How a little-known lawyer pitched Trump on extreme plans to subvert election

How a little-known lawyer pitched Trump on extreme plans to subvert election

The New York Times reports: Around 5 in the afternoon on Christmas Day in 2020, as many Americans were celebrating with family, President Donald J. Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., on the phone with a little-known conservative lawyer who was encouraging his attempts to overturn the election, according to a memo the lawyer later wrote documenting the call. The lawyer, William J. Olson, was promoting several extreme ideas to the president. Mr. Olson later conceded…

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Justice Department steps up January 6 probe of those in Trump’s orbit

Justice Department steps up January 6 probe of those in Trump’s orbit

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Justice Department is adding prosecutors and resources to its investigation into the actions of former President Donald Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the matter, as the related congressional hearings have turbocharged interest in Mr. Trump’s own role in that effort. A Justice Department team focusing on elements of the investigation beyond the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has in recent weeks been given more…

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Joe Manchin’s unconscionable legacy

Joe Manchin’s unconscionable legacy

Leah C. Stokes writes: Over the last year and a half, I’ve dissected every remark I could find in the press from Senator Joe Manchin on climate change. With the fate of our planet hanging in the balance, his every utterance was of global significance. But his statements have been like a weather vane, blowing in every direction. It’s now clear that Mr. Manchin has wasted what little time this Congress had left to make real progress on the climate…

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After Biden confronts MBS about murdering Khashoggi, Saudi prince gives whataboutist retort

After Biden confronts MBS about murdering Khashoggi, Saudi prince gives whataboutist retort

CNN reports: Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, hit back at Joe Biden after the US President confronted him about the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a meeting between the two leaders on Friday, according to a source familiar with the matter. In the meeting, Bin Salman, also known as MBS, denied responsibility for the killing of Khashoggi at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. Biden said he inidicated that he disagreed with MBS, based…

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Russia and Iran are allies against the West but rivals in commodity sales

Russia and Iran are allies against the West but rivals in commodity sales

The Wall Street Journal reports: Iran and Russia are engaged in a fierce competition for sales of oil, refined crude products and metals in India, China and across Asia, as Moscow sells at prices that are undercutting one of its few supporters during the Ukraine invasion. The struggle over market share between Iran and Russia provides a stark example of how the Ukraine war is rewiring global energy markets, knocking Moscow out of the West only to find it re-emerge…

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Crytopmining capacity in U.S. rivals energy use of Houston, findings show

Crytopmining capacity in U.S. rivals energy use of Houston, findings show

The New York Times reports: Seven of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the United States are set up to use nearly as much electricity as the homes in Houston, according to data disclosed Friday as part of an investigation by congressional Democrats who say miners should be required to report their energy use. The United States has seen an influx of cryptocurrency miners, who use powerful, energy-intensive computers to create and track the virtual currencies, after China cracked down…

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The war in Ukraine is the true culture war

The war in Ukraine is the true culture war

Jason Farago writes: At the thousand-year-old Cathedral of Saint Sophia here, standing on an easel in front of a towering Baroque golden altar, is a new, freshly painted icon that’s just a foot square. It depicts a 17th-century Cossack military commander with a long gray beard. His eyebrows are arched. His halo is a plain red circle. He looks humble beneath the immense mosaics that have glinted since the 11th century — through Kyiv’s sacking by the Mongols, its absorption…

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As climate change worsens, the Supreme Court, GOP and Joe Manchin have crippled Washington

As climate change worsens, the Supreme Court, GOP and Joe Manchin have crippled Washington

Ronald Brownstein writes: Mother Nature is entering a dissenting opinion on last month’s Supreme Court decision that weakened the federal government’s ability to combat climate change. With record heat in Texas that is testing the state’s power grid, a California wildfire that has threatened an ancient grove of sequoias considered a foundation stone of the national-park system, and persistent drought across the West that is forcing unprecedented cutbacks in water deliveries from the Colorado River, the summer of 2022 already…

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Joe Manchin has ‘single-handedly doomed humanity’

Joe Manchin has ‘single-handedly doomed humanity’

The New York Times reports: First, he killed a plan that would have forced power plants to clean up their climate-warming pollution. Then, he shattered an effort to help consumers pay for electric vehicles. And, finally, he said he could not support government incentives for solar and wind companies or any of the other provisions that the rest of his party and his president say are vital to ensure a livable planet. Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who…

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Majority of Democrats believe Biden is not doing enough on climate change

Majority of Democrats believe Biden is not doing enough on climate change

Inside Climate News reports: Democrats who favor strong action on climate change are deeply dissatisfied with what they see as the slow pace of progress under President Joe Biden, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday. The survey of more than 10,000 adults conducted in early May showed a deep partisan divide over Biden’s climate policies—much in line with the split between Democrats and Republicans that has shown up in public opinion polling for more than a decade….

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Russia bans news outlet Bellingcat, labels it a security threat

Russia bans news outlet Bellingcat, labels it a security threat

Reuters reports: Russia on Friday banned investigative news outlet Bellingcat and its main local partner from operating inside the country, branding them security threats. Netherlands-based Bellingcat exposed the Russian-backed soldiers behind the downing of Malaysian Airlines jet MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and unmasked FSB agents sent to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in 2020. Russia’s Prosecutor General said the activities of Bellingcat its partner The Insider “posed a threat to… the security of the Russian federation.” Both will…

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‘Oh, God, no’: Republicans fear voter backlash after Indiana child rape case

‘Oh, God, no’: Republicans fear voter backlash after Indiana child rape case

Politico reports: Republicans knew the minute Roe v. Wade was overturned that they had a political problem, particularly with moderates in the suburbs who they need to vote for GOP candidates in the midterms. The unfolding story of a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines from Ohio for an abortion in Indiana is confirming just how damaging the issue may be. “Oh, God no,” one prominent Republican strategist said, after members of his party suggested the victim should have…

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Why Democrats are begging Trump to start 2024 right now

Why Democrats are begging Trump to start 2024 right now

Politico reports: Democrats aren’t just eager for Donald Trump to cannonball into the 2024 presidential race before the fall midterms. Across the country, they are actively plotting ways to immediately capitalize on a pre-November announcement. Campaigns and officials at major Democratic outfits are planning to capture the anticipated cash windfall that would come their way should Trump announce he’s making another run at the White House. Candidates also are exploring ways to exploit Trump’s premature entry to energize despondent base…

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Secret Service deleted January 6 text messages after oversight officials requested them

Secret Service deleted January 6 text messages after oversight officials requested them

The Intercept reports: The Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and January 6, 2021, according to a letter given to the January 6 committee and reviewed by The Intercept. The letter was originally sent by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General to the House and Senate homeland security committees. Though the Secret Service maintains that the text messages were lost as a result of a “device-replacement program,” the letter says the erasure took place shortly…

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