Re: USA News and Discussions
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 4:30 pm
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(Axios) Look for a voluminous final report from the House Jan. 6 committee in mid-December — I'm told to expect around 1,000 pages.
Why it matters: The committee has exceeded expectations, hearing by hearing — turning up constant new information about one of American history's most consequential, but also most documented, events.
• Committee members will hold a presentation event, as they synthesize their findings for history, ahead of the Republican takeover of the House majority in early January.
The intrigue: Fifteen former and current Jan. 6 committee staffers tell The Washington Post they're angered and disillusioned by Vice Chair Liz Cheney's "push to focus the report primarily on former president Donald Trump."
Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2022/11/24/chene ... ort-pagesReality check: The hearings focused on Trump. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the report will, too.
Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022 ... nds-alito(Common Dreams) Demands for a congressional investigation into potential ethics violations at the U.S. Supreme Court intensified Monday after a lawyer for the court refused to answer questions from two lawmakers about allegations regarding Justice Samuel Alito.
Ethan Torrey, legal counsel for the high court, responded to a letter from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) dated November 20, in which the lawmakers had asked a series of questions about a bombshell New York Times report detailing a former anti-abortion activist's efforts to gain access to Supreme Court justices.
Rev. Rob Schenck, former president of right-wing group Faith & Action, described to the Times how he urged his group's supporters to donate to the Supreme Court Historical Society and attend its events. He also alleged that Alito leaked the court's decision in the contraception-related case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby to Faith & Action donors.
Whitehouse and Johnson, who respectively chair the Senate and House Judiciary Courts Subcommittees, asked Chief Justice John Roberts and Torrey to explain whether "the Supreme Court opened an investigation into any of the allegations set forth" by Schenck and whether the court has "reevaluated any of its practices, procedures, or rules related to judicial ethics, or the justices' receipt and reporting of gifts and travel."
"Who is responsible for policing the relationship between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court Historical Society to ensure that paid membership in the Society is not used as a means of gaining undue influence?" the lawmakers asked.
WASHINGTON (Courthouse News) — A federal jury entered a guilty verdict Tuesday against Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the extremist right-wing Oath Keepers group, and one of his associates, bringing a close to what has been the most high-profile trial over the Jan. 6 insurrection to date.
Rhodes, 57, and his co-defendant, Kelly Meggs, 53, are the first among scores of defendants charged in connection with the Capitol riot to be prosecuted and convicted of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy, meaning they plotted to use force to disrupt the peaceful transition of power following the 2020 election. Meggs was the leader of a Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers and on Jan. 6 led members of the group into the Capitol.
While the jury acquitted Thomas Caldwell, 68, Jessica Watkins, 40, and Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of the seditious conspiracy charge, it found them guilty alongside Rhodes and Meggs of obstruction of an official proceeding, namely the ceremony that had been underway in Congress on Jan. 6 to certify then-President Donald Trump's election defeat. All five defendants were also convicted of aiding and abetting. All but Watkins were found guilty of destroying evidence.
Rhodes and Meggs face up to 60 years in prison for the three charges.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/stewart ... nspiracy/To date, the government has charged more than 880 people in connection with the Capitol riot. As of Nov. 6, about 337 people have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and about 110 have pleaded guilty to felonies. Approximately 173 people have been sentenced to prison time.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congre ... -rcna58977WASHINGTON — House Democrats elected their new leadership team Wednesday, ushering in a younger generation of leaders after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer decided to step aside after Democrats narrowly lost the majority this month. Pelosi, 82, of California, the first female speaker of the House, will pass the torch to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., 52, who ran unopposed for minority leader and will make history as the first Black lawmaker to lead a political party’s caucus in either chamber.
"Today, with immense pride, I stood in front of the House Democratic Caucus as a candidate for Democratic Leader, and I am eternally grateful for the trust my colleagues placed in me with their votes," Jeffries said in a statement.
Jeffries’ top deputy will be Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., 59, a progressive who served under Jeffries as vice chair of the Democratic Caucus and rose to assistant speaker this Congress. She was elected minority whip, the party’s top vote counter. Rounding out the trio of new leaders is Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., 43, a Congressional Hispanic Caucus member and former mayor who was elected Democratic Caucus chairman — the role Jeffries has held for the past four years.
The election of Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar represents a changing of the guard for House Democrats who have seen the powerful triumvirate of Pelosi, Hoyer, D-Md., 83, and Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., 82, occupy top leadership posts for the past two decades.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3778 ... not-moved/House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday said the five Republican lawmakers opposing his Speakership bid have not moved their stances, despite the two sides continuing conversations ahead of next month’s floor vote.
“We’re still continuing to talk, but they have not moved,” McCarthy told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt during an interview on his radio show.
The comment comes 18 days before McCarthy’s nomination for Speaker hits the House floor, where he will need support from a majority of those voting for a Speaker candidate on Jan. 3 to win the gavel.
But that task is proving to be a difficult lift because of a contingent of Republicans who have either said or strongly signaled that they will not support McCarthy for the top spot.