Politics
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Trump warns of 'death and destruction' if he's charged in Stormy Daniels hush money case
Former President Donald Trump Friday warned of “death and destruction” if he is indicted for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Raising the rhetorical heat, Trump suggested that his supporters will respond with fury if he is criminally charged in the case as early as next week when a grand jury reconvenes to deliberate.
“...Read more

Fla. lawmakers threaten to defund St. Petersburg over plan to pay for abortion travel
TAMPA, Fla. — Two Florida state representatives have sent a letter to the city of St. Petersburg threatening to cut off all of its state funding until council members drop a plan to allocate $50,000 to the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund.
Mike Beltran, R-Riverview, and Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, sent a letter Wednesday to Mayor Ken Welch and City ...Read more

2022 vote studies: Division hit new high in Senate, fell in House
WASHINGTON — It seems counterintuitive in a time of intense partisanship and narrowly divided government, but the share of House votes where majorities in the two parties lined up on opposite sides from each other was lower last year than has been in more than a decade.
Just 53.1% of the 548 “yea” or “nay” votes taken in 2022 met the...Read more

US strikes Iranian-linked groups in Syria after drone attack
The U.S. military carried out airstrikes in Syria after an American contractor was killed and five service members wounded when a drone it said was of Iranian origin crashed into a coalition base.
The targets of the airstrikes, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, were “facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic ...Read more

Reaction to bronze sculpture of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. in Boston hasn't been good – and that's not bad for art that shatters conventions
As an acclaimed photographer and conceptual artist, Hank Willis Thomas has grown accustomed to criticisms of his unconventional art and concepts of identity.
But even Thomas had never experienced anything like the reaction to his latest sculpture, designed to commemorate the lives of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr., two of the most...Read more

Editorial: Possible Trump indictment sends GOP into a frenzy
The apparently imminent indictment of Donald Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has short-circuited a number of prominent Republican officials, causing them to crazily careen in different directions to try to undermine the prosecutor.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — along with New Yorkers who should know better, like Rep. Nicole ...Read more

With Congress stuck, some immigrant advocates go local
WASHINGTON — With Congress at an impasse on major federal immigration legislation, some advocates have turned to local legislatures to promote and push through bills that would give undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses, in-state college tuition and other services.
“Because Washington doesn’t work, because Washington is ...Read more

'Hush money' grand jury next meeting Monday, Trump indictment up in the air
NEW YORK — A frenzied week that began with Donald Trump’s bad bet he’d wind up in handcuffs is set to end with an indictment against the former president still up in the air.
The grand jury that has been hearing evidence against Trump’s hush money deal with porn star Stormy Daniels since January will not convene again until Monday, a ...Read more

Trump urges court to uphold his absolute immunity claim in Jan. 6 lawsuits
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump urged a federal appeals court to disregard the Justice Department’s decision to reject his claim of absolute immunity against civil lawsuits seeking to hold the former president responsible for the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack.
In a brief filed Thursday, Trump’s lawyers wrote that the government’s position — ...Read more

Trump New York grand jury expected to hear at least 1 witness Thursday
NEW YORK — The New York state grand jury weighing criminal charges against Donald Trump over alleged hush money payments is expected to hear at least one witness on Thursday, although it isn’t yet clear on which case.
The grand jury’s Wednesday session was canceled after prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office ...Read more

House attempt to override Biden comes up short
WASHINGTON — House Republicans came up short in their effort to override the first veto of President Joe Biden’s presidency, meaning Labor Department regulations permitting consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investing will stand.
The vote, 219-200, on the veto override came after a brief debate, with it ...Read more

Indictment would be unlikely to divert Trump from campaign to courthouse
WASHINGTON — Since former President Donald Trump predicted the Manhattan district attorney would indict him earlier this week on charges stemming from hush money payments he allegedly paid a porn star to cover up an affair, the 3D chess players among the Beltway’s punditry have breathlessly debated whether this would hurt or help Trump’s ...Read more

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's lawyer tells GOP leaders probing his Trump hush money investigation to back off
NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has a message for Republican lawmakers conducting a Congressional probe into his investigation of former President Donald Trump: Back off.
If criminal charges are brought against Trump in Manhattan, it’ll be because “the rule of law and faithful execution” of the DA’s duty to uphold ...Read more

Trump's protest calls lead to anonymous jury in rape trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s habit of calling for protests against his detractors warrants the use of a rare anonymous jury at the trial next month of civil sexual assault claims brought against the former president by New York author E. Jean Carroll, a judge ruled.
Keeping the names of jurors secret — more common in cases over organized ...Read more

A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty in the gunpoint carjacking of US Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon
PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware man has admitted to participating in the 2021 gunpoint carjacking of U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon in Philadelphia's FDR Park.
Josiah Brown, 20, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe to one count of carjacking and a related firearms charge. As part of the plea agreement, Brown also admitted to ...Read more

Biden sidesteps banking turmoil as he calls on Congress to act
As the global banking crisis stretches into its third week, President Joe Biden has turned to a familiar playbook — lay low and point the finger at Congress.
Publicly, aides and top White House officials say lawmakers have a responsibility to intervene. Unprecedented executive actions are being discussed behind closed doors, but Biden’s ...Read more

TikTok's CEO fails to placate US lawmakers eager to ban it
TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew’s appearance in Congress on Thursday did little to calm the bipartisan fury directed at the viral video-sharing service. If anything, his more than four hours of testimony gave critics more fuel to insist the app be banned in the U.S.
“We came here hoping to hear some action that would alleviate our concerns...Read more

Grand jury in Trump probe of hush money payment set to reconvene Thursday but no indictment vote expected
NEW YORK — The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence against Trump is due to return to court Thursday, two sources told the Daily News — but the panel is not expected to hear evidence in the investigation into Trump’s alleged hush money deal with porn star Stormy Daniels, according to a report.
That means the vote on whether to indict ...Read more

Public radio can help solve the local news crisis -- but that would require expanding staff and coverage
Since 2005, more than 2,500 local newspapers, most of them weeklies, have closed, with more closures on the way.
Responses to the decline have ranged from luring billionaires to buy local dailies to encouraging digital startups. But the number of interested billionaires is limited, and many digital startups have struggled to generate ...Read more

Trump slams Manhattan DA Bragg as an 'animal' as hush money indictment looms
Former President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he is “100% INNOCENT” in the Stormy Daniels hush money case and attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as an “animal.”
In his latest outburst, Trump accused Bragg of “carrying out the plans of the radical left lunatics” by investigating him for paying the porn star to ...Read more
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- Indictment would be unlikely to divert Trump from campaign to courthouse
- A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty in the gunpoint carjacking of US Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon
- TikTok's CEO fails to placate US lawmakers eager to ban it
- Public radio can help solve the local news crisis -- but that would require expanding staff and coverage