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Category: Politics

The Trump Organization was convicted after a truly embarrassing defense

The Trump Organization was convicted after a truly embarrassing defense

Ankush Khardori writes: As of Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump’s company is a convicted felon. The result comes courtesy of the jury in the criminal trial of the Trump Organization, which found Trump’s namesake company guilty on all 17 counts of the indictment. The result is significant but not exactly surprising. The Trump Organization was indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in the summer of 2021 along with the company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, over a yearslong scheme to avoid paying taxes on…

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How Trump’s legacy became ‘pure poison’ for independents

How Trump’s legacy became ‘pure poison’ for independents

Ronald Brownstein writes: The highly touted red wave in last month’s midterm election failed to develop largely because it hit a wall of resistance among independent voters, especially across the key battleground states. And that presents difficult questions for Republicans looking forward to 2024. The GOP’s disappointing showing among independents this year marked the third consecutive election in which the party has underperformed with those critical swing voters. Although Donald Trump ran competitively among independents in his first presidential race…

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How #TrumpCrimeFamily became a trending term

How #TrumpCrimeFamily became a trending term

HuffPost reports: Tuesday’s verdict against the Trump Organization was bad news for former President Donald Trump, his family members and employees. On the bright side, it seemed to inspire some Twitter users to new heights of “schadenfreude,” that very apt German word that basically means “finding joy in others misfortunes.” After a jury found Trump’s company guilty of tax fraud and other crimes, people following the case expressed on social media the joy of the American ideal that no one…

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House January 6 committee has decided to make criminal referrals, chairman says

House January 6 committee has decided to make criminal referrals, chairman says

CNN reports: The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has decided to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters Tuesday. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said the committee has not narrowed down the universe of individuals who may be referred. Asked whether Thompson believed any witnesses perjured themselves, he said, “that’s part of the discussion.” When the panel makes referrals, Thompson said it will be…

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Society can’t slow climate change without reining in Big Tech, new report warns

Society can’t slow climate change without reining in Big Tech, new report warns

Inside Climate News reports: Any effort to curb global greenhouse gas emissions and stave off catastrophic warming is doomed to fail unless far more is done to address the “foundational” role Big Tech companies now play in exacerbating the climate crisis. That’s the conclusion of a new report released last week by the international environmental nonprofit Global Action Plan. From amplifying conspiracy theories and misinformation to their increasingly massive energy footprint, the world’s biggest tech companies aren’t only making global…

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Ukrainian drones attack military bases hundreds of miles inside Russia, escalating the war

Ukrainian drones attack military bases hundreds of miles inside Russia, escalating the war

The New York Times reports: Ukraine executed its most brazen attack into Russian territory in the nine-month-old war on Monday, targeting two military bases hundreds of miles inside the country using drones, according to the Russian defense ministry and a senior Ukrainian official. The drones were launched from Ukrainian territory, and at least one of the strikes was made with the help of special forces close to the base who helped guide the drones to the target, said the official,…

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In the ruins of Chernobyl, Ukraine waits for Russia — again

In the ruins of Chernobyl, Ukraine waits for Russia — again

Michael Weiss and James Rushton report: The Belarusian border with Ukraine is 674 miles long. But one of the most strategically important areas of it lies directly north of Kyiv, in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the largely abandoned, heavily irradiated area around the Soviet nuclear power plant that melted down in 1986. Russian forces occupied the area from Feb. 24 until April 2, when they withdrew after a fierce Ukrainian counteroffensive. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is now where Ukrainians fear…

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Germany backtracks on defense spending promises made after Ukraine invasion

Germany backtracks on defense spending promises made after Ukraine invasion

Politico reports: Germany on Monday walked back its promise to swiftly raise defense spending to at least 2 percent of its economic output — breaching the key commitment made days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to become a more serious military force. Berlin also sought to play down internal warnings about delays to a flagship procurement of new fighter jets. During a government press conference, Chief Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit scaled down expectations for Germany’s defense spending, telling journalists that the…

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U.S. altered Himars rocket launchers to keep Ukraine from firing missiles into Russia

U.S. altered Himars rocket launchers to keep Ukraine from firing missiles into Russia

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. secretly modified the advanced Himars rocket launchers it gave Ukraine so they can’t be used to fire long-range missiles into Russia, U.S. officials said, a precaution the Biden administration says is necessary to reduce the risk of a wider war with Moscow. The U.S. since June has supplied Ukrainian forces with 20 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers, or Himars, and a large inventory of satellite-guided rockets with a range of almost 50 miles. Those rockets, known as the…

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Texas Public Policy Foundation is waging a national crusade against climate action

Texas Public Policy Foundation is waging a national crusade against climate action

The New York Times reports: When a lawsuit was filed to block the nation’s first major offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, it appeared to be a straightforward clash between those who earn their living from the sea and others who would install turbines and underwater cables that could interfere with the harvesting of squid, fluke and other fish. The fishing companies challenging federal permits for the Vineyard Wind project were from the Bay State as well as Rhode…

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Trump owed hidden debt while in office

Trump owed hidden debt while in office

Dan Alexander writes: Donald Trump’s business attracted so much scrutiny during his time in office that it would be easy to conclude that all information about its foreign entanglements must be out by now. It is not. Buried in a heap of recently released financial paperwork sits a surprising revelation: Donald Trump had a foreign creditor he failed to disclose while running for president in 2016 and after assuming office in 2017. The documents, compiled by the Trump Organization and…

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White House rebukes Trump’s suggestion to suspend Constitution over 2020 election

White House rebukes Trump’s suggestion to suspend Constitution over 2020 election

The Washington Post reports: The White House issued a stern rebuke on Saturday after former president Donald Trump suggested suspending the Constitution in his ongoing crusade to discredit the results of the 2020 election. “Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement, calling the Constitution a “sacrosanct document.” “You cannot only love America when you win,” he added….

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Supreme Court weighs ‘most important case’ on democracy

Supreme Court weighs ‘most important case’ on democracy

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case, a Republican-led challenge asking the justices for a novel ruling that could significantly increase the power of state lawmakers over elections for Congress and the presidency. The court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court because the GOP…

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Iranian protesters call for three-day strike as pressure on regime builds

Iranian protesters call for three-day strike as pressure on regime builds

The Guardian reports: Protesters in Iran have called for a three-day strike this week amid conflicting reports that the nation’s “morality police” had been shut down, and as the US said the leadership in Tehran had locked itself into a “vicious cycle” that had cut it off from its own people and the international community. The call steps up pressure on Iranian authorities after the attorney general said this weekend that the morality police – whose detention of a young…

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Non-religious voters wield clout and tilt heavily Democratic

Non-religious voters wield clout and tilt heavily Democratic

The Associated Press reports: When members of the small Pennsylvania chapter of Secular Democrats of America log on for their monthly meetings, they’re not there for a virtual happy hour. “We don’t sit around at our meetings patting ourselves on the back for not believing in God together,” said David Brown, a founder from the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore. The group, mostly consisting of atheists and agnostics, mobilizes to knock on doors and make phone calls on behalf of Democratic…

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