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Category: Politics

How many grand juries does it take to indict Trump?

How many grand juries does it take to indict Trump?

Susan B. Glasser writes: Outrage has steadily lost its power in American politics throughout the past few years. Among Donald Trump’s many political weapons, his ability to brazen his way through scandals that would derail other politicians has long been perhaps his strongest asset. His signature move is to displace talk of one mind-blowing violation by committing yet another mind-blowing violation—a habit that has now produced numerous investigations of him and once again led the former President to dominate our…

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Once a ‘quintessential pro-life Texan,’ she had to flee her home state to get an abortion

Once a ‘quintessential pro-life Texan,’ she had to flee her home state to get an abortion

CNN reports: Nine years ago, Cade DeSpain messaged a friend about a cute girl he saw on her Facebook feed. The friend introduced him to Kailee Lingo, her sorority sister at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Kailee remembers that when she and Cade met, it was “a connection at first sight.” A month after college graduation, Kailee and Cade married in Marble Falls, Texas. They’re both proud to be native Texans: Kailee’s family has lived there for generations, and…

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Uju Anya on her tweet about Queen Elizabeth II

Uju Anya on her tweet about Queen Elizabeth II

The Cut reports: The news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death has been met with public outpourings of grief commemorating her service as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. But not everyone is in mourning. For many impacted by the lasting legacy of the British Empire — one marked by genocide, racism, and exploitation — her death has been met with indifference, rage, and even celebration. “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying,” Uju…

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Why Democrats are winning the culture wars

Why Democrats are winning the culture wars

Politico reports: It’s already the consensus that abortion is going to be a good issue for Democrats in November. What’s only now becoming clear — as Republicans scrub their campaign websites of prior positions on abortion and labor to turn the focus of the midterms back to President Joe Biden and the economy — is just how much the issue is altering the GOP’s standard playbook. For the first time in years, Republican and Democratic political professionals are preparing for…

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As king, will Charles continue speaking out on the environment and climate change?

As king, will Charles continue speaking out on the environment and climate change?

The Associated Press reports: The laws and traditions that govern Britain’s constitutional monarchy dictate that the sovereign must stay out of partisan politics, but Charles has spent much of his adult life speaking out on issues that are important to him, particularly the environment. His words have caused friction with politicians and business leaders who accused the then-Prince of Wales of meddling in issues on which he should have remained silent. The question is whether Charles will follow his mother’s…

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Ukraine’s eastern advance puts forces close to key town

Ukraine’s eastern advance puts forces close to key town

The Wall Street Journal reports: Ukrainian forces advanced on the strategic city of Kupyansk on Friday, threatening to isolate thousands of Russian troops further south and prompting Moscow to send reinforcements. Over the past three days, Ukrainian forces have advanced almost 50 kilometers, or about 31 miles, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, achieving their biggest breakthrough in months of grinding combat. Images of the Ukrainian flag being raised over local government buildings and residents greeting soldiers with tears of joy…

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The modern Republican Party has always exploited and encouraged extremism

The modern Republican Party has always exploited and encouraged extremism

David Corn writes: In May, during an Aspen Institute conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the audience, “I want the Republican Party to take back the party, take it back to where you were when you cared about a woman’s right to choose, you cared about the environment…This country needs a strong Republican Party. And we do. Not a cult. But a strong Republican Party.” Her comments echoed a sentiment that Joe Biden had expressed during the 2020 campaign: If…

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Caught on tape: Doug Mastriano prayed for MAGA to ‘seize the power’ ahead of January 6

Caught on tape: Doug Mastriano prayed for MAGA to ‘seize the power’ ahead of January 6

Rolling Stone reports: A week before Jan. 6, on a Zoom call organized by far-right Christian Nationalists seeking to reinstall Donald Trump in the White House, a man with a booming baritone voice bowed his bald head and began to pray. “We remember the promises of old,” he said, before invoking the book of Revelations and its account of the End Times: “We know we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony and…

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Federal judge stomps all over Trump Russiagate lawsuit against Clinton

Federal judge stomps all over Trump Russiagate lawsuit against Clinton

The Daily Beast reports: A federal judge in Florida has tossed a racketeering lawsuit that Donald Trump filed against Hillary Clinton and a slew of other defendants—dismantling his claims one by one in an absolutely withering critique. “It is not simply that I find the Amended Complaint ‘inadequate in any respect,’” Judge Donald Middlebrooks writes at one point. “It is inadequate in nearly every respect.” Trump filed the suit in March alleging that Clinton and the others “orchestrated a malicious…

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DOJ to appeal Trump special-master order that has halted national-security risk assessment

DOJ to appeal Trump special-master order that has halted national-security risk assessment

Bloomberg reports: The US Justice Department will appeal a federal judge’s order for a special master to review documents the FBI seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, saying the ruling has thwarted a review of the potential national-security impact. The department also is seeking emergency approval to continue using the classified materials — including some with highest top-secret rating — that were removed from Mar-a-Lago as part of its ongoing criminal investigation into whether Trump or anyone else…

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Frontline: Lies, politics and democracy

Frontline: Lies, politics and democracy

  In “Lies, Politics and Democracy,” FRONTLINE examines how officials fed the public lies about the 2020 presidential election and embraced rhetoric that led to political violence. An epic examination of former President Donald Trump’s influence on the Republican Party, the documentary presents startling details from GOP insiders on how the indulgence of Trump’s authoritarian impulses and embrace of his rhetoric enabled his power over the American political system, leading the nation to a precarious moment in which most Republican…

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Federal grand jury probing formation and fundraising efforts of Trump’s Save America PAC

Federal grand jury probing formation and fundraising efforts of Trump’s Save America PAC

ABC News reports: A federal grand jury investigating the activities leading up the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the push by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the result of the 2020 election has expanded its probe to include seeking information about Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News. The interest in the fundraising arm came to light as part of grand jury subpoenas seeking documents, records and testimony…

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Twenty-five percent of Republicans see Trump’s MAGA as threat to democracy, poll indicates

Twenty-five percent of Republicans see Trump’s MAGA as threat to democracy, poll indicates

Reuters reports: Days after Democratic President Joe Biden gave a fiery speech attacking former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies as an extremist threat, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found a majority of Americans believe Trump’s movement is undermining democracy. Fifty-eight percent of respondents in the two-day poll – including one in four Republicans – said Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement is threatening America’s democratic foundations. Biden’s Sept. 1 speech marked a sharp turn for his efforts…

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Trump’s Truth Social in limbo as merger partner grapples with another failed vote

Trump’s Truth Social in limbo as merger partner grapples with another failed vote

The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump has failed to win another vote — this time, from the shareholders of an investment ally his social network Truth Social had been counting on for cash. Digital World Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company, said Thursday it had not yet gained enough shareholder votes to extend its deadline for merging with Trump’s start-up — a necessary step to unlock $1.3 billion in raised funds. The company was scheduled for liquidation Thursday unless…

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In Moscow, the war is a world away

In Moscow, the war is a world away

The New York Times reports: On a recent evening in Red Square, a corps of elite paratroopers dressed in camouflage performed a battle-like dance with pyrotechnics. An Egyptian performer dressed as a pharaoh rode back and forth in a chariot wielding an ankh, the ancient Egyptian symbol of life, as a band played “Katyusha,” a Soviet-era patriotic war song. Nataliya Nikonova, 44, was one of thousands of spectators cheering from the bleachers at a festival celebrating the militaries of Russia…

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Michael Flynn: From government insider to holy warrior

Michael Flynn: From government insider to holy warrior

  The Associated Press reports: The crowd swayed on its feet, arms pumping, the beat of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” thumping in their chests. The people under the revival tent hooted as Michael Flynn strode across the stage, bopping and laughing, singing the refrain into his microphone and encouraging the audience to sing along to the transgressive rock anthem. “We’ll fight the powers that be just/Don’t pick our destiny ’cause/You don’t know us, you don’t belong!” The…

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