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Supreme Court Rejects Donald Trump’s Plea To Step In On Mar-A-Lago Documents Case https://digitalalaskanews.com/supreme-court-rejects-donald-trumps-plea-to-step-in-on-mar-a-lago-documents-case/ By Rick Martin First Posted: Oct 13, 2022 11:10 PM EDT Donald Trump’s legal woes continued on Thursday, as not only was he subpoenaed by the January 6 committee, but also got rejected on his plea for the Supreme Court to step into his case regarding the classified documents he stored a Mar-a-Lago. The former president made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court and pressed them on the issue relating to classified documents seized in the FBI search on his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago. However, the highest court rejected the plea. The justices did not comment on why they turned down the case. Why Did Donald Trump Want the Supreme Court to Step In? The Associated Press reported that the former president’s legal team asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling and permit an independent arbiter, also known as a special master, to review the approximately 100 documents seized by the FBI that had classified markings taken during the August 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago. The move is widely seen to reduce the potential impact of the special master process on the ongoing criminal investigation by the Department of Justice into the classified documents that Trump brought home when he exited the White House last year. The request from Trump and his legal team came after the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals stopped the special master from examining the classified documents for National Security reasons. According to CNBC, the appeals court stated that only the Department of Justice can review the subset of records. READ MORE: Donald Trump Admits Taking North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un Letters to Mar-a-Lago When He Left the White House: New Book The Trump legal team argued to the Supreme Court that the ruling made by the appeals court “impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the special master.” They added that “any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice.” The request was worrisome for investigators, as the justice overseeing emergency appeals from the 11th Circuit was Clarence Thomas, who is married to notable Trump ally Ginni Thomas. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court still rejected the appeal. Department of Justice Asked Supreme Court To Stay Out of the Case The Department of Justice had asked the Supreme Court to deny former President Trump’s appeal, with U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar arguing that the former president has “no plausible claims” to the classified records. According to CNN, the Department of Justice called the records taken by Trump “extraordinarily sensitive,” so they asked the Supreme Court to stay out of the case as the legal challenges play out. The DOJ cited a previous case and stated that courts should be “cautious before insisting upon an examination of records whose disclosure would jeopardize national security.” The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with this and junked Trump’s plea, which led the former president to take his case to the Supreme Court, which also agreed with the Justice Department’s arguments. READ MORE: Donald Trump in More Legal Trouble as Grand Jury Investigates Save America PAC Formation and Spending This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Appeal Over Mar-a-Lago Documents Case – NBC News © 2022 Latin Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Read More Here

Elon Musk Is Under Federal Investigations, Twitter Says In Court Filing https://digitalalaskanews.com/elon-musk-is-under-federal-investigations-twitter-says-in-court-filing/ WILMINGTON, Del., Oct 13 (Reuters) – Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), the social media company said in a court filing released on Thursday. While the filing said he was under investigations, it did not say what the exact focus of the probes was and which federal authorities are conducting them. Twitter, which sued Musk in July to force him to close the deal, said attorneys for the Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO had claimed “investigative privilege” when refusing to hand over documents it had sought. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com In late September, Musk’s attorneys had provided a “privilege log” identifying documents to be withheld, Twitter said. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). “This game of ‘hide the ball’ must end,” the company said in the court filing. The court filing, which asked Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick to order Musk’s attorneys to provide the documents, was made on Oct. 6 – the same day that McCormick paused litigation between the two sides after Musk reversed course and said he would proceed with the deal. Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, told Reuters that Twitter’s court filing was a “misdirection” and asserted: “It is Twitter’s executives that are under federal investigation.” Twitter declined to comment on Spiro’s statement. It also declined comment when asked by Reuters about its understanding of any investigation into Musk. The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the FTC declined to comment. The SEC has questioned Musk’s comments about the Twitter acquisition, including whether a 9% stake he had built up before announcing his bid had been disclosed late and why it indicated that he intended to be a passive shareholder. Musk later refiled the disclosure to indicate he was an active investor. In June, the SEC asked Musk in a letter whether he should have amended his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal. The Information, a tech news site, reported in April that the FTC was scrutinizing whether Musk failed to comply with the antitrust reporting requirement relating to an investor’s intentions of being a passive or active shareholder. Twitter said in June, however, that the takeover deal with Musk had cleared an antitrust waiting period for review by the FTC and U.S. Justice Department. read more McCormick has given Musk until Oct. 28 to close the acquisition. If the deal does not get done by then, a trial date will be set for November. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Sheila Dang in Dallas and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; Editing by Peter Henderson and Edwina Gibbs Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Tom Hals Thomson Reuters Award-winning reporter with more than two decades of experience in international news, focusing on high-stakes legal battles over everything from government policy to corporate dealmaking. Read More Here

Anger At China's Zero-Covid Policy Is Rising, But Beijing Refuses To Change Course | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/anger-at-chinas-zero-covid-policy-is-rising-but-beijing-refuses-to-change-course-cnn/ Video shows rare protest in Beijing as Chinese leader is set to extend his reign 02:32 – Source: CNN CNN  —  A young woman stands on her balcony, crying out in desperation after her building was ordered into lockdown. Fighting back tears, she shouts abuse at the hazmat-suited workers below in a video that has recently gone viral on social media platform Weibo and which appears to encapsulate the Chinese public’s growing frustration with their government’s uncompromising zero-Covid policy. The woman has been under quarantine for half a year since returning from university in the summer, she shouts at the workers. They stare back, seemingly unmoved. While most Asian economies – even those with previously hardline zero-Covid stances – are abandoning pandemic-era restrictions, authorities in China remain zealous in theirs, repeatedly insisting this week in state-run media articles that the battle against the virus remains “winnable.” That claim comes even as infections flare and a new strain circulates just days before the country’s most important political event, the Communist Party Congress beginning in Beijing on Sunday at which Xi Jinping is expected to cement his place as the country’s most powerful leader in decades. Observers across the world will be watching the twice-a-decade meeting for signs of the party’s priorities when it comes to its zero-Covid stance, which has been blamed for exacerbating mounting problems in the economy, from stalled growth to a collapsing housing market. Nerves are high in China’s capital, where online photos posted Thursday appeared to show an exceptionally rare public protest against Xi. “Say no to Covid test, yes to food. No to lockdown, yes to freedom. No to lies, yes to dignity. No to cultural revolution, yes to reform. No to great leader, yes to vote. Don’t be a slave, be a citizen,” read one banner hung over an overpass despite the heightened security surrounding the Congress. The protest sent China’s stringent online censorship into overdrive. Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, immediately censored search results for “Sitong Bridge,” the site of the protests. Before long, key words including “Beijing,” “Haidian,” “warrior,” “brave man,” and even “courage” were restricted from search. Numerous accounts on Weibo and WeChat, the super-app essential for daily life in China, have been banned after commenting on – or alluding to – the protest. Still, many spoke out to express their support and awe. Some shared the Chinese pop hit “Lonely Warrior” in a veiled reference to the protester, who some called a “hero,” while others swore never to forget, posting under the hashtag: “I saw it.” Yet even in the face of rising public discontent, all the signs suggest Xi and his party plan to stick with the zero-Covid approach, possibly into 2023, with the state media articles this week serving to dampen speculation the country may change tack post-Congress. More than 300 million people across dozens of cities in China had been affected by full or partial lockdowns at one point last month, according to CNN’s calculations. But while the restrictions are lifted and imposed in response to local Covid outbreaks, the virus just keeps on reemerging. And new outbreaks reported across the country this week suggest more misery could be on the way for China’s citizens – like the woman in the Weibo video – who have grown exhausted by a seemingly endless cycle of lockdowns. China’s Health Commission on Thursday reported 1,476 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases nationwide, a significant number in a country where even one infection can trigger a city-wide lockdown. In the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, 900,000 residents in Hegang city have been locked down since Friday after a single case was found. In Shanghai, where 25 million people have already endured two months of the world’s strictest lockdown, residents are now on edge at any signs of a repeat as authorities begin to tighten measures once again. The city reported 47 Covid-19 cases on Thursday, one day after authorities ordered six out of its 13 districts to shut entertainment venues such as internet cafes, cinemas and bars. Shanghai’s Disney resort has suspended some of its attractions and live performances since Sunday. Spooked by the possibility of unpredictable and unannounced snap lockdowns – and mindful that authorities have previously backtracked after suggesting that no such measures were coming – some people in the city have reportedly been hoarding drinking water. That panic buying has been made worse by an announcement that Shanghai’s water authorities have taken action to ensure water quality after discovering saltwater inflows to two reservoirs at the mouth of the Yangtze River in September. Exactly what is driving the increase in infections is not clear, though authorities are scrambling to contain the spread of the BF.7 coronavirus strain after it was first detected in China in late September in Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia. The country has also seen an uptick in cases in domestic tourist destinations, despite its strict curbs having discouraged people from traveling or spending over China’s Golden Week holiday in early October. Hohhot logged 329 cases on Thursday, according to the National Health Commission, which now deems the remote region a high-risk hotspot. More than 240,000 university students in Inner Mongolia have been locked down on campuses due to the latest outbreak, according to Zhang Xiaoying, a deputy director of the regional Department of Education. And the outbreak on campus has led to punitive action, with one university Communist Party boss being sacked after 39 students from his institution tested positive. Then there is the situation in far western Xinjiang, where some 22 million people have been banned from leaving the region and are required to stay home. Xinjiang recorded 403 new cases on Thursday, according to an official tally. Yet amid it all, Beijing appears unwilling to move from its hardline stance. For three days this week, the state-run Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily published commentaries reiterating that China would not let its guard down. “Lying flat is not advisable,” it said in its third commentary, on Wednesday, referring to a Chinese phrase that denotes complacency. The battle against Covid was winnable, it insisted. Other countries that had reopened and eased restrictions had done so because they had no choice, it said, as they had failed to “effectively control the epidemic in a timely manner.” Read More Here

Man Called Person Of Interest In Concord Homicides Ordered Held Without Bail In Separate Case https://digitalalaskanews.com/man-called-person-of-interest-in-concord-homicides-ordered-held-without-bail-in-separate-case/ A man who the New Hampshire attorney general’s office has confirmed is a person of interest in the killings of Steve and Wendy Reid, of Concord, New Hampshire, has been ordered to be held without bail on unrelated charges.Police said Logan Clegg, 26, was arrested Wednesday morning in South Burlington, Vermont. Watch: Logan Clegg arraigned in VermontClegg, who is homeless, was wanted by law enforcement officers in Utah on a fugitive from justice charge. He was wanted out of Cache County, Utah, in connection with a felony possession of stolen property case for which he is on probation, police said. According to a South Burlington police affidavit, Concord police learned that Clegg bought a one-way ticket for a flight to Germany scheduled to leave New York on Friday. Review case timeline for Concord killingsA Vermont judge on Thursday morning ordered Clegg to be held without bail on a Utah probation violation. According to the affidavit, officials in Utah said he fled to Lisbon, Portugal, in 2021 and missed a probation hearing.The judge set bail for $20,000 for “other matters” in the case.Clegg was spotted by New Hampshire detectives on Williston Road in South Burlington around 10 a.m. Wednesday, South Burlington police said. He was taken into custody near the South Burlington Public Library without incident, police said.”The Concord, New Hampshire, Police Department contacted us, as they were in town looking for Mr. Clegg in connection to their case,” said South Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke.Officials with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said investigators making contact with Clegg was “the result of significant investigative efforts by the Concord Police Department and was done in coordination with its law enforcement partners.””We were working in collaboration with the Vermont State Police, and it was actually the Vermont State Police that took Mr. Clegg into custody,” Wade said.Thursday evening, police in South Burlington were investigating what they described as another scene on Patchen Road related to the Concord case. South Burlington Police Department and New Hampshire law enforcement officers from Concord were called to execute a search warrant at a campsite in South Burlington alleged to be Clegg’s.“Numerous items were seized in connection to the Concord, New Hampshire, Police Department’s investigation,” South Burlington police Lt. Chris Bataille said.Police were not able to say what the items are at this time, but everything has been turned over to Concord police.Investigators said they’re not sure how long Clegg was camping in the area. “We’ve concluded our investigation,” Bataille said. “We’re done here.”What happens next now lies with investigators in the Granite State.“Our role with the South Burlington Police Department tonight was largely just assisting in localizing court process in the investigation of the crimes,” Bataille said.According to court records in Utah, Clegg was arrested in August 2020 and charged with shoplifting. A stolen firearm was found tucked into his waistband, according to the records.Later that month, Clegg was again arrested in Utah following a report of a burglary in progress. A search of Clegg turned up a stolen firearm and a set of lockpicks, according to the records.New Hampshire investigators added that no one has been arrested or charged in connection with the fatal shootings of the Reids in April. Investigators released a sketch of someone considered a person of interest in May. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in that case.The killings were not mentioned during Clegg’s brief court appearance Thursday.Victims’ neighbors hope for answersPeople who live in the area where the Reids were found said Thursday they’re hopeful that this development means police are making progress in the case.”It was a tragic occurrence, and, I mean, it’s scary to think of stuff like that happening so close to home,” said Samantha Chase, who lives in the same apartment complex as the Reids.Now that Clegg is in custody, legal expert Patricia LaFrance, who is not connected to the case, said investigators might have the break they’ve been waiting for. “Any investigator is going to want to speak to the person they suspect committed a crime, whether to get some clarifying information or a full confession or sometimes just to catch that person in a lie,” LaFrance said.She said investigators could file a motion with the court to get a swab of his DNA.”If they did find some DNA at the scene that was not the victims’, then now they have a person to compare it to, so that could be very telling,” LaFrance said.Residents said they hope that some answers will be forthcoming.”Until it’s definitive that yes, he’s the person that committed that crime, it’s not that much of a relief,” Chase said.LaFrance said it’s likely the attorneys general from New Hampshire, Utah and Vermont will connect about when Clegg might be transported to Utah and how to navigate any new charges that might be filed. CONCORD, N.H. — A man who the New Hampshire attorney general’s office has confirmed is a person of interest in the killings of Steve and Wendy Reid, of Concord, New Hampshire, has been ordered to be held without bail on unrelated charges. Police said Logan Clegg, 26, was arrested Wednesday morning in South Burlington, Vermont. Watch: Logan Clegg arraigned in Vermont Clegg, who is homeless, was wanted by law enforcement officers in Utah on a fugitive from justice charge. He was wanted out of Cache County, Utah, in connection with a felony possession of stolen property case for which he is on probation, police said. According to a South Burlington police affidavit, Concord police learned that Clegg bought a one-way ticket for a flight to Germany scheduled to leave New York on Friday. Review case timeline for Concord killings A Vermont judge on Thursday morning ordered Clegg to be held without bail on a Utah probation violation. According to the affidavit, officials in Utah said he fled to Lisbon, Portugal, in 2021 and missed a probation hearing. The judge set bail for $20,000 for “other matters” in the case. Clegg was spotted by New Hampshire detectives on Williston Road in South Burlington around 10 a.m. Wednesday, South Burlington police said. He was taken into custody near the South Burlington Public Library without incident, police said. “The Concord, New Hampshire, Police Department contacted us, as they were in town looking for Mr. Clegg in connection to their case,” said South Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke. Officials with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said investigators making contact with Clegg was “the result of significant investigative efforts by the Concord Police Department and was done in coordination with its law enforcement partners.” “We were working in collaboration with the Vermont State Police, and it was actually the Vermont State Police that took Mr. Clegg into custody,” Wade said. Thursday evening, police in South Burlington were investigating what they described as another scene on Patchen Road related to the Concord case. South Burlington Police Department and New Hampshire law enforcement officers from Concord were called to execute a search warrant at a campsite in South Burlington alleged to be Clegg’s. “Numerous items were seized in connection to the Concord, New Hampshire, Police Department’s investigation,” South Burlington police Lt. Chris Bataille said. Police were not able to say what the items are at this time, but everything has been turned over to Concord police. Investigators said they’re not sure how long Clegg was camping in the area. “We’ve concluded our investigation,” Bataille said. “We’re done here.” What happens next now lies with investigators in the Granite State. “Our role with the South Burlington Police Department tonight was largely just assisting in localizing court process in the investigation of the crimes,” Bataille said. According to court records in Utah, Clegg was arrested in August 2020 and charged with shoplifting. A stolen firearm was found tucked into his waistband, according to the records. Later that month, Clegg was again arrested in Utah following a report of a burglary in progress. A search of Clegg turned up a stolen firearm and a set of lockpicks, according to the records. New Hampshire investigators added that no one has been arrested or charged in connection with the fatal shootings of the Reids in April. Investigators released a sketch of someone considered a person of interest in May. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in that case. The killings were not mentioned during Clegg’s brief court appearance Thursday. Victims’ neighbors hope for answers People who live in the area where the Reids were found said Thursday they’re hopeful that this development means police are making progress in the case. “It was a tragic occurrence, and, I mean, it’s scary to think of stuff like that happening so close to home,” said Samantha Chase, who lives in the same apartment complex as the Reids. Now that Clegg is in custody, legal expert Patricia LaFrance, who is not connected to the case, said investigators might have the break they’ve been waiting for. “Any investigator is going to want to speak to the person they suspect committed a crime, whether to get some clarifying information or a full confession or sometimes just to catch that person in a lie,” LaFrance said. She said investigators could file a motion with the court to get a swab of his DNA. “If they did find some DNA at the scene that was not the victims’, then now they have a person to compare it to, so that could be very telling,” LaFrance...

US House Body Votes To Subpoena Trump https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-house-body-votes-to-subpoena-trump/ WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol voted on Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, an action that could eventually result in the former president’s imprisonment if he does not comply. The House select committee’s seven Democratic and two Republican members voted 9-0 in favour of issuing a subpoena for Trump to provide documents and testify under oath in connection with the Jan 6 attack. “He is the one person at the centre of the story of what happened on Jan 6. So we want to hear from him,” said the panel’s Democratic chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson. The vote came after the committee spent more than two hours making its case — via statements from members, documents, and recorded testimony — that Trump planned to deny his election defeat in advance, failed to call off the thousands of supporters who stormed the Capitol, and followed through with his false claims the election was stolen. Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2022 Read More Here

Nancy Pelosi On January 6 Said If Trump Came To The Capitol She Would 'punch Him Out' And 'go To Jail' https://digitalalaskanews.com/nancy-pelosi-on-january-6-said-if-trump-came-to-the-capitol-she-would-punch-him-out-and-go-to-jail/ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.Al Drago/The New York Times/Associated Press, Pool CNN on Thursday published new footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 6, 2021. The video showed Pelosi and others scrambling to request help to secure the Capitol. When Trump said he was going to march to the Capitol, Pelosi said if he did she’d punch him. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was furious with former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, over his plans to march to the Capitol, according to newly released footage of the day. The footage, which aired on CNN Thursday evening, was taken by documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, the Speaker’s daughter. It showed Pelosi watching Trump’s speech at the “Save America” rally that preceded the riot, during which he said they were all going to march to the Capitol in protest of the election results. A staffer informs Pelosi that the secret service told Trump not to join the march to the Capitol because it would not be safe, adding, “so at the moment he is not coming but that could change.” “If he comes I’m going to punch him out,” Pelosi can be heard saying. “I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I’m going to punch him out and I’m going to go to jail and I’m going to be happy.” Trump ultimately did not march to the Capitol with his supporters, but that march devolved into the mob that broke into the building, forcing lawmakers to flee. The footage published by CNN followed Pelosi as she evacuated from the building, constantly making phone calls to request help to secure the Capitol and continue the election certification process. Pelosi was moved to a secure location at Fort McNair, along with Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell and Reps. Steny Hoyer and Kevin McCarthy. The footage shows Pelosi and Schumer scrambling to request help from the Trump administration, including the activation of the National Guard. Some of the footage was shown publicly for the first time earlier on Thursday, during the House select committee’s hearing. During the hearing, which may be the last, the committee voted to unanimously to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony. Read the original article on Business Insider Read More Here

T https://digitalalaskanews.com/t-15/ Skip to main content This content is only available to subscribers. Get unlimited digital access. $1 for 6 months. Your subscription supports: Investigative reporting that makes our community a better place to work, live and play Expert coverage of high school sports teams The best tips on places to eat and things to do Daily newsletter with top news to know Mobile apps including immersive storytelling This content is only available to subscribers. Get unlimited digital access. $1 for 6 months. Your subscription supports: Investigative reporting that makes our community a better place to work, live and play Expert coverage of high school sports teams The best tips on places to eat and things to do Daily newsletter with top news to know Mobile apps including immersive storytelling Read More Here

AP News In Brief At 9:04 P.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-in-brief-at-904-p-m-edt-11/ Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump, shows startling new video WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump, demanding his personal testimony as it unveiled startling new video of close aides describing his multi-part plan to overturn his 2020 election loss that led to his supporters’ fierce assault on the U.S. Capitol. With alarming messages from the U.S. Secret Service warning of violence and vivid new video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders pleading for help, the panel showed the raw desperation at the Capitol. Using language frequently seen in criminal indictments, the panel said that Trump had acted in a “premeditated” way ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, despite countless aides and officials telling him he had lost. Trump is almost certain to fight the subpoena and decline to testify. On his social media outlet he blasted members for not asking him earlier — though he didn’t say he would have complied —and called the panel “a total BUST.” “We must seek the testimony under oath of January 6’s central player,” said Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the committee’s vice chair, ahead of the vote. In the committee’s 10th public session, just weeks before the congressional midterm elections, the panel summed up Trump’s “staggering betrayal” of his oath of office, as Chairman Bennie Thompson put it, describing the former president’s unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Read More Here

AP News Summary At 9:18 P.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-918-p-m-edt/ Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump, shows startling new video WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump for his testimony about the 2021 Capitol attack. The panel voted unanimously Thursday to compel the former president to appear. Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel’s vice-chair, said that “We must seek the testimony under oath of January 6th’s central player … the man who set this all in motion.” Earlier in Thursday’s hearing, the last before next month’s congressional elections, the panel presented video of interviews with former Trump aides, including several testifying that he had said he knew he had lost the election to Joe Biden Mayor: 5 killed by N. Carolina shooter, suspect ‘contained’ RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina mayor said that five people including a police officer were killed in a shooting in a residential area. Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said that multiple people were shot on the Neuse River Greenway around 5 pm. She said that the police department told her around 8 pm that the suspect had been “contained” at a residence in the area. N. Korea fires another missile, flies warplanes near border SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says North Korea has launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the launch happened early Friday but gave no further details. It’s the latest in a spate of missile launches by North Korea in recent days. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea also flew warplanes near the rivals’ border late Thursday and early Friday, prompting South Korea to scramble fighter jets. There have been no reports of clashes between the two Koreas. North Korea’s military also issued a statement accusing South Korea of carrying out artillery fire for about 10 hours near the border Thursday. Social Security benefits to jump by 8.7% next year Read More Here

US Congressional Panel To Subpoena Trump For Jan 6 Riots – Social News XYZ https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-congressional-panel-to-subpoena-trump-for-jan-6-riots-social-news-xyz/ By Yashwant Raj Washington, Oct 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) A US Congressional Committee decided in a surprise vote on Thursday to issue a subpoena to former President Donald Trump for his testimony and documents regarding the January 6 rioting by his supporters on the Capitol to prevent a joint session from certifying Joe Biden as the next President. “It is our obligation to seek Donald Trump’s testimony,” said Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riots. “There’s precedent in American history for Congress to compel the testimony of a President.” Trump is not the first sitting or former President asked by the Congress to give testimony — there have been at least seven previous instances of it — but there is only one previous instance of a former President defying the subpoena, Harry S. Truman. Trump is also likely to refuse to testify. Thursday was the ninth and possibly the final public hearing of the nine-member committee, which has two Republicans. It has deposed hundreds of witnesses, including top officials and aides of former President Trump and associates such as Roger Stone, who and others appeared but refused to say anything asserting their constitutional right to not implicate themselves. Hordes of Trump’s supporters had marched on to US Congress after a rally in which the former President and his associates had railed against the election, falsely alleging Biden won fraudulently. Trump had called on them to go to Capitol Hill — and he would along with them, he told them — and prevent a joint sitting of Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. Trump was dissuaded by his Security Service protectors from accompanying the rioters, an aide told the committee in one of the hearings, who also provided shocking details of how the former President physically grappled with his Security Service personnel, and had tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine to guide towards the Capitol. Representative Liz Cheney, the Republican who is Deputy Chair of the committee, said the panel must hear from Trump calling him “January 6’s central player”. “Every American is entitled to those answers,” she added. Source: IANS About Gopi Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc. He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources. When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any. He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz Read More Here

Secret Service Knew Of Capitol Threat More Than A Week Before Jan. 6 https://digitalalaskanews.com/secret-service-knew-of-capitol-threat-more-than-a-week-before-jan-6/ The Secret Service had warnings earlier than previously known that supporters of President Donald Trump were plotting an armed attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to records revealed in a congressional hearing Thursday. Secret Service agents in charge of assessing the risks around the protests had been tracking online chats on pro-Trump websites and noted that rallygoers were vowing to bring firearms, target the Capitol for a siege and even kill Vice President Mike Pence. As early as Dec. 26, Secret Service officials were sharing one tipster’s warnings about extremist groups coming to the Capitol with murderous plans. “They think they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped,” the tip read. “Their plan is to literally kill people,” the tipster wrote. “Please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further.” The evidence presented at the hearing adds the Secret Service to a long list of national security agencies who received prescient warnings about the assault protesters planned for Jan. 6, yet failed to respond with urgency or cohesion to prevent the insurrection. Committee member Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said the new details — retrieved in internal emails from a trove of more than a 1 million records the Secret Service provided the Jan. 6 committee — raise questions about how the agency shared its intelligence and whether officials have been forthright about their knowledge of the warnings. “As we have seen, the Secret Service and other agencies knew of the prospect of violence well in advance of the president’s speech at the Ellipse,” Schiff said during the hearing. “Despite this, certain White House and Secret Service witnesses previously testified that they had received no intelligence about violence that could have potentially threatened any of their protectees on January 6th, including the vice president. Evidence strongly suggests that this testimony is not credible.” In a statement, Secret Service Deputy Director Faron K. Paramore noted that the agency is not a “member of the Intelligence Community” and said it had shared its information widely with others. “In the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, Secret Service was in constant communication and sharing information with our law enforcement partners in the Washington, D.C. area regarding available protective intelligence and open-source information concerning potential violence,” said Paramore. Much of the intelligence cited in Thursday’s hearing was alarming in its specificity. One Secret Service unit, Schiff said, flagged a social media account on a pro-Trump site that threatened to bring a sniper rifle to Washington. “Intelligence about this risk was directly available to the U.S. Secret Service and others in the White House in advance of the speech, in advance of the march to the Capitol,” Schiff said. In a Dec. 30 email, a Secret Service agent warned of Trump supporters’ online threats, noting the U.S. Marshals Service was “seeing a lot of violent rhetoric directed at government people, entities, in addition to our protected persons.” The protected person most targeted for attack: the vice president. On the morning of the rally, Schiff noted, the Secret Service knew many of the protesters in the crowd on the Ellipse had weapons, but it’s unclear what steps the agency took as a result. It is a crime to carry a firearm on federal property. Trump was scheduled to speak a little after noon. Secret Service units shared reports from police that morning that they had seen rallygoers with firearms, including a Glock, a pistol, and a rifle. They knew D.C. police had reportedly detained a person carrying an assault rifle. At the same time, they were getting reports of death threats against Pence, who had just entered the U.S. Capitol that morning to perform his role in certifying the election. “Alert at 1022 regarding VP being a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing,” one Secret Service email warned at 10:39 a.m. By 12:36, as Trump took the stage, one Secret Service employee emailed another about the barely hidden threat all around them. “With so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown” one Secret Service employee wrote to a colleague. “Could be sporty after dark,” he wrote, referring to the chance for gun battles. “No doubt,” his colleague wrote back. “The people at the Ellipse said they are moving to the Capitol after the POTUS speech.” Read More Here

Mini-Budget U-Turn On The Table As Pressure Mounts https://digitalalaskanews.com/mini-budget-u-turn-on-the-table-as-pressure-mounts/ Image source, EPA By Chris Mason, political editor, & Becky Morton, political reporter BBC News A U-turn over the mini-budget is on the table as pressure mounts on Liz Truss to change her economic plans. It come as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng flies home early from meetings in the US for crunch talks over his proposals. Discussions are ongoing between the prime minister and her MPs about how she could reverse aspects of her mini-budget to reassure financial markets and her own party. But on Thursday the chancellor said the government’s position had not changed. Many Tory MPs think a U-turn on some of her tax-cutting package is inevitable. The tense atmosphere in Westminster was apparent as the BBC spoke to dozens of sources across Parliament and the government. “It’s checkmate, we’re screwed,” one Tory MP remarked. “There is no question in my mind, they’ll have to junk loads of this stuff and U-turn,” another said. If the government does announce changes to its plans it is not clear when this might happen. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to arrive back in the UK from Washington, where he has been at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund, on Friday. He has cancelled planned meetings in the US capital to attend discussions in the UK with Ms Truss and Conservative MPs, BBC economics editor Faisal Islam reported. On Thursday, he said he was “not going anywhere” – and when asked if he and Ms Truss would still be in their jobs this time next month, he said: “Absolutely, 100%.” As it stands, Mr Kwarteng is set to spell out how he will pay for the government’s £43bn package of tax cuts and get the UK’s national debt falling in a statement on 31 October, alongside an independent economic forecast. The government has already U-turned on its plan to scrap the top rate of income tax, but this only made up £2bn of the tax cuts announced by the chancellor last month. Some Tory MPs think the government’s tax-cutting plans should be reversed, while others believe the help with energy bills should be more targeted. Other scenarios being discussed by Tory MPs include the chancellor resigning or the prime minister being ousted. However, there is little agreement on what should happen next or who should replace Ms Truss if she is removed. According to the Times, senior Conservatives are holding talks about replacing Ms Truss with a joint ticket of Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, who both ran for the leadership this summer. Unlike the summer leadership contest, MPs would propose just one person to succeed the PM, with the other individual taking a senior cabinet role, the paper reported. Media caption, Watch: I am not going anywhere – Kwasi Kwarteng Among the possible U-turns, there has been speculation the government could reverse its plan for corporation tax. Ms Truss has pledged to scrap a planned rise to the tax, which was set to increase from 19% to 25% in 2023. When asked about the positive market response to the speculation of a U-turn on corporation tax, Mr Kwarteng told the Daily Telegraph: “Let’s see.” However, he added that he still thought ensuring “competitive” tax rates for businesses was a “great idea”. Former Home Secretary Priti Patel, meanwhile, told Sky News the market would now “dictate” the prime minister’s decision on corporation tax “primarily because we want to see stability”. Senior Tories are continuing to call for the government to change course. Alicia Kearns, the new chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the government had to “adapt” during a “crisis”. Asked if the government’s tax cuts should be reversed, she told the BBC: “There are some that are worth keeping, there are some that are not, but do I want to see mass borrowing at this point? I don’t think that’s reassuring.” Former minister Johnny Mercer called for a “course correction” from No 10, describing the impact of rising mortgage rates on people who want to buy a home as “unconscionable” and “politically unsurvivable”. “Get on and do it – we all know it’s coming. It’s not a game for folks down here,” he said of his Plymouth Moor View constituency. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross called on the prime minister and chancellor to “get a grip” on the economy. “There have been mistakes, they’ve got to work this out to settle the markets, to settle the economy and to get things back up and running again,” he told the BBC One’s Question Time. Asked whether he believed Ms Truss could win the next general election, he replied: “Yes.” But other Tory MPs expressed support for the prime minister and said she must not reverse her plans. Sir Christopher Chope, a Truss backer, told the BBC Two’s Newsnight: “If we were to increase corporation tax having said that we’re not going to, that would be totally inconsistent with the prime minister’s policy of promoting growth, growth and growth.” He added that a U-turn would be a “complete betrayal of that she believed in” and he believed it would not happen. Wales Office Minister David Davies said the government had to be “flexible” in what he described as an economic “storm”. However, he said Mr Kwarteng should remain chancellor and refused to accept recent market turmoil was due to a “mistake” by the government. Read More Here

Risk Of Thyroid Dysfunction Associated With MRNA And Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines: A Population-Based Study Of 2.3 Million Vaccine Recipients – BMC Medicine https://digitalalaskanews.com/risk-of-thyroid-dysfunction-associated-with-mrna-and-inactivated-covid-19-vaccines-a-population-based-study-of-2-3-million-vaccine-recipients-bmc-medicine/ Research article Open Access Published: 14 October 2022 Carlos King Ho Wong  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6895-60711,2,3 na1, David Tak Wai Lui  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9813-11264 na1, Xi Xiong  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9418-74481 na1, Celine Sze Ling Chui  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1513-87263,5,6, Francisco Tsz Tsun Lai  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9121-19591,3, Xue Li  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4836-78081,3,4, Eric Yuk Fai Wan  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6275-11471,2,3, Ching Lung Cheung  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6233-91441,3, Chi Ho Lee  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7569-409X4, Yu Cho Woo4, Ivan Chi Ho Au  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5904-83221, Matthew Shing Hin Chung  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1669-44791, Franco Wing Tak Cheng  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7818-15751, Kathryn Choon Beng Tan  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9037-04164 & … Ian Chi Kei Wong   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8242-00141,3,7,8  BMC Medicine volume 20, Article number: 339 (2022) Cite this article Abstract Background In view of accumulating case reports of thyroid dysfunction following COVID-19 vaccination, we evaluated the risks of incident thyroid dysfunction following inactivated (CoronaVac) and mRNA (BNT162b2) COVID-19 vaccines using a population-based dataset. Methods We identified people who received COVID-19 vaccination between 23 February and 30 September 2021 from a population-based electronic health database in Hong Kong, linked to vaccination records. Thyroid dysfunction encompassed anti-thyroid drug (ATD)/levothyroxine (LT4) initiation, biochemical picture of hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism, incident Graves’ disease (GD), and thyroiditis. A self-controlled case series design was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of thyroid dysfunction in a 56-day post-vaccination period compared to the baseline period (non-exposure period) using conditional Poisson regression. Results A total of 2,288,239 people received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccination (57.8% BNT162b2 recipients and 42.2% CoronaVac recipients). 94.3% of BNT162b2 recipients and 92.2% of CoronaVac recipients received the second dose. Following the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, there was no increase in the risks of ATD initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 0.864, 95% CI 0.670–1.114; CoronaVac: IRR 0.707, 95% CI 0.549–0.912), LT4 initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 0.911, 95% CI 0.716–1.159; CoronaVac: IRR 0.778, 95% CI 0.618–0.981), biochemical picture of hyperthyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 0.872, 95% CI 0.744–1.023; CoronaVac: IRR 0.830, 95% CI 0.713–0.967) or hypothyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 1.002, 95% CI 0.838–1.199; CoronaVac: IRR 0.963, 95% CI 0.807–1.149), GD, and thyroiditis. Similarly, following the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination, there was no increase in the risks of ATD initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 0.972, 95% CI 0.770–1.227; CoronaVac: IRR 0.879, 95%CI 0.693–1.116), LT4 initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 1.019, 95% CI 0.833–1.246; CoronaVac: IRR 0.768, 95% CI 0.613–0.962), hyperthyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 1.039, 95% CI 0.899–1.201; CoronaVac: IRR 0.911, 95% CI 0.786–1.055), hypothyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 0.935, 95% CI 0.794–1.102; CoronaVac: IRR 0.945, 95% CI 0.799–1.119), GD, and thyroiditis. Age- and sex-specific subgroup and sensitivity analyses showed consistent neutral associations between thyroid dysfunction and both types of COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusions Our population-based study showed no evidence of vaccine-related increase in incident hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism with both BNT162b2 and CoronaVac. Peer Review reports Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has infected close to 500 million people and caused about 6.1 million deaths [1]. COVID-19 vaccination is essential in bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control and minimising the serious health consequences among COVID-19 patients [2]. Studies have evaluated the inter-relationship between COVID-19 and thyroid dysfunction [3]: non-thyroidal illness syndrome, thyroiditis, Graves’ disease (GD), and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The onset of GD and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis after the diagnosis of COVID-19 raised the concern of SARS-CoV-2 in inducing autoimmune thyroid disorders [4, 5]. This postulation is supported by the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2, in many endocrine organs, including the thyroid [6]. It remains to be determined whether COVID-19 vaccination may be associated with incident thyroid dysfunction by the same token. CoronaVac is an example of inactivated vaccines, which contain an inactivated form of SARS-CoV-2. On the other hand, BNT162b2 (equivalent to Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine) stimulates the production of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. These may in turn interact with the thyroid via ACE2. Indeed, there is an increasing number of case reports of incident thyroid dysfunction after COVID-19 vaccination [7]. These include cases of subacute thyroiditis after various COVID-19 vaccines, GD mostly after mRNA [7] and occasionally after adenovirus-vectored vaccine [8], and recently overt hypothyroidism after mRNA vaccine [9]. Molecular mimicry and autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) are the postulated mechanisms for thyroid dysfunction with clinical manifestations of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism after COVID-19 vaccination [9,10,11]. A recent study has demonstrated the cross-reactivity of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, nucleoprotein, and membrane protein with thyroid peroxidase, and the sequence homology/similarity between many thyroid peroxidase peptide sequences and sequences in various SARS-CoV-2 proteins [10]. Furthermore, the adjuvants in the vaccines, such as the aluminium salts in CoronaVac, may have the potential to cause ASIA [11]. Current knowledge about the possible link between COVID-19 vaccination and thyroid dysfunction is limited to case reports and series. Also, thyroid dysfunction has not been comprehensively captured in the vaccine surveillance databases. While more than 11 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered as of 1 April 2022, there are more than 80 cases of COVID-19 vaccination-associated thyroid dysfunction reported in the literature [12]. However, case reports and series do not quantify the absolute risk of thyroid dysfunction and inform if COVID-19 vaccination is associated with an increased risk of thyroid dysfunction. Moreover, clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines have not reported thyroid-specific outcomes in detail. Such information is essential to inform clinical practice for advising patients for COVID-19 vaccination and the subsequent follow-up or surveillance. The Hong Kong Government Vaccination Programme currently provides two authorised COVID-19 vaccines: CoronaVac (inactivated whole-virus vaccine) and BNT162b2 (mRNA vaccine). We conducted this population-based study to evaluate the risks of incident thyroid dysfunction associated with these two types of COVID-19 vaccination, using the self-controlled case series (SCCS) design. Methods Data source Since 23 February 2021, the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has been launched in Hong Kong, and vaccination records have been reported to the Department of Health (DH) daily. All active patients’ electronic medical records (EMRs) between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2021 were extracted from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) and cross-linked with vaccination records by hashed unique identifiers. This vaccine safety data linkage is largely representative of the Hong Kong population as HA is the only provider of public healthcare services, which provides medical services for 90% of all primary, secondary, and tertiary care services of Hong Kong with a population of more than 7 million [13]. EMRs provided by HA are generated during public healthcare services. Available information includes demographics, date of registered death, drug dispensing records, diagnoses, procedures, and laboratory tests. All prescriptions dispensed by HA pharmacies are recorded. These two linked data sources have been recently used to conduct population-based pharmacovigilance studies of COVID-19 vaccines [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster (UW 21-149 and UW 21-138); and the Department of Health Ethics Committee (LM 21/2021). Study design We conducted an SCCS study to evaluate the associations between COVID-19 vaccines and incident thyroid dysfunction during the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in Hong Kong. SCCS was designed to evaluate the relative incidence of outcome events at defined risk periods compared with baseline periods among people with outcome events during the observation period [28]. The advantages of this study design are that individuals’ comparison removes the potential confounding effect of all time-invariant variables during the study period. This methodology has been used to estimate COVID-19 vaccine safety in neurological, thrombocytopenic, thromboembolic and haemorrhagic events, haematological disorders, and herpes zoster-related hospitalizations [19, 20, 29,30,31,32]. Study population People aged ≥ 18 years who used any HA services between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2021 were identified from the vaccine safety data linkage. We excluded people who (i) received a heterologous COVID-19 vaccine regime and (ii) were polymerase chain reaction-tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from 23 January 2020 (the...

Elon Musk Is Under Federal Investigation Over His Twitter Deal, Twitter Claims | CNN Business https://digitalalaskanews.com/elon-musk-is-under-federal-investigation-over-his-twitter-deal-twitter-claims-cnn-business/ CNN Business  —  Federal authorities are investigating Elon Musk in connection with his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the social media platform said in a court filing Thursday. It is not clear which agencies may be carrying out the probe, and Twitter did not identify what specific actions by Musk US officials may be investigating. Twitter’s filing merely said authorities are looking into Musk’s “conduct” linked to the deal. The company’s court filing elsewhere accused Musk’s legal team of failing to produce draft communications with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission as part of the two sides’ ongoing litigation over whether Musk can walk away from the deal. Musk first attempted to terminate the deal in July, alleging that Twitter violated their mutual purchase agreement by misrepresenting the number of spam and fake bot accounts on its platform. Twitter sued Musk to complete the acquisition, accusing the billionaire of using bots as a pretext to exit a deal that he developed buyer’s remorse over following a market decline. Last week, Musk proposed following through with his deal to buy the company at the originally agreed upon price of $54.20 per share. The judge overseeing the dispute later in the week ruled to pause the legal proceedings until Oct. 28 following a request from Musk. In response to Twitter’s Thursday filing, Alex Spiro, Musk’s attorney, said it was designed to distract from Twitter’s own legal problems, which arose after the company’s former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, accused Twitter of long-ignored security vulnerabilities in a whistleblower disclosure. “Twitter’s executives are under federal investigation,” Spiro said in a statement to CNN. “This misdirection was sent by Twitter to try and uncover which of their assorted misconduct they are under investigation for.” The Federal Trade Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the terms of a 2011 consent order with Twitter that Zatko alleges the company violated, has not publicly disclosed an investigation. But its chair, Lina Khan, has told Congress in public testimony that if it’s determined Twitter executives were responsible for legal violations, the FTC “absolutely” would and “won’t hesitate” to hold those executives personally accountable. In a separate filing on Thursday, Twitter also maintained that it did not instruct Zatko to burn several notebooks as part of a separation agreement, as Musk’s team had claimed in a filing earlier this month. Instead, Twitter claimed, Zatko destroyed the notebooks of his own volition. “Twitter did not ask Zatko to torch his own documents, much less demand that he do so,” Twitter’s filing read. “Twitter had no knowledge of Zatko’s notebooks and no idea what information they contained.” Read More Here

PolitiFact – Jan 6. Committee Votes To Subpoena Trump. 3 Themes Show Why https://digitalalaskanews.com/politifact-jan-6-committee-votes-to-subpoena-trump-3-themes-show-why/ In its final hearing before the midterm elections, the House select committee Investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol made its case that former President Donald Trump knew he had lost, lied to his followers about it, and tried every possible device to overturn the results of a legitimate election. At the hearing’s end, the committee passed a resolution to subpoena Trump. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion, and every American is entitled to those answers,” said committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. In the two-hour plus session, committee members took turns describing new details culled from video footage, thousands of emails, texts and other documents, some obtained from the Secret Service since the last hearing in July. They described Trump’s plan in the days, even months, before Election Day to declare victory regardless of the actual count. Perhaps the most unexpected revelation was Trump’s Nov. 11, 2020, order to immediately withdraw all U.S. troops from Somalia and Afghanistan before Jan. 20, 2021, President Joe Biden’s inauguration. “These are the highly consequential actions of a president who knows his term will shortly end,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. The order was never followed. The committee painted a picture of a man hyperfocused on rousing his base with the false narrative of a stolen election, intent on pressuring state officials, the Justice Department and, ultimately, Congress so he could stay in office. Trump always planned to say he won  As early as July, according to what Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale told the investigators, Trump talked about declaring victory regardless of the actual votes. The committee showed an Oct. 31 memo from a member of Trump’s inner circle, Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, suggesting language for a Trump speech. “We had an election today — and I won,” Fitton’s memo suggested. Fitton followed up with an email to Trump special assistant Molly Michael on Nov. 3, saying “just talked to him about the draft below.” It was so likely that Trump would prematurely declare victory, that Vice President Mike Pence’s counsel Greg Jacob described how he mapped out a strategy to keep Pence at arm’s length from anything Trump might say. As results were still being tallied, Trump falsely tried to claim victory. “We will win this,” Trump said. “As far as I’m concerned, we already have.” Privately, Trump acknowledged defeat About a week after the election, then White House communications director Alyssa Farah said she walked into the Oval Office. Trump was watching Biden on the television. “He said, do you believe I lost to this effing guy?” Farah told investigators. U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told of a meeting when Trump cast a foreign policy decision as no longer his problem. “He says words to the effect of, ‘Yeah, we lost. We need to let that issue go to the next guy,’” Milley said. “Meaning, President Biden.” Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, told how she asked Meadows if Trump thought he had lost. And Meadows told her that Trump did. “He said, ‘A lot of times, he will tell me that he lost, but he wants to keep fighting it,’” Hutchinson said. Trump repeated known fallacies The committee gave example after example of how Trump ignored the facts his top officials told him to his face. There were allegations of fraud in Detroit and Antrim County, Michigan, of more absentee votes cast in Pennsylvania than ballots requested. All of them were false. The committee juxtaposed officials giving Trump the facts, and him repeating the myths to his supporters. On the allegations of vote switching in Dominion voting machines: Former Attorney General Bill Barr: “I told him it was crazy stuff and they were wasting their time on that.” Trump, nine days later: “We have a company that’s very suspect. Its name is Dominion. With a turn of a dial or the change of a chip, you could press a button for Trump and the vote goes to Biden.” On the story of a suitcase of ballots in Georgia: Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue:  “I said, no, sir, there is no suitcase. You can watch that video over and over. There is no suitcase. There is a wheeled bin where they carry the ballots. That’s just how they move ballots around that facility. There is nothing suspicious about that at all.” Trump, 10 days later: “Election officials pulled boxes — Democrats — and suitcases of ballots out from under a table. Also saw on television, totally fraudulent.” As committee member Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., put it, “Trump maliciously repeated this nonsense to a wide audience over and over again. His intent was to deceive.” PolitiFact staff writer Tori Gantz contributed to this report. RELATED: Most Republicans still falsely believe Trump’s stolen election claims RELATED: Six takeaways from White House insider Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to Jan. 6 committee RELATED: Jan. 6 hearing details Trump’s inaction as Capitol riot unfolded Read More Here

Donald Trump, January 6th, And The Elusive Search For Accountability https://digitalalaskanews.com/donald-trump-january-6th-and-the-elusive-search-for-accountability/ The House select committee investigating January 6th has now rested its public case against Donald Trump. Over nine hearings and more than twenty hours of testimony, culminating in a two-and-a-half-hour session on Thursday, the panel showed that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election; knew that the mob he summoned was violent, armed, and determined to block Congress from carrying out its constitutional responsibility; knew that the Vice-President’s life was in danger; and knew that, in urging his followers to march on the Capitol, he was encouraging them to illegally attack the building. Once the assault began, Trump did nothing except watch the spectacle, approvingly, on television. The select committee’s presentation of these facts was specific, damning, and even occasionally riveting. In one memorable early hearing, Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr, testified that Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud were “bullshit,” adding that he had told the former President so to his face. When Barr publicly said as much to the Associated Press, it so enraged Trump that he threw a ketchup-smeared plate against the wall in his private White House dining room—an indelible image of the petulant President, disclosed by the former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson during her blockbuster July testimony. Like others in Trump’s White House, Hutchinson heard Trump and his top aides acknowledge his defeat yet continue to lie about it to the public. “No, Cass, he knows it’s over,” Hutchinson quoted the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as saying to her, in a clip from Hutchinson’s video deposition shown at Thursday’s hearing. “But we’re gonna keep trying.” Thursday’s hearing added a few more details to the select committee’s trove of incriminating evidence about January 6th: memorable footage of the Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, evacuated to a secure location that afternoon, frantically trying to get Trump’s executive branch to do something to stop the violence; a January 4th intelligence warning to the Justice Department and the F.B.I. about extremists talking of “invading the Capitol building”; and new documentation showing that Trump’s decision to claim victory on election night was “premeditated.” As Representative Zoe Lofgren said, it was a “plan concocted in advance to convince his supporters that he won.” Trump himself—his wild plotting and his willful indifference to its consequences—was at the center of the events, as he was in each of the committee’s hearings. Inevitably, the panel also showcased an array of unsavory characters and dispiriting subplots that swirled around Trump’s post-election conspiracy. The smarmy, nihilistic Roger Stone, who featured prominently in Thursday’s session, was shown in a Danish filmmaker’s video footage from before the election: “Fuck the voting,” Stone laughed, as he walked through an airport, wearing a red, white, and blue “Trump 2020” face mask. “Let’s get right to the violence.” Other sessions spotlighted the machinations of Trump’s heavy-drinking personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s failed coup at the Justice Department, and the deceitful advice of the constitutional-law professor John Eastman to have Vice-President Mike Pence singlehandedly reject the Electoral College results. Eastman knew the plan that he pushed on Trump was legally suspect and likely to be unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court, but he pushed it anyway—and then tried to get himself a preëmptive Presidential pardon. But none of it would have mattered had Trump not been in the White House, urging them all on, demanding something, anything, that would somehow undo the election loss he was desperate to overturn. “The central cause of January 6 was one man, Donald Trump,” Representative Liz Cheney, the apostate Republican who emerged as Trump’s chief tormentor on the committee, said. “None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it.” Cheney lost her seat in a Republican primary this summer because she refused to bow down to the man whom one of her colleagues called the G.O.P.’s “Orange Jesus.” These hearings have been her vindication and her revenge. Cheney was clear in her remarks on Thursday that she believed Trump deserved not just public excoriation but also criminal sanction. “Our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our Capitol,” Cheney said, and yet so far that is all that has happened. The Justice Department has charged some nine hundred people with participating in the January 6th insurrection—but not a single person close to Trump, who summoned the mob that rampaged in his name and on his behalf, has been indicted. “Without accountability, it all becomes normal, and it will recur,” she warned. Before the gavel banged down late Thursday afternoon, the panel voted unanimously to approve a motion by Cheney to subpoena Trump to testify about his actions. Members were liberal in their use of the A-word to describe the vote. “This is a question about accountability to the American people,” the committee’s chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, said. “He must be accountable. He is required to answer for his actions.” Yet accountability—at least the kind that comes in a court of law and ends in a prison term—was never the House select committee’s to confer. It made for a compelling headline, but Thursday’s vote was pure symbolism from a committee that may well be out of business in just a few weeks, if the voters, as expected, give control of the House to the Republicans. It’s impossible to imagine Trump willingly testifying before this or any future Congress about anything—at least, not without years of legal wrangling. The real decision about whether and how to hold Trump responsible for the tragedy of January 6th rests, as it always has, with the Justice Department and its enigmatic Attorney General, Merrick Garland. And we will not know the answer to that question anytime soon. So did any of the committee’s work matter? When the January 6th hearings began, on June 9th, Trump’s average approval rating in the polls was 42.7 per cent, and his average disapproval rating was 53 per cent, according to FiveThirtyEight. As the hearings ended, Trump’s average approval rating stood at 40.4 per cent. All that damning evidence, and the polls were basically unchanged. The straight line in the former President’s approval rating is the literal representation of the crisis in American democracy. There is an essentially immovable forty per cent of the country whose loyalty to Donald Trump cannot be shaken by anything. I pointed out these numbers to Representative Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee, over the weekend, when my colleagues and I interviewed him during The New Yorker Festival. He insisted that driving down Trump’s poll numbers was not the point. “The point,” he said, “is to deliver the truth to the people and to the Congress because, like Madison said, those who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives. And we think that we have armed the public with the power to make some serious decisions going forward.” Since its formation, Raskin and the other committee members have advanced various arguments for what the panel hoped to achieve. Establishing Trump’s complicity in the storming of the Capitol was always an important goal, and the final report that the panel intends to release before the current Congress expires will no doubt be the most definitive summation yet of this American tragedy. Even by that measure, however, a full accounting for history still awaits. Key witnesses such as Mike Pence, Trump’s final chief of staff Mark Meadows, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to testify; more than thirty witnesses, according to Cheney, invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions. Steve Bannon will be sentenced later this month, after being convicted of contempt of Congress, but he still has not been forced to speak under oath about his dealings with Trump and other White House officials in the days leading up to January 6th. And then, of course, there is Trump himself, newly subpoenaed but not any likelier to testify. And yet Trump’s essential culpability for January 6th was never really the question. That was more than evident on the day itself. Accountability was always the problem. Will the former President, with his Houdini-like powers of escape, ever face it?  Read More Here

Opinion | A Criminal Referral That Doesn’t Name Trump Would Be Criminal https://digitalalaskanews.com/opinion-a-criminal-referral-that-doesnt-name-trump-would-be-criminal/ Donald Trump’s supporters had come to kill. The White House knew it. President Trump knew it. And yet he knowingly sent armed fanatics to the Capitol with murder on their minds, then he sat back and watched for hours the violence they unleashed. In its ninth and possibly final public session on Thursday, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol added vivid detail to the narrative it had thoroughly documented in its previous hearings. On a huge screen above the dais, the lawmakers flashed the grave warnings the Secret Service had received 11 days before the attack: “Their plan is to literally kill people. Please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further.” The lawmakers displayed the text message from Trump aide Jason Miller to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows boasting, “I got the base fired up” — and the online comments of Trump supporters that Miller was boasting about: “Our ‘lawmakers’ in Congress can leave one of two ways: 1. In a bodybag. 2. After rightfully certifying Trump the winner.” Follow Dana Milbank’s opinionsFollow Add “ADVANCE ON THE CAPITAL!” “Keep your guns hidden.” “Don’t f— around, full kits, 180 rounds minimum.” And the committee members displayed Secret Service messages about the weaponry carried by Trump supporters that morning — a Glock handgun, pistol, assault rifle, ballistic helmets, body armor, riot shields, high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, unregistered ammo — and an ominous alert “regarding the VP being a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing” by overturning the election results. In the Cannon Caucus Room, the storied chamber that some 75 years ago housed hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee, reporters held up their phones to take photos of the threatening messages. “Wow,” one near me said under his breath as “dead man walking” flashed on the screen. “The president was aware of this information,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told the audience. “But despite the awareness of the potential for violence and weapons among the crowd … Donald Trump instructed the angry crowd, some of whom were armed, to march to the Capitol.” It was shocking and appalling — yet at same time, not terribly surprising. The Jan. 6 committee has done its job, maybe too well. It established beyond any doubt that Trump conceived his plan for the “big lie” well before he lost, and that when his legal challenges failed and he admitted privately that he had lost, he still fomented violence. The evidence amassed by the panel has Trump dead to rights — so much so that its findings seem to have lost the ability to surprise. The media gave the session the importance it deserves, with 18 TV stands circling the Cannon rotunda. Yet, in the room, I sensed a jaded reception: a few yawns, idle scrolling on phones, a man’s eyes closing in the foreign-press section. After all, there were no live witnesses, the Republicans boycotted the whole thing, and the committee was, essentially, retelling a story it had already effectively told. Yet we can’t allow ourselves to become numb to the monstrous things Trump did, is still doing, and would do again with more sophistication if he returns to power. Consider just a few revelations tucked in Thursday’s retelling of the grisly tale of Jan. 6: Trump adviser Steve Bannon, before the election, declared that Trump is “going to declare victory, and that doesn’t mean he’s the winner. … So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm.” Trump friend and longtime adviser Roger Stone, before the election, said that regardless of the outcome, “the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. No, we won. F— you. … We’ll have to start smashing pumpkins, if you know what I mean.” Trump, knowing privately that he had lost, signed an order on Nov. 11 requiring the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Somalia. Trump, acknowledging defeat, told Meadows (according to video testimony from former Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson): “I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out.” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, in video testimony, testified about Trump introducing her to lawyer John Eastman, who tried to enlist the RNC’s help with his fake-elector scheme. Nancy Pelosi, in newly released video, pleaded for help from the Pentagon, the Virginia governor and the attorney general. She reacted in horror to the violence and talked with Vice President Mike Pence about “defecation” and defilement of the House floor. In a largely symbolic gesture, the panel closed with a unanimous vote to subpoena documents and testimony from Trump himself. He’ll surely refuse — as did Stone, Eastman and some 30 others who took the Fifth. “We have sufficient information to consider criminal referrals from multiple individuals,” Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said — though, as she noted, “the vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us that the central cause of January 6th was one man: Donald Trump.” After the overwhelming case the committee has made, a criminal referral that doesn’t name Trump would be criminal. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Committee Returns To Close In On Trump https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-committee-returns-to-close-in-on-trump/ Months after it wrapped its summer series, bookended by prime-time hearings in an eight-part progression that told the sweeping story of the lead-up, the brutal moments and the aftermath of the 2021 attack on the Capitol, the House Jan. 6 committee set a hearing for Thursday with no live witness testimony and no clear trajectory. But the committee had closely guarded unfinished business: the bold and historic public subpoena of a former president. “We have left no doubt – none – that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy that directly resulted in the violence of Jan. 6,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said. “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6. So we want to hear from him.” The panel made the case that, although its investigation is nearing its close, the threat posed to the nation by Donald Trump – exhibited in the Jan. 6 attack – remains. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion,” Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the committee’s vice chairperson, said as she offered the resolution for the subpoena on Thursday. “And every American is entitled to those answers, so we can act now to protect our republic.” After a months-long break from public events, Thursday’s hearing oscillated between jogging the public’s memory of previously revealed evidence and introducing new disclosures, to round out its picture of Trump’s “multi part plan” to overturn the 2020 election that “led to an attack on a pillar of our democracy.” The committee drove home the idea it had previously sought to make clear: that Trump knew he had lost the election. It pointed to Trump’s move to withdraw overseas troops in the final days of his presidency in an apparent attempt to accomplish military goals as evidence that he knew he had lost the election, along with testimony from those close to him that he sometimes mentioned his loss to President Joe Biden privately, while denying it publicly. In recorded testimony, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson characterized Trump’s comments to Meadows as: “I don’t want people to know we’ve lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out.” She also recalled Meadows telling her that Trump “knows it’s over. He knows he lost, but we’re going to keep trying.” Political Cartoons Moreso, it painted the efforts to say Trump had won the election as premeditated. The committee revealed an Oct. 31, 2020, memo from the head of a conservative group Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, who suggested that Trump should declare victory on election night, before mail-in and absentee ballots were counted. It pointed to footage of former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Roger Stone in the days before the 2020 election, which detailed Trump’s plan to declare himself the winner. “This big lie, President Trump’s effort to convince Americans that he had won the 2020 election, began before the election results even came in,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California said. “It was intentional, it was premeditated, it was not based on election results or any evidence of actual fraud affecting the results or any actual problems with voting machines. It was a plan concocted in advance to convince his supporters that he won.” The committee featured text messages from a rally organizer who wrote days ahead of the Jan. 6 attack that “POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol,” explaining that the president would call for the move “unexpectedly.” Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida said the text messages, along with the “pressure campaign” against state officials, the Department of Justice and the vice president, which were featured in previous hearings, demonstrate “President Trump’s personal and substantial role in the plot to overturn the election. “He was intimately involved,” Murphy said. “He was the central player.” Cheney concurred, saying, “The vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us the central cause of Jan. 6 was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed.”“None of this would have happened without him,” she said. “He was personally and substantially involved in all of it.” The panel, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, acknowledged that some have criticized the committee of being partisan, including Trump himself, who regularly refers to the select committee as the “unselect committee” of “political hacks and thugs,” accusing it of launching a “witch hunt” against him. But committee members noted that the mountain of evidence they have gathered over more than 15 months has primarily been from Republicans – from Trump aides to state officials to legislators, electors and Trump’s own family. “This investigation is not about politics,” Thompson said. “It’s about the facts, plain and simple, and it’s about making sure our government functions under the rule of law, as our Constitution demands.” Even so, Thursday’s hearing came just weeks ahead of the midterms, painting Trump, and members who supported him within the GOP, as a threat to democracy. That threat, as an issue, hasn’t shaped up to be as big in the midterms as others, like inflation. But the public’s attitude toward the issue seemed to take a turn this summer, multiple polls revealed, as voters became more worried amid the Jan. 6 committee’s string of hearings this summer and as an investigation into Trump’s handling of government records was brought to the public’s attention. The panel is looking to release a report after the midterm elections. But a preliminary report or the release of specific findings is apparently not out of the question in the interim, while some committee members have expressed interest in holding another hearing later this year to present their findings to Congress. Whether the select committee’s final report will include a criminal referral related to Trump’s conduct remains to be seen. Cheney said on Thursday that the committee has “significant information” to consider criminal referrals for “multiple individuals” while recommending a number of legislative proposals “to guard against another Jan. 6.” But the subpoena on Thursday marked the committee’s boldest move to date. With a congressional subpoena, the former president would be required to sit before lawmakers for an interview, like hundreds of others who have come before the committee since it began its investigation. A small portion have not cooperated with subpoenas, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for the move in July. Trump balked at the subpoena in a post on his social media account Thursday, asking why the committee didn’t ask him to testify sooner. And he stopped short of offering his cooperation. “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” Trump wrote. “Because the Committee is a total ‘BUST’ that has only served to further divide our Country which, by the way, is doing very badly – A laughing stock all over the World?” A group of Republican lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, have also been subpoenaed and have refused to cooperate. It remains unclear whether the committee will enforce those subpoenas. Thompson told reporters on Thursday that the committee has no plans to subpoena former Vice President Mike Pence. Among the new material introduced on Thursday was also footage of lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, during the attack on the Capitol. The lawmakers could be heard trying to coordinate law enforcement from surrounding jurisdictions to secure the Capitol. “Congressional leadership recognized on a bipartisan basis that President Trump was the only person who could get the mob to end its violent siege of the Congress, leave the Capitol and go home,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said, detailing how Trump “did nothing to stop the deadly violence” on Jan. 6. New evidence about the Secret Service’s advanced knowledge of the threat of violence on Jan. 6 was also introduced in Thursday’s session. Through its series of hearings beginning in June, the select committee featured prominently an effort to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results, along with putting pressure on the Justice Department, state election officials and ballot counters, a plan to create fraudulent electoral slates in states and ultimately an endeavor to spread falsehoods about the 2020 election and summon a mob to Washington. At the center of it all, the committee has argued, is Trump. Thursday’s hearing struck a different tone – without live testimony from witnesses, instead filled by presentations from each committee member as they covered most every topic they’d introduced since the hearings began, and a resounding unanimous vote from the panel capped the public side of its investigation with a bang. But an undercurrent of Trump’s remaining influence was difficult to deny Thursday, as Cheney conducted the hearing for the first time as a lame-duck lawmaker after losing her primary earlier this year. Cheney and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the only two Republicans on the panel, have condemned Trump’s actions and voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6 attack. Neither will return to the chamber next year. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Trump, Shows Startling New Details https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-panel-subpoenas-trump-shows-startling-new-details/ Breaking News 1 of 13 A video of then-President Donald Trump speaking is displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is left. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is left, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., is right. U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, left, and Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges listen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., left, with fellow House select committee members investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol arrives for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. From left, Murphy, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn arrives as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., listen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., talk as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. FILE – Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump breach the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., left, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., second from left, and the rest of the House select committee members investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol arrive for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., with fellow House select committee members investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol arrives for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. FILE – Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., on Oct. 8, 2022. New York’s attorney general has asked a judge Thursday, Oct. 13, to bar the Trump Organization from selling or transferring assets without court approval while a legal battle plays out over her fraud allegations against the former president’s company. A video of then-President Donald Trump speaking is displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. 1 of 13 A video of then-President Donald Trump speaking is displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is left. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is left, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., is right. U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, left, and Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges listen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., left, with fellow House select committee members investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol arrives for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. From left, Murphy, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn arrives as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., listen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., talk as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. FILE – Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump breach the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., left, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., second from left, and the rest of the House select committee members investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol arrive for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., with fellow House select committee members investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol arrives for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. FILE – Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., on Oct. 8, 2022. New York’s attorney general has asked a judge Thursday, Oct. 13, to bar the Trump Organization from selling or transferring assets without court approval while a legal battle plays out over her fraud allegations against the former president’s company. A video of then-President Donald Trump speaking is displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Sign up for e-news Choose from the CJN’s informative e-newsletters. Submit your news We’re always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what’s going on! Read More Here

Jan. 6 Panel Scrutinizes Trump’s Post-Election Military Orders https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-panel-scrutinizes-trumps-post-election-military-orders/ President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to rapidly pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia in the immediate aftermath of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, alarming senior aides who feared doing so would have “catastrophic” consequences, according to congressional testimony aired Thursday. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R.-Ill.) cited Trump’s order during a House select committee hearing scrutinizing the former president’s actions and directives ahead of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It was evidence, the congressman said, that Trump knew his days in office were numbered as he sought to overturn Biden’s election win and “rushed” to complete “unfinished business” despite the national security implications. “He disregarded concerns about the consequences for fragile governments on the front lines of the fight against [the Islamic State] and al-Qaeda terrorists,” Kinzinger said. “Knowing he was leaving office, he acted immediately and signed this order on November 11th, which would have required the immediate withdrawal of troops from Somalia and Afghanistan, all to be complete before the Biden inauguration on January 20th.” Trump’s withdrawal order was reported previously by Axios and in the book “Peril,” by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. As part of Thursday’s hearing, the committee played video and audio segments of the testimony provided over the past several months by key officials, including Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence; and John McEntee, an adviser to Trump. The Afghanistan plan was set aside ultimately. Milley called the order “odd” and “potentially dangerous,” telling the committee he did not think it was feasible or wise. Kellogg said that the proposition was “very contested,” and that carrying it out would have been a “tremendous disservice to nation.” “It’s the same thing with President Biden,” Kellogg said, comparing the situation to the chaotic and deadly withdrawal carried out at Biden’s direction in August 2021. “It would have been a debacle.” McEntee recalled typing up the order to withdraw from Afghanistan and securing Trump’s signature on it. He did not offer an assessment similar to Milley’s and Kellogg’s in testimony aired Thursday. Their comments add to public understanding of key military moves that bridge the two presidencies, and the often erratic nature of deliberations under Trump. The Trump administration, in February 2020, signed a deal with the Taliban agreeing to remove all U.S. troops by spring 2021. It included a handful of concessions, including that the Taliban would hold fire against U.S. troops as they departed. The Afghan government was cut out of those discussions. Trump later undermined that agreement, tweeting in October of that year that all U.S. troops should be “home by Christmas!” Then-Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper sent Trump a memo advising the president that ongoing Taliban attacks, potential danger for remaining U.S. personnel and risks to U.S. alliances made that timeline untenable. Trump fired Esper on Nov. 9, one day after the election loss, installing loyalists at the Pentagon at a moment when administrations typically seek a smooth transition on issues of national security. Biden decided in April 2021 to follow through with the Afghanistan withdrawal, prompting the collapse of the country’s government four months later. Biden administration officials blamed Trump, saying his deal with the Taliban left few alternatives, while former Trump administration officials sought to distance themselves from the agreement by arguing it was meant to be implemented only if the conditions warranted. Trump has criticized Biden for the haphazard exit, calling it a “humiliation” and “total surrender,” and claiming it would not have happened on his watch. “We could have gotten out with honor,” Trump said at a rally last year. “We should have gotten out with honor. And instead we got out with the exact opposite of honor.” Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official who has become a frequent critic, tweeted Thursday that as “someone who remains highly critical of Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal,” she’d be curious to hear how Trump supporters defend “Trump’s order for an even hastier withdrawal.” As someone who remains highly critical of Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, I’d be curious to hear defense’s on the Right of Trump’s order for an even hastier withdrawal. https://t.co/suCXr4d72o — Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) October 13, 2022 Under Trump’s direction, hundreds of U.S. troops were withdrawn from Somalia in the waning weeks of his administration. Some were redeployed to nearby Kenya while continuing to visit Somalia to advise local troops battling al-Qaeda-affiliated militants. In May, Biden reversed Trump’s Somalia order, deploying hundreds of U.S. troops there. Pentagon officials sought presidential approval to do so, advising that it was becoming increasingly unsustainable to only appear on the ground episodically to carry out operations. The Pentagon has carried out a handful of airstrikes in Somalia since then. Read More Here

Police: After A Week Of Searching, Missing Savannah Toddler Presumed Dead; Mother Prime Suspect https://digitalalaskanews.com/police-after-a-week-of-searching-missing-savannah-toddler-presumed-dead-mother-prime-suspect-2/ Update 1:10 p.m.: Chatham County Police and the FBI held a press conference on where the case stands now. Watch it in full below.Authorities continue to believe Quinton is deceased. The search for him is ongoing. To date, no charges have been filed.Update 10 a.m.: Police have announced a 1 p.m. press conference. Check back to watch it live.Initial report: On Wednesday night, more than a week after 20-month-old Savannah toddler Quinton Simon disappeared from his home, police issued an update in the investigation.They, along with the FBI, informed the family that the child is presumed dead.Additionally, Quinton’s mother, Leilani Simon, is the prime suspect in the case.No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed.Additional information is due to be released sometime Thursday. Below video: Search for missing Savannah toddler continues a week after Quinton Simon was last seen The child was last seen around 6 a.m. October 5. He was reported missing about three hours later.The Chatham County Police Department is leading the investigation, with help from several other law enforcement agencies including dozens of FBI agents and personnel. On Tuesday, police said they seized evidence they believe will lead to closure in the case. It was not specified what that evidence was, nor did police speak to the media following the statement. TRENDING STORIESTimeline: The Search for Missing Savannah Toddler Quinton SimonAfter a week of searching, police say Savannah toddler presumed dead, mother prime suspect’American Idol’ runner up, Georgia native Willie Spence dead at the age of 23Below video: Police analyzing new evidence found in Quinton Simon missing toddler case in SavannahA dispatch call obtained by WJCL sheds some light on what authorities were told the morning of Quinton’s disappearance.”Complainant advised her 1-year-old son is missing,” the dispatcher is heard saying. “She woke up, her door was open. Advised he’s unable to open a door. Thinks someone came in and took him.” Earlier this week, Chatham Fire was called out to the home to begin pumping the backyard pool. It’s unclear if they found any clues. Below file video: Chatham County police chief gives Monday update in search for toddler Quinton SimonCourt documents obtained by WJCL show that the family was at odds before Quinton’s disappearance.The documents show that Billie Jo Howell, Quinton’s grandmother, attempted to remove the child’s mother, Leilani, and her boyfriend, Daniel Youngkin, from the home.Billie Jo, Leilani’s mother, said in the document “They have damaged my property and at this point no one is living in peace.”She added that she wanted Leilani and Daniel out “as soon as possible.” Documents also show that Quinton’s grandparents, Billie Jo and her husband, are the ones who have custody of Quinton and his 3-year-old brother. Below video: Hear from Quinton’s grandparents”She hasn’t always done the right thing,” Billie Jo said of her daughter on Thursday. “Sometimes she does really great, sometimes she doesn’t. I don’t know what to think right now. I don’t know what to believe, because I don’t think anybody ever believes this is going to happen to them. I don’t know if I can trust her or I don’t. I just know I’m hurting and I want this baby home. He’s my baby.” Police say a search has been conducted of the home, the backyard pool and a nearby pond.A tipline has been established for information regarding the case: 912-667-3134. Below video: Initial coverage of disappearance Update 1:10 p.m.:Chatham County Police and the FBI held a press conference on where the case stands now. Watch it in full below. Authorities continue to believe Quinton is deceased. The search for him is ongoing. To date, no charges have been filed. Update 10 a.m.: Police have announced a 1 p.m. press conference. Check back to watch it live. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. We will have a 1 pm press briefing for credentialed media. — Chatham County Police Department (@ChathamCountyPD) October 13, 2022 Initial report: On Wednesday night, more than a week after 20-month-old Savannah toddler Quinton Simon disappeared from his home, police issued an update in the investigation. They, along with the FBI, informed the family that the child is presumed dead. Additionally, Quinton’s mother, Leilani Simon, is the prime suspect in the case. No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed. Additional information is due to be released sometime Thursday. Below video: Search for missing Savannah toddler continues a week after Quinton Simon was last seen The child was last seen around 6 a.m. October 5. He was reported missing about three hours later. The Chatham County Police Department is leading the investigation, with help from several other law enforcement agencies including dozens of FBI agents and personnel. On Tuesday, police said they seized evidence they believe will lead to closure in the case. It was not specified what that evidence was, nor did police speak to the media following the statement. TRENDING STORIES Timeline: The Search for Missing Savannah Toddler Quinton Simon After a week of searching, police say Savannah toddler presumed dead, mother prime suspect ‘American Idol’ runner up, Georgia native Willie Spence dead at the age of 23 Below video: Police analyzing new evidence found in Quinton Simon missing toddler case in Savannah A dispatch call obtained by WJCL sheds some light on what authorities were told the morning of Quinton’s disappearance. “Complainant advised her 1-year-old son is missing,” the dispatcher is heard saying. “She woke up, her door was open. Advised he’s unable to open a door. Thinks someone came in and took him.” Earlier this week, Chatham Fire was called out to the home to begin pumping the backyard pool. It’s unclear if they found any clues. Below file video: Chatham County police chief gives Monday update in search for toddler Quinton Simon Court documents obtained by WJCL show that the family was at odds before Quinton’s disappearance. The documents show that Billie Jo Howell, Quinton’s grandmother, attempted to remove the child’s mother, Leilani, and her boyfriend, Daniel Youngkin, from the home. Billie Jo, Leilani’s mother, said in the document “They have damaged my property and at this point no one is living in peace.” She added that she wanted Leilani and Daniel out “as soon as possible.” Documents also show that Quinton’s grandparents, Billie Jo and her husband, are the ones who have custody of Quinton and his 3-year-old brother. Below video: Hear from Quinton’s grandparents “She hasn’t always done the right thing,” Billie Jo said of her daughter on Thursday. “Sometimes she does really great, sometimes she doesn’t. I don’t know what to think right now. I don’t know what to believe, because I don’t think anybody ever believes this is going to happen to them. I don’t know if I can trust her or I don’t. I just know I’m hurting and I want this baby home. He’s my baby.” Police say a search has been conducted of the home, the backyard pool and a nearby pond. A tipline has been established for information regarding the case: 912-667-3134. Below video: Initial coverage of disappearance Read More Here

U.S. Grocer Kroger In Talks To Merge With Rival Albertsons -Sources https://digitalalaskanews.com/u-s-grocer-kroger-in-talks-to-merge-with-rival-albertsons-sources/ Oct 13 (Reuters) – U.S. grocery company Kroger Co (KR.N) is in talks to merge with smaller rival Albertsons Companies Inc (ACI.N) in a tie-up that would create a supermarket titan, people familiar with the matter said. The merger of the nation’s No. 1 and 2 standalone grocers, if reached, could provide the retailers with a leg up in negotiations with consumer-product makers such as Procter & Gamble (PG.N) and Unilever (ULVR.L) at a time of steep price hikes. A deal could be announced as soon as this week if the talks do not fall apart, said the sources, who requested anonymity as the discussions are confidential. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Major consumer products companies across the world have announced plans to boost prices at a faster pace as they seek to curb the impact of soaring raw materials costs on their margins. Some critics noted that a supermarket merger would lessen competition among U.S. grocery chains and potentially lead to higher prices for American shoppers. A deal would create a combined company with a market valuation of about $47 billion, representing one of the biggest mergers in recent years in the retail space. Neither Kroger nor Albertsons immediately responded to requests for comment. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. Consultant Burt Flickinger, who holds shares of both Kroger and Albertsons, said a merger would give the two supermarket operators more buying power, making it easier for them to compete with Walmart Inc (WMT.N). Groceries constitute roughly 55% of Walmart’s annual sales. Walmart traditionally has used its clout to demand the lowest possible prices from packaged-food and beverage companies, leaving rivals at a disadvantage in their own negotiations with suppliers. Roughly 25% of all dollars spent on groceries in the United States are spent at Walmart, according to data provided by Euromonitor. Kroger and Albertsons have roughly 8% and 5% of the U.S. grocery market, respectively, according to Euromonitor. COMPETING POWER The specter of Amazon may have contributed to the merger talks as well. Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimated the online retailer has taken about $4 billion in market share from Kroger and Albertsons in the past two years — small relative to an $800 billion grocery market but a threat nonetheless. “Amazon scares the bejeezus out of the conventional retailers,” he said. The Seattle-based technology company is betting that the cashierless and contactless payment systems it is adding to stores, including at its subsidiary Whole Foods Market, will win it customers in the long run. Shares of Albertsons were up 11% on Thursday afternoon, while Kroger’s stock slipped 1.4%. Shares of British online supermarket and technology group Ocado Group Plc (OCDO.L) were up over 10% in late London trade. Kroger is Ocado’s biggest client. Kroger houses supermarket chains such as Fred Meyer, Ralphs and King Soopers. Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons includes the Safeway banner. The razor-thin margins of standalone U.S. supermarket chains have been squeezed from soaring costs and supply-chain disruptions after a boom at the height of the pandemic. Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly nonprofit, said the deal would “squeeze consumers already struggling to afford food.” “This merger is a cut and dried case of monopoly power, and enforcers should block it,” Miller said. A deal could be reached as soon as this week, Bloomberg reported, adding that no final decision has been taken and talks could still be delayed or falter. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Anirban Sen and Abigail Summerville in New York; Additional reporting by Siddarth Cavale, Jessica DiNapoli and Arriana McLymore in New York, Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Matthew Lewis and Nick Zieminski Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

ARENA STAGE https://digitalalaskanews.com/arena-stage/ 20 THEATERS AND UNIVERSITIES NATIONWIDE WILL STAGE ONE-NIGHT READINGS OF “MY BODY NO CHOICE“ A RANGE OF ARENA ALUMS JOIN ARENA’S IMPRESSIVE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM , /PRNewswire/ — Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater today announced that Molly Smith’s final directorial venture before she steps down as Artistic Director—My Body No Choice—is going national. Hear from some of the “My Body No Choice” playwrights on why it is so important to tell these stories. Twenty (20) theaters and universities from across the United States, from Michigan to Montana, and from Hawai’i to New York, will stage their own readings of the eight, female-authored monologues around bodily autonomy and choice commissioned by the storied Washington, D.C., theater. Several local theater luminaries comprise the cast and creative team for the Arena Stage production, also announced today. My Body No Choice is Smith‘s response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in July 2022. “I knew I had to make a theater piece in response to this horrifying decision,” said Smith. “It’s my final production as Arena’s Artistic Director, and setting it in a consciousness-raising space like women had in living rooms in the ’70s felt like the absolute right action to take. We all need to raise our consciousness together. “I hope that by experiencing the artists bringing these powerful monologues around choice to full fruition, the audience will be empowered to talk about their own difficult choices. These include the choice to have (or not have) an abortion, the right to choose one’s body size, and the right to make a decision around when to end one’s life. Far too often, these are the stories women are afraid and ashamed to share, and with the Supreme Court’s recent decision, it’s time for women to lose that fear. “As we worked on the production, I kept wondering what more we could do to help women tell their stories,” continued Smith. “So with the support of the writers, we started reaching out to theaters and universities across America, asking if they’d like to host their own readings of the play between October 21 and November 6. I was thrilled when the writers generously agreed to forgo their royalties during this time, so that the production is as accessible as possible.” A list of current participants in the nationwide readings of My Body No Choice is below, as is the full cast and creative team for the Arena Stage production. My Body No Choice will run for just 18 performances in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle, from October 20 through November 6, in the run-up to the mid-term elections. Press night will be held on Thursday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m. All tickets are priced at $18. General admission tickets are available now at arenastage.org/mybody. As an important part of this production, Arena Stage also invites all women, trans, and non-binary individuals from all over the United States to share their stories about choices and their bodies, in videos of up to 2 minutes in length. Up to 18 videos will be showcased on Arena Stage’s digital media properties, extending the experience of My Body No Choice long after the lights have come down and the run has ended. Learn more and submit your story at arenastage.org/mybody. The short stories are both fiction and non-fiction written by Lee Cataluna (Home of the Brave, Heart Strings), Fatima Dyfan (Woolly Mammoth Theatre New Work Fellow, Georgetown University’s for colored girls…), Lisa Loomer (Roe, Living Out), Dael Orlandersmith (Yellowman, Stoop Stories), Sarah Ruhl (Passion Play; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play), Mary Hall Surface (Perseus Bayou, The 51st State), V (formerly Eve Ensler) (The Vagina Monologues, In the Body of the World) and “Anonymous.” Returning to Arena Stage are cast members Shanara Gabrielle (Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise, Junk), Joy Jones (August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, Jubilee) and Jennifer Mendenhall (Legacy of Light, Pygmalion). Joining the cast in their Arena Stage debuts are Tony Award nominee Felicia P. Fields (Broadway’s The Color Purple), Tori Gomez (NextStop Theatre Company’s Little Women), Toni Rae Salmi (Hub Theatre’s American Spies and Other Homegrown Fables), Deidre Staples (Studio Theatre’s John Proctor is the Villain), and Dani Stoller (Olney Theatre’s The Joy That Carries You). The creative team for My Body No Choice also includes Lighting Designer Catherine Girardi, Sound Designer Megumi Katayama, Casting Director Joseph Pinzon, Rehearsal Stage Manager Karen Currie, and Stage Manager Rachael Danielle Albert. CAST BIOGRAPHIES (In alphabetical order) Felicia P. Fields (Dael Orlandersmith’s Monologue) is an acclaimed actress, singer, performer, and creator whose career spans a plethora of credits from theaters around the globe, including the Goodman Theatre’s Crowns, Blues in the Night, Intimate Apparel, The Rose Tattoo, The Amen Corner, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, as well as A Christmas Carol at the first African American female to play The Ghost of Christmas Present. She has performed in Hairspray and the first cycle of the tour of Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Other credits include Nunsense, Sunset Boulevard, Swinging on a Star, Some Like It Hot, Richard II, It Ain’t Nothing But the Blues, Low Down Dirty Blues, A Civil War Christmas, Hot Mikado, Show Boat, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Dreamgirls, Little Shop of Horrors, Seven Guitars, and Hello, Dolly!. Ms. Fields earned a Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of Sofia in The Color Purple on Broadway and the first national tour. Her performance also earned her a 2006 Theatre World Award, a Clarence Derwent Award, two Broadway.com awards, an NAACP nomination, and a Denver Post Ovation Award. She has received a Black Theatre Alliance Award and nominations, many Jeff Award nominations, and the Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Sophisticated Ladies. Shanara Gabrielle (Mary Hall Surface’s Monologue) is happy to be back working on this project that falls at the heart of her passion for art and activism. At Arena Stage, she has served as Artistic Associate, Associate Director on Enlightenment and Dear Jack, Dear Louise, and has appeared on stage in Junk, and numerous workshops. In DC, Shanara’s worked as an actor and director at Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre, Imagination Stage, Solas Nua, Taffety Punk, and more, as well as produced Working In DC with AFL-CIO on BLM Plaza. Across the country, Shanara appeared at Guthrie Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, St. Louis Rep, and many more. Webster Conservatory B.F.A., proud recipient of Princess Grace Foundation Award, and union member of AEA, SDC, SAG-AFTRA. Instagram: @shanaragabrielle www.shanaragabrielle.com Tori Gomez (Lisa Loomer’s Monologue) is excited to be making her Arena Stage debut in My Body No Choice! She is a junior musical theatre major at The Catholic University of America. Most recent credits include Amy in Little Women (NextStop Theatre Company), Eve in Children of Eden (Catholic University), and Laertes in Hamlet (Catholic University). Tori would like to thank her friends, family, and teachers for all the love and support they’ve shown her in her life and career. She is honored to be a part of such an important project, and hopes you enjoy the show! Instagram: @tori.gom Joy Jones (“Anonymous” Monologue) has previously been seen in Arena Stage’s Seven Guitars, Jubilee, A Raisin in the Sun, and Mary T & Lizzy K. Other DC-area credits include The Upstairs Department (Signature Theatre) and The Hard Problem, Cloud 9, Belleville, and Invisible Man (Studio Theatre). Off-Broadway, she appeared in workshops at The Public and Playwrights Horizons. Her selected regional credits include Disgraced (Virginia Stage), Invisible Man (Huntington Theatre), Ruined and Tantalus (Denver Center), The Champion (TheatreSquared), and Pericles (PlayMakers Repertory). Her recent TV appearances are We Own This City, Blue Bloods, and Monsterland. Joy has an Acting MFA from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Ensemble for Invisible Man (Studio Theatre). Her film Dream Flight is in pre-production. Instagram: @joyjonesig thejoyjones.com Jennifer Mendenhall (Sarah Ruhl’s Monologue) is a long time DC theater artist and a Woolly Mammoth company member since 1987. She has appeared at Round House Theatre, Mosaic Theater, Scena Theatre, Forum Theatre, Theater J, Studio Theatre, Theater Alliance, Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, Humana Festival, Florida Stage, among others. #poolparty, her play about the history of discrimination in swimming pools, and a family denied membership at a community pool, was produced by Ally Theatre in 2018. As audio book narrator Kate Reading, she has recorded hundreds of books of all genres. Her awards include Helen Hayes, Theatre Lobby, Audie, Earphone, Publishers Weekly, American Library Association. www.katereadingaudiobooks.com  Toni Rae Salmi (Lee Cataluna’s Monologue) is making her Arena Stage debut. DC credits include American Spies and Other Homegrown Fables (Hub Theatre), Perfect Arrangement (Source Theatre Festival), The Spitfire Grill (Theater Alliance), The Tempest (Taffety Punk Theatre Company), and Junie B. Jones and A Little Monkey Business (Imagination Stage, Helen Hayes Award nomination). Directing credits include David Henry Hwang’s Bondage and Use All Available Doors by Tristan Willis (Pinky Swear Productions), and Measure for Measure (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company). Toni Rae has also worked with The Kennedy Center, Baltimore Center Stage, and Avant Bard Theatre. For Marci who chose to give me life, and Nora who chose to give me love. Deidre Staples (Fatima Dyfan’s Monologue) is excited to make her Arena Stage debut. She last appeared as Nell Shaw in John Proctor is the Villain at Studio Theatre. Selected acting credits include: Daphne’s Dive at Signatu...

North Korea Flies Warplanes Near Border And Tests Another Ballistic Missile https://digitalalaskanews.com/north-korea-flies-warplanes-near-border-and-tests-another-ballistic-missile/ North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the politburo of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, January 19, 2022 in this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) January 20, 2022. KCNA | via Reuters WASHINGTON — South Korea’s military said it detected a North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch, the latest in a series of tests by the nuclear-armed country that have raised tensions with its neighbors in Asia and in the U.S. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said North Korean warplanes flew near their shared border, prompting Seoul to scramble F-35 fighter jets. The 10 aircraft from the North flew as close as 7 miles from the inter-Korean border, according to South Korea’s military. It marks the second time in the past week that North Korea flew military aircraft near the border. Last Thursday, Pyongyang flew 12 fighter jets and bombers close to the border. The Pentagon said it was aware of the latest North Korean ballistic missile launch and that it would continue monitoring the situation. “We have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies,” the U.S. Indopacific Command, the combatant command that oversees the region, said in a statement. “The U.S. commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad,” the command added. The State Department condemned the latest ballistic missile launch and cited that any tests conducted by North Korea are in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions. “We continue to seek serious and sustained dialogue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but the DPRK refuses to engage,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement. Thursday’s test comes less than one day after North Korea said it test-fired a long-range cruise missile. Pyongyang also carried out missile launches on Oct. 3 and Oct. 5. The Oct. 3 test, the first in five years to fly over Japan, was answered with a volley of U.S. and South Korean missiles. The Pentagon said that the four missiles were launched into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. Read more: North Korea fires a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, South Korea says Under Kim Jong Un, the reclusive state has provoked the ire of world leaders by conducting its most powerful nuclear test, launching its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missile and threatening to send missiles into the waters near the U.S. territory of Guam. Since 2011, Kim has launched more than 100 missiles and conducted four nuclear weapons tests, which is more than what his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, launched over a period of 27 years. So far this year, North Korea has fired more than 35 ballistic missile tests. Read More Here

Analysis | The Case Against Donald Trump https://digitalalaskanews.com/analysis-the-case-against-donald-trump/ The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol concluded what is expected to be the last of its public hearings on Thursday by unspooling the evidence it had gathered. There was no more mystery about its conclusions than there would be when watching a prosecutor’s closing argument at a criminal trial: The riot was a function of the actions and decisions of the former president. “The vast weight of evidence presented so far,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the committee vice chair, said in an opening comment, “has shown us that the central cause of January 6th was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it.” What followed was a review of that evidence, a stitching together of hours of prior testimony and the injection of newly uncovered details as the committee has continued its work. It was, as the prior analogy would suggest, a prosecution of a case — and an effective one. Trump’s responsibility for the violence that unfolded that day can be viewed as an escalation over three periods of time: the months before the election on Nov. 3, 2020, the period from Election Day to Jan. 6, and the events of Jan. 6 itself. There’s no real beginning point for Trump’s unending claims that American elections are riddled with fraud. He made such claims about the very first election in which he participated, his loss at the 2016 Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). But we can point to a moment when the specific strain of allegation that defined his response to the 2020 election took root. In the spring of 2020, in the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, states moved to increase mail-in voting as part of an effort to limit in-person interactions. Trump opposed that change, having been on-record in the past that expanding access to voting would disadvantage his party. As is often the case with a spurious claim that Trump makes, the process of defending it causes him to entrench himself in his case. So, over the months that ensued, he and his team elevated numerous claims that mail ballots were suspect or vectors for fraud, despite the utter lack of evidence to that point. His campaign team appears to have been frustrated: mail-in ballots are a useful way to lock in votes well in advance of Election Day. In testimony aired during Thursday’s hearing, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien described trying to get Trump to embrace having his supporters vote by mail. But, he said, “the president’s mind was made up.” It’s likely that Trump’s original goal was nebulous, just to have space — as he had after that caucus in Iowa and after the 2016 presidential contest — to claim that he did better than people might have thought. But as the months passed and it became clear that Republicans were taking his skepticism to heart, a plan formed. Voting methodology had become partisan, so Democrats were voting earlier by mail and Republicans on Election Day in-person. Paradoxically, that meant that Democratic votes would often be counted later, since processing mail ballots is slower. And that meant that the earliest vote totals reported on Election Day would be very favorable to the incumbent. This was dubbed the “red mirage,” since, over the following hours and days, support for Joe Biden would slowly be added to totals and Trump’s lead would shrink or vanish. So Trump planned to simply announce victory shortly after polls closed, hoping to create a sense not that votes were being counted but that his victory was being unwound. Even before Election Day, Axios reported that this was Trump’s plan. Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale told the Jan. 6 committee that he’d heard rumblings along those lines as early as July. As Trump adviser Roger Stone put it in a comment captured by a team of documentary filmmakers: “The key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.” During Thursday’s hearing, the committee showed an email sent by right-wing activist Tom Fitton. It included a proposed script for Trump to use. It read, in part, “The ballots counted by the Election Day deadline show the American people have bestowed on me the great honor of reelection to President of the United States.” That was sent on Oct. 31, 2020. CBS News has confirmed that Oct. 31, 2020 was a key date in the pre-election maneuvers by Trump. Set off alarm with WH counsel and Herschmann, among others. I’ve seen texts from that night from some aides and they knew it was no joke; declaring victory was Trump’s plan. Period. — Robert Costa (@costareports) October 13, 2022 The rhythm here is clear. Trump was uninterested in waiting to see whether the American public wanted him to have a second term in office. Instead, he spent months tilling the soil of doubt by making unsupported claims that mail-in ballots would lead to fraud. Then, he and his allies developed a plan to take advantage of the resulting divide, using misleading early vote totals as a predicate for claiming victory. Meaning that anything that followed could and would be cast as theft. From the election to Jan. 6 The election was called on Nov. 7, 2020, as those slowly counted votes in Pennsylvania revealed that Biden had won a majority of electoral votes and would be president. That same day, Trump’s aides told him that it was over. Communications aide Jason Miller told the committee about a conversation he’d had with Trump that Saturday. “At some point, myself and a handful of other folks went over and sat down with the president and communicated that the odds of us prevailing and legal challenges were very small,” Miller testified. He was right. Over the following weeks there were other moments in which Trump was told that he would be leaving the White House in January. Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified that Meadows told her that Trump knew that he’d lost. “A lot of times he’ll tell me that he lost,” Hutchinson testified that she was told by Meadows, “but he” — that is, Trump — “wants to keep fighting it. He thinks that there might be enough to overturn the election, but he pretty much has acknowledged that he has lost.” Why would he want to keep fighting it? Simply, to preserve his power. He wanted to remain president and understood that preserving a sense among his supporters that he should be president, that he had won, was important to doing so. Just as it had been important for years that he deny other realities to give his base space to rise to his defense. Behind the scenes, he was even conveying to people that he had no intention of leaving the White House on Inauguration Day. Preserving the idea that victory was possible meant rapidly cobbling together detours as legal avenues to a second term were shut down. First, he and his team tried to halt that slow counting of votes in several states. When that failed, he and his attorneys tried to block the certification of the vote, the formal validation of the election results. He came closest in Michigan, where two Republican members of the certification board in the state’s largest county at first opposed certification, backing down only after facing public pressure. When that failed, attention turned to the finalization of the electoral votes that would be counted in Washington on Jan. 6. Trump’s allies put together a plan in which alternate slates of electors would meet on Dec. 14, the day electors cast their ballots, ostensibly in hopes that those slates would eventually be determined to be the legitimate ones. Republican Party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told the committee that she’d gotten a call from Trump and his attorney, John Eastman, asking that the Republican National Committee aid this effort. Eastman, she said, began to “talk about the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather these contingent electors in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing change the result of any of the states.” With that in their back pocket, Trump and his team tried to invalidate those valid electoral slates. He and his attorneys called state officials in Georgia to encourage the state to “find” enough votes that he would be declared the winner. That call is now a subject of an investigation in Fulton County, Ga. Hutchinson’s takeaway from it, according to her testimony: “That call was crazy.” Ultimately, the plan to reject Biden’s duly certified electors came down to that count on Jan. 6, as Trump was increasingly aware. The idea was that Republicans in the House and Senate would raise dubious questions about the submitted electors and send them back to states. Speaking to Justice Department officials in December, he encouraged them to simply declare that the election had been tainted by fraud — and then “leave the rest to me and the [Republican] Congressmen.” When the Justice Department leadership declined, Trump plotted to replace them. Another vector for blocking the electors was promoted in a memo written by Eastman. It suggested that Vice President Mike Pence could simply reject them out of hand. Trump seized on this idea, publicly pressuring Pence to do exactly that — despite the lack of evidence that this was viable. Even Eastman, the committee said on Thursday, admitted in an email on Jan. 6 that Trump had been advised this wasn’t feasible. On Dec. 11, 2020, the Supreme Court shut down Trump’s last major legal effort to block Biden’s election. When Trump learned of the decision, he was furious. Hutchinson and Meadows ran into him shortly afterward. “He said something to the effect of I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark,” Hutchinson testified. “This is embarrassing. Figure it out. We need to figure it out. I don’t want people to know that we lost.” A week later, Trum...

Jan. 6 Takeaways: Subpoena For Trump, Warnings For Democracy https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-takeaways-subpoena-for-trump-warnings-for-democracy/ WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee took the extraordinary action of subpoenaing former President Donald Trump on Thursday as it issued a stark warning in its final public hearing before the midterm election: The future of the nation’s democracy is at stake. The panel’s October hearing, just weeks ahead of the midterm election, focused on Trump’s state of mind on Jan. 6, 2021 as he egged on his supporters with false claims of election fraud, pushed to accompany them to the Capitol while lawmakers were counting the votes, and then did nothing for hours as the mob violently breached the building. The committee is set to shut down at the beginning of next year, and was making its final public arguments ahead of a report expected in December. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion,” said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel’s vice chairwoman and one of two Republicans on the nine-member committee. “And every American is entitled to those answers. So we can act now to protect our republic.” A SUBPOENA FOR TRUMP — BUT NOT PENCE A quote from a U.S. Secret Service briefing is displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jacquelyn Martin U.S. Secret Service reports from Jan. 6 are displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jacquelyn Martin Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/J. Scott Applewhite Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., look on. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/J. Scott Applewhite Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/J. Scott Applewhite PreviousNext The subpoena for Trump is a major escalation in the probe. After signaling for months that they may leave the former president alone, the unanimous 9-0 vote “for relevant documents and testimony, under oath” was definitive. The committee had long debated whether to seek testimony from or subpoena Trump or former Vice President Mike Pence. Neither has spoken directly to the committee. While Trump has been hostile to the probe both in court and in public, Pence’s lawyers had engaged with the panel for several months with no clear resolution. Still, several of Pence’s closest aides have complied with the investigation, with several of them providing great detail about his movements and state of mind as he resisted Trump’s pleas to somehow object to the certification of electoral votes that day and try to overturn their defeat. In contrast, the committee showed several clips of Trump allies refusing to answer questions before the panel. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said the committee was “able to nail down every salient detail in pretty much every element of the offense” except for certain details about what Trump was doing and saying as the insurrection unfolded. ‘CONSIDER WHETHER WE CAN SURVIVE’ The lesson of the committee’s investigation is that institutions only hold when people of good faith protect them without regard to political cost, Cheney said during the hearing. “Why would Americans assume that our Constitution and our institutions in our Republic are invulnerable to another attack? Why would we assume that those institutions will not falter next time?” Cheney asked. The warnings come as Trump is still refusing to acknowledge that he lost his reelection to Joe Biden and is considering another run in 2024 — and as many Republicans who deny Biden’s win are running in the midterm elections at all levels of government. Many states have replaced election officials who resisted Trump’s pressure campaign. “Any future president inclined to attempt what Donald Trump did in 2020 has now learned not to install people who could stand in the way,” said Cheney, who lost her own Republican primary this August. “Consider whether we can survive for another 246 years.” PELOSI AND SCHUMER, IN HIDING New video aired by the panel showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacting emotionally to the news that her colleagues were donning gas masks in the House chamber as rioters neared. She quickly went to work trying to reopen the Capitol. Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were seen in unidentified secure locations and talking to security officials. The footage included a conversation between Pelosi and Pence, who was also in a secure location, discussing their return to the session to finish certifying Biden’s victory. The footage was filmed by Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, according to two people familiar with the video who requested anonymity to discuss it. The two leaders are seen working to bring the National Guard to the Capitol amid an hourslong delay. At one point, Schumer said he was going to “call up the f’n secretary of DOD,” referring to the Defense Department. “We have some senators who are still in their hideaways,” Schumer said on the phone. “They need massive personnel now.” SECRET SERVICE REVELATIONS The committee has obtained more than 1.5 million pages of documents from the Secret Service in recent weeks. They revealed some of that information in the hearing, including an email from within the agency on Dec. 11, 2020, the day the Supreme Court rejected one of Trump’s attempts to undermine the vote. “Just fyi. POTUS is p—-d — breaking news —- Supreme Court denied his law suit. He is livid now,” one anonymous Secret Service email said. Other emails showed that the agency had ample warnings of violence in the weeks and days ahead of the insurrection. An alert received by the agency on Dec. 24 said multiple online users were targeting members of Congress and “instructing others to march into the chambers,” said California Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democratic member of the panel. CABINET OFFICIALS The committee showed prerecorded interviews with Cabinet members, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General William Barr and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who said they believed that once the legal avenues had been exhausted, that should have been the end of Trump’s effort to remain in power. Pompeo, who was interviewed by the panel since its last hearing in July, said in his videotaped testimony that he believed that once the Electoral College certified the vote, that was the end of the process for contesting the election. “We should all comply with the law at all times, to the best of our ability — every one of us,” Pompeo said. Chao, who is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, said she decided to resign after the insurrection because it was “impossible for me to continue given my personal values and my philosophy.” At the same time, Trump continued to push the false claims of fraud to his millions of supporters. “President Trump knew the truth. He heard what all his experts and senior staff was telling him,” said Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the committee’s other Republican. “His intent was plain: ignore the rule of law and stay in power.” CRIMINAL REFERRALS Cheney addressed one of the committee’s remaining questions at the beginning of the meeting, saying that the panel “may ultimately decide to make a series of criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.” Members of the panel have long suggested they may suggest charges for Trump or others based on their own evidence. While such a referral would not force any action, it would place political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland as the department has pursued its own investigations surrounding Jan. 6. And the committee has yet to share any transcripts from its more than 1,000 interviews. Still, “we recognize that our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution,” Cheney said. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Explainer-Does Trump Have To Comply With The Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena? https://digitalalaskanews.com/explainer-does-trump-have-to-comply-with-the-jan-6-committee-subpoena/ Trump is not likely to cooperate with the committee’s demand to provide documents and testimony under oath and in a posting on his Truth Social network dismissed the committee as “a laughing stock.” He has urged his associates not to cooperate with the probe and has argued that a former president has a right to keep conversations and material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege. Nevertheless, the subpoena will add to Trump’s growing list of legal woes. He already faces civil and criminal charges in New York regarding his business activities, federal and state investigations regarding the 2020 election, and a federal criminal investigation over his handling of government documents. IS IT A CRIME TO DEFY A CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENA? Yes. An 1857 law says failure to comply with a congressional subpoena for testimony or documents is punishable by one to 12 months imprisonment. First, the House of Representatives or the Senate must vote to hold a non-compliant witness in “contempt of Congress” and refer that person to the U.S. Justice Department for criminal prosecution. The Justice Department then decides whether to bring criminal charges. Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000 after being found guilty of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. He is due to be sentenced on Oct. 21. Another former Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, has also been charged with contempt of Congress and faces trial in November. Federal prosecutors have opted not to charge two other former Trump aides, Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, after the House voted to hold them in contempt. DOES HE HAVE OTHER OPTIONS? Trump could appear for a closed-door deposition but refuse to answer questions, invoking his right to avoid self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. According to Republican Representative Liz Cheney, more than 30 witnesses have taken that approach. Among them: former Trump national-security adviser Michael Flynn; political adviser Roger Stone; election lawyer John Eastman, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who pressed Trump to name him attorney general to help overturn the election. Alternatively, Trump could try to run out the clock. The Jan. 6 committee is expected to wrap up this year, and Republicans are expected to dissolve it in January if they win control of the House in the Nov. 8 midterm elections. That gives them only a few months to either secure Trump’s cooperation or conclude that he is stonewalling them and hold a contempt vote. The full House is not scheduled to convene until after the midterms. DOES CONGRESS HAVE OTHER OPTIONS? The Supreme Court said in 1821 that Congress has “inherent authority” to arrest and detain recalcitrant witnesses on its own, without the Justice Department’s help. But it has been almost a century since Congress used that power, known as inherent contempt. Senior Democratic lawmakers discussed invoking inherent contempt during Trump’s two impeachment trials, issuing daily fines instead of imprisoning witnesses. But they never followed through on that proposal. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Aurora Ellis) By Andy Sullivan Read More Here

Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Trump For Testimony On Capitol Attack https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-panel-subpoenas-trump-for-testimony-on-capitol-attack/ WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump for his testimony about the 2021 Capitol attack. The panel voted unanimously to compel the former president to appear. “We must seek the testimony under oath of January 6th’s central player,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair. Cheney adds: “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion. And every American is entitled to those answers.” Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients will get an 8.7% boost in their benefits in 2023, a … WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump for his testimony about the 2021 Capitol … Several Blair County school districts are not planning to join about three dozen others in Pennsylvvania in suing … TYRONE — Borough Council is considering whether to adopt a residential rental inspection and licensing program … Read More Here

Jan. 6 Committee Votes To Subpoena Former President Donald Trump https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-committee-votes-to-subpoena-former-president-donald-trump/ WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump. Members of the panel, which held what was expected to be its final hearing before the midterm elections Thursday, had previously said that they were still considering seeking an interview with Trump or former Vice President Mike Pence. Sources familiar with the committee’s plans told NBC News of the subpoena earlier Thursday. The panel’s chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee had an “obligation” to hear from Trump. “This is a question about accountability to the American people. He must be accountable. He is required to answer for his actions. He’s required to answer to those police officers who put their lives and bodies on the line to defend our democracy. He’s required to answer to those millions of Americans whose votes he wanted to throw out as part of his scheme to remain in power,” Thompson said, acknowledging the move as a “serious and extraordinary action.” The resolution to subpoena Trump passed with the support of all members, 9-0. The resolution was introduced by the panel’s vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who called Trump the riot’s “central player.” A source familiar with the committee’s plans told NBC News the panel plans to issue the subpoena in the coming days. The panel is on a tight timeframe — the subpoena will expire at the end of this congressional term, and Trump is likely to challenge it. The subpoena comes more than a year after the committee began investigating the insurrection and despite multiple members of Congress previously acknowledging that it was unlikely Trump would comply. Supporters of then-President Donald Trump storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Samuel Corum / Getty Images file Still, subpoenaing the former president had been under consideration for a while and has been an active topic of discussion among committee members. On his way to the hearing Thursday, Thompson told reporters the panel had not yet ruled out a subpoena for Trump. Thompson said at the beginning of Thursday’s hearing that the panel had convened as a formal committee business meeting, so that, in addition to presenting evidence, “We can potentially hold a committee vote on further investigative action based upon that evidence.” In its wide-ranging investigation, the panel has already conducted more than 1,000 interviews and depositions. It has also received hundreds of thousands of documents and some 100 subpoenas are known to have been issued. Thursday’s hearing once again placed Trump at the center of plans to overturn the election — which ultimately led to the bloodshed on Jan. 6, Cheney said in her opening statement. Then-President Trump speaks to supporters from the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021.Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images file “None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it,” she said. “Today, we will focus on President Trump’s state of mind, his intent, his motivations, and how he spurred others to do his bidding. And how another Jan. 6 could happen again if we do not take necessary action to prevent it.” Cheney also said that the committee “may ultimately decide to make a series of criminal referrals to the Department of Justice,” though she said that lawmakers “recognize that our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution.” Trump would not be the first former president subpoenaed by Congress. Several sitting and former presidents and vice presidents have also testified before congressional committees, including Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Gerald R. Ford. It’s unclear if the committee will seek to interview Pence, who blocked Trump’s effort on Jan. 6 to overturn the 2020 presidential election and who faced threats of being hanged that day. In August, Pence said during an event in New Hampshire that he would consider testifying before the House Jan. 6 committee if invited to appear, but he suggested he would need to sort out some constitutional questions before committing. “If ever any formal invitation were rendered to us, we’d give it due consideration,” he said. Thompson had previously suggested that Thursday would be the committee’s final hearing, but several of its members recently have said that might not be the case. When asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether there will be additional hearings, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said the investigation “has its own life, and we keep finding new information.” Haley Talbot Haley Talbot is an associate producer in the NBC News Washington bureau. Ali Vitali Ali Vitali is a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington. Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington. Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News. Read More Here

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