The Washington Post
Hawley’s effort to reap political rewards from Jan. 6 scampers off
Given everything that’s happened since, it’s easy to forget the role that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) played in validating Donald Trump’s effort to undermine the 2020 election results.
In the weeks after states submitted their electoral vote slates to Washington on Dec. 14 of that year, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sought to keep his caucus from joining an effort to reject some of those electors. Over on the House side, there was a quick competition to demonstrate loyalty to Trump by announcing plans to object to submitted slates. But contesting electors needed both one member of the House and one member from the Senate to have a shot at success, and McConnell didn’t want that to happen.
It didn’t work. And the first senator to defy McConnell was the junior senator from Missouri.
Hawley was making a calculated political play that, for a year and a half, he’s managed to keep afloat. But one clip that aired during the House select committee hearing on Thursday evening might have made that water-treading impossible.
The New York Times
Five takeaways from the eighth hearing of the Jan. 6 committee.
At the eighth in a series of public hearings held by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, the panel accused … Donald J. Trump of dereliction of duty for failing to act to stop the assault on the Capitol that was carried out in his name.
The committee documented how, over 187 minutes, Mr. Trump remained in a small dining room off the Oval Office, watching the violence on television and rebuffing pleas by aides, congressional Republicans and family members to call off the mob even as he continued to call senators in the hopes of convincing them to stop the certification of his Electoral College defeat.
Here are five takeaways.
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Trump Ignored a Torrent of Pleas to Call Off His Supporters […]
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Trump Never Made a Single Call to Law Enforcement or the Pentagon […]
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Members of Pence’s Secret Service Detail Feared for Their Lives […]
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New Testimony Bolstered Cassidy Hutchinson’s Credibility […]
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Even the Next Day, Trump Would Not Say the Election Was Over […]
Mother Jones
Fearing for Their Lives, Pence Security Team Called Family Members to Say Goodbye
As Donald Trump watched live coverage of the attack on the US Capitol, Secret Service agents protecting Mike Pence on January 6 feared for their lives and called family members to say goodbye.
The dramatic new details—revealed by an anonymous security official and aired during Thursday’s prime-time hearing— underscore the serious threat posed by the pro-Trump mob, as the former president refused to call off the violence. The committee on Thursday also presented chilling radio chatter of Pence’s security detail from that day, as they panicked over the vanishing window to escape the violence as the rioters advanced.
“If we lose any more time, we may lose the ability to leave,” an agent is heard saying. “If we are going to leave, we need to do it now.”
The Atlantic
The Inescapable Conclusion From the January 6 Hearings
[…] For hours, Trump ignored pleas from his staff, his allies in Congress, and even his own daughter Ivanka. Many of those around the president wanted him to forcefully call off the mob and deliver a national address to denounce the violence. All he would do was film and tweet out a short video in which he gently asked his supporters to “go home in peace.” “He refused to defend our nation and our Constitution,” Representative Liz Cheney, the Republican of Wyoming, said. “He refused to do what every American president must.” […]
The committee established that Trump was told within 15 minutes of ending his rally speech that the Capitol was under attack. After the Secret Service rebuffed his demands to join the crowd himself, the president settled into his seat at the head of the dining-room table. (In a hilarious detail, the committee created an illustration of the president’s viewpoint, complete with actual Fox News coverage of the day.) Trump interrupted his Fox viewing to make phone calls—not to help stop the riot but to urge Republican senators to hold strong in their planned objections to the certification of the election. […]
Again and again, the panel has asserted that Trump was an instigator and a would-be participant in the charge, an unhinged leader who literally lunged for the wheel of the car that would take him to the Capitol. “The mob was accomplishing President Trump’s purpose,” Representative Adam Kinzinger said tonight. “So of course he didn’t intervene.” In the committee’s telling, the president watched his legion of supporters attack the seat of American government not only with glee but also with envy, and it is sheer folly to have expected him to try and stop the riot he had fomented.
NPR News
A majority thinks Trump is to blame for Jan. 6 but won't face charges, poll finds
[…] A majority (57%) said Trump is to blame a great deal or a good amount for the Capitol riot, including 92% of Democrats and 57% of independents, but just 18% of Republicans. The 57% overall figure is up slightly — and within the 4.1 percentage-point margin of error — from last December (53%).
Half of respondents said they think Trump should be charged with a crime, including 9 in 10 Democrats but only 10% of Republicans. Independents are split, 49% to 46%.
Six in 10 respondents said they don't think Trump will face any charges. […]
Notably, a majority of independents (52%) now say it was an insurrection and a threat to democracy, up 9 points from December.
CBS News
House passes bill to protect access to birth control in latest answer to Supreme Court
The House on Thursday passed legislation that would protect access to birth control, the latest move in a broader effort by Democrats to enshrine into federal law rights they fear could come under threat by the Supreme Court following its decision to wipe away the constitutional right to an abortion.
The vote was 228-195, with eight Republicans joining every Democrat in voting in favor. All 195 "no" votes came from Republicans.
The Republican members who voted for it were Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Maria Salazar of Florida and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio.
The bill, called the Right to Contraception Act, now goes to Senate, where it is unlikely to attract the support of 10 Republicans needed to pass it. The measure would create a statutory right for people to access birth control and protect a range of contraceptive methods, as well as ensure health care providers have a right to provide contraception services to patients.
WKAR
Infertility patients fear abortion bans could affect access to IVF treatment
After battling with infertility for several years, Melissa says she finally saw a glimmer of hope through in vitro fertilization. She and her husband started working with a fertility center in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March 2021 and have produced and frozen several embryos.
Melissa hopes to eventually get pregnant for the second time this winter. But when the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade came down, she started to worry.
"I'm sitting here desperate for babies — desperate," she says. "And this can seriously impact whether I can grow my family, whether I can afford to, whether I want to risk it."
CNN
Tammy Baldwin confronted Marco Rubio about calling same-sex marriage vote a ‘stupid waste of time’
As he was walking on an elevator on Wednesday, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told CNN that a vote on a bill to codify same-sex marriage was a “stupid waste of time.”
But when he said that, there was another senator on the elevator who heard him: Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the Wisconsin Democrat who is also the first known gay politician elected to the US Senate. […]
“I said that, ‘The recent Supreme Court decision eroded a constitutional right to privacy. There’s a whole bunch of cases that have been decided based on a constitutional right to privacy that are in jeopardy,’ which he disagrees with. And anyways, I said we’ll be talking some more,” she said.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Phone companies ordered to block illegal 'auto warranty' robocalls
[…] Chances are good you’ve been pestered by more than a few robocalls warning you that your car warranty is about to expire and you’d better take action.
On Thursday, federal regulators took a major step toward eliminating the bombardment — ordering phone companies nationwide to block calls coming from the biggest known perpetrator of the illegal calls.
The order from the Federal Communications Commission involves calls coming from Roy Cox Jr., Aaron Michael Jones, their Sumco Panama companies and international associates. The ring is accused of making some 8 billion illegal robocalls to U.S. consumers since at least 2018.
NBC News
DHS watchdog has launched criminal probe into destruction of Jan. 6 Secret Service text messages, sources say
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
The results of the investigation could be referred to federal prosecutors, the sources said, depending on the results.
The DHS Inspector General informed the Secret Service on Wednesday evening that the investigation is now criminal and that it should halt all internal investigations on the missing text messages, according to a letter detailed to NBC News.
CNN
The amount of Greenland ice that melted last weekend could cover West Virginia in a foot of water
The water off the coast of northwest Greenland is a glass-like calm, but the puddles accumulating on the region's icebergs are a sign that a transformation is underway higher on the ice sheet.
Several days of unusually warm weather in northern Greenland have triggered rapid melting, made visible by the rivers of meltwater rushing into the ocean. Temperatures have been running around 60 degrees Fahrenheit — 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year, scientists told CNN.
The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and 17 alone — 6 billion tons of water per day — … was enough to cover the entire state of West Virginia with a foot of water.
"The northern melt this past week is not normal, looking at 30 to 40 years of climate averages," said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado. "But melting has been on the increase, and this event was a spike in melt."
Mongabay
Monarch butterflies are officially endangered
The iconic monarch butterfly has been listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global authority on the conservation status of species. An endangered listing means the species is likely to go extinct without significant intervention.
The listing of migratory monarchs (Danaus plexippus plexippus) on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species comes as no surprise. Monarch numbers have plummeted more than 95% since the 1980s. Scientists point to climate change, habitat loss and the use of herbicides and pesticides as drivers of this loss.
“It’s been so sad to watch their numbers decline so much, so anything that might help them makes me happy, and I think that this designation might help them,” Karen Oberhauser, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin who has studied monarchs for more than three decades told The New York Times.
The Seattle Times
WA Supreme Court rules that state can log public lands, but doesn’t have to
Washington state is not constitutionally obligated to maximize revenue from public lands solely through timber sales, the Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.
All nine justices voted to uphold the King County Superior Court’s decision to dismiss a complaint filed by Conservation NW representing several advocacy groups and individuals that challenged the Department of Natural Resources’ management of public lands entrusted to the state. Their decisions said that the use of revenue generated by logging public lands is constitutional, but not the only way to manage public land allowed by the state’s constitution.
The court may have dismissed the case but conservationists and advocates reacted positively, arguing the state can now take into account the myriad benefits of a forest, besides revenue from logging, when managing public lands.
Al Jazeera
Brazil authorities doing little to prevent deforestation: Report
Environmental criminals in the Brazilian Amazon are responsible for the massive destruction of public forests, but the nation’s federal police have done little to prevent this ecological damage, a new study has found.
According to the report (PDF), conducted by the Igarape Institute, a Brazilian think-tank, the destruction took place in state and federal forests that are “unallocated,” meaning they do not have a designated use the way national parks and Indigenous territories do. […]
“This analysis found that protected areas of the Amazon, including Indigenous Lands, Conservation Units and Permanent Protection Areas, have been increasingly impacted by the ecosystem of environmental crime, principally illegal logging and gold mining,” according to the study.
ABC News
Senate Democrats' campaign arm sees Roe surge, outraises Republican counterpart in second quarter
Senate Democrats' campaign arm outraised its Republican counterpart in the second quarter of 2022 amid a fierce battle for control of the upper chamber, which is split 50-50.
In numbers shared first with ABC News, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) said Tuesday it drew $33.5 million in donations from April to June, of which $12.5 million was raised in June alone. The group finished June with more than $53.5 million in the bank and has no debt, it said.
Comparatively, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) previously announced that it raised $25.6 million in the second quarter of 2022 and finished June with $28.5 million cash on hand. It also had no debt, it said.
BBC News
CIA chief says no intelligence that Putin is in bad health
There is no intelligence that Vladimir Putin is unstable or in bad health, the director of the CIA has said.
There has been increasing unconfirmed media speculation that Mr Putin, who turns 70 this year, may be suffering from ill health, possibly cancer. But William Burns said there was no evidence to suggest this, joking that he appeared "too healthy". […]
The Russian president's plans were based on "profoundly flawed assumptions and some real illusions especially about Ukraine and the will to resist", Mr Burns said.
"Putin really does believe his rhetoric. I've heard him say this privately over the years that Ukraine is not a real country.
Reuters
Zelenskiy says Ukraine can inflict major damage to Russian forces
Ukraine's military has the potential to make gains on the battlefield and inflict major losses on Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday after meeting senior commanders.
Zelenskiy, speaking in a late-night video address, said the meeting had discussed the supply of modern weapons, adding the intensity of attacks on the Russians had to be stepped up.
"(We) agreed that our forces have the strong potential to advance on the battlefield and inflict significant new losses on the occupiers," he said.
Kyiv hopes that Western weapons, especially longer-range missiles such as U.S. HIMARS which Ukraine has deployed in recent weeks, will allow it to launch a counterattack and recapture territory.
The Guardian
Ukraine calls for international tribunal to bring Putin to justice more quickly
Ukraine has said it wants to establish a one-off international tribunal to try Russia’s top regime members for the act of aggression, which could see it issuing an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.
Andriy Smyrnov, Ukraine’s deputy head of the presidential administration, said on Thursday that Ukraine believed trying Russia separately for the act of aggression, with international participation, would speed up its quest to hold the Russian president and his inner circle accountable.
The act of aggression – accepted by UN members as an international crime – cannot be tried by the international criminal court due to lack of jurisdiction, but is considered the gravest international crime because of its subsequent consequences. On Thursday, three people were killed and 23 injured by two Russian attacks in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office.
Breaking Defense
After Russia’s purported request for Iranian drones, Israel frets over Syria strikes
Russia’s purported request for hundreds of Iranian drones to aid its fight in Ukraine has prompted some concern in the Israel defense establishment, which relies on Moscow’s acquiescence to strike Iranian weapons shipments in Syria, including UAV-related targets.
The worry was especially keen earlier this week when Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Iran to meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the Syrian conflict — an opportunity for Iran to potentially use its newfound leverage to push the Kremlin into a harder stance against the Israeli strikes. But though Moscow has publicly condemned the strikes, according to Israeli defense sources, at least in the last few days there have not been indications of a change in policy by Moscow.
The US accused Russia earlier this month of shopping for Iranian drones, later saying declassified satellite photos showed a Russian delegation visiting an Iranian airfield where some UAVs were on display. After the claim, a top Iranian official denied his country was helping “either side” in the Ukrainian conflict, but this week another official reportedly said Iran’s drones were “prepared… for export to friendly countries.”
Deutsche Welle
Kyiv and Moscow expected to sign grain deal
Ukraine and Russia will sign a UN deal on Friday to unblock exports of Ukraine grain, according to Turkey's presidency.
"The signing ceremony of the grain shipment agreement, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will be present, will be held [Friday] with the participation of Ukraine and Russia," Turkish officials said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was traveling to Turkey on Thursday in a bid to get Russia and Ukraine agree on an elusive agreement to allow grain exports out of Ukraine's Black Sea.
Stars and Stripes
Generals nominated to lead Special Operations and Africa commands promised quick confirmations by Senate panel
Army Lt. Gen. Bryan Fenton and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Langley told senators Thursday that they are prepared to counter terrorism threats and Chinese and Russian influence and prioritize troop well-being if confirmed to lead Special Operations Command and Africa Command respectively.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, promised a speedy confirmation process for Fenton and Langley as Congress prepared to depart for a lengthy recess in August. Other members of the committee — Democrats and Republicans — openly voiced their strong support.
“[President Joe Biden] and his team have consistently put forward exceptional officers to serve at the highest levels of our combatant commands, and you two gentlemen are a continuation of that,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
Fenton, the current commander of Joint Special Operations Command, would become the first Green Beret in nearly 20 years to lead SOCOM if confirmed. Langley is set to make history as the first Black four-star general in the Marine Corps if the Senate approves his nomination as leader of all U.S. military forces in Africa.
Vox
The Supreme Court just let a Trump judge seize control of ICE, at least for now
On Thursday evening, the Supreme Court handed down a brief, 5-4 decision that effectively places Drew Tipton, a Trump-appointed federal trial judge in Texas, in charge of many of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) decisions about which immigrants to target. […]
The decision in United States v. Texas is temporary, but the upshot of this decision is that Tipton will effectively wield much of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s authority over how ICE officers prioritize their time for as much as an entire year — and that’s assuming that the Biden administration ultimately prevails when the Court reconsiders this case next winter. […]
DOJ asked the Supreme Court to stay Tipton’s decision, temporarily restoring an elected administration’s control over federal law enforcement while this case proceeds. But the Court just refused. And it did so without explanation.
USA Today
Armed with vaccines, boosters and antiviral, Biden should fare well with COVID, doctors say
While President Joe Biden, 79, was diagnosed with COVID-19 Thursday morning, doctors said they expect him to cope well with the infection, highlighting his overall health, treatment and fully vaccinated status.
He has a runny nose, an occasional dry cough and is fatigued, his doctor, Kevin O'Connor, wrote in a letter early Thursday to the White House that was made public.
"The President is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, so I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do," O'Connor wrote.
Euronews
Italy's President Mattarella dissolves parliament, new election set for 25 September Access to the comments
Italy is set to hold a general election this autumn after President Sergio Mattarella formally dissolved parliament.
The decision came after Prime Minister Mario Draghi handed in his resignation as a result of key right-wing coalition allies boycotting a confidence vote.
Draghi, an economist and former president of the European Central Bank, will remain on to lead a caretaker government.
The elections -- due to take place on 25 September --- will be the second in Italy in four years.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton judge: ‘Alternate’ GOP electors must honor subpoenas to testify
The Fulton County judge overseeing the special grand jury that’s examining whether there was any criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections said Thursday that 11 of the 16 “alternate” Republican electors who were recently deemed targets of the probe would need to honor subpoenas for their testimony.
Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney indicated that those witnesses could still assert their Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate themselves, but that they couldn’t skip appearances before the grand jury next week.
“It may be that these witnesses have very, very brief appearances in front of the grand jury,” he said.
McBurney, however, did not indicate during an afternoon hearing how he would rule on one of the biggest questions laid before him: whether Fulton District Attorney Willis or her entire office should be pulled from at least one portion of the investigation because the DA held a fundraiser for the political opponent of one of probe’s targets, Republican lieutenant governor nominee Burt Jones.
Houston Chronicle
Texas crackdown on banks that ‘discriminate’ against guns backfires, costing taxpayers up to $500M
Texas lawmakers, frustrated with what they viewed as liberal political activism from some of the titans of American industry, banned banks last year from doing business with Texas municipalities unless they could certify to the state attorney general they don’t “discriminate” against the gun industry.
The Legislative Budget Board, which estimates the costs of proposed legislation, predicted no significant financial impact on the state or on local governments.
But in the first eight months since the law was enacted, local governments seeking to finance building projects through bonds — for instance school districts trying to build new football stadiums, cities looking to upgrade their airports — have already paid between $300 million and $500 million more in increased interest payments, according to a study from a University of Pennsylvania professor and a Federal Reserve economist based in Washington.
Los Angeles Times
One America News Network’s days may be numbered after being dropped by Verizon
San Diego-based One America News, the strident right-wing cable channel, may soon be fighting for its survival after being dropped by another major cable operator. […]
Verizon confirmed the move in a statement that said OAN will no longer be on its Fios TV service as of July 31. The statement indicated that politics did not factor into its decision to part ways with OAN, which is owned by tech entrepreneur Robert Herring. […]
OAN has been the most ardent supporter of former President Trump and his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through voter fraud.
UPI
Woman who threatened to shoot Pelosi during Jan. 6 attack sentenced to 60 days
A woman who said she broke into the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and searched the building for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with intent to shoot her in the friggin' brain' was sentenced Thursday by a district judge to 60 days' imprisonment.
The Justice Department said Dawn Bancroft, 59, was also sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $500 fine.
AP News
New York reports 1st US polio case in nearly a decade
An unvaccinated young adult from New York recently contracted polio, the first U.S. case in nearly a decade, health officials said Thursday.
Officials said the patient, who lives in Rockland County, had developed paralysis. The person developed symptoms a month ago and did not recently travel outside the country, county health officials said.
It appears the patient had a vaccine-derived strain of the virus, perhaps from someone who got live vaccine — available in other countries, but not the U.S. — and spread it, officials said.
Ars Technica
Europe has descended into the age of fire
Europe is on fire: For days, temperatures have skyrocketed above 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius), shattering records and triggering huge wildfires that have forced tens of thousands from their homes. From Portugal to Spain to Greece, the flames have spread like a contagion. In the countryside surrounding Bordeaux, France, 75 square miles have charred in the past week. Blazes are even breaking out across London, a city not exactly known for fire weather.
Wildfires are, of course, a perfectly natural phenomenon and have periodically reset ecosystems for new growth throughout history. But in modern times, due to humanity's meddling with the climate and the landscape, these fires have ballooned into unnatural beasts that instead obliterate ecosystems. Fire historian Stephen Pyne has termed this the Pyrocene, an age of flames. […]
In countries like Portugal, Spain, and Greece, economic development has triggered migration into cities and away from pastoral industries, like farming and raising animals. […]
Because there are now fewer people living in the countryside—and also tougher conservation laws—forests have grown. While that is good for wildlife, it also adds fuel to the landscape. With fewer grazing animals to chew through grasses, that highly flammable fuel builds up even more. "So you start seeing these fires coming out, and it's just relentless," Pyne continues.