Trump Directed $250 Million in Donations to Leadership PAC 

On

Former U.S. President Donald Trump raised $250 million in donations in the weeks after the November 2020 presidential election for an organization ostensibly intended to fund court challenges in support of his false claims that the election was fraudulent. Instead, he directed that money to an unrelated political action committee, or PAC, according to congressional investigators. In its second hearing about its findings, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol made the case that the former president knew that he had lost the election but continued raising money from his supporters bymore

Leave a comment

False Theory Fueled Trump Pressure Campaign on Pence

On

In the third day of congressional hearings on the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, U.S. lawmakers alleged former President Donald Trump waged a multiweek pressure campaign on his vice president, Mike Pence, to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. …

Leave a comment

Lawmakers Ask Ginni Thomas, Wife of Supreme Court Justice, to Testify

On

The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol has asked Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, for an interview, the panel’s chairman said Thursday afternoon.  Thomas, a conservative activist, communicated with people in President Donald Trump’s orbit ahead of the attack and on the day of the insurrection, when hundreds of Trump’s supporters violently stormed the Capitol and interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.  “We have sent Ms. Thomas a letter, asking her to come and talk to the committee,” Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the panel,more

Leave a comment

January 6 Committee Postpones Wednesday Hearing

On

The House of Representatives panel investigating last year’s January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol says it has postponed Wednesday’s planned hearing. No reason was given and the panel will still hold Thursday’s planned hearing. Monday’s hearing featured videotaped testimony by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and numerous other White House and political aides to then-President Donald Trump who said they had repeatedly told him that his allegations of fraud in the 2020 election were baseless and that he had lost reelection. Barr said that many of Trump’s claims of election irregularities were “completely bogus and silly.” “I toldmore

Leave a comment

Trump Election Claims in Focus as Committee Holds January 6 Riot Hearing

On

The panel investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year holds its second public hearing Monday, with former President Donald Trump’s campaign manager among those testifying in a session focusing on Trump’s unfounded allegations of election fraud.  Committee members said Sunday much more evidence will emerge in upcoming hearings that Trump knew he had lost his bid for reelection and yet fomented the mayhem by telling supporters he had been cheated out of another four-year term.  Trump “absolutely knew he had lost,” U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, told CNN’s “State of the Union” show. “Anymore

Leave a comment

House Passes Gun Control Bill After NY, Texas Deaths 

On

The House passed a wide-ranging gun control bill Wednesday in response to recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semiautomatic rifle and prohibit the sale of ammunition magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The legislation passed by a mostly party-line vote of 223-204. It has almost no chance of becoming law as the Senate pursues negotiations focused on improving mental health programs, bolstering school security and enhancing background checks. But the House bill does allow Democratic lawmakers a opportunity to frame for voters in Novembermore

Leave a comment

Sources say Biden to Use Executive Action to Spur Solar Projects Hit by Probe

On

President Joe Biden will use executive action on Monday to help bridge a solar panel supply gap and kickstart stalled U.S. projects after an investigation froze imports from key foreign suppliers, sources familiar with the matter said. The moves come amid concern about the impact of the Commerce Department’s months-long investigation into whether imports of solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations are circumventing tariffs on goods made in China. Biden also will invoke the Defense Production Act to drive U.S. manufacturing of solar panels and other clean technologies in the future, with the support of loans and grants, themore

Leave a comment

Senator, 2 Governors on Wisconsin Gunman’s List, Sources Say

On

A gunman suspected of fatally shooting a retired county judge at a Wisconsin home had a list that included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Whitmer’s office and a law enforcement source said Saturday. Douglas K. Uhde, 56, who has not been charged, is suspected of killing retired Juneau County Judge John Roemer at Roemer’s house in New Lisbon on Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a news release Saturday. Uhde was found in the basement of the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, following attempts by police to negotiatemore

Leave a comment

Biden Delays Possible Trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Reports Say

On

U.S. President Joe Biden has pushed back a possible trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, several U.S. media reported Saturday.  Biden confirmed Friday he was considering a trip to Saudi Arabia, which would be a stark reversal after he called for the kingdom to be made a pariah state.  The White House declined to comment on the potential delay, but according to CNN, NBC and Axios, the visit has been postponed until July.  The reported decision came shortly after Saudi Arabia addressed two of Biden’s priorities by agreeing to increase oil production, which could help tame U.S. inflation, and helpingmore

Leave a comment

Ex-Trump Aide Navarro Indicted; Meadows Won’t Be Charged

On

Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro has been indicted on charges that he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the Justice Department spared two other advisers, including the ex-president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, from criminal prosecution. The department’s decision to not prosecute Meadows and Dan Scavino, another adviser to former President Donald Trump, was revealed in a letter sent Friday by a federal prosecutor to a lawyer for the House of Representatives. The move was reported hours after the indictment of Navarro and a subsequent, fiery courtmore

Leave a comment

McCormick Concedes to Oz in Pennsylvania GOP Senate Primary

On

Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick conceded the Republican primary in Pennsylvania for U.S. Senate to celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, ending his campaign Friday night as he acknowledged an ongoing statewide recount wouldn’t give him enough votes to make up the deficit.  McCormick said he had called Oz to concede.  “It’s now clear to me with the recount now largely complete that we have a nominee,” McCormick said at a campaign party at a Pittsburgh hotel. “Tonight is really about all us coming together.”  Before the recount, Oz led McCormick by 972 votes out of 1.34 million votesmore

Leave a comment

Lawmaker Pulls Out His Guns at US Gun-Control Hearing

On

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday objected to a Democratic attempt to advance new limits on gun purchases as one Republican legislator pulled out his handguns at a hearing to complain that they could be banned. The House Judiciary Committee met in an emergency session in the midst of a week-long Memorial Day recess as funerals were under way in Uvalde, Texas, for some of the 19 children and two teachers gunned down by an 18-year-old with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle last week. There were other mass shootings the week before and on Wednesday. Republican Representative Gregmore

Leave a comment

January 6 Committee Sets Prime-Time Hearing Date for Findings

On

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol will go public with its findings in a prime-time hearing next week, the start of what lawmakers hope will be a high-profile airing of the causes and consequences of the domestic attack on the U.S. government. Lawmakers plan to hold a series of hearings in June that they promise will lay out, step-by-step, how former President Donald Trump and his allies worked feverishly to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, spreading lies about widespread voter fraud — widely debunked by judges and his own administration — thatmore

Leave a comment

Biden to Implore Congress to Approve New ‘Common-Sense’ Gun Restrictions  

On

U.S. President Joe Biden, in a White House address Thursday night, will implore Congress to approve “common-sense laws” to attempt to curb the recent spate of mass shooting deaths that have shocked many Americans. The White House said Biden would call for the new restrictions “to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is taking lives every day.” It was not clear whether Biden would advocate for specific restrictions he favors, such as universal background checks for gun buyers or a ban on the sale of the rapid-fire, high-powered weapons that have been used in recent mass shootings.   Neithermore

Leave a comment

Shootings in US Prompt Debate on Purchase Age for AR-Style Rifles

On

The gunmen in two of the nation’s most recent mass shootings legally bought their semiautomatic rifles after they turned 18. That’s prompting Congress and some governors and state lawmakers to revisit the question of whether to raise the minimum age for purchasing such high-powered weapons.  Only six states require someone to be at least 21 years old to buy rifles and shotguns. Advocates argue that such a limit might have prevented the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead and the racially motivated supermarket attack in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10.  Lawmakersmore

Leave a comment

New Zealand Urges US Engagement With Pacific Island States 

On

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urged President Joe Biden to engage more with Pacific Island states amid China’s concerted push to increase its clout in the region when she met with the U.S. leader at the White House on Tuesday. “We’ll be encouraging the United States to really continue and strengthen engagement in our region, including economic engagement, which is really critical to our region,” Ardern said. Biden reiterated that his administration was seeking to partner with countries in the region. “We have more work to do in those Pacific Islands,” he said. The Biden-Ardern meeting followed a seriesmore

Leave a comment

US Senate Republicans Block Debate on Domestic Terrorism Measure 

On

U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked attempts by Democratic lawmakers to start debate on a measure to combat domestic terrorism as the two parties spar over how best to control gun violence. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved the measure last week following a mass shooting earlier this month at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in which a white teenage gunman is accused of specifically targeting and killing 10 Black people. Democrats’ attempt to start debate on the domestic terrorism measure, coming two days after a teenage gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary schoolmore

Leave a comment

Texas Governor: Teenager Warned He Was About to Attack Elementary School

On

The U.S. teenage gunman who killed at least 19 children and two adults warned in a private message on a social network shortly ahead of time that he was about to shoot up an elementary school, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Wednesday.   Abbott described Salvador Ramos as an 18-year-old high school dropout. The governor blamed mental health issues for Ramos’ assault Tuesday on the Robb Elementary School in the small city of Uvalde, Texas, which ended when a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot Ramos dead.   But Abbott said officials had not discovered any mental health care concerns officially registered aboutmore

Leave a comment

Trump’s Election Fraud Claims Face a Test in Georgia  

On

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s relentless campaign to convince voters of his debunked claim that he was cheated out of victory in his 2020 run for reelection is on the ballot again Tuesday, with two high-stakes Republican primary elections in the Southern state of Georgia.  Trump is trying to defeat two Georgia officials: Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The latter, the state’s chief election official, angered Trump by rejecting his claims that Democrat Joe Biden had won the state in a fraudulent vote count. Both Kemp and Raffensperger are facing Trump-endorsed opponents in Republican Party contests. more

Leave a comment