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Showing posts from March, 2023

'Outrageous': Jordan, Republicans come to Trump's defense after indictment

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Republicans on Capitol Hill decried the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as political prosecution. Congressional Republicans quickly came to former President Donald Trump's defense Thursday after he was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, with Rep. Jim Jordan summarizing the party's response in a one word tweet: "Outrageous." Jordan has led the charge against Alvin Bragg, teaming up with two other influential House committee chairs to demand testimony and documents from the district attorney related to the Trump probe. Bragg has rebuffed his efforts, stating it's inappropriate for Congress to intervene in state or local investigations. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed his caucus will "hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account" and said the American people "will not tolerate this injustice." Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took to Twitter to react to the historic indictment on Thursday even

George Washington University to replace controversial 'Colonials' moniker

Students said the name had a negative connotation regarding violence toward Native Americans. While a slew of professional and collegiate athletic teams have recently changed their names to do away with racially charged titles, George Washington University has joined the move by changing the nickname for its teams. Known as "Colonials," the university's sports teams were the source of controversy when students said the name had a negative connotation regarding violence toward Native Americans and other colonized people. The original list of replacement names started at 10, and in what the school is calling "Moniker Madness," the campus community has narrowed the options to four after receiving "nearly 20,000 points of feedback from the GW community," according to a news release. "It has been energizing to see so many members of the GW community participate in the development of our new moniker," said Ellen Moran, vice president for communicat

Georgia win offers Democrats new opportunity -- plus a reality check: The Note

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Tuesday's Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herchel Walker wound up looking a lot like the first round of voting in November The TAKE with Rick Klein There was every reason for Democrats to feel great about Tuesday's Senate runoff in Georgia -- a more polished candidate with a vast spending advantage, distractions courtesy of their opponent as well as former President Donald Trump, a recent track record of winning similar races and just maybe a depressed or distracted GOP electorate, with control of the Senate not at stake. The runoff wound up looking a lot like the first round of voting in Georgia. That's to say it was remarkably close, with red counties voting heavily for a flawed Republican and Sen. Raphael Warnock needing to squeeze every bit of juice out of Democratic parts of the state. It worked, and Warnock won a full six-year term while Democrats nabbed a 51st Senate seat. It's another blow to Trump's political sway and also the effective en

Doug Emhoff addresses 'rapid rise' in antisemitism with White House roundtable

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Doug Emhoff hosted a roundtable at the White House on Wednesday about antisemitism Second gentleman Doug Emhoff hosted a roundtable at the White House on Wednesday about antisemitism , saying he was compelled to use his "microphone" to address the issue. "There's an epidemic of hate facing our country," he said, kicking off his remarks. "We're seeing a rapid rise in antisemitic rhetoric and acts." "Let me be clear: Words matter," continued Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris and the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president. "People are no longer saying the quiet parts out loud. They are literally screaming them." The roundtable, which was attended by Jewish leaders, dignitaries and advocates, was organized amid high-profile antisemitic controversies including former president Donald Trump; Kyrie Irving, a star basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets; and Ye, the rapper and designer formerly known as

Trump's team recovered more classified documents in search of storage unit

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A team hired by former President Trump discovered at least two more documents marked classified during a deeper search for government documents, ABC News has confirmed. Former President Donald Trump had an outside team conduct a deeper search for any government documents at four properties which turned up at least two more documents marked classified, ABC News has confirmed according to sources familiar with the matter. The documents were recovered at a storage unit that is owned by the federal government, and maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) in West Palm Beach, Florida, the sources told ABC News. The Department of Justice has been notified of the documents' existence. MORE: Trump special master overturned by appeals court in Mar-a-Lago documents investigation The news of the search and discovery was first reported by The Washington Post. In August, federal agents search ing Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate recovered hundreds of classified documents that had

After suicides, lawmakers push for mental health resources for border agents

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As Republicans plan to aggressively challenge President Biden's border and immigration policies in the House next year, one border-district Republican is drawing attention an alarming number of suicides in the ranks of Customs and Border Protection agents. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers plan this week to introduce the TAPS Act to direct resources to Border Patrol agents -- modeled on a past effort at the Pentagon to address mental health issues in the Military . "There's a lot of things that should unite us," Gonzales said at a news conference Wednesday. "The fact that we have 14 agents who have committed suicide [this year] is a problem ... and it's a problem for this body to solve." Rep. Tony Gonzales speaks during a news conference on rising suicide rates at the U.S. Border Patrol, Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mariam Zuhaib/AP MORE: Border apprehensions exceed 2 million this year: Enforcement incr

Biden insists prisoner swap was 'not a choice' between Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan

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In celebrating Brittney Griner's release from Russia after a prisoner swap, President Joe Biden said Thursday it was "not a choice" between her and Marine Paul Whelan. In celebrating W NBA star Brittney Griner's release, President Joe Biden made a point on Thursday to say the prison er swap was "not a choice " between Griner and Paul Whelan, the American former Marine who is still detained in Russia. "We never forgot about Brittney. We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan who has been unjustly detained in Russia for years. This was not a choice of which American to bring home," Biden said from the White House. "Sadly, or totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittney's, and while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release we are not giving up. We will never give up," he said. Whelan has spent four years in detention since he was seized in 2018 by Russia's domestic intel

Brittney Griner release: How the White House says it happened

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The White House offered more details on Thursday about how President Joe Biden and U.S. officials were able to secure WNBA star Brittney Griner's return from Russia. The White House on Thursday disclosed additional details about how President Joe Biden and administration officials were able to secure W NBA star Brittney Griner's release and return from Russia. White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the deal "really came to fruition in the last week or so." MORE: Biden insists Brittney Griner prisoner swap was 'not a choice' between Paul Whelan Biden made the call to go ahead with the swap "last week," he said. But the deal was the product of months and months of a painstaking negotiation effort from across the U.S. government, including officials at the highest levels engaging directly with Russia. Here's the inside story of how it happened : When was Griner released? Secretary of State Antony Blinken said over the summer that

What Warnock's runoff win means for his future and Georgia as a battleground state

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Raphael Warnock won reelection in Georgia’s Senate runoff over Herschel Walker, cementing the state's battleground status Sen. Raphael Warnock's reelection in Georgia's runoff on Tuesday clinched a 51st seat for his party, cemented battleground status for his home state and kick-started discussion about how he succeeded this year unlike any other Georgia Democrats. After Warnock defeated Republican rival Herschel Walker on Tuesday night, ABC News spoke with operatives and local experts about how Warnock's win changes his career and politics in Georgia, a historically red state that began lightening to blue with President Joe Biden's win in November 2020. Warnock and fellow Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff followed Biden's victory by winning their seats in runoff races in January 2021. But the statewide ticket suffered near-total losses in November's midterms. In Stacey Abrams' rematch with Gov. Brian Kemp, whom she almost beat in 2018 -- in what was then the b