New York Seeks To Restrict Trump Asset Moves During Fraud Lawsuit
New York Seeks To Restrict Trump Asset Moves During Fraud Lawsuit https://digitalalaskanews.com/new-york-seeks-to-restrict-trump-asset-moves-during-fraud-lawsuit/
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Bloomberg
Oct 13, 2022
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Former President Donald Trump speaks during the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit in Washington, D.C., on July 26. On Thursday New York Attorney General Letitia James said Trump’s company should be barred from moving any significant assets without court approval while New York pursues a lawsuit over allegedly fraudulent asset valuations. Al Drago/Bloomberg
Former President Donald Trump’s company should be barred from moving any significant assets without court approval while New York pursues a lawsuit over allegedly fraudulent asset valuations, the state’s top law enforcement officer said.
A preliminary injunction should be issued to halt an “ongoing fraudulent scheme” at the Trump Organization and ensure the company has sufficient funds “to satisfy any disgorgement award” in the case, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday in a statement.
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Kamikaze Drones And Missiles Hit North And South Ukraine; Kremlin Denies Putin Discussed War 'settlement'
Kamikaze Drones And Missiles Hit North And South Ukraine; Kremlin Denies Putin Discussed War 'settlement' https://digitalalaskanews.com/kamikaze-drones-and-missiles-hit-north-and-south-ukraine-kremlin-denies-putin-discussed-war-settlement-2/
‘Putin has never been more isolated,’ Blinken says
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about US policy towards China during an event hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on May 26, 2022.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.N. General Assembly’s vote to condemn Moscow for its attempt to annex more areas of Ukraine shows that “the world has never been more united in its repudiation of Russia’s war.”
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has never been more isolated,” Blinken said at the State Department.
“The U.N. resolution is also a resounding affirmation of global support for everything that President Putin is actually trying to destroy. It’s about affirming the right of every nation, big and small, to have its sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity,” Blinken added.
— Amanda Macias
IAEA chief cites progress in establishing a safety and protection zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi shared a picture on Twitter of what he said was a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a bunker in Kyiv.
“We are making progress towards establishing a nuclear safety and protection zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” Grossi wrote in a tweet.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company, Energoatom, said that the nuclear power plant was running on diesel generators after a Russian rocket damaged part of the facility.
Later on Wednesday, Grossi said that power had been restored to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after a brief outage.
Grossi returned to Kyiv following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the week.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. Defense Secretary calls on Turkey and Hungary to sign documents to add Finland and Sweden to NATO alliance
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives for a two-day meeting of the alliance’s Defence Ministers at the NATO Headquarter in Brussels on October 12, 2022.
Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called on Hungary and Turkey to ratify Finland and Sweden’s membership to NATO.
Out of NATO’s 30 member countries, those two are the last holdouts to grant the Nordic nations membership. Slovakia was the latest NATO ally to sign ratification documents on Sept. 27.
In May, Finland and Sweden began the formal process of applying to NATO as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify the countries’ entry into the group.
In August, U.S. President Joe Biden signed ratification documents following a 95-1 Senate vote to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO.
— Amanda Macias
Russian war hawks were growing restless. Do Putin’s Ukraine attacks signal a change?
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin reviewing naval troops as he attends the main naval parade marking the Russian Navy Day, in St. Petersburg on July 31, 2022.
Olga Maltseva | AFP | Getty Images
As Russian rockets rained down on Ukrainian cities this week, one group of vocal Kremlin critics was delighted.
After weeks of military setbacks and domestic chaos culminated in the embarrassment of a bridge explosion in annexed Crimea, criticism from pro-war hawks and hard-liners in Moscow grew to a peak. The strikes Monday against civilians and critical infrastructure — as well as the appointment of a man known as “General Armageddon” to lead the campaign — offered a display of Russian might those critics could revel in.
But does the deadly barrage suggest a significant and sustained shift by the Russian military, or is the Kremlin likely to face renewed anger as the dust settles and the reality on the battlefield takes prominence once more?
Read more on NBC News.
— NBC NEWS
Ukraine opens criminal proceedings into Monday’s Russian missile strikes
Firefighters work at a site of an infrastructure object damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 10, 2022.
State Emergency Service Of Ukraine | via Reuters
Ukraine’s top prosecutor said his office had opened criminal proceedings into Monday’s Russian missile strikes across Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, speaking alongside International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan at The Hague, described the strikes as “a classic act of terror” by Russia.
Kostin said that Russian forces launched more than 112 missile strikes into Ukraine marking Moscow’s largest aerial offensive since the start of its invasion in late February.
Khan opened an ICC investigation in March following various reports of war crimes in Ukraine. Khan declined to say when his office would file its first case, adding that he would only move forward “when the evidence is sufficient.”
Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces deliberately attack civilians in Ukraine.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. has not had consular access to WNBA star Brittney Griner in over a month, State Department says
US’ Women’s National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, waits for the verdict inside a defendants’ cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022.
Evgenia Novozhenina | AFP | Getty Images
The U.S. State Department said that it has not had consular access to WNBA star Brittney Griner in over a month.
“Our most recent consular access with Brittney Griner was at the beginning of August,” State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed.
“We continue to impart on the Russian government the necessity of consistent and regular consular access to Brittney Griner but also to all of those Americans who are detained in Russia whether they are detained wrongfully as Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner or if that designation has not been made,” Price added.
A Russian court will hear Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession on Oct. 25. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted in August on accusations that she was smuggling vape cartridges with cannabis oil into Russia.
The 31-year-old, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage but testified that she accidentally packed them because she was in a rush.
The Biden administration has referred to her as “wrongfully detained” and has attempted to broker deals with the Kremlin for her release.
— Amanda Macias
Zelenskyy hails U.N. General Assembly vote condemning Russia’s attempt to annex parts of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the 143 nations in the General Assembly that voted to condemn Russia for its attempt to annex four more areas of Ukraine.
“The world had its say – Russia Federation’s attempt at annexation is worthless and will never be recognized by free nations,” Zelenskyy tweeted.
The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn Russia for its attempt to annex more areas of Ukraine. The final vote was marked as 143 in favor of the resolution, five nations against it and 35 abstentions.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson were part of Russia.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. citizen dies while fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region, State Department says
People walk through the damage caused to the central market in Sloviansk by a suspected missile attack, on July 6, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images
A U.S. citizen was recently killed while fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.
“We are in touch with the family and are providing all appropriate assistance. Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add,” the spokesperson added.
— Amanda Macias
Russian-installed official in Kherson asks for help to evacuate citizens
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks as separatist leader Vladimir Saldo of the Kherson region listens during a concert in support of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions at Red Square on September 30, 2022 in Moscow, Russia.
Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The Russian-installed governor of Kherson called for Russia to help evacuate citizens as fighting in the region intensifies.
Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram Thursday that Ukraine was targeting the region with missile strikes every day and asked the Russian authorities for help in transporting families to Russia. Saldo said that Ukraine’s strikes were a retaliation for Kherson voting in a referendum to join the Russian Federation.
“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a desire, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes … go to other regions. First of all, these are Crimea, the Rostov region, the Krasnodar Territory, the Stavropol Territory — our neighbors. Take out your children and yourself,” Saldo said on Telegram.
“Turning to the leadership of the country, I would like to ask you for help in organizing such work. We, residents of the Kherson region, of course, know that Russia does not abandon its own people, and Russia always lends a shoulder where it is difficult.”
Sham referendums were held in Kherson and three other Russian-occupied regions last month with a majority of people in those regions seen as voting to join Russia, although the votes were widely seen as fake and illegal.
Saldo said Ukraine’s forces were “retaliating” as a result of the vote...
Jan. 6 Meeting Updates: Panel Has information To Consider Criminal Referrals
Jan. 6 Meeting Updates: Panel Has “information” To Consider Criminal Referrals https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-meeting-updates-panel-has-information-to-consider-criminal-referrals/
The House Select Committee convenes a hearing to Investigate the January 6 attack on Oct. 13. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, said Thursday that the panel has information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals.
Driving the news: “We have sufficient information to consider criminal referrals … and recommend a range of legislative proposals to guard against another January 6,” Cheney said just before the committee voted to subpoena former President Trump.
The latest: The panel also played new materials from the Secret Service that underscores the agency’s advanced knowledge of the violence planned for that day.
“Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further,” one tip to the Secret Service from Dec. 26, 2020, said of the Proud Boys’ plan, per messages obtained and displayed by the panel.
“By the morning of Jan 6, It was clear that the Secret Service anticipated violence,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during Thursday’s meeting.
The Secret Service on Jan. 6 also received notice of online threats directed towards former Vice President Mike Pence.
A message at 10:39 a.m. on Jan. 6 said: “…alert at 1022 regarding the VP being a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing,” per a message displayed during the hearing.
Committee says Trump had premeditated victory plan
The panel during its Thursday hearing, the last televised meeting before the midterms, and perhaps ever, is highlighting evidence that former President Trump planned before the election to declare victory regardless of the actual results in November 2020.
“President Trump knew the truth,” but decided “unlawful effort to overturn the election,” Vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), said on Thursday.
“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 (D-Calif.) said on Thursday.
“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.”
Ex-officials testify Trump privately acknowledged election loss
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified to the committee that Trump was irate after the Supreme Court rejected a case challenging election results.
“I don’t want people to know we lost, this is embarrassing … I don’t want people to know that we lost,” Trump told Meadows, Hutchinson recalled.
An email from the Secret Service obtained by the committee also showed Trump’s increasing frustration over losing an elections case at the Supreme Court.
“Just fyi. POTUS is pissed – breaking news – Supreme Court denied his law suit. He is livid now…,” the email from Dec. 11, 2020 read.
Stephen K. Bannon, a former Trump campaign manager and White House adviser, per audio days before the election, said: “If Biden’s winning, Trump is gonna do some crazy shit.”
Footage from Danish documentary filmmakers shows Trump associate Roger Stone saying ahead of the election that Trump should declare victory while the result is “still up in the air.”
The footage also shows Stone saying, “F**k the voting, let’s get straight to the violence,” and, “it’s time to start smashing pumpkins if you know what I mean.”
The big picture: “The central cause of January 6 was one man: Donald Trump, who many others followed,” Cheney said on Thursday
“None of this would have happened without him, he was personally and substantially involved in all of it.”
Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), during opening remarks on Thursday, also said that the bulk of evidence used by the committee came from Republicans.
“When you look back at what has come out through this committee’s work, the most striking fact is that this evidence comes almost entirely from Republicans,” he said.
Committee warns about future threats in upcoming elections
Cheney issued a warning with a look toward November, the 2024 election and beyond: “Our institutions only hold when men and women of good faith make them hold, regardless of the political cost. We have no guarantee that these men and women will be in place next time.”
Go deeper:
Jan. 6 panel: Trump ordered large-scale U.S. troop withdrawals after election
What to know ahead of Thursday’s closing Jan. 6 hearing
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details.
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Plateau: Police Kill Suspected Kidnapper, Recover AK-47 Rifle https://digitalalaskanews.com/plateau-police-kill-suspected-kidnapper-recover-ak-47-rifle/
From Gyang Bere, Jos
Plateau State Police Command has killed a suspected kidnapper who barricaded a road leading to St. Augustine College Did, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Police Public Relations Officer PPRO DSP Alfred Alabo in a press statement on Thursday said the suspect was gun down after a fierce gun battle that inflicted gunshots Injuries on some of the fleeing suspects.
“The Plateau State Police Command is pleased to inform the general public that its efforts toward the fight against crime and criminality on the Plateau has continued to yield tremendous results.
“On 11/10/2022 at about 2010hrs while on routine patrol, Police Surveillance team alongside Crack team attached to ‘B’ Division Bukuru, Jos south LGA of the Command, sighted some unknown gunmen who criminally barricaded the road leading to St Augustine College Du, Jos South LGA.
“Upon sighting the Police, the suspects engaged them in a fierce gun battle but they were subdued by the superior fire power of the fearless police operatives who gun down one of the suspects while others fled with various degree injuries.”
He explained that exhibits recovered from the suspect include one AK47 rifle with breach number: AE 353550 and eight (8) rounds of 7.62 ×39mm live ammunition.
He said, “Efforts are on top gear to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang as investigation is still in progress.”
Commissioner of Police Plateau State Command, CP Bartholomew N. Onyeka appreciated the residents of the state for supporting the Command with timely information which has translated to laudable achievements in the State.
He assured residents of adequate security as the Command has amplified its security measures to improve peace across the State.
Read More Here
Body Of Missing Southeast Alaska Hunter Found https://digitalalaskanews.com/body-of-missing-southeast-alaska-hunter-found/
Body Of Missing Southeast Alaska Hunter Found
Sad news as a missing hunter’s body was found by U.S. Coast Guard rescue teams.
Here’s the Alaska State Troopers dispatch:
AK22106459
Location: Sitka
Type: SAR / Body Recovery
Dispatch Text:
On October 11, 2022, at 8:06 am, Alaska Wildlife Troopers were notified of a missing hunter near Lake Diana Southeast of Sitka. It was reported that on Oct. 10, Ryan Ruesch, age 47 of Fairbanks, became separated from his hunting partner and did not make it back to camp by nightfall. Alaska Wildlife Troopers contacted the U.S. Coast Guard sector Juneau for search assistance due to remoteness and steep terrain. The USCG launched a helicopter based out of Sitka and located the missing individual below a 300 foot cliff. Ruesch was recovered and transported to Sitka where paramedics pronounced him deceased. Next of kin has been notified.
Condolences to his loved ones.
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'POTUS Is Pissed': Trump Was Livid Supreme Court Rejected His Challenge To Election Results
'POTUS Is Pissed': Trump Was Livid Supreme Court Rejected His Challenge To Election Results https://digitalalaskanews.com/potus-is-pissed-trump-was-livid-supreme-court-rejected-his-challenge-to-election-results/
The Hill
These four countries sided with Russia in UN vote on Ukraine annexations
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted to condemn Russia’s annexation of four occupied areas of Ukraine amid the ongoing war, but four countries sided with Russia in the vote. Of the U.N.’s 193-member body, 143 voted in favor of the resolution criticizing Russia’s “illegal so-called referendums,” with 35 abstaining, according to an…
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The Hill
Ocasio-Cortez mocks Fox News contributor’s $28 Taco Bell lunch
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday evening mocked a Fox News contributor after he said high inflation made his lunch at Taco Bell total $28. “You want to know how bad inflation is?” said Scott Martin, who is also the chief investment officer at Kingsview Partners. “Yesterday, yes, I had a nice lunch at Taco…
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ABC News
Trump Organization continuing ‘fraudulent’ practices after lawsuit, says New York AG
New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a preliminary injunction as part of her $250 million civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump to stop what she says is his ongoing fraudulent conduct. On the same day last month that James filed the lawsuit accusing Trump, his three eldest children, and two corporate executives of “staggering” fraud that she claims “grossly inflated” Trump’s net worth, the Trump Organization quietly registered a new entity, Trump Organization II, according to a new court filing Thursday. Investigators suspect that Trump could move assets from his family real estate business to the new entity in an attempt to evade liability posed by the lawsuit, according to the attorney general’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
Associated Press
Trump angrily lashes out after his deposition is ordered
Former President Donald Trump angrily lashed out Wednesday, calling the nation’s legal system a “broken disgrace” after a judge ruled he must answer questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit lodged by a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s. The outburst late in the day came hours after U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan rejected a request by his lawyers to delay a deposition scheduled for Oct. 19. Kaplan is presiding over the case in which Carroll said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s.
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Associated Press
New debate drama emerges in race for Arizona governor
Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, blasted a Phoenix PBS affiliate Wednesday for scheduling an interview with her Democratic rival, Katie Hobbs, saying the move makes it easier for Hobbs to avoid a debate. A state commission that organizes political debates abruptly canceled a one-on-one interview with Lake that the PBS station was scheduled to broadcast Wednesday after learning of the station’s plans to interview Hobbs next week.
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Bloomberg
Trump Has 21 Days to Decide What Mar-a-Lago Records to Fight
(Bloomberg) — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has turned over the bulk of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to the former president’s legal team, starting a 21-day clock for Trump to decide — and officially declare — precisely which records he wants off-limits in a criminal probe.Most Read from BloombergCore US Inflation Rises to 40-Year High, Securing Big Fed HikeIntel Is Planning Thousands of Job Cuts in Face of PC SlumpHere’s How Weird Things Are Getting
Bloomberg
Trump Appeals Dismissal of His Vast Civil Suit Against Clinton
(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump is appealing the dismissal of his lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton, the Democratic party and dozens of others of conspiring undermine his single term in office.Most Read from BloombergHere’s How Weird Things Are Getting in the Housing MarketIntel Is Planning Thousands of Job Cuts in Face of PC SlumpUS Core Inflation Seen Returning to 40-Year High as Rents RiseA First Look at the Ritz-Carlton Superyacht: PhotosPutin Says All Infrastructure at Risk Afte
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Jay Chen campaign fires back after Rep. Michelle Steel sends out fliers depicting him as a communist
Amid the upcoming re-election for California’s 45th district, Democratic candidate Jay Chen fired back after GOP Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) distributed fliers that depicted Chen as a communist sympathizer. Last month, Steel’s campaign sent out red-baiting fliers to the Vietnamese American community in Orange County to highlight Chen’s support of the Confucius Institute, an education and cultural promotion organization backed by the People’s Republic of China. The flyers featured an altered image of Chen in a classroom holding Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto.”
The Hill
Here’s what the White House is expecting today’s Social Security COLA increase to be
The White House predicted that Americans on Social Security will see a $140 per month increase ahead of Thursday, when the Social Security Administration is expected to announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA). “Tomorrow, seniors and other Americans on Social Security are will learn precisely how much their monthly checks will increase – but…
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Jan. 6 Panel To Vote On Whether To Subpoena Trump -NBC News | Law-Order
Jan. 6 Panel To Vote On Whether To Subpoena Trump -NBC News | Law-Order https://digitalalaskanews.com/jan-6-panel-to-vote-on-whether-to-subpoena-trump-nbc-news-law-order/
Reuters | Washington DC | Updated: 13-10-2022 23:43 IST | Created: 13-10-2022 23:43 IST
The congressional panel investigating Donald Trump’s supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol plans to vote on Thursday on whether to subpoena the former president, NBC News reported, citing sources familiar with the committee’s plans.
The vote is planned for during the panel’s hearing, which began earlier on Thursday, NBC reporters said in a post on Twitter.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Opinion: A Dictator Took To Twitter Looking For His Friend Trump. Whos Going To Tell Him?
Opinion: A Dictator Took To Twitter Looking For His Friend Trump. Who’s Going To Tell Him? https://digitalalaskanews.com/opinion-a-dictator-took-to-twitter-looking-for-his-friend-trump-whos-going-to-tell-him/
A photo illustration shows a
A photo illustration shows a “Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump” message from Twitter in front of a mobile phone with the platform’s logo. (Photo: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A budding dictator has just signed up for Twitter and already is complaining about why he can’t tweet at one of his autocratic homeboys.
Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, joined the social media site Monday, and like many on the platform, he is tweeting out bullshit into the ether, with the intent to rile the people up.
For starters, Orbán’s bio describes him as “Freedom fighter, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Prime Minister of Hungary.”
I’ll give him three, and one more on a technicality, but I call foul on a key noun.
Orbán, who is in his fourth term, has been called “the ultimate twenty-first-century dictator.” He is a hero to the American right for providing a template on how to methodically flip a government from a democracy to one under singular rule.
When he spoke at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas back in August, he told the crowd: “Play by your own rules. … We must take back the institutions in Washington and in Brussels,” where the European Union is based.
That sort of language doesn’t translate to “freedom fighter.”
Nor does what he said in his fourth tweet this week, seeking to stir up an argument by asking about the account of former President Donald Trump. “After my first day on Twitter, there’s one question on my mind. Where is my good friend, @realDonaldTrump?” he asked.
David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, wrote in response, “While you look around for your friend, perhaps another friend to follow: the President of the United States, @POTUS… but as the Hungarian media might say: no pressure.”
Based on what I’ve read about the way Orbán treats Hungarian media, one imagines he prefers they not speak at all unless they’re serving as stenographers for his talking points.
But considering the racists, fascists and aspiring dictators Orbán follows — politicians like Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Jair Bolsonaro, as well as media figures like Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson — the nature of his inquiry is transparent, and it is very much intentional.
Still, his question further reignites the lingering issue of when Trump might be allowed back on Twitter to terrorize the masses — especially with the prospect of a change in ownership.
Twitter made the choice to permanently ban Trump after he used the platform to help stoke violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But billionaire Elon Musk has renewed his effort to buy the company and has already stated that he would reverse the decision were he in charge.
“Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved … for accounts that are bots, or spam/scam accounts,” Musk explained at FT Live’s Future of the Car conference in May. “I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake, because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.”
He added: “I would reverse the permaban. … I don’t own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?”
Musk is arguably only trying to own Twitter now because a contract he signed a month before making these comments still leaves him with little choice but to commit to his original offer to buy the platform for $54.20 a share.
None of us can say with certainty how this will end, but in all likelihood, Musk will eventually take over the site. So I do think it’s important to consider that the likely new owner of Twitter genuinely believes that banning Trump for stoking violence “was a morally bad decision … and foolish in the extreme.”
That said, Trump claims he won’t return even if allowed.
“No, I won’t be going back on Twitter,” he told CNBC in April, adding that he prefers his own social media platform.
“I will be on Truth Social within the week. … We have a lot of people signed up,” he said at the time. “We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House. I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter.”
A lot has happened to Truth Social since those comments, but to put it succinctly: The app is a flop, and its future is uncertain due to a lack of money and an investigation by the feds.
All hope may not be lost — Truth Social’s stock jumped after Google decided Wednesday to add the platform to its app store — but for a man obsessed with big crowds and large audiences, Twitter must tempt Trump and his likely reelection campaign. Even if Musk doesn’t take control of Twitter, it’s this potential campaign that makes me question just how long most social media platforms will keep Trump banned.
After all, it’s not like we can often depend on higher-ups at the social media companies to put safety over profit. In July, a former Twitter employee testified to a House committee that the company had allowed Trump to break its rules for years — because executives knew their service was his “favorite and most-used … and enjoyed having that sort of power.”
Speaking to The Washington Postlast month, the whistleblower, Anika Collier Navaroli, said that while fearful of the consequences of stepping forward, she strongly believes extremism and political disinformation on social media pose an “imminent threat not just to American democracy, but to the societal fabric of our planet.”
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe the truth matters,” she told the paper.
Just as I don’t think most executives in publishing and news care enough about threats posed by Trump and the Republican Party (since they’re too busy profiting from coverage of their antics), I believe the heads of various social media platforms care even less.
I would love to believe that testimonies from people like Navaroli have changed their minds. But look how long it took Instagram and Twitter to do something about inflammatory behavior by Kanye West — and all he does is make beats, rap and design shoes.
In the coming months, Trump might be indicted, but he is certainly expected to run for president again — and that alone will give him an argument for reinstatement. It’s an argument that many platforms are likely to accept in a bid to make money, while Trump sets everything on fire again the way he used to.
Musk might just be one of the few willing to admit it, but either way, I’d rather know sooner than later if and when Trump will be allowed to tweet again. I want to have my block button and filters as ready as possible.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
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Stocks Build On Their Rally From 2020 Lows In Big Market Turnaround With The Dow Now Up 800 Points
Stocks Build On Their Rally From 2020 Lows In Big Market Turnaround, With The Dow Now Up 800 Points https://digitalalaskanews.com/stocks-build-on-their-rally-from-2020-lows-in-big-market-turnaround-with-the-dow-now-up-800-points/
Netflix pops after unveiling price of ad-supported subscriber tier
Netflix shares traded more than 3% higher after the streaming giant said it will charge $6.99 for its its ad-supported subscriptions. The company also said commercials will run for 15 or 30 seconds.
Read more here.
— Alex Sherman
Don’t be in a rush in this market, says Josh Brown
In this market environment, investors should be selective, Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown told CNBC Thursday.
“What is the rush? Why do you have to put on a whole position now? Why do you have to call a bottom now?” said Brown, referring to the chatter about whether or not Thursday’s bounce meant a bottom was in.
“The right approach is adding exposure, just not acting that this is as bad as it can get, because clearly that has not been the case.”
He particularly likes Dutch Bros, which was recently upgraded to outperform from neutral by JPMorgan. The stock is down about 30% from when it last reported earnings and will substantially grow its store locations, Brown said.
— Michelle Fox
‘It’s a mistake to get too excited about this rally,’ Brigg Macadam’s Greg Swenson says
Investors shouldn’t trust the market rebound Thursday, and prepare for more volatility ahead, according to Greg Swenson, founding partner at Brigg Macadam, an investment bank.
“I think it’s a mistake to get too excited about this rally,” Swenson said. He said investor optimism that inflation has peaked — after the hotter-than-expected CPI report Thursday morning — will probably be short-lived.
“It’s more of a bear market rally, and I think we’re going to get more bad news,” he said.
— Sarah Min
50 Park Investments’ Sarhan says oversold conditions contributing to Thursday’s bounce
Heavily oversold conditions primed the market for Thursday’s long overdue bounce but the vicious bear market cycle will likely continue, said Adam Sarhan, founder and CEO of 50 Park Investments.
After a big leg down, Sarhan said it’s normal for the market to go lower, digest that move higher, make a new high, and drop again.
Thursday’s stock market moves are likely a combination of short-covering and value investors stepping, he said. That could also be influencing momentum traders to buy the jump.
Sarhan said earnings season could serve as another catalyst for a bounce going forward, especially if companies beat already low expectations.
— Samantha Subin
Some investors likely pricing in peak Fed tightening, Oanda’s Moya says
Some investors pricing in peak Federal Reserve tightening appears to be contributing to Thursday’s market action, Oanda’s Ed Moya said.
“Wall Street is confident that inflation is slowly coming down and that it will continue now that markets are pricing in the Fed to take rates into significantly restrictive territory,” Moya said. “Peak Fed tightening is priced in for some and that is a good enough reason to buy stocks right now.”
Still, Moya called the market reversal a “head-scratcher” given that the hot inflation print fueled expectations that the Fed’s hiking cycle will likely persist.
— Samantha Subin
Market swing came after traders saw not much new in inflation report, Art Hogan says
Thursday’s huge market reversal in which early big losses dramatically switched to strong gains came as investors digested the morning’s inflation report and didn’t see a whole lot new in it, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial.
“People settled back in and said, ‘What’s changed? What do we know that we didn’t know?” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial. “We knew the services piece of both [core and headline inflation] baskets was stubbornly higher. That’s not new information – disappointing, but not new.”
Hogan said the initial selloff was probably driven by the algorithms that steer computerized trading.
The reversal came after futures rallied on positive news out of the UK that the government would dial back some of its inflation-boosting tax-cut plans. Ironically, the S&P 500 was off by 2.39% at its session low and up by exactly that amount at its high, according to CNBC’s Peter Schacknow.
“It really was a kneejerk move, especially when you juxtapose it with the pop we had before 8:30,” Hogan said. “I don’t think you’re seeing a lot of individuals or professionals making adjustments on just one data point. The majority of moves we’ve seen as of late are the folks who trade on the age and do that minute by minute and not month by month.”
—Jeff Cox
S&P 500 posts widest trading range since March 2020
The S&P 500 was down as much as 2.39% at session lows during Thursday trading, and up as much as 2.39% at session highs. Those moves mark the widest trading range for the broader market index since March 2020.
In the history of the index, the S&P 500 has opened down more than 2% and closed up more than 2% only four times prior, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Thursday would mark only the fifth time that’s happened should the current moves hold through the close, the research firm said.
— Sarah Min, Peter Schacknow
KKM’s Kilburg says CPI data shows inflation slowing at a ‘snail’s pace’
While the consumer price index rose month over month in September, KKM Financial’s Jeff Kilburg says inflation is easing.
“The strength of the CPI data was heavily weighed in lagging trend data and surging airline airfare,” Kilburg said. “Inflation is trending lower albeit at a snail’s pace.”
On the back of the report, Kilburg says investors should stick with 2022 investing themes, finding value in energy and banks. He’s also seeing growing opportunities in growth-focused areas like semiconductors.
“This is the slowest capitulation in the history of equities,” Kilburg said. “Look at the VIX, it tells the story of the CPI data point today.”
— Samantha Subin
Short covering may be a big factor in Thursday’s market swings
Today’s big intraday swing appears to be the product of traders closing out their short bets after a long period of declines for markets, said Larry Benedict of The Opportunistic Trader.
“People tried to press the short down on the low of the year, and then there was a big short-covering rally. And what I’m seeing here is just a lack of a liquidity. There’s no sellers left. The market has now sellers now, for the minute,” Benedict said.
The bond market, however, has seen a much softer turnaround, and that could signal that this stock rally will be short-lived.
“The rally may hold for today, but unless you get the bond market getting stability I don’t see us going anywhere long-rage here, as far as a definite bottom,” Benedict said.
— Jesse Pound
Oil rallies with stock market
Oil was moving in step with the stock market, rising midday despite posting drops following consumer inflation data coming in hotter than expected in the morning.
Brent crude futures were up $1.65, or 1.8%, to $94.10 a barrel. That increase comes after sliding to a low of $91.19, which is a difference of about 3% from its current price, around 9 a.m. after the inflation data was released.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 1.7%, which translates to $1.50, at $88.75 a barrel. It was previously down to a low of about $86.10 just before 10:30 a.m., which about 3% lower than its current trading level.
Precious metals also seesawed as investors digested the data.
— Alex Harring
Tech stocks rebound
Tech stocks rebounded after slumping earlier in the session on the back of another hot inflation report and dragging the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down more than 3% at one point.
Shares of semiconductor stocks Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Micron Technology surged 2.2%, 3.5% and 3.9%, respectively, while Applied Materials jumped 4.5% despite its earlier revenue warning.
Big technology names Apple and Microsoft gained at least 1% each, while Salesforce and Meta Platforms held on to slight gains.
The move higher in tech contributed to the market’s broad comeback rally.
— Samantha Subin
Treasury yields ease off of morning highs
US Treasury yields have backed off their highs, likely helping the late-morning turnaround for stocks.
The 10-year Treasury yield had eased back to 3.968% after rising as high as 4.08% earlier in the session. Still, the yield was up about six basis points for the day. A basis point is equal to 0.01 percentage points.
Short-term yields have also pulled back from their highs, but they still show dramatic moves for the day. The 2-year Treasury yield was up about 16 basis points 4.447%. It had been up more than 20 basis points earlier.
—Jesse Pound
Seller exhaustion, peak inflation bet fueling the comeback, strategist says
The oversold stock market staged a massive comeback as investors bet that peak inflation is behind us, while strong corporate earnings also offered traders some solace, according to Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge.
“Stocks were crushed out of the gate, but they’ve since rebounded strongly thanks to seller exhaustion, a sense that actual inflation is already past its peak, and strong earnings,” Crisafulli said in a note.
— Yun Li
Banks rally, adding fuel to market rebound
Bank stocks rallied to help the broader market recover from the day’s lows and stage a massive comeback.
Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley were all up more than 2%. Citigroup gained 4%, and JPMorgan Chase climbed 3.2%.
The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) gained 2%, on pace to snap a six-day losing streak.
— Fred Imbert
Stocks rebound from session lows
Stocks pared some losses Thursday, moving from session lows led by a few outperforming sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 83 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shed 0.78% and 1.43%, respectively.
The Dow was ...
Insecurity: Police Foil Kidnap Attempt Dislodge Suspects Recover AK-47 In Plateau Community
Insecurity: Police Foil Kidnap Attempt, Dislodge Suspects, Recover AK-47 In Plateau Community https://digitalalaskanews.com/insecurity-police-foil-kidnap-attempt-dislodge-suspects-recover-ak-47-in-plateau-community/
The Police in Plateau State said they have foiled plans by some suspected kidnappers who had laid ambush on a bypass road along Du community of Jos South LGA of the state, to kidnap innocent citizens.
The Police also said in the process of the aforementioned, one of the suspects was killed during a gun battle and the others escaped with gunshot wounds.
The State Police Command through its Spokesman, DSP Alfred Alabo on Monday said, “The Plateau State Police Command is pleased to inform the general public that its efforts toward the fight against crime and criminality on the Plateau has continued to yield tremendous results.
“On 11th October, 2022, at about 20:10 hours while on routine patrol, Police Surveillance team alongside crack team attached to ‘B’ Division Bukuru, Jos South LGA of the Command, sighted some unknown gunmen who criminally barricaded the road leading to St Augustine College Du, Jos South LGA.
According to him, “Upon sighting the Police, the suspects engaged them in a fierce gun battle but they were subdued by the superior fire power of the fearless police operatives who gunned down one of the suspects while others fled with various degree injuries.
“Exhibits recovered from the suspect include one AK47 rifle with breach number: AE 353550 and eight rounds of 7.62 ×39mm live ammunition”, he explained.
Alabo maintained that efforts are on top gear to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang as investigation is still in progress.
He added that the Commissioner of Police Plateau in the State Bartholomew Onyeka, thanked all well meaning residents of the State for supporting the Command with timely information which has translated to laudable achievements in the state.
Alabo further gave residents assurance of the CP of adequate security as the Command has amplified its security measures to improve peace across the state.
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A Robot Testified At Britains House Of Lords Then Had A Breakdown
A Robot Testified At Britain’s House Of Lords — Then Had A Breakdown https://digitalalaskanews.com/a-robot-testified-at-britains-house-of-lords-then-had-a-breakdown/
LONDON — A robot sporting dungarees and a sharp black bob took questions in Britain’s House of Lords for the first time in history this week — before appearing to fall asleep and requiring a reset.
Before her public breakdown, the female-featured android — named Ai-Da — spoke to Britain’s Communications and Digital Committee as part of an inquiry into the future of the creative industries, joining a debate on how technology is shaping — and perhaps hindering — the art sector.
It was the first time in the nation’s history that a robot testified in the upper chamber of Britain’s Parliament, where unelected baronesses and lords typically gather to analyze government policies.
“The fact that Ai-Da is giving evidence at one of these sessions is pretty mind-blowing,” Aidan Meller, the robot’s inventor and a specialist in modern and contemporary art, told Sky News ahead of the session.
Branded “the world’s first ultrarealistic humanoid robot artist,” Ai-Da is widely known for creating portraits and poems, using a robotic arm, cameras in her eyes and AI algorithms. She told the house — undoubtedly to her creator’s pride — that the unique features allow her to create “visually appealing images.”
“I am, and depend on, computer programs and algorithms,” Ai-Da told the committee in London on Tuesday, moving her head slowly from side to side and occasionally blinking. “Although not alive, I can still create art.”
Ai-Da admitted she has no idea where the world is headed but told committee members that technology poses both “a threat and an opportunity” for creativity.
“The role of technology in creating art will continue to grow,” she predicted.
Those in attendance appeared intrigued but also joked that they were scared — especially when, following a question from Baroness Lynne Featherstone, a peer from the Liberal Democrats party, the robot fell silent and stared blankly at the floor.
“I’ve sent her to sleep!” Featherstone joked, as Meller, who was on hand close by, hurried across the room to grab a pair of sunglasses to place over Ai-Da’s eyes.
Robot artist Ai-Da answered questions from British lawmakers during a session hosted by the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee on Oct. 11. (Video: Reuters)
“Excuse me,” he told the room. “Can I reset her? Is that okay?”
It was not immediately clear what caused the robot’s technical failure, and neither Meller nor Ai-Da responded to a request for comment from The Washington Post on Thursday.
“When we reset her, she sometimes can pull quite interesting faces,” Meller explained to those in attendance, who chuckled and waited patiently for the android to wake up.
Created in 2019, Ai-Da has been subjected to backlash at home and abroad during her short, simulated life.
Last year, she was taken into custody in Egypt for more than a week on suspicion that she could be part of an espionage plot, according to Meller.
Meller said Egyptian border guards detained her because of security fears about the cameras in her eyes that enabled her to paint. The British ambassador stepped in to secure her freedom, he said.
“I can’t really gouge her eyes out,” he told the Guardian at the time. “Let’s be really clear about this. She is not a spy.”
She was released in time to take part in an exhibition at Egypt’s pyramids.
To mark the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year, Ai-Da produced a portrait of the late monarch entitled “Algorithm Queen.” Her owner hailed the creation as the first painting of the queen by a robot, while critics said the piece lacked emotion.
Jonathan Jones, the Guardian’s art critic, slammed Ai-D’s portrait as “yet another example of the cynical, transparent con that is AI art.”
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Police: After A Week Of Searching Missing Savannah Toddler Presumed Dead; Mother Prime Suspect
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/
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 above.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 above.
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
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Stop The Steal Poll Watchers Spark Concern Before US Midterms
‘Stop The Steal’ Poll Watchers Spark Concern Before US Midterms https://digitalalaskanews.com/stop-the-steal-poll-watchers-spark-concern-before-us-midterms/
Officials gathered at the El Paso County clerk’s office in the US state of Colorado in July to recount votes in the state’s Republican primary vote.
They were met by dozens of angry election watchers pounding on the windows, at times yelling at workers and recording them with mobile phones, according to the county’s Republican clerk Chuck Broerman.
In the hallway, a group prayed for “evil to descend” on the “election team”, Broerman said. “It’s astonishing to me to hear something like that.”
As the United States enters the final stretch before November’s midterm elections, the Reuters news agency has documented multiple incidents of intimidation involving an expanding army of election observers, many of them recruited by prominent Republican Party figures and activists echoing Trump’s false theories about election fraud and continuing his rallying call to “Stop the steal.”
Interviews with more than two dozen election officials, as well as representatives of groups driven by false theories about election fraud and an examination of poll-watching training materials, revealed an intensifying grassroots effort to recruit activists.
The trend has heightened alarm that disturbances in this year’s primary contests could foreshadow problems in November’s local, state and national races, deepen distrust about the US election process and lead to further harassment and threats to already besieged election workers.
Election officials in three other states – North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada – reported similar incidents in recent months.
In 16 North Carolina counties alone, officials noted unusually aggressive observers during May’s primary elections, according to a state election board survey.
A poll watcher observes through a pair of binoculars as votes are counted at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 3, 2020 [File: Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters]
Some attempted to take photographs of sensitive voting equipment or intimidated voters at polling places, in violation of North Carolina’s election laws.
During early voting in Arizona’s Pima County, an election observer was told to put away binoculars. Another was caught looking at private voter data, and another was asked to stop making comments about “fraudulent elections”, according to a September report by the county recorder’s office reviewed by Reuters. Arizona state law forbids voter intimidation and obstructing election workers.
Pima county recorder Gabriella Cazares-Kelly said her election staff received multiple complaints from voters that individuals were shouting at them from outside the 75-foot circumference around polling stations, where interaction with voters is banned.
“The concern is it makes them feel unwelcome,” said Cazares-Kelly.
In Nevada’s Washoe County, people with night vision goggles stood outside the registrar’s building and aimed their cameras at election workers counting votes on primary night in June, two Washoe County officials told Reuters.
While poll watchers have been a feature of American democracy since the 18th century, recruited by parties and candidates and regulated by state laws and local rules, the recent incidents in the wake of the 2020 elections have caused disquiet. Poll watchers from both parties have historically visited polling sites to keep an eye on the voting – and each other – to make sure things went smoothly.
“It’s a real concern,” said Al Schmidt, a former Philadelphia city commissioner who received death threats after the 2020 election for refuting false claims of voter fraud. “If these people show up to the polls with the intention of disrupting voting from taking place, then I can’t imagine a worse threat to democracy than that.”
In some places, poll “watchers” are different from “challengers”, who can point out people they suspect are not legal voters. In other states, poll watchers also do the challenging.
Sandy Kiesel, who heads the Election Integrity Force in Michigan, maintained her poll “challengers” will be trained to be “polite, respectful and to obey the law”.
“We’re not about trying to hassle poll workers,” Kiesel told Reuters. “It’s about transparency. If we can all see what’s going on, maybe we wouldn’t have these arguments whether elections are free and fair.”
Republican support
For its part, the Republican Party said it welcomes volunteers from many different groups, expects them to respect the law, and to follow the party’s training.
The Republican National Convention has poured resources into recruiting observers and workers since being freed from the restrictions of a court-ordered consent decree in 2018.
It expects to have trained more than 52,000 poll watchers and workers between November last year and the coming election, saying comparative numbers for past elections were unavailable.
“Our program is independent of anything else,” said RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez.
The consent decree, which sharply limited the party’s ability to challenge voters’ qualifications, was put in place after the RNC, during a 1981 governor’s race in New Jersey, engaged in intimidation tactics targeted at minority voters.
A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee said they did not have a national number because state party offices manage their poll watcher recruitment.
But the DNC said it has hired five staffers to work in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Texas to counter efforts to subvert the electoral process, including ballot counting and the certification of results.
In North Carolina’s rural Henderson County, as voters cast ballots in May’s primary elections, aggressive groups turned up.
Observers demanded to inspect voting machine tabulators in violation of state election laws.
Others repeatedly grilled poll workers or demanded to take pictures inside voting stations. When told to stop, they said they were following guidance from a Republican Party lawyer, said Henderson County Election Director Karen Hebb.
“It was stressful,” she said. “If we refused to let the observers do something, they said, ‘You know you can be sued if you don’t allow us.’”
Some of the Republican observers later identified themselves as members of the North Carolina Election Integrity Team, a group linked to a nationwide effort led by lawyer Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican election lawyer and promoter of voter fraud theories who joined Trump’s legal team in his effort to overturn the result of the 2020 elections.
As head of the Election Integrity Network, Mitchell is training election observers and is trying to build grassroots networks of conservatives in advance of the midterms. In the first six months of 2022, her network hosted a series of training sessions for activists in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Arizona.
Although Mitchell and other activists said the effort is nonpartisan, the project is funded by the Conservative Partnership Institute, a Washington nonprofit organisation with deep ties to Trump’s political network.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, is listed as the organisation’s “senior partner”.
Trump’s political action committee, Save America, gave the group $1m in 2021, campaign finance records show. Meadows and Mitchell did not return requests for comment from Reuters.
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Will Alex Jones Pay Sandy Hook Families $1B? What To Know About The Huge Award.
Will Alex Jones Pay Sandy Hook Families $1B? What To Know About The Huge Award. https://digitalalaskanews.com/will-alex-jones-pay-sandy-hook-families-1b-what-to-know-about-the-huge-award/
Infowars founder Alex Jones was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting for spreading the lie that the massacre was staged — a stunning verdict that one lawyer called “probably one of the largest defamation verdicts in U.S. history.”
The compensatory damages awarded Wednesday by a Connecticut jury were the largest so far in several lawsuits filed by families of victims in the attack that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Conn.
Families of the victims and their supporters said the verdict shows “the truth matters.” Jones’s supporters cast it as an attack on freedom of speech. Here’s what to know.
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NY Attorney General Moves To Stop Trump Org From Transferring Assets
NY Attorney General Moves To Stop Trump Org From Transferring Assets https://digitalalaskanews.com/ny-attorney-general-moves-to-stop-trump-org-from-transferring-assets/
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed court papers Thursday seeking to stop former President Donald Trump from transferring assets from his namesake real estate company, the latest move in her civil case alleging years of fraudulent practices.
The motion for a preliminary injunction filed in New York Supreme Court also requests that any new financial disclosures to banks and insurers contain all supporting material and asks for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee compliance with those measures.
“Our investigation uncovered the fact that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in significant fraud to inflate his personal net worth by billions of dollars to illegally enrich himself and cheat the system,” James said in a statement. “Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued those same fraudulent practices and taken measures to evade responsibility. Today, we are seeking an immediate stop to these actions because Mr. Trump should not get to play by different rules.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a news conference regarding former President Donald Trump and his family’s financial fraud case on Sept. 21.Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
Alina Habba, a lawyer representing Trump in the case, said in a statement that the filing is “nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to keep this case with Justice Engoron rather than have it transferred to the Commercial Division where it belongs.”
“We have repeatedly provided assurance, in writing, that the Trump Organization has no intention of doing anything improper,” Habba added. “This is simply another stunt which Ms. James hopes will aid her failing political campaign.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move comes about three weeks after James filed a lawsuit against Trump, his three eldest children and the Trump Organization in connection with her civil investigation into the company’s business practices.
James accused Trump of inflating his personal net worth to attract favorable loan agreements and engaging in more than 200 instances of fraud over 10 years.
James’ office is seeking to permanently bar the Trump family from serving as officers of New York-based companies and prevent Trump and his company from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions in the state for five years. She is also seeking about $250 million in penalties.
Trump’s lawyers previously dismissed the suit as a politically motivated attack “neither focused on the facts nor the law.” A Trump Organization spokesman described it as a “culmination of nearly three years of persistent, targeted, unethical political harassment.”
James’ office is also requesting the court’s permission to serve Trump and his son Eric electronically. She said the two men and their lawyers have refused to accept service of the complaints for almost a month.
Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Jonathan Dienst is chief justice conributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.
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The Social Security COLA Will Ease The Sting Of Inflation
The Social Security COLA Will Ease The Sting Of Inflation https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-social-security-cola-will-ease-the-sting-of-inflation/
The cost-of-living adjustment will be 8.7 percent next year, bringing relief to retirees and others who rely largely on the payments.
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Prices have remained stubbornly high over the past year, even as federal policymakers have taken aggressive measures to rein them in. Credit…Andres Kudacki/Associated Press
Oct. 13, 2022Updated 11:55 a.m. ET
Want to know more about the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment? Personal finance reporter Tara Siegel Bernard will answer some of your questions in the comments of this article.
About 70 million Americans collecting Social Security will receive an 8.7 percent bump in their benefits next year, the largest raise since 1981, according to the Social Security Administration. That will provide some measure of relief to retirees struggling with soaring prices on everyday necessities, from groceries to housing.
Prices have remained stubbornly high over the past year, even as federal policymakers have taken aggressive measures to rein them in. Social Security is designed to keep pace with inflation through its cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, which is calculated annually. Starting in January, the increase will lift the typical monthly retiree benefit by $140 to $1,827. That follows a 5.9 percent increase for 2022, another four-decade high at the time.
“That is breathing room,” said Gloria Hinojos, a 75-year-old retiree in Hacienda Heights, Calif., who stands to receive roughly $182 more each month, and relies largely on her benefit check to cover her monthly expenses. That includes rent of roughly $1,200 to $1,350 each month, which pays for the land her mobile home sits on, and includes utilities.
The increase — which will help about 52.5 million people 65 and older and 12 million people with disabilities, among others — is based on the Labor Department’s latest report on the Consumer Price Index, released on Thursday, which said that prices increased 8.2 percent in the year through September.
The coronavirus pandemic created conditions that led to the fastest pace of inflation in decades. Disruptions in the supply chain emerged just as consumers, flush with stimulus payments, were demanding more goods, leading to price increases. That dynamic worsened earlier this year when Russia invaded Ukraine, pushing up the cost of fuel and food.
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Gloria Hinojos, 75, who lives in Hacienda Heights, Calif., relies largely on her benefit check to cover her monthly expenses.Credit…Stella Kalinina for The New York Times
Sustained price increases are particularly painful for retirees, many of whom rely on Social Security for a significant share of their household income.
For Ted Padgett, 81, and his wife, Barbara, 78, it’s their only source of income. Both worked at a furniture manufacturer near their home in Galax, Va., for decades. Mr. Padgett said he assembled furniture and did maintenance work, while she worked on the furniture’s final touches, like spraying on finishes.
Together, their checks amount to roughly $1,900 a month. But after paying for Medicare, their supplemental health coverage and rent, there’s only about $700 left to cover groceries and everything else. Two months ago, the couple started to visit a food bank. The couple also hunts for deer, which provides many meals during the winter months, from tenderloin to burgers.
“It’s rough,” said Mr. Padgett. “We used to go and buy what you needed and it would be maybe $60. Now, you go buy the same thing and it would be $140. It really went up.”
Many retirees depend almost entirely on Social Security checks. But even retired households 65 and older who are squarely in the middle of the income distribution, with an average annual income of about $41,000, relied on Social Security for a little more than half their income in 2019, according to calculations by the Center for Retirement Research, using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances that year. (Other analyses found that people may be less reliant.)
Social Security also helps lift millions of older Americans above the poverty line, which stood at $12,880 for an individual as of 2021. A greater number of people 65 and older — about 10 percent — slipped below last year, up from 8.9 percent in 2020. It was the first increase since 2016, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. One likely culprit: More older people, particularly those with lower incomes, were forced into an early retirement because of the pandemic, experts said.
“A significant increase in the COLA is most welcome, but it doesn’t solve the increase in poverty we saw on the 65-plus numbers,” said Ramsey Alwin, president and chief executive of the National Council on Aging, a nonprofit advocacy group for older adults. “To us, it’s a warning bell. These numbers will increase in the future unless we shore up the programs we need to age well.”
Though the financial health of Social Security improved slightly in 2021 from the previous year thanks to a rebounding economy — when more people are working, the program collects more taxes on wages — it faces a longer-term shortfall. The trust fund that pays retiree benefits will be depleted in 2034, at which time its reserves will run down. When that happens, incoming tax revenue will be enough to cover only 77 percent of all scheduled benefits. If no action is taken, all benefits will shrink by 23 percent.
Demographic shifts have led to that imbalance. More baby boomers are collecting payments. Retirees are living longer. At the same time, a declining birthrate has produced fewer workers contributing to payroll taxes — the primary source of Social Security funds. The payroll tax is split between employers and employees, who each paid 6.2 percent of wages, up to a taxable maximum of $147,000, in 2022. Next year, up to $160,200 of earnings will be subject to these taxes.
There are two ways to close the funding gap: raising payroll taxes or trimming benefits, both of which require congressional approval. But so far, legislators have done little to address the problem.
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The Social Security program faces a long-term shortfall because of demographic shifts, including more baby boomers collecting payments. Credit…Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, Social Security was created to mitigate the risks for the rising number of wage earners in an increasingly industrialized economy, as fewer people lived off the land with their extended families into old age. He didn’t intend for it to be the sole source of retiree income, but a foundation to build upon. Over time, the social insurance program became known as one leg of a “three-legged stool” of retirement, with pensions and savings the other two.
But as pensions faded away, replaced largely by 401(k) and other do-it-yourself savings plans, more responsibility shifted to workers. For some, life circumstances — whether job disruptions or medical issues — interrupt steady retirement savings. For others, income may not keep pace with rising costs, leaving them less to squirrel away. And longer life spans — in 2021, men age 65 are projected to live another 19 years and women nearly 22 years — increases the risk of outliving one’s savings.
Social Security, which isn’t subject to market gyrations and provides an inflation-adjusted income stream for life, has been a constant.
“It is the backbone of our retirement system,” said Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research. “It is the base upon which everyone relies or builds. There is no question about that.”
For Tish Leon, 71, a larger Social Security check will help her keep ahead of her rent, which rose 5 percent last year. (Ms. Leon owns a mobile home, but not the land.) It will also allow her to eventually save enough money to make home improvements. Her current check of nearly $2,100 accounts for roughly 80 percent of her income. She withdraws another $500 monthly from her own retirement savings, which she accumulated when working as an office manager at nonprofits.
“The price of living is really high,” said Ms. Leon, who lives in Lakeside, Calif. She has made some changes, like limiting her driving to keep her gas costs down. “When I do drive, I try to do as much as possible when I am out.”
This year, retirees will also get to keep more of the annual bump to their Social Security check. Last year, Medicare beneficiaries had to absorb a big increase in their premiums, which are deducted from their checks. But this year, for the first time in more than a decade, premiums will decline. The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B — which covers doctor visits and outpatient hospital services — will be $164.90 in 2023, or $5.20 less than it is this year, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Ms. Hinojos, the retiree in Hacienda Heights, Calif., worked since she was 15. She was with her last employer, mostly in accounting-related jobs at a private college, for nearly four decades.
But it was challenging to put aside a meaningful amount for retirement while raising her son as a single mother. She had saved some money in a 401(k), but she said two market crashes diminished her savings. She also withdrew money at another point to try to save her house, which had fallen into foreclosure — but she lost it anyway.
“That ended up throwing good money after bad,” said Ms. Hinojos, who tries to keep her grocery bill under $200 a month and received some savings from a relative, which she has earmarked for medical care. “A lot of my 401(k) money got thrown out as a result.”
Social Security has been a stabilizing force. “With all of my ups and downs,” Ms. Hinojos said, “I don’t know what I would do w...
Kamikaze Drones And Missiles Hit North And South Ukraine; Kremlin Denies Putin Discussed War 'settlement'
Kamikaze Drones And Missiles Hit North And South Ukraine; Kremlin Denies Putin Discussed War 'settlement' https://digitalalaskanews.com/kamikaze-drones-and-missiles-hit-north-and-south-ukraine-kremlin-denies-putin-discussed-war-settlement/
Ukraine opens criminal proceedings into Monday’s Russian missile strikes
Firefighters work at a site of an infrastructure object damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 10, 2022.
State Emergency Service Of Ukraine | via Reuters
Ukraine’s top prosecutor said his office had opened criminal proceedings into Monday’s Russian missile strikes across Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, speaking alongside International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan at The Hague, described the strikes as “a classic act of terror” by Russia.
Kostin said that Russian forces launched more than 112 missile strikes into Ukraine marking Moscow’s largest aerial offensive since the start of its invasion in late February.
Khan opened an ICC investigation in March following various reports of war crimes in Ukraine. Khan declined to say when his office would file its first case, adding that he would only move forward “when the evidence is sufficient.”
Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces deliberately attack civilians in Ukraine.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. has not had consular access to WNBA star Brittney Griner in over a month, State Department says
US’ Women’s National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, waits for the verdict inside a defendants’ cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022.
Evgenia Novozhenina | AFP | Getty Images
The U.S. State Department said that it has not had consular access to WNBA star Brittney Griner in over a month.
“Our most recent consular access with Brittney Griner was at the beginning of August,” State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed.
“We continue to impart on the Russian government the necessity of consistent and regular consular access to Brittney Griner but also to all of those Americans who are detained in Russia whether they are detained wrongfully as Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner or if that designation has not been made,” Price added.
A Russian court will hear Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession on Oct. 25. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted in August on accusations that she was smuggling vape cartridges with cannabis oil into Russia.
The 31-year-old, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage but testified that she accidentally packed them because she was in a rush.
The Biden administration has referred to her as “wrongfully detained” and has attempted to broker deals with the Kremlin for her release.
— Amanda Macias
Zelenskyy hails U.N. General Assembly vote condemning Russia’s attempt to annex parts of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the 143 nations in the General Assembly that voted to condemn Russia for its attempt to annex four more areas of Ukraine.
“The world had its say – Russia Federation’s attempt at annexation is worthless and will never be recognized by free nations,” Zelenskyy tweeted.
The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn Russia for its attempt to annex more areas of Ukraine. The final vote was marked as 143 in favor of the resolution, five nations against it and 35 abstentions.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson were part of Russia.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. citizen dies while fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region, State Department says
People walk through the damage caused to the central market in Sloviansk by a suspected missile attack, on July 6, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images
A U.S. citizen was recently killed while fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.
“We are in touch with the family and are providing all appropriate assistance. Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add,” the spokesperson added.
— Amanda Macias
Russian-installed official in Kherson asks for help to evacuate citizens
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks as separatist leader Vladimir Saldo of the Kherson region listens during a concert in support of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions at Red Square on September 30, 2022 in Moscow, Russia.
Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The Russian-installed governor of Kherson called for Russia to help evacuate citizens as fighting in the region intensifies.
Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram Thursday that Ukraine was targeting the region with missile strikes every day and asked the Russian authorities for help in transporting families to Russia. Saldo said that Ukraine’s strikes were a retaliation for Kherson voting in a referendum to join the Russian Federation.
“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a desire, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes … go to other regions. First of all, these are Crimea, the Rostov region, the Krasnodar Territory, the Stavropol Territory — our neighbors. Take out your children and yourself,” Saldo said on Telegram.
“Turning to the leadership of the country, I would like to ask you for help in organizing such work. We, residents of the Kherson region, of course, know that Russia does not abandon its own people, and Russia always lends a shoulder where it is difficult.”
Sham referendums were held in Kherson and three other Russian-occupied regions last month with a majority of people in those regions seen as voting to join Russia, although the votes were widely seen as fake and illegal.
Saldo said Ukraine’s forces were “retaliating” as a result of the vote: “We knew that such decision would not be acknowledged by the Ukrainian authorities and we expected them to start retaliating against us. This is the way it turned out — every day cities are targeted by missile strikes.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Kremlin denies that Putin and Erdogan discussed war ‘settlement’
The Kremlin’s press secretary denied that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed what he called a “Russian-Ukrainian settlement” to the war during their meeting in Kazakhstan Thursday.
Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the leaders’ meeting lasted about an hour and a half but that “the topic of Russian-Ukrainian settlement was not discussed.”
It was widely expected that Turkey could use the meeting to formally offer to host peace talks between Russia and the West in a bid to end the war in Ukraine. Ankara has positioned itself as something of a broker between Russia and Ukraine during the conflict, helping to negotiate the restarting of grain shipments from Ukraine and prisoner swaps.
— Holly Ellyatt
Power largely restored in Ukraine, but grid operator warns of ‘a lot of work ahead’
Power has been almost entirely restored in Ukraine after a spate of Russian strikes on energy facilities earlier this week, according to the grid’s operator. National energy company Ukrenergo warned that it had more work to do to properly fix supplies, however.
“The employees of Ukrenergo are dead tired but very satisfied because they restored power supply after the largest attack on the power system of an independent country in world history,” Ukrenergo said in a post on Telegram.
Ukrenegro said that Russia’s attacks were the biggest of their type in modern history. “Before World War II, there were no such advanced power grids, and after World War II there were no such large-scale military attacks targeting power infrastructure.”
Power substation destroyed by a Russian missile attack, Kharkiv, north-eastern Ukraine.
Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images
The energy operator also warned that while it has been able to restore lost power supplies, “this does not mean that we have restored everything that was destroyed and damaged.”
“We have found ways to provide current, but there is still a lot of work ahead,” it warned, asking Ukrainians to consume power wisely, especially at peak times in the morning and evening.
It noted that 700 Ukrenergo energy workers in 40 repair teams are working to restore networks 24/7. “Please help them – don’t turn on too much and don’t use many electrical appliances at the same time,” it added.
Ukraine halted the export of electricity to the EU (which began in July) earlier this week after multiple attacks targeted its energy infrastructure including thermal power plants and electricity substations. The government also called on Ukrainians to limit their energy use.
— Holly Ellyatt
Putin says Turkey ‘most reliable route’ for gas to the EU
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) meets President of Russia, Vladimir Putin (R) within the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) leaders’ summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday that Turkey was the most reliable route to deliver gas to the European Union and proposed to build what he called a supply hub there.
Speaking at a bilateral meeting with President Tayyip Erdogan, Putin said energy supplies from Russia to Turkey were in “full flow” and in accordance with requests.
— Reuters
There ‘isn’t a risk’ of Ukraine running out of ammunition before Russia
U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday that there isn’t a risk of Ukraine ru...
No. 5 WNCC Volleyball Tops McCook In Four Sets https://digitalalaskanews.com/no-5-wncc-volleyball-tops-mccook-in-four-sets/
News
The 5th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started slow but picked up steam behind a 16-kill performance from Jenna Curtis as the Cougars downed McCook Community College 23-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19.
MCCOOK – The 5th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team started slow but picked up steam behind a 16-kill performance from Jenna Curtis as the Cougars downed McCook Community College 23-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19 in a Region IX South sub-region contest Wednesday in McCook.
The win was the 25th of the season for the fifth-ranked team in the country and it was the Cougars’ eighth straight win.
The Cougars started slow in the first set by dropping the opener, but it wasn’t bad early on as the Cougars and the fisty Indians that battled tooth and nail. WNCC led 14-12 on a Curtis kill, but a missed serve gave the service to the Indians and McCook went on a 9-1 run to lead 21-15.
WNCC fought back behind two points from AK Chavez to bring the Cougars to within 21-23 and then an ace by Erica Fava tied the set at 23. McCook got the last two points for the 25-23 win.
The second set saw WNCC race to an early lead as Chavez had three points for a 6-2 lead and then Fava had three for a 10-4 lead. Alex Hernandez widened the lead as the sophomore middle hitter had four points for a 17-6 lead. Later on, Hernandez closed out the second set with two points and the 25-13 win.
The third set was identical to the first as both teams went back and forth early on. This time with the score tied at 9-9, Curtis got a kill and then had three points for a 14-9 lead. Shanelle Martinez later had two points for a 17-11 lead.
McCook cut the lead to 21-15, but a Curtis kill gave the service to Ale Meoni and the sophomore had three points including an ace serve and the game-winning kill from Hernandez for the 25-15 win.
Martinez started the fourth set with five straight point and a 5-0 lead. WNCC pushed the lead to 11-4 on a Meoni point and then Martinez had two more to go up 17-8. McCook sliced the lead to 21-15 and later to 23-18, but a sideout gave WNCC the match point and Chavez served the final point.
WNCC finished the contest with a total of 58 kills as three were in double figures. Curtis led the way with 16 kills while also tallying eight digs, six points, and two aces. Fava had a double-double with 14 kills and 20 digs. Fava also had nine points, three aces, and a solo block.
Emmalei Mapu also had double-figure kills with 10 along with two digs and two assisted blocks. Meoni had a near double-figure kill with nine while also getting six points, three digs, and two aces.
Martinez had a triple-double of 38 set assists, 11 points, 10 digs, two aces and a kill.
Chavez had 11 digs with eight points, two aces and three set assists, while Hernandez had seven points and seven kills.
Also for the Cougars, Shae Hardy had six set assists with two digs and a point, while Lexi Keoho had six set assists with three digs and two points.
WNCC, 25-3, will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Lamar Community College for another conference game beginning at 2 p.m.
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34-Year-Old Fleeing Police Dies After Driving Into Flooded Quarry Alaska Cops Say
34-Year-Old Fleeing Police Dies After Driving Into Flooded Quarry, Alaska Cops Say https://digitalalaskanews.com/34-year-old-fleeing-police-dies-after-driving-into-flooded-quarry-alaska-cops-say/
A 34-year-old man fleeing Fairbanks police died after driving into a flooded gravel quarry, Alaska police say. Getty Images/iStockphoto
A man fleeing police died after driving off a Fairbanks road into a flooded gravel quarry, Alaska police reported.
An officer tried to pull over a Toyota Corolla at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 12, on suspicion of driving under the influence, but the driver sped off, Fairbanks police said in a news release.
Officers pursued the man, later identified as Carl Robert Ravenscroft, 34, onto a side road, police said. Ravenscroft drove past the end of the road into a flooded gravel quarry.
He got out of the car but then sank out of sight, the release said. The steep quarry walls prevented officers from helping him.
Firefighters also had a difficult time launching a boat to try to rescue Ravenscroft, police said.
They found his body at 9:45 a.m. and plan to recover the sunken Toyota Corolla next week, police said.
Officers ask that anyone with information call 907-450-6550 or email fpdinvestigations@fairbanks.us.
Fairbanks is a city of 32,000 about 350 miles north of Anchorage.
Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 25 years. He has been a real-time reporter based at The Sacramento Bee since 2016.
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Pelosi Says Clarence Thomas Should Recuse Himself From Jan. 6 Cases
Pelosi Says Clarence Thomas Should Recuse Himself From Jan. 6 Cases https://digitalalaskanews.com/pelosi-says-clarence-thomas-should-recuse-himself-from-jan-6-cases/
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from decisions related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol due to his wife encouraging efforts to keep President Joe Biden from taking office.
“He should be recusing himself from every decision that relates to Jan. 6,” Pelosi said in a pre-recorded interview that aired Thursday on SiriusXM. “It’s up to him, and he should have better judgment as a justice of the Supreme Court.”
The California lawmaker suggested something similar back in March, when text messages between Ginni Thomas and former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows were revealed. But she did not go as far as to say outright that the long-serving justice should recuse himself, pointing to standards around recusals that make it a personal decision.
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Instead, she suggested that Thomas should weigh the personal decision of whether to recuse himself, saying “if your wife is an admitted and proud contributor to a coup of our country, maybe you should weigh that in your ethical standards,” while pointing to the need for an ethics code at the high court.
“They have no code of ethics,” Pelosi said of the Supreme Court at a news conference in March. “And – really? It’s the Supreme Court of the United States. They’re making judgments about the air we breathe and everything else, and we don’t even know what their ethical standard is.”
The development comes as the Jan. 6 committee is set to meet for its ninth public hearing on Thursday, where it will likely deliver its closing arguments on former President Donald Trump’s involvement with the attack as it wraps its investigation and drafts its final report. The hearing may also include information from a recently conducted interview with Ginni Thomas, who more recent reporting has revealed contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin – two swing states where the election results were particularly close – in addition to her communication with Meadows.
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Trump Angrily Lashes Out After His Deposition Is Ordered
Trump Angrily Lashes Out After His Deposition Is Ordered https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-angrily-lashes-out-after-his-deposition-is-ordered/
Former U.S. President Donald Trump angrily lashed out Wednesday, calling the nation’s legal system a “broken disgrace” after a judge ruled he must answer questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit lodged by a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s.
He also called the 2019 lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, “a hoax and a lie.”
The outburst late in the day came hours after U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan rejected a request by his lawyers to delay a deposition scheduled for Oct. 19.
Kaplan is presiding over the case in which Carroll said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s. He called the lawsuit “a complete con job.”
“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event,” Trump said.
“She completely made up a story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City Department Store and, within minutes, ‘swooned’ her. It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years,” he said.
Then he grumbled: “Now all I have to do is go through years more of legal nonsense in order to clear my name of her and her lawyer’s phony attacks on me. This can only happen to ‘Trump’!”
Carroll is scheduled to be deposed on Friday.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said she was pleased with the judge’s ruling and looked forward to filing new claims next month “and moving forward to trial with all dispatch” after New York state passed the Adult Survivors Act, allowing her to sue for damages for the alleged rape without the statute of limitations blocking it.
After Trump’s statement was released, a spokesperson for Kaplan’s firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, said the “latest statement from Donald Trump obviously does not merit a response.”
Trump’s legal team has tried various legal tactics to delay the lawsuit and prevent him from being questioned by Carroll’s attorneys. But Judge Kaplan wrote that it was time to move forward, especially given the “advanced age” of Carroll, 78, and Trump, 76, and perhaps other witnesses.
“The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong,” he wrote.
Carroll’s lawsuit claims that Trump damaged her reputation in 2019 when he denied raping her. Trump’s legal team has been trying to quash the lawsuit by arguing that the Republican was just doing his job as president when he denied the allegations, including when he dismissed his accuser as “not my type.”
Trump doubled down on the comment in his statement Wednesday, saying: “And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type! She has no idea what day, what week, what month, what year, or what decade this so-called ‘event’ supposedly took place. The reason she doesn’t know is because it never happened, and she doesn’t want to get caught up with details or facts that can be proven wrong.”
Whether Trump will remain the defendant in the original lawsuit is a key question because if Trump was acting within the scope of his duties as a federal employee, the U.S. government would become the defendant in the case.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a split decision last month that Trump was a federal employee when he commented on Carroll’s claims. But it asked another court in Washington to decide whether Trump’s public statements occurred during the scope of his employment.
Kaplan, the judge, said Trump has repeatedly tried to delay the collection of evidence in the lawsuit.
“Given his conduct so far in this case, Mr. Trump’s position regarding the burdens of discovery is inexcusable,” he wrote. “As this Court previously has observed, Mr. Trump has litigated this case since it began in 2019 with the effect and probably the purpose of delaying it.”
The judge noted that the collection of evidence for the lawsuit to go to trial was virtually concluded, except for the depositions of Trump and Carroll.
“Mr. Trump has conducted extensive discovery of the plaintiff, yet produced virtually none himself,” Kaplan said. “Completing these depositions — which already have been delayed for years — would impose no undue burden on Mr. Trump, let alone any irreparable injury.”
The judge also said the deposition could be useful when Carroll’s lawyer next month files the new lawsuit.
Whether the rape occurred is central to the defamation claims, as well as the anticipated new lawsuit, the judge said.
___
Associated Press Writer Jill Colvin reported from Washington
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Trump Angrily Lashes Out After His Deposition Is Ordered In Defamation Lawsuit
Trump Angrily Lashes Out After His Deposition Is Ordered In Defamation Lawsuit https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-angrily-lashes-out-after-his-deposition-is-ordered-in-defamation-lawsuit/
LARRY NEUMEISTER AND JILL COLVIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 13, 2022, 7:12AM
Updated 7 minutes ago
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump angrily lashed out Wednesday, calling the nation’s legal system a “broken disgrace” after a judge ruled he must answer questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit lodged by a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s.
He also called the 2019 lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, “a hoax and a lie.”
The outburst late in the day came hours after U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan rejected a request by his lawyers to delay a deposition scheduled for Oct. 19.
Kaplan is presiding over the case in which Carroll said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s. He called the lawsuit “a complete con job.”
“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is, other than it seems she got a picture of me many years ago, with her husband, shaking my hand on a reception line at a celebrity charity event,” Trump said.
“She completely made up a story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City Department Store and, within minutes, ‘swooned’ her. It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years,” he said.
Then he grumbled: “Now all I have to do is go through years more of legal nonsense in order to clear my name of her and her lawyer’s phony attacks on me. This can only happen to ‘Trump’!”
Carroll is scheduled to be deposed on Friday.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said she was pleased with the judge’s ruling and looked forward to filing new claims next month “and moving forward to trial with all dispatch” after New York state passed the Adult Survivors Act, allowing her to sue for damages for the alleged rape without the statute of limitations blocking it.
After Trump’s statement was released, a spokesperson for Kaplan’s firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, said the “latest statement from Donald Trump obviously does not merit a response.”
Trump’s legal team has tried various legal tactics to delay the lawsuit and prevent him from being questioned by Carroll’s attorneys. But Judge Kaplan wrote that it was time to move forward, especially given the “advanced age” of Carroll, 78, and Trump, 76, and perhaps other witnesses.
“The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong,” he wrote.
Carroll’s lawsuit claims that Trump damaged her reputation in 2019 when he denied raping her. Trump’s legal team has been trying to quash the lawsuit by arguing that the Republican was just doing his job as president when he denied the allegations, including when he dismissed his accuser as “not my type.”
Trump doubled down on the comment in his statement Wednesday, saying: “And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type! She has no idea what day, what week, what month, what year, or what decade this so-called ‘event’ supposedly took place. The reason she doesn’t know is because it never happened, and she doesn’t want to get caught up with details or facts that can be proven wrong.”
Whether Trump will remain the defendant in the original lawsuit is a key question because if Trump was acting within the scope of his duties as a federal employee, the U.S. government would become the defendant in the case.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a split decision last month that Trump was a federal employee when he commented on Carroll’s claims. But it asked another court in Washington to decide whether Trump’s public statements occurred during the scope of his employment.
Kaplan, the judge, said Trump has repeatedly tried to delay the collection of evidence in the lawsuit.
“Given his conduct so far in this case, Mr. Trump’s position regarding the burdens of discovery is inexcusable,” he wrote. “As this Court previously has observed, Mr. Trump has litigated this case since it began in 2019 with the effect and probably the purpose of delaying it.”
The judge noted that the collection of evidence for the lawsuit to go to trial was virtually concluded, except for the depositions of Trump and Carroll.
“Mr. Trump has conducted extensive discovery of the plaintiff, yet produced virtually none himself,” Kaplan said. “Completing these depositions — which already have been delayed for years — would impose no undue burden on Mr. Trump, let alone any irreparable injury.”
The judge also said the deposition could be useful when Carroll’s lawyer next month files the new lawsuit.
Whether the rape occurred is central to the defamation claims, as well as the anticipated new lawsuit, the judge said.
___
Associated Press Writer Jill Colvin reported from Washington
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Stocks Sink After An Annual Inflation Measure Returns To 40-Year High | CNN Business
Stocks Sink After An Annual Inflation Measure Returns To 40-Year High | CNN Business https://digitalalaskanews.com/stocks-sink-after-an-annual-inflation-measure-returns-to-40-year-high-cnn-business/
Clarida: We got it wrong on inflation
04:40
A key US inflation report showed prices remain stubbornly high. Although falling gas prices have helped bring overall inflation lower, prices of food and other essentials like housing keep rising with no end in sight. By one measure, inflation returned to its highest level since August 1982 last month.
The Fed and other central banks around the globe may be losing the war on inflation. Historic rate hike after historic rate hike have done little to tame prices. And OPEC’s oil supply cuts won’t help gas and fuel prices, which have been one of the few pieces of good inflation news in recent months.
Stocks fell sharply after inflation came in hotter than expected.
Stocks deflated Thursday following the inflation report, but there were a handful of blue chip companies holding up well. Three in particular were solidly in green thanks to strong earnings.
Drugstore giant Walgreens (WBA) was one of the few Dow winners, gaining 3% after reporting a better-than-expected profit and healthy guidance for 2023.
And Domino’s (DPZ) delivered for investors. The pizza king’s sales topped forecasts, even though the strong dollar ate into revenue a bit. Domino’s shares rose 9%, making it the top performer in the S&P 500.
Delta (DAL) shares also took flight, thanks to solid sales and a robust outlook.
It just goes to show that even in a bear market and with recession fears swirling due to concerns about uber-aggressive rate hikes from the Fed to try and stomp out inflation, investors still need to focus on fundamentals. There are always buying opportunities somewhere.
Homes in Morgan Hill, California, on October 4.
(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
After taking a breather last week, mortgage rates rose again – moving even closer to 7%.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.92% in the week ending October 13, up from 6.66% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. It is the highest average rate since April 2002. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate stood at 3.05%.
Mortgage rates have more than doubled in the past year as the Federal Reserve pushed ahead with its unprecedented campaign of hiking interest rates in order to tame soaring inflation. The combination of the central bank’s rate hikes, investor’s concerns about a recession and mixed economic news has made mortgage rates volatile over the past several months.
“We continue to see a tale of two economies in the data,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Strong job and wage growth are keeping consumers’ balance sheets positive, while lingering inflation, recession fears and housing affordability are driving housing demand down precipitously.”
He said the next several months will undoubtedly be important for the economy and the housing market. Already, home sales are dropping and prices are cooling as well.
The average mortgage rate is based on a survey of conventional home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20% down and have excellent credit, according to Freddie Mac. But many buyers who put down less money up front or have less than perfect credit will pay more.
A shopper holds a basket inside a grocery store in San Francisco, CA, in May 2022.
(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Social Security recipients will receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment of 8.7% next year, the largest increase since 1981, the Social Security Administration announced Thursday.
The spike will boost retirees’ monthly payments by $146 to an estimated average of $1,827 for 2023.
The hefty increase, which follows a 5.9% adjustment for this year, is aimed at helping Social Security’s roughly 70 million recipients contend with the high inflation that’s been plaguing the US since last year.
“Will the COLA be enough to keep up with inflation? It’s too early to say,” said Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group. “It depends on what inflation is going to do from October onwards.”
The adjustment is the highest that most current beneficiaries have ever seen, but that’s because it is based on an inflation metric from August through October, which is also around 40-year highs.
A related metric, the Consumer Price Index, increased 8.2% in September, compared with a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday.
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The New York Stock Exchange seen on September 23.
(Mary Altaffer/AP)
US stocks opened lower on Thursday after new inflation data came in higher than Wall Street had expected.
The consumer price index, or CPI, rose 0.4% in September from the previous month, more than the 0.2% estimate from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. On an annual basis, inflation was up 8.2%.
CPI is an inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve. The elevated number stoked investor fears that the Fed is likely to continue its aggressive regimen of interest rate hikes at its meeting in November, bringing more pain to the economy and weighing on markets.
The Dow fell 556 points, or 1.9%, on Thursday morning.
The S&P 500 was down 2.2%.
The Nasdaq Composite was 3% lower.
So much for the Federal Reserve being able to slow down those interest rate hikes. Following a red-hot CPI report, which showed no sign of inflation abating, fed funds futures are now pricing in a 97% chance of a fourth straight increase of three-quarters of a point at its November 2 meeting…and a 3% probability of a full point hike.
That would bring rates to a level of 4% to 4.25%. Investors are betting on another massive hike in December, too.
Futures are pricing in a 66% likelihood that rates will be in a range of 4.5% to 4.75% after the December 14 meeting and a 2% chance that rates will hit 4.75% to 5%. (So long, year-end Santa Claus market rally? Stocks tanked Thursday after the CPI report.)
“This is the Fed’s nightmare scenario,” said Jan Szilagyi, CEO and co-founder of Toggle AI, an investment research firm in a report Thursday morning.
A key measure of inflation came in hotter than investors had hoped, giving the Fed more leeway to hike rates by a historic level.
Dow futures tumbled more than 400 points, or 1.5%.
S&P 500 futures fell 1.8%
Nasdaq futures were 2.6% lower.
People shop at a supermarket in Santa Monica, California, on September 13.
(Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images)
American consumers continue to be punished by high prices, despite lower gas costs and unprecedented action from the Federal Reserve to tame inflation, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Annual inflation rose by 8.2% in September, a slower increase than the 8.3% rise seen in August, according to the Consumer Price Index, which measures the changes in prices for a basket of consumer goods and services. Economists had projected the pace of price increases would slow to 8.1% last month.
On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices increased by 0.4% from August.
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BlackRock, the owner of the super popular iShares family of exchange-traded funds and biggest asset management firm on the planet, is not immune to the market madness on Wall Street. BlackRock reported a 15% drop in revenue for the third quarter. The company blamed the weakness on “the impact of significantly lower markets and dollar appreciation.”
The company’s earnings and revenue did beat Wall Street’s estimates, helping to send shares of BlackRock (BLK) up a bit in premarket trading. But volatility on Wall Street is clearly making investors nervous. That is hurting BlackRock.
The company’s assets under management, which topped $10 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, have steadily slid this year. The trend continued in the third quarter, with BlackRock reporting assets under management of just under $8 trillion…down from $8.5 trillion at the end of June.
One bright spot: The Federal Reserve’s rate hikes have lifted bond yields, which pushed more investors away from stocks and into fixed income assets. BlackRock said that it had $37 billion in net inflows to its bond ETFs.
Delta Air Lines posted record revenue of $14 billion, up 11% from the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, and it did so with only 83% of the seat capacity it had at that time.
Income of $1.3 billion fell just short of forecasts but the shortfall was less than the impact of Hurricane Ian on its operations, as the airline said the storm cost it about 3 cents a share, or $19.4 million.
But what sent shares of Delta climbing 4% in premarket trading was its guidance of earnings per share of between $1 to $1.25 in the fourth quarter. While that was down from the $1.51 a share in the third quarter, it was well above forecast of 79 cents a share by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The guidance helped lift shares of rivals American, United and Southwest Airlines as well.
CEO Ed Bastian, in an interview Thursday on CNBC, said he believes there’s enough pent-up demand for travel to fill seats into early next year, even if the US economy falls into recession as many now fear.
“One busy summer isn’t going to quench all the demand for travel that we’ve seen,” he said. “Our planes have been 90% full, or more full, since the first of April. And that continues into the fourth quarter as well. The holiday booking period is strong. Business bookings are continuing to improve. I think it’s going to be a terrific tailwind into the new year.”
Bastian said Delta solved its reliability problems that angered passengers earlier in the year, problems that caused widespread cancellations and prompted Bastian to apologize to customers three months ago. But he said in the second half of the third quarter, out of 120,000 flights on its mainline operations, it had only 108 cancelled flights, not counting the...
Putin Courts Erdogan With Plan To Pump More Russian Gas Via Turkey
Putin Courts Erdogan With Plan To Pump More Russian Gas Via Turkey https://digitalalaskanews.com/putin-courts-erdogan-with-plan-to-pump-more-russian-gas-via-turkey/
Putin presents Turkish leader with new “gas hub” plan
Moscow seeks new corridor after damage to Baltic pipelines
Erdogan seen as key diplomatic player in Russia-Ukraine war
ASTANA, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday that Moscow could export more gas via Turkey and turn it into a new supply “hub”, bidding to preserve Russia’s energy leverage over Europe.
At a meeting in Kazakhstan, Putin said Turkey offered the most reliable route to deliver gas to the European Union, and the proposed platform would allow prices to be set without politics.
Russia is looking to redirect supplies away from the Nord Stream Baltic gas pipelines, damaged in explosions last month that are still under investigation. Russia blamed the West, without providing evidence, and rejected what it called “stupid” assertions that it had sabotaged the pipelines itself.
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Putin told Erdogan the hub would be “a platform not only for supplies, but also for determining the price, because this is a very important issue”.
“Today, these prices are sky-high,” he said. “We could easily regulate [them] at a normal market level, without any political overtones.”
Erdogan did not respond in the televised portion of their meeting, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA as saying both men had ordered a rapid and detailed examination of the idea.
Russia supplied about 40% of Europe’s gas before its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine but had cut flows sharply even before the explosions, blaming technical problems that it said were the result of Western sanctions.
European governments rejected that explanation, accusing Moscow of using energy as a geopolitical weapon.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan meet on the sidelines of the 6th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA), in Astana, Kazakhstan October 13, 2022. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
TURKISH MEDIATION
Relations with NATO member Turkey are vital to Russia at a time when the West has hit it with waves of economic sanctions, which Ankara has refrained from joining. Turkey has, however, rejected Russia’s move to annex four Ukrainian regions as a “grave violation” of international law.
Erdogan has sought to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv, and achieved a rare breakthrough in July when, together with the United Nations, he brokered an agreement allowing for the resumption of commercial Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports that Russia had blockaded.
Russia has complained, however, that its own grain and fertiliser exports, while not directly targeted by Western sanctions, continue to be hampered by problems with access to foreign ports and obtaining insurance.
Erdogan told Putin: “We are determined to strengthen and continue the grain exports … and the transfer of Russian grain and fertiliser to less developed countries via Turkey.”
Russian officials had said before the meeting that they were open to hearing proposals from Turkey about hosting peace talks involving Russia and the West.
However, Peskov was quoted by RIA as saying “the topic of a Russian-Ukrainian settlement was not discussed” by the leaders.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week signalled increasing receptiveness to talks after Moscow suffered a series of military defeats. Washington dismissed his comments as “posturing”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ruled out talking to Putin after he proclaimed the annexation of the four Ukrainian regions and after Russia rained missiles on Ukrainian cities this week in the wake of an attack on a vital bridge between Russia and Crimea, the peninsula it seized in 2014.
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Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan, Editing by Kevin Liffey
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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The Jury Has Reached A Decision In The Death Penalty Trial Of The Parkland School Shooter | CNN
The Jury Has Reached A Decision In The Death Penalty Trial Of The Parkland School Shooter | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-jury-has-reached-a-decision-in-the-death-penalty-trial-of-the-parkland-school-shooter-cnn/
CNN —
The jury in the death penalty trial of Nikolas Cruz reached a decision on whether to sentence the Parkland school shooter to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday morning, soon after they began their second day of deliberations.
The jury’s recommendation is expected to be read in court at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last October to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the February 2018 shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in which 14 students and three school staff members were killed, and 17 others were injured.
Jurors must be unanimous to recommend a death sentence under Florida law, or Cruz will receive a sentence of life in prison. If they recommend death, the ultimate decision on Cruz’s sentence would go to Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who could choose to either follow the jury’s guidance or sentence the gunman, now 24, to life in prison.
Because Cruz pleaded guilty last year in the 2018 massacre – the deadliest mass shooting at a US high school – his trial proceeded directly to the sentencing phase. The sentencing recommendation comes after a monthslong sentencing trial, about six months after jury selection began.
News that jurors had reached a decision on their recommendation came soon after Scherer announced the weapon Cruz used would be sent to jurors for them to examine.
A day earlier, Scherer said she couldn’t allow it because of “security reasons.” When the panel asked to see the weapon shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, Scherer indicated the Broward County Sheriff’s Department did not want to take the unloaded, inoperable firearm back to the jury room at that time.
Live updates: Jury reaches decision in Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial
The issue was rectified by Thursday morning, however, with Scherer saying the jury would view the weapon without its firing pin. The gun would otherwise appear as it did when Cruz used it, Scherer said. Neither side objected.
To decide on a recommended sentence, jurors must weigh the aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances – reasons why Cruz should or should not be put to death – presented by the prosecution and defense during trial.
The state argued Cruz’s decision to carry out the shooting was not only especially heinous or cruel, but premeditated and calculated and not, as the defense contends, related to any neurological or intellectual deficits. To illustrate their point, prosecutors detailed Cruz’s thorough planning for the shooting, as well as comments he made online expressing his desire to commit a mass killing.
In their case, the shooter’s defense attorneys said Cruz had neurodevelopmental disorders stemming from prenatal alcohol exposure, and presented evidence and witnesses claiming his birth mother had used drugs and drank alcohol while pregnant with him. Cruz’s adoptive mother was not open about this fact with medical and mental health professionals or educators, preventing him from receiving the appropriate interventions, the defense claimed.
The jury received instructions from Scherer in court Wednesday morning. Jurors were sequestered during deliberations.
If the jurors do not unanimously recommend Cruz get a death sentence, he will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. If the jury does recommend death, the final decision rests with Scherer, who could choose to follow the recommendation or sentence Cruz to life.
To recommend death, all 12 jurors must agree on several things: First, that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt there was at least one aggravating factor, and that the factor is sufficient to warrant a possible death sentence.
The jurors would then need to unanimously agree that the aggravators outweigh the mitigating circumstances.
Finally, if the jury agrees to those things, they still would need to unanimously find that Cruz should be put to death.
Jurors will consider these questions for each of the 17 murder counts. Cruz would serve life in prison if the jury cannot unanimously agree on death for any of the counts.
The first day of deliberations saw jurors asking for a readback of at least some testimony from an expert who testified across multiple days.
When Judge Scherer agreed to the readback, jurors were called back into the courtroom. A court reporter then read the cross examination of Dr. Paul Connor, an expert on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), who testified for the defense that Cruz has the disorder, along with deficits in IQ, motor skills, executive functioning and memory – elements that would support the defense’s mitigators and a life sentence.
During the cross examination in September, prosecutors pressed Connor on his testing of Cruz and questioned his assessment of Cruz’s capabilities, particularly his visual-spatial skills. Lead prosecutor Michael Satz pointed to a sharpshooter badge Cruz earned while on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas JROTC team, which required him to fire a pellet and hit increasingly smaller targets from 10 meters away.
“Were you aware,” Satz asked Conner in September, “that the defendant in this case won a sharpshooter badge?”
“No,” Connor responded.
The jury also initially asked to rehear the testimony of Dr. Robert Denney, a clinical neuropsychologist who testified during the state’s rebuttal that Cruz does not meet the criteria for FASD, but does have anti-social personality disorder and borderline personality disorder.
But after rehearing Connor’s cross examination, the jury decided it no longer needed to rehear Denney’s testimony.
The jurors were once again excused to deliberate in private.
In closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors argued Cruz’s decision to commit the shooting was deliberate and carefully planned, while Cruz’s defense attorneys offered evidence of a lifetime of struggles at home and in school.
“What he wanted to do, what his plan was and what he did, was to murder children at school and their caretakers,” Satz said Tuesday. “The appropriate sentence for Nikolas Cruz is the death penalty,” he concluded.
However, defense attorney Melisa McNeill said Cruz “is a brain damaged, broken, mentally ill person, through no fault of his own.” She pointed to the defense’s claim that Cruz’s mother used drugs and drank alcohol while his mother was pregnant with him, saying he was “poisoned” in her womb.
“And in a civilized humane society, do we kill brain damaged, mentally ill, broken people?” McNeill asked Tuesday. “Do we? I hope not.”
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Matchup Of The Game: Ja https://digitalalaskanews.com/matchup-of-the-game-ja/
BENGALS WR JA’MARR CHASE VS. SAINTS CB MARSHON LATTIMORE AND S TYRANN MATHIEU
The man who answers the phone Wednesday night at one of the three locations of New Orleans Food and Spirits, Chase’s favorite hometown restaurant, is breaking down his favorite dish.
Voodoo Rolls.
“It’s basically a crawfish bread. It’s traditional in New Orleans,” the man says. “It’s basically an egg roll style version with crawfish in there, a little Monterey Jack cheese and a Cajun cream sauce inside an egg roll. Three per order. If you dine in you can get six per order because they’re easy to share.”
Expect Voodoo Rolls all around Saturday night when the Bengals get to town. Chase, who usually stays in the hotel the night before a road game and waits for the food to come to him, plans to take some of his teammates there and he’s recommending it to everybody else.
But that’s as close as he’s going to get to Voodoo.
Chase, who once fled after completing a reluctant photo shoot in one of those haunted houses that stock and stalk his hometown, takes his game to the more familiar and vibrant environs of the Caesars Superdome Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) when the Bengals try to stay alive against the Saints.
“Talking about the spirits? I’m not paying attention to that, man. I’m a human,” says Chase, a Crescent City legend clearly not a fan of the region’s other traditions. “I don’t like the spooky stuff.”
Chase comes home looking a lot more human than he did in his first five games last season as a rookie, when he led the NFL with four 40-yard catches and became one of two players in NFL history with at least a 30-yard catch in each of their first five games of their career. Although he’s still looking for his first 40-yarder of the season and has just one catch of 30, he’s upbeat about being close to crashing the maze of scary zones and brackets as he seeks a big game.
“My second big game. I feel like I went crazy here at Pittsburgh,” says Chase of his season-high 129 yards in the opener. “Defenses are finding a way to slow us down a little bit. We have to find a way to adjust, make plays on our feet and that’s when we’re going to start going deep again. We’ve got plans, we just have to execute.”
Chase expects the four-time Pro Bowler Lattimore to follow him, pitting the 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year vs. the 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year. But Lattimore (abdomen) may not play after missing practice Wednesday. With teams zoning him much of the time, he’ll most certainly brush shoulders with Mathieu, his fellow bayou icon working on his fourth team with three All-Pro berths.
“We don’t talk much. I know of him,” says Chase, who watched Mathieu become “The Honey Badger,” as an almost mythical LSU legend the decade before he and Joe Burrow did.
“I watched a little bit of his tape coming in. I was probably playing basketball when he was being called ‘The Honey Badger,'” Chase says. “Great ball hawk. Smart player. He cheats to the sides. He tries to mess with the quarterback He’s a definitely a vet in the secondary. I don’t know what to expect. He’s a vet. He knows how to fake it, he knows how to disguise it.”
Chase never hides when he’s there. “People know who I am. I’m comfortable back home.” Growing up 15 minutes from the Superdome over the bridge in
Metairie, La., his Archbishop Rummel High School team lost the 2015 state title game in there. Everyone knows it was there he caught nine balls for 221 yards from Burrow for two touchdowns four years later in the national title game.
“It shouldn’t feel different. Just another game. I’m just playing at home in front of my family and friends, that’s all,” Chase says. “It’s exciting to play in front of those guys, that’s why emotions could be high.”
He’d love to get another number like that one against Clemson that night to conjure up his rookie year, but …
“I’m just doing my job, man,” Chase said. “I want to be the best player on the field. I want to strive to put up the crazy stats, of course. Whatever is helping the team to win any way possible. I don’t have to go crazy. (Go) seventy yards. I’m not really tripping. I just want to win the game, make sure we get to the playoffs and push forward.”
Still, still. He’s the league’s 16th leading receiver with more yards than CeeDee Lamb, Terry McLaurin and Amari Cooper. He’s tied for eighth with Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs for most first downs. The 10.7 yards is far below last year’s 18, but there are things like last Sunday night’s final drive, when he put the Bengals on the doorstep to tie it with his longest catch of the night, a 13-yarder on a huge third down working against Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey in the red zone. Earlier in the drive, he caught two balls for 15 yards and a drew a holding penalty.
“Teams are very aware of him. We have to be mindful of that, as we are,” says head coach Zac Taylor. “Try our best to put him in a good position to still be productive for us, which he was. Heading into that final drive he was a key point of emphasis for us and made all the plays we gave him an opportunity to make. He was a big part of us going down and scoring a touchdown there even though there was a pretty good idea he was going to get the ball he still made the most of those opportunities.
“Those guys have done a really good job handling it when they have put an added emphasis on leaning a safety to him, doubling him on third down, clouding him, carrying him a little bit more in the clouds. Those are all things that came from being a great receiver.”
It’s really an intriguing matchup if the 6-0, 192-pound Lattimore can go and Chase clearly loves going against the best: “He plays off in space, he’s a good performer, it will be a fun matchup.”
But the most interesting has to be the two legends, the 6-0, 205-pound Chase vs. the 5-9. 190-pound Badger. Brad Kragthorpe, the Bengals assistant wide receivers coach, has a unique view of him. Not only is he watching the tape of the 30-year-old Mathieu in his 10th
season, he saw him do his thing at LSU in 2011, when his dad was the quarterbacks coach, and Kragthorpe was a quarterback in the same training camp in 2012.
“He’s still ‘The Honey Badger.’ Still creating turnovers,” Kragthorpe says. “He’s extremely smart. Understands route concepts. Understands different areas of the field and where he needs to be in terms of being the best defensive back he can be.
“He was incredible. He’s one of the best defensive backs to ever play college football. First and foremost, he was constantly creating turnovers. Really impactful as a returner and on special teams. It felt like every play during that 2011 season he was always making some monumental plays.”
The Badger is still marking the categories. He’s got an interception for the 27th of his career, fourth among active safeties, as well as a pass defensed and a fumble recovery and is among the leading safeties with 28 tackles.
Burrow, also known as Chase’s translator during his rookie season when that thick New Orleans accent mystified his teammates, has spoken to him on occasion and sees him on film.
“Same old player that he always is. He’s making plays, he’s all over the field,” Burrow said. “He’s really good. He’s a really good instinctual player that understand your route concepts and splits to maybe jump a route here or there. He’s the same player he’s always been, a really good instinctual player.”
Chase’s family loves the Saints. He knows their favorite ones from back in the day.
“My Auntie’s is Marques Colston. My mom likes AK (Alvin Kamara and Drew Bees. Pops likes Brees and Marques Colston,” Chase says.
They took Chase to the dome to watch those Saints, but they’ll be rooting for these Bengals, of course. He’s got 15 tickets for everybody.
“I’m pretty sure a lot of the city is going to go for the Bengals, but they’re still going to go for the Saints at the same time,” Chase says.
He’s got one thing to do in town before Sunday.
“Get a reservation,” Chase says of the Saturday night dinner. “Make sure everything is perfectly set up for us.”
He hopes the logistics last through Sunday.
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House Committee To Update Jan. 6 Findings In Likely Last Televised Hearing | CBC News
House Committee To Update Jan. 6 Findings In Likely Last Televised Hearing | CBC News https://digitalalaskanews.com/house-committee-to-update-jan-6-findings-in-likely-last-televised-hearing-cbc-news/
The House Jan. 6 committee is set to unveil “surprising” details, including evidence from Donald Trump’s Secret Service, about the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in its last public hearing before the November midterm elections.
The committee plans to show new video footage it received from the Secret Service of the rally on the White House Ellipse. Trump spoke there before encouraging his armed supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
The Secret Service has turned over 1.5 million pages of documents and surveillance video to the committee, according to agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi.
California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a committee member, said that as she learned the information being presented Thursday, she found it “pretty surprising.”
Committee member Zoe Lofgren, seen on Sept. 22, said this week that ‘surprising’ information continues to come in about the events of Jan. 6, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The committee, having conducted more than 1,500 interviews and obtained countless documents, has since 2021 produced a sweeping probe of Trump’s activities from his defeat in the November election to the Capitol attack.
“He has used this big lie to destabilize our democracy,” Lofgren told CNN. “When did that idea occur to him and what did he know while he was doing that?”
The committee is starting to sum up its findings: Trump, after losing the 2020 presidential election, launched an unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. The result was the deadly mob siege of the Capitol.
Committee member Stephanie Murphy of Florida, in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday morning, would not confirm it would be the last televised hearing overall, but said it would the last public hearing before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
Key interviews behind the scenes
Since the last hearing in late July, the committee has worked behind the scenes, conducting interviews with former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien and Ginni Thomas, among others.
Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was in contact with White House officials in the election’s aftermath and attended a “Stop the Steal” rally.
As the committee’s work has proceeded offstage, much public attention has turned to an entirely different Trump-related matter — the Justice Department’s protracted fight to obtain documents belonging to the government from his personal residence, after requests from the National Archives failed.
An image of former U.S. President Donald Trump is displayed during a June 16 committee hearing in the Cannon House Office Building, at Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Reuters)
The Jan. 6 committee has been meeting for more than a year and is expected to produce a report of its findings. It was set up by the House after Republican senators blocked the formation of an outside panel similar to the 9/11 commission panel that examined the 2001 terror attacks.
House Republicans are expected to drop the Jan. 6 probe if they win control of the chamber after the midterms.
The panel’s two Republican lawmakers, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, have essentially been shunned by Trump and their party and will not be returning in the new Congress. Cheney lost her primary election and Kinzinger decided not to run.
Election denials front and centre in midterm races
The seven Democrats and two Republicans on the panel have argued their work isn’t just a summation of the past, but a dire warning about ongoing threats to the democratic process.
Millions of Americans still incorrectly believe Trump won in 2020, according to polls, while a Washington Post analysis published last week indicated that half of Republicans running in races next month for key U.S. Congress and state offices have denied or questioned the 2020 outcome, including gubernatorial candidates Doug Mastriano of Pennsylvania and Kari Lake of Arizona.
Those beliefs persist despite the fact that dozens of cases challenging aspects of the 2020 election were brought before the U.S. courts and rejected. The Trump administration’s own Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency characterized the election in a statement as “the most secure in American history,” and Trump’s former attorney general William Barr has dismissed many of his election denials as not grounded in reality.
Front Burner19:36The Oath Keepers on trial
The Oath Keepers are a far-right militia, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes. He’s one of five members currently on trial in Washington, facing charges of seditious conspiracy and other felonies related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors say they planned to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden following the 2020 election. Explosive, secretly recorded, audio from an alleged insurrection planning meeting was played last week in court. Today, we’re joined by Andy Campbell, senior editor at HuffPost and author of the new book We Are Proud Boys. He explains who the Oath Keepers are and what’s been revealed at the trial about how the deadly attack may have been prevented.
Trump associate Peter Navarro is set to face a trial next month for refusing to co-operate with a subpoena from the House committee, while Steve Bannon is set to be sentenced next week after being found guilty of similar contempt charges.
Outside of the committee’s work, more than 850 people have been charged criminally by the Justice Department in the Capitol attack, some receiving lengthy prison sentences for their roles. Several leaders and associates of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have been hit with rare sedition charges.
According to multiple media reports, the Justice Department has also issued subpoenas to several people who worked in the department during the 2020 election aftermath, as well as members of Trump’s election campaign.
In addition, a special grand jury has been meeting for months in Georgia over attempts to pressure officials in the state to deny Joe Biden a victory there, which included an infamous phone call from Trump to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.
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Digital World Acquisition Corp Stock News And Forecast: DWAC Stock Pops On Google Play Store Approval
Digital World Acquisition Corp Stock News And Forecast: DWAC Stock Pops On Google Play Store Approval https://digitalalaskanews.com/digital-world-acquisition-corp-stock-news-and-forecast-dwac-stock-pops-on-google-play-store-approval/
DWAC stock pops as the app now appears in the Google Play store.
DWAC stock remains volatile as Twitter takeover saga hurts.
DWAC vote on shareholder approval for taking Truth Social public is delayed.
Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) jumped on Wednesday after Google approved its acceptance to the Google Play store. This platform will make it much easier to download DWAC’s Truth Social app. DWAC is the SPAC vehicle that is aiming to take President Trump’s Truth Social app public. The stock is a volatile one, but overall 2022 has not been a good one for DWAC shareholders. DWAC stock is down 69% in 2022.
Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) stock news
DWAC stock closed higher on Wednesday as the Truth Social app showed up on the Google Play Store. Axios reported on Wednesday that Google had approved Truth Social for distribution on the Play store.
NEW: Google has approved Donald Trump’s Twitter-like social media app Truth Social for distribution in the Google Play Store, Axios has learned. https://t.co/QfqeZFxBWJ
— Axios (@axios) October 12, 2022
DWAC has been under pressure from speculation over Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (TWTR) going ahead. This would lead to the possibility of President Trump’s Twitter ban being overturned. Whether this would actually happen or not is unknown, but speculation has mounted on that front. DWAC is also seeking to get a vote from shareholders passed to extend the deadline it has to complete the deal to take Truth Social public via SPAC.
DWAC stock forecast
This is a volatile and news-driven momentum stock and not suited to technical analysis. $10 is an obvious support as most SPACs are forced to hold $10 in cash to return to shareholders if a deal does not go through.
DWAC stock chart, daily
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Live Stream: Jan. 6 Committee Hearing Delves Into Trumps state Of Mind
Live Stream: Jan. 6 Committee Hearing Delves Into Trump’s ‘state Of Mind’ https://digitalalaskanews.com/live-stream-jan-6-committee-hearing-delves-into-trumps-state-of-mind/
WASHINGTON – The public hearings held by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot will have testimony and video footage surrounding last year’s attack on the Capitol.
Watch live in the video player above at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13.
The House Jan. 6 committee is set to unveil “surprising” details including evidence from Donald Trump’s Secret Service about the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in what is likely to be its last public hearing before the November midterm elections.
The hearing Thursday afternoon, the 10th public session by the panel, is expected to delve into Trump’s “state of mind” and the central role the defeated president played in the multipart effort to overturn the election, according to a committee aide who discussed the plans on condition of anonymity.
The committee is starting to sum up its findings: Trump, after losing the 2020 presidential election, launched an unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. The result was the deadly mob siege of the Capitol.
“The mob was led by some extremist groups — they plotted in advance what they were going to do,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a committee member, told CNN. “And those individuals were known to people in the Trump orbit.”
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is poised to gavel in Thursday’s session at an otherwise empty Capitol complex, with most lawmakers at home campaigning for reelection. Several people who were among the thousands around the Capitol on Jan. 6 are now running for congressional office, some with Trump’s backing.
The session will serve as a closing argument by the panel’s two Republican lawmakers, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who have essentially been shunned by Trump and their party and will not be returning in the new Congress. Cheney lost her primary election and Kinzinger decided not to run.
Another committee member, Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., a retired Naval commander, is in a tough reelection bid against state Sen. Jen Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot.
Unlike past hearings, this one is not expected to feature live witnesses, though the panel is expected to share information from its recent interviews — including testimony from Ginni Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She was in contact with the White House during the run-up to Jan. 6.
Fresh information about the movements of then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 and was rushed to safety, is also expected, according to a person familiar with the committee’s planning who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and requested anonymity.
For weeks the panel has been in talks with the U.S. Secret Service after issuing a subpoena to produce missing text messages from that day. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described being told by a White House aide about Trump angrily lunging at the driver of his presidential SUV and demanding to be taken from his rally to the Capitol as the mob formed on Jan. 6.
Some in the Secret Service have disputed Hutchinson’s account of the events, but it is unclear if the missing texts that the agency has said were deleted during a technology upgrade will ever be recovered. The hearing is expected to reveal fresh details from a massive trove of documents and other evidence provided by the Secret Service.
The committee plans to show new video footage it received from the Secret Service of the rally on the White House Ellipse. Trump spoke there before encouraging his armed supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
The hearing also will include new documentary footage captured from the day of the attack.
The Secret Service has turned over 1.5 million pages of documents and surveillance video to the committee, according to agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Lofgren said that as she learned the information being presented Thursday she found it “pretty surprising.”
The committee, having conducted more than 1,500 interviews and obtained countless documents, has produced a sweeping probe of Trump’s activities from his defeat in the November election to the Capitol attack.
“He has used this big lie to destabilize our democracy,” said Lofgren, who was a young House staff member during the Richard Nixon impeachment inquiry in 1974. “When did that idea occur to him and what did he know while he was doing that?”
This week’s hearing is expected to be the final investigative presentation from lawmakers before the midterm elections. But staff members say the investigation continues.
The Jan. 6 committee has been meeting for more than a year, set up by the House after Republican senators blocked the formation of an outside panel similar to the 9/11 commission set up after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Even after the launch of its high-profile public hearings last summer, the Jan. 6 committee continued to gather evidence and interviews.
Under committee rules, the Jan. 6 panel is expected to produce a report of its findings, due after the election, likely in December. The committee will dissolve 30 days after publication of that report, and with the new Congress in January.
House Republicans are expected to drop the Jan. 6 probe and turn to other investigations if they win control after midterm elections, primarily focusing on Biden, his family and his administration.
At least five people died in the Jan. 6 attack and its aftermath, including a Trump supporter shot and killed by Capitol Police.
Police engaged in often bloody, hand-to-hand combat, as Trump’s supporters pushed past barricades, stormed the Capitol and roamed the halls, sending lawmakers fleeing for safety and temporarily disrupting the joint session of Congress certifying Biden’s election.
More than 850 people have been charged by the Justice Department in the Capitol attack, some receiving lengthy prison sentences for their roles. Several leaders and associates of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have been charged with sedition.
Trump faces various state and federal investigations over his actions in the election and its aftermath.
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