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The chairman of the House Jan. 6 committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., expects the panel to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, he told reporters Tuesday. “We have made decisions on criminal referrals,” Thompson said. Thompson later told reporters that he thinks there is “general agreement” on the panel that referrals will be issued. The panel has been conflicted over whether to issue refer its findings to the Justice Department. Thompson told reporters in June that "we do not have authority" when asked whether the panel ruled out potential criminal charges for the former president.

☆ Alito jokes about Black Santa and Ashley Madison during Supreme Court arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Justice Samuel Alito joked about Black Santa, children in Klan robes and dating websites as the Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case weighing a web designer's bid to avoid working on same-sex weddings because she is a conservative evangelical Christian. David Zalubowski / AP fileEric Olson, the Colorado solicitor general, said that the Black Santa wouldn’t have to follow through with the request since KKK outfits are not protected characteristics under accommodation laws. Alito quipped, “You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? Kagan, who is Jewish, jumped in to confirm that Alito was correct, which drew laughter from those in attendance. Conservative justices on the high court appeared sympathetic toward the web designer’s bid as they heard arguments for more than two hours Monday.

The jury is set to begin deliberations Monday in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, which is accused of a sweeping, 15-year scheme to compensate top executives of former President Donald Trump’s company off the books. The 15-count indictment charges the company and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg with scheming to defraud, tax fraud and falsifying records. Trump Organization lawyers outlined their case that the prosecution’s star witness in the criminal trial, Weisselberg, committed his crimes to benefit himself. Other executives were compensated with similar perks, they said, and were paid bonuses as independent contractors, saving the company payroll taxes. “Donald Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud.

Trump’s post came after Twitter CEO Elon Musk promoted a series of tweets Friday revealing internal documents about how the company handled a New York Post article about Hunter Biden in 2020. While he said he “vehemently disagrees” with the former president’s statement, Turner did not directly answer the question, even after host Margaret Brennan pressed repeatedly. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a vocal opponent of Trump who serves on the House Jan. 6 committee, called Trump's statement “insane." Meanwhile, Democrats swiftly rebuked Trump’s statement shortly after it was posted. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he “vociferously” condemns Trump’s remarks and urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.

Closing arguments are beginning Thursday in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, which is accused of a sweeping, 15-year scheme to compensate top executives of former President Donald Trump’s company off the books. After lawyers wrap up up arguments, the 12-person jury is set to begin deliberations Monday. Although he said Trump and his sons knew of the perks he received because they would sign the checks, they were unaware of any fraud. Former CFO Allen Weisselberg leaves the courtroom during a trial at the New York Supreme Court in New York on Nov. 17. The New York attorney general’s office is also suing the company, Trump and his oldest children last month, alleging they had overstated the company’s financial assets by billions of dollars.

☆ Right-wing operatives sentenced to 500 hours of voter registration for 2020 election robocall scheme
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A pair of right-wing provocateurs were sentenced Tuesday to spend 500 hours registering voters after pleading guilty to telecommunications fraud in connection with robocalls made before the 2020 election. Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were also sentenced to two years of probation and 12 hours a day of electronic monitoring for six months, according to prosecutors in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. “These two individuals attempted to disrupt the foundation of our democracy," prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement. Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James sought $2.7 million in penalties over robocalls allegedly aimed at suppressing the Black vote ahead of the 2020 election. Burkman and Wohl gained attention for several unsuccessful schemes to attack opponents of former President Donald Trump with false accusations of sexual misconduct and other criminal activity.

☆ Blinken: U.S. must speak out 'clearly' in support of people's rights to protest amid Iran crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an interview with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday, voiced his support for the protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini amid Tehran's crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. Blinken commented on the "extraordinary courage" of women in Iran who have been "standing up, speaking up, speaking out for their basic rights." "That’s not at all the case, and to misunderstand their own people is at the heart of the problem that they’re facing," Blinken said. "But the most important thing we can do is to speak out very clearly ourselves in support of the people’s rights to protest peacefully." Blinken also took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin over energy supply cuts in Ukraine caused by Russia’s heavy bombardment of the country’s infrastructure.

☆ Trump doesn't have 'absolute immunity' over efforts to overturn 2020 election, judge says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A federal judge on Monday rejected former President Donald Trump’s argument that he has “absolute immunity” in response to a lawsuit alleging he committed civil rights violations in his attempts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results. "For these reasons, the court concludes that former President Trump is not immune from monetary damages in this suit." NBC News has reached out to attorneys for Trump and the Republican National Committee for comment. “The court is also cognizant that the individual plaintiffs are Black voters who are particularly targeted by former President Trump’s baseless allegations of election fraud,” he continued. The case was filed before the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, while the then-president was challenging election results in numerous states.

☆ Maricopa County report rebuffs claims by Republicans who sowed doubt on election integrity
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Officials in Arizona's largest county are blaming prominent Republicans for sowing doubt about a secure alternative for voters who encountered malfunctioning vote tabulation machines on Election Day. Maricopa County issued a report on the voting glitches Sunday, a day before it is set certify the results of the November election and a week after the state's Republican attorney general's office demanded answers on widespread voting machine glitches on Election Day. Some GOP politicians and pundits swiftly seized on those issues to push misleading or false information. Lake, who lost to Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, attacked Maricopa County officials over both the technical issues on Election Day and the prolonged vote count. Last week, Maricopa County confirmed that Bill Gates, the chairman of the county’s board of supervisors, had been moved to an undisclosed location for his safety following threats on social media related to the midterm elections.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on Sunday criticized Donald Trump for dining with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, during a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at the former president's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida last week. “Well, he certainly needs better judgment in who he dines with,” Comer said in an interviews on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” "I know that he’s issued a statement. Pressed on whether he condemns Trump’s actions, Comer said he would not take a meeting with “that person,” nor Ye. Trump, who described the dinner held on the back patio as “quick and uneventful," is facing backlash for dining with Ye and Fuentes. Chris Christie, who was once a Trump ally, was among a handful of Republicans who jabbed Trump for hosting Fuentes.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Tuesday testified before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible interference in the 2020 presidential election. Graham's office said in a statement he testified for just over two hours and answered the grand jury's questions. “Out of respect for the grand jury process he will not comment on the substance of the questions.”The Supreme Court earlier this month rejected Graham's request to quash a subpoena from the grand jury in the Georgia probe. Willis' office is probing a pair of post-election phone calls Graham made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff. Graham denied having made such a suggestion, saying he was trying to understand the state’s process for verifying ballot signatures.

“Because invalidation of the Title 42 Orders will directly harm the States, they now seek to intervene to offer a defense of the Title 42 policy so that its validity can be resolved on the merits, rather than through strategic surrender,” the states said in their filing Monday. Sullivan cited the Administrative Procedures Act in his ruling, and characterized Title 42 as “arbitrary and capricious.” The Biden administration indicated that it won’t oppose Sullivan’s order in a court filing last week, but requested a temporary delay in lifting Title 42. In his order, Sullivan granted the request with “great reluctance.” Title 42 is set to come to an end on Dec. 20, taking effect on midnight Dec. 21. Lee Gelernt of ACLU, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs seeking to lift Title 42, pushed back against the GOP states seeking to keep the rule in place in a statement to NBC News. The Biden administration has faced pushback from both parties for its handling of Title 42.

☆ Maricopa County elections official moved to 'undisclosed location' for his safety following social media threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A top elections official in Maricopa County, Arizona, has been moved to an undisclosed location for his safety following threats on social media related the midterm elections, the county confirmed to NBC News on Monday. The official, Bill Gates, the chairman of the Maricopa County board of supervisors, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Election workers like Gates have experienced a rise in threats following the 2020 election and former President Donald Trump’s election lies. No one has been disenfranchised,” Gates told reporters in downtown Phoenix on Election Day, following reports of equipment problems. “We have hiccups,” Gates told NBC News at the time.

House Democrats swiftly pushed back at Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in response to his threat to strip them of their committee assignments if he is elected as speaker. After Republicans narrowly won back control of the House in the midterm elections, McCarthy this weekend doubled down on his pledge to remove several prominent House Democrats from their committee assignments if he becomes speaker. McCarthy said he would not allow Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., to serve on their committees. “He will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator,” Schiff said when asked about McCarthy’s vow to remove him from the House Intelligence Committee. Removing Democrats from their committee assignments would require a vote of a majority of the House.

☆ Colorado's Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor, addresses 'horrific' shooting at an LGBTQ club
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the United States, on Sunday decried Saturday's “horrific” deadly shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub. “This is horrific, sickening, and devastating,” Polis, a Democrat, said in a statement addressing the attack at Club Q. He is the second out LGBTQ person to be elected governor of a state, after Gov. Before his career in politics, Polis was a tech entrepreneur and amassed a fortune worth nearly $400 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In addition to being Colorado's first openly gay governor, he is also the state's first Jewish governor.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said in a new interview that he won't provide testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, drawing criticism from the panel's leaders, who called his decision "disappointing." In his answer, the former vice president criticized the makeup of the committee, which has two Republican lawmakers, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. But his recent statements about the Select Committee are not accurate,” they added. Pence's former chief of staff, Marc Short, testified before the House committee in January. In recent remarks, the former vice president has taken aim at Trump while promoting his memoir, which was released his week.

The Senate is expected to hold a key vote Wednesday on a bill to codify federal protections for same-sex marriage, days after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed to proceed to an updated version of the bill released by a bipartisan group of senators. The group, led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., expressed confidence this week that the bill has the 10 GOP votes needed to pass in the upper chamber during the lame-duck session. NBC News has not yet called which party will control the chamber, with the results of several races still outstanding. The legislation would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, enshrine legal same-sex marriage for the purposes of federal law, and add legal protections for married couples of the same sex. Same-sex marriage remains the law of the land under the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

Congressional Democrats are weighing a push for a fix to the decade-old program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants known as “Dreamers” in the lame-duck session. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., mentioned addressing DACA as a top priority in the lame-duck session during a Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday, a senior Democratic aide told NBC News. “We want to get DACA done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. He expressed confidence that a group of Senate Democrats, including Durbin, are working to gain the Republican votes needed in the upper chamber. Democrats are projected to hold onto the majority in the Senate, but control of the House remains unknown.

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