programs intended to stop mass shootings such as those in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.US senators reach bipartisan gun control deal after recent mass shootings Read moreOne of Biden’s Senate allies has an idea for lowering gas prices: levy new taxes on oil companies’ profits.Bloomberg reports that Democratic senator Ron Wyden will propose putting a 21 percent tax on petroleum companies with profit margins above 10 percent. The idea comes after the average gas price crossed the $5 a gallon level, which the White House has increasingly looked to blame on forces beyond its control, particularly the disruptions to global markets caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Progressive Democrats have meanwhile sought to convince voters that profit-seeking corporations are to blame for the overall spike in inflation Americans are feeling, and last week, Biden took aim at Exxon Mobil, saying the oil giant “made more money than God this year.Wyden’s proposal, which has yet to be released publicly, would however need the approval of all 50 Democrats to make it through the Senate, and tweaks to the tax code were among the contentious issues the party couldn’t reach an agreement on during last year’s unsuccessful attempt to pass Build Back better. From the article:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Taxing excessive oil company profits is one of many policy ideas under consideration in the White House, two administration officials said. Yet internally, aides remain concerned such a tax could hurt ongoing efforts to boost the supply of oil.
      If combined with a gasoline rebate, a windfall profits tax would both deter supply and encourage fuel demand, said Kevin Book, managing director of research firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC. “It is the opposite of balancing the market.”
      An idea out of Treasury to place a cap on the price of Russian oil, alongside European allies, has gained far more traction inside the administration.
      Wyden’s plan would also impose a 25% stock buyback tax for oil and gas companies that repurchase their own shares, Wyden spokeswoman Ashley Schapitl confirmed. Both levies apply to oil and gas companies with at least $1 billion in revenue and would expire at the end of 2025, according to the people briefed on the plan.
      Wyden also proposes to eliminate an accounting benefit, known as last-in first-out, or LIFO, that can deliver tax breaks for oil and gas companies with at least $1 billion in revenue starting in 2023.There’s been another sentence handed down over the January 6 attack, this time of a former city councilmember in West Virginia.Eric Barber was sentenced to 45 days in jail for entering the Capitol during the insurrection, as well as a seven-day suspended sentence for stealing a charging station belonging to C-SPAN, West Virginia’s MetroNews reported. The former city councilmember in Parkersburg, West Virginia, also received 24 months of federal probation.“You’re too old and you’re too accomplished and you’re too smart to get involved in nonsense like this,” federal judge Christopher Cooper said during the Thursday sentencing. “This is not about the First Amendment. You are free to express your views. You’re free to support any political candidate or positions or issues that you want. I encourage that. But enough of this nonsense, OK?”According to MetroNews:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Barber, 43, was being sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after pleading guilty to two misdemeanors.
      One is a count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building. The other is theft, an accusation that Barber stole a charging station belonging to a C-SPAN employee.
      He has to pay $500 restitution as his share of damage to the Capitol that day, and he has to pay back C-SPAN a little less than $60 for the charger that he took home.
      Barber was not accused of violence that day, but prosecutors noted that he wore a Kevlar helmet and went to Washington, D.C. to “go punch a Antifa terrorist in the face,” referring to the loosely-knit antifascist activists sometimes accused of violence themselves.
      Prosecutors underscored that Barber entered the Capitol as sirens blared and broken glass was apparent, entering not only the areas that are commonly open to the public but also entering a restricted hallway outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. Prosecutors said Barber wound up in that hallway twice — the second time after being told to leave. Barber said he was lost.
      But Barber and his public defense attorney emphasized that he had expressed remorse about what happened that day to local media, to investigators, to Congress’s January 6th Committee and to the judge.
      Judge Cooper took note of all those factors.
      “It’s troubling that you still seem to have a mindset of ‘There’s a bully out there. I need to prime for the fight.’ You did not go for self-defense, but you went with the helmet, ready to punch somebody or affirmatively engage in violence,” Cooper said.Barber sentencing memo began with a particularly direct quote.Strongest lede I’ve seen yet in a Jan. 6 defendant’s sentencing memo. pic.twitter.com/3Es2hM4Bpl— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) June 8, 2022
      There is still a lot of buzz about the House panel investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection by extremist supporters of Donald Trump, as reports spill out about disagreements over whether to refer Trump for criminal prosecution or just lay out the evidence and let others deduce, etc, as well as today’s abrupt postponement of Hearing No. 3.Most of these tweets speak for themselves.Committee needs to keep on track. No more referral talk in public. Keep to the schedule. There has been unity and absence of grandstanding so far. They must keep it that way.— Jennifer ‘I stand with Ukraine’ Rubin 🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@JRubinBlogger) June 14, 2022
      Larry Tribe.“You do not get to arm-twist officials or send the mob to the Capitol because you really, really think you won.”https://t.co/4xtlAfrYf5— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) June 14, 2022
      George Conway, cheeky.A Twitter contest—let’s see who can come up with the best answer for:𝘘. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘙𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘣?— George Conway🌻 (@gtconway3d) June 14, 2022
      Conway on ZimmerExcellent thread. 🪡 🧵 https://t.co/scpfcj4SR8— George Conway🌻 (@gtconway3d) June 14, 2022
      Scuitto on TrumpAs you watch the #January6thHearings remember the principal source of disinformation in the 2016 election was foreign. In 2020, it was the sitting US president. And his lies succeeded in convincing a majority of GOP voters the election was stolen.— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) June 14, 2022
      Much of today’s action has occurred in Congress, where the January 6 committee announced the surprise postponement of its Wednesday hearing. The Senate still doesn’t have the bill text of its gun control compromise to vote on, but the House is moving forward with the vote on a a bill to increase security for the supreme court, which the upper chamber has already approved.Here’s what else is going on:
      President Joe Biden has made official his plans to visit Saudi Arabia, which is widely seen as a bid to increase oil supply and lower gas prices at home. Several Democrats have expressed disapproval over the visit, citing the kingdom’s human rights record.
      The president was meanwhile in Philadelphia to address a convention of the AFL-CIO trade union federation, in which he defended his economic record and attacked Republican policies.
      The votes of Republicans in the Senate will be crucial to passing the gun control bill, and more of the party’s senators offered their thoughts on the legislation.
      It’s about to get really hot in America. The National Weather Service is advising more than 100 million people to stay indoors due to high humidity and temperatures.
      Republicans will be crucial in determining whether the bipartisan gun control proposal makes it through the Senate, and more lawmakers are reacting to the deal reached over the weekend.“I think the framework is very encouraging,” GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski just told me of the guns package. Says she’s eager to see the details but sounds very positive about it. She was not one of the 10 Republicans who signed onto the framework. Bill text still needs to be drafted— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Thune, No. 2 Republican, uncertain whether he would back Senate’s guns package. While he noted there have been some successes, there are “real concerns about due process” with how states adopt red flag laws.“Those are things that are going to have to be addressed,” he told me— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      But Bill Cassidy, R who backs framework, said the bill would mandate due process in red flag laws. “You can argue that some state red flag laws do not have due process. we mandate it. So I think as people become acquainted with that, Republicans will like that,” he told us— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      “Federal government, we don’t need to be pushing red flag laws,” Tommy Tuberville told me when asked about the guns package. “The states, if the states want to get involved in it, they need to get involved in it.” Plan would incentivize states to enact red flag laws.— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Asked him how to take away guns from mentally ill. He said: “Well let’s look at what they’ve got proposed. I haven’t looked at all of it. But let’s look…and see if they’ve got anything in there to prohibit mentally ill patients from having guns, anybody that’s having problems”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Democrats are expected to back the proposal even though it doesn’t do all of what they want, such as raising the age to purchase an assault rifle to 21 from 18. To avoid a filibuster, at least 10 Republicans in the Senate will need to vote for the bill, which also must clear the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.Biden has used his speech at the AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia to promote his handling of the economy make a pitch for keeping Democrats in office.As CBS News’s Ed O’Keefe reports:TODAY: @POTUS Biden addresses a @AFLCIO convention in Philly to tout US economic strength: low unemployment rates, states and cities being buoyed by American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. White House says he’ll reiterate fighting inflation “is his top priority.”— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 14, 2022
      Also expect some election year contrasts: Biden/Dems would “ask the wealthy to pay their fair share” while @SenRickScott and “Congressional Republicans” would “put Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid on the chopping block every five years.”— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 14, 2022
      A new election-year clarion call of sorts from @POTUS Biden in his @AFLCIO speech: “America still has a choice to make. A choice between a government by the few, for the few. Or a government for all of us, democracy for all of us, an economy where all of us have a fair shot.”— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) June 14, 2022
      The president also took special notice of a Republican proposal to make all federal legislation expire after five years, asking, “How well are you going to sleep at night knowing that every five years, Ted Cruz and the other ultra-MAGA Republicans are going to vote on whether you have Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?”Democrats in the Senate are raising their eyebrows at Biden’s decision to travel to Saudi Arabia, objecting to the country’s human rights record and worrying the visit won’t meaningfully lower gas prices.As Oregon’s Ron Wyden told Manu Raju of CNN:Dem pushback this morning on Biden’s decision to meet with MBS. “I don’t see any evidence that the Saudis are going to significantly lower gasoline prices,” Ron Wyden said.On the other hand, I see their horrendous human rights record.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Here’s Maryland’s Ben Cardin, who referenced the murder of Jamal Khashoggi:Asked about WH sidestepping queries yesterday on responsibility for Khashoggi murder, Cardin told us: “I hope they’ll be very clear in the conversation. America’s strength is in our values.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 14, 2022
      Kaitlan Collins, also of CNN, heard this from Illinois’s Dick Durbin:’I have mixed feelings on this and if the President called me, I would say, ‘Mr. President, you can’t trust these people. Their standards are not our standards, their values are not ours,'” Sen. Dick Durbin says about President Biden’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia.— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 14, 2022 More