Mitch McConnell explains why he will still support Donald Trump
The latest Capitol riot defendant to go on trial is blaming his actions on Donald Trump and his false claims about a stolen election, in a rare mention of the former president’s role during the ongoing hearings.
Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man charged with stealing a coat rack from the Capitol, did not deny that he joined the mob on 6 January 2021. But his lawyer vowed on Tuesday to show that Mr Trump abused his power to “authorise” the attack.
Describing Mr Trump as a man without scruples or integrity, defence attorney Samuel Shamansky said the former president engaged in a “sinister” plot to encourage Mr Thompson and other supporters to “do his dirty work.”
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has launched a personal attack against former National Security Council director Fiona Hill after the publication of a New York Times interview in which the Russia expert accused him of “pulling a Putin” after the 2020 election.
In a rageful statement, Mr Trump ranted that if Ms Hill didn’t have her British accent “she would be nothing”.
Marjorie Taylor Greene blames gun control for Brooklyn shooting
Marjorie Taylor Greene blamed gun control for preventing Brooklyn subway victims from defending themselves against an active shooter. The Republican congresswoman used the shooting to argue against gun laws after the attack left at least 29 people injured. “With New York’s strict gun control laws, how many innocent people were carrying a gun when the bad guy with a gun broke the existing laws and started shooting people?” she said in a tweet.
Justin Vallejo has more:
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 09:00
Tennessee senator mocked for wanting a wall on ‘our’ border
GOP Sen Marsha Blackburn amused more than a few of her Twitter followers on Tuesday when she insisted that residents of her state wanted a wall on “our” border, apparently referring to the US border with Mexico.
The Republican lawmaker’s state is nowhere near the US’s southern border with Mexico; as such, her insistence that residents of the state supported the construction of a border wall resulted in users mockingly questioning what Ms Blackburn’s beef was with the state of Alabama, one of its southern neighbours.
Read more:
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 08:20
Georgia’s Republican governor signs bill easing gun controls
Georgia governor Brian Kemp wants to ease gun controls amid the midterm primaries there, proposing to do away with the requirement that Georgians obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.
Mr Kemp, who rose to national notice in 2018 in part through a television ad that showed him brandishing a shotgun at an actor playing a suitor of one of his daughters, signed Senate Bill 319 on Tuesday.
It immediately allows permitless carry in Georgia, making it the 25th state with such a law, and the 10th added in the past two years.
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Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 07:47
DOJ denies panel details in Trump records probe
The Justice Department declined a request this week from the House oversight committee to disclose the contents of records that former president Donald Trump took to his Florida residence after leaving the White House, the Associated Press has reported quoting a person familiar with the matter.
The move could serve as a setback for Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform as it was ramping up its investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of sensitive and even classified information during his time as president and after he left the White House. It remains unclear what implications the decision could have for the panel’s probe, which was announced in March.
The Justice Department’s decision is part of an effort to protect confidential information that may compromise an ongoing investigation, according to the person, who was not authorised to discuss the matter by name and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 07:00
Ohio man blames Trump for storming the Capitol
Mentions of Donald Trump have been rare at the first few trials for people charged with storming the US Capitol, but that has changed: The latest Capitol riot defendant to go on trial is blaming his actions on the former president and his false claims about a stolen election.
Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man charged with stealing a coat rack from the Capitol, doesn’t deny that he joined the mob on 6 January 2021. But his lawyer vowed on Tuesday to show that Mr Trump abused his power to “authorise” the attack.
Describing Mr Trump as a man without scruples or integrity, defence attorney Samuel Shamansky said the former president engaged in a “sinister” plot to encourage Mr Thompson and other supporters to “do his dirty work.”
Read more:
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 06:30
Trial date set in defamation suit against Fox News over US election claims
A trial date has been scheduled in Dominion Voting Systems Inc’s $1.6bn defamation lawsuit accusing Fox News of trying to boost its ratings by falsely claiming the voting machine company rigged the 2020 US presidential election against former president Donald Trump.
The trial will begin on 17 April 2023 and could go on for five weeks, which could be the first of several involving what Dominion describes as baseless claims made by a variety of news outlets and individuals about the company’s technology.
Dominion filed its lawsuit against Fox News in March 2021.
People associated with Mr Trump’s campaign, including lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, floated conspiracy theories that Dominion rigged vote totals in the weeks after the 3 November 2020 election in which Democrat Joe Biden defeated the incumbent president Mr Trump.
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 06:00
Mike Pence should be no-platformed ahead of university event, says student paper
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 05:30
Vindman: Jan 6 was signal to Putin to attack Ukraine
January insurrection was a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin amassing troops on the border with Ukraine in preparation for the invasion.
The Ukrainian-born former director of European affairs at the US National Security Council said the division that emanated from the Capitol riot provided a path for the Russian invasion of its neighbour.
“Starting just months after January 6, Putin began building up forces on the border. He saw the discord here,” Lt Col Vindman told The New York Times Magazine. “He saw the huge opportunity presented by Donald Trump and his Republican lackeys.”
Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, DC.
Stuti Mishra13 April 2022 04:45
ICYMI: The moment Washington gave up on the pandemic
Eric Garcia writes: As politicians across the spectrum test positive for Covid-19, neither party can agree to pass a bill to fund tests and vaccines that until recently was straightforward.
Oliver O’Connell13 April 2022 04:00
How white nationalists are using gaming to recruit for terror
Experts are warning that far-right agitators are using online gaming platforms to spread hate and recruit a new generation of converts. Supercharged by the rise of gaming and social isolation during the pandemic, extremism academics say more needs to be done to police these platforms for grooming hate. Io Dodds reports.
How ‘supercharged’ white nationalists are using gaming to recruit for terror
Experts are warning that far-right agitators are using online gaming platforms to spread hate and recruit a new generation of converts. Supercharged by the rise of gaming and social isolation during the pandemic, extremism academics say more needs to be done to police these platforms for grooming hate. Io Dodds reports
Oliver O’Connell13 April 2022 03:15
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