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☆ A Timeline of Hunter Biden’s Life and Legal Troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Michael Levenson | More About Michael Levenson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

With the news that the Justice Department has named a special counsel to investigate a wide range of conduct by President Biden’s son Hunter Biden, his life is bound to come under even more intense scrutiny. A father of four with a law degree from Yale, Mr. Biden, 53, has acknowledged a decades-long addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine, and his foreign business dealings have led to questions about President Biden’s influence. Here’s a look at key dates in the life of the president’s son. Feb. 4, 1970Hunter Biden is born, the second child of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. Hunter’s older brother, Beau, was born in 1969, and his sister, Naomi, was born in 1971.

Persons: Biden’s son Hunter Biden, Biden, Biden’s, Hunter Biden, Joseph R, Neilia Hunter Biden, Beau, Naomi Organizations: Justice Department, Yale

A lawyer allied with President Donald J. Trump first laid out a plot to use false slates of electors to subvert the 2020 election in a previously unknown internal campaign memo that prosecutors are portraying as a crucial link in how the Trump team’s efforts evolved into a criminal conspiracy. The existence of the Dec. 6, 2020, memo came to light in last week’s indictment of Mr. Trump, though its details remained unclear. But even if the plan did not ultimately pass legal muster at the highest level, Mr. Chesebro argued that it would achieve two goals. In mid-December, the false Trump electors could go through the motions of voting as if they had the authority to do so. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally count those slates of votes, rather than the official and certified ones for Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Mr, Kenneth Chesebro, “, Chesebro, Biden, Mike Pence, Joseph R Organizations: The New York Times, Trump

☆ Kamala Harris Takes on a Forceful New Role in the 2024 Campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | More About Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In recent weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris has dashed off to Florida on short notice. She sparred with the state’s conservative governor, Ron DeSantis, over how to teach slavery in schools. And she flew into Iowa to defend abortion rights while 13 Republican presidential candidates were having dinner a few miles away. Once a rising star as a senator in California, Ms. Harris has for years been saddled by criticism of her performance as vice president. Concerns about her future spread as Democrats pondered whether she would be a political liability for the ticket.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Ron DeSantis, Harris, Joseph R, Biden, “, ”, Cedric Richmond, Republican Party — assertively Organizations: Republican, Republicans, White House, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party Locations: Florida, Iowa, California

Appearing on five television networks Sunday morning, a lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump argued that his actions in the effort to overturn the 2020 election fell short of crimes and were merely “aspirational.”The remarks from his lawyer, John F. Lauro, came as Mr. Trump was blanketing his social media platform, Truth Social, with posts suggesting that his legal team was going to seek the recusal of Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, the federal judge overseeing the case, and try to move his trial out of Washington. With his client facing charges carrying decades in prison after a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Trump for his role in trying to overturn the election, his third criminal case this year, Mr. Lauro appeared in interviews on CNN, ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS. He endeavored to defend Mr. Trump, including against evidence that, as president, he pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to reject legitimate votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in favor of false electors pledged to Mr. Trump. “What President Trump didn’t do is direct Vice President Pence to do anything,” Mr. Lauro said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He asked him in an aspirational way.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, John F, Lauro, Tanya S, Mr, Mike Pence, Joseph R, Biden, Pence, ” “, ” Organizations: Mr, CNN, ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, Union Locations: Washington, “ State

☆ A proposed 'battle plan' for the next Republican presidency includes eliminating a Biden-era clean energy act that funneled hundreds of billions to primarily red states
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Conservative organizations have released a proposed "battle plan" for the next Republican president. The plan calls for the president to end the Inflation Reduction Act, which has primarily benefited red states. The 2022 bill funnels hundreds of billions to states home to major clean energy projects, like Oklahoma and Texas. Paul Dans, a director with the Heritage Foundation, called Project 2025 a "battle plan" for the next Republican president, The New York Times reported. The Heritage Foundation did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

Persons: Dans, we're, Sarah Hunt, Joseph Rainey Organizations: Republican, Service, Biden, Heritage Foundation, New York Times, Times, Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy Locations: Oklahoma, Texas, Wall, Silicon

☆ Pence Says Trump Pushed Him ‘Essentially to Overturn the Election’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Maggie Haberman | More About Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday said that former President Donald J. Trump and his advisers had tried to get him “essentially to overturn the election” and that the American people needed to know it. The remarks, made in an interview with Fox News, are some of Mr. Pence’s most pointed to date about what he experienced in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, when he presided over the congressional certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. And they came as Mr. Pence, who is trailing his former boss, the G.O.P. front-runner, in the Republican primary, has faced a slog in his attempt to get enough small-donor donations to qualify for the first Republican debate on Aug. 23. An adviser to Mr. Pence said he got more than 7,000 donations on Wednesday, the day after Mr. Trump’s indictment on charges of conspiring to overthrow the 2020 election.

Persons: Mike Pence, Donald J, Trump, Pence’s, Joseph R, Biden, Pence Organizations: Fox News, Republican

☆ Feds vote to reduce bottlenecks in connecting new power sources to the energy grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Also, power generators will have to meet certain requirements to keep their place in the queue, including a financial deposit. Deadlines and penalties for transmission providers: Transmission providers will have strict deadlines to to respond to power generators waiting in the queue, and will face penalties if they miss those deadlines. Also, power generators will be able to add a source of power to a single interconnection request. It can be so expensive to build new transmission, sometimes power generators can't afford the cost and have to cancel their power generation plans completely. Also, power generators wait for an average of five years in these queues because grid operators are flooded with interconnection queue applications.

Persons: Jeffrey Lamb, LADWP, Al Seib, George Rose, Rob Gramlich, Gramlich, Joseph Rand, Rand, Gregory Wetstone Organizations: Sylmar, Pacific DC, Los Angeles Department of Water, Los Angeles Times, Getty, Aera Energy, CNBC, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, FERC, Vw, American, Renewable Energy Locations: Columbia, Oregon, California, Southern California, Angeles, Los Angeles , CA, CA, San Joaquin Valley, McKittrick , California, North, Lost, Kern County, Bakersfield, United States, Milford , Utah, Milford, Smithfield, ACORE

☆ What it was like to live at the Los Alamos lab site during the Manhattan Project
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Los Alamos National LaboratorySituated 7,300 feet above sea level and roughly 35 miles from Santa Fe, the Los Alamos site seemed ideal for a secret laboratory. Constant constructionCompared to the Chicago labs, where some of the work on the Manhattan Project was being done, Los Alamos was starting from scratch. The commissary is where many Los Alamos residents did most of their grocery shopping during the Manhattan Project. Mary Palvesky is the daughter of Harry Palevsky and Elaine Sammel, who both worked at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. After the US dropped the bombs, the site became the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Persons: J, Robert Oppenheimer, he'd, Oppenheimer, Abraham Pais, Laura Fermi, Enrico Fermi's, Robert Wilson, Leslie Groves, John Henry Manley, would've, McAllister Hull, Richard Feynman's, Groves, you'd, Robert Serber, Serber, John Manley, Leon Fisher, Phyllis, Emile Segré, Leon, Phyllis Fisher, wouldn't, Ruth Marshak, Elsie McMillan, Enrico Fermi, Jane Wilson, Charlotte Serber, Kitty Oppenheimer, Los Alamos, Lucie Genay, they'd, Edward Teller, Bernice Brode, Robert Brode, Jean Bacher, Thomas Mann's, Fisher, Mary Palvesky, Harry Palevsky, Elaine Sammel, Palvesky, Joseph Rotblat, Hans Bethe, Pavlevsky, Bethe, couldn't, Marcos, Maria Gómez Organizations: Manhattan Project, Service, Manhattan, Trinity Test, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National, Los Alamos Ranch School, Manhattan Project . National Security Research, Los Alamos, Alamos lab's Tech Area, National Security Research Center, Residents, Carpenters, Tech, Security Research, Los, Nuclear Weapons Industry, couldn't, Trinity, Chicago Met Lab, Japan Locations: New Mexico, Los Alamos, Wall, Silicon, Alamos, Santa Fe, Chicago, Los, Mexican, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Berkeley, New York

☆ Oppenheimer never won a Nobel Prize, but these 31 scientists with ties to the Manhattan Project did
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Manhattan Project: After a harrowing escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943, Bohr began consulting on the Manhattan Project. Manhattan Project: Between 1943 and 1944, Muller was a civilian advisor for the Manhattan Project, consulting on experiments studying the effects of radiation. Maria Goeppert Mayer, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963Maria Goeppert Mayer worked on the Manhattan Project and later won the Nobel Prize in physics. Manhattan Project: Working as an assistant to his father, Niels Bohr, Aage Bohr proved instrumental in interpreting for some members of the Manhattan Project. Manhattan Project: At 18, Glauber was still a student at Harvard when he became one of the youngest scientists to join the Manhattan Project.

Persons: Robert Oppenheimer, Alfred Nobel, Joseph Rotblat, Albert Einstein, Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Bohr, Nicholas Baker, Nick, James Franck, Boyer, Roger Viollet, Gustav Ludwig Hertz, Niels Bohr's, Franck, Arthur Compton, Imagno, Compton, Harold Urey, Harold, Urey, James Chadwick, Chadwick, Enrico Fermi, Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, Lawrence, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Nancy R, Schiff, Rabi, Hermann Muller, Muller, Edwin McMillan, Bettmann, Glenn Seaborg, McMillan, Elsie McMillan, Seaborg, Felix Bloch, Edward Purcell, Nobel, Hans Bethe, Bloch, Purcell, Emilio Segrè, Owen Chamberlain, Chamberlain, Segrè, Willard Libby, Leona Libby, Lowell, Libby, Linus Pauling, Leona Woods Marshall Libby, Eugene Wigner, Wigner, Leo Szilard's, Einstein, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Maria Goeppert Mayer, J, Hans Jensen, Goeppert Mayer, Teller, Richard Feynman, Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, Fenynman, Hans Bethe's, Feynmwan, Feynman, Schwinger, Robert Mulliken, Mulliken, Szilard, Hans A, Bethe, Luis Alvarez, Alvarez, Enola Gay, Walter Alvarez, James Rainwater, Aage Bohr, Ben Mottelson, Rainwater, Wu, Aage Niels Bohr, Mottelson, mumbled, Val Fitch, James Cronin, Fitch, Jerome Karle, Isabelle, Larry Morris, Herbert Hauptman, Karle, Isabella Karle, Norman Ramsey, Ellie Welch, Ramsey, Norman Ramsey's Nobel, David Cheskin, Rotblat, Russell, Bertrand Russell, Enstinen, Frederick Reines, Philippe Caron, Sygma, Reines, Roy Glauber, Gail Oskin, Glauber Organizations: Manhattan Project, Service, Manhattan, US Army, AP, Getty, University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, Chicago Met, Los Angeles Examiner, USC, Columbia, Keystone, Gamma, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Trinity Test, University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Hulton, Trinity, Deutsch, Los Alamos, University of Chicago's Metallurgical, Atomic Energy Commission, Harvard University, MIT Rad Lab, Denver, Chicago Met Lab, Materials Laboratory, Los, Radiation Laboratory, MIT, University of Chicago's, Princeton University, Naval Research Lab, Washington, US Naval Research Laboratory, Science, World Affairs, Einstein, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Harvard, Institute for Locations: Wall, Silicon, Polish, Denmark, Copenhagen, Nazi, London , Washington, Los Alamos, German, Germany, Japan, Manhattan, British, France, Washington, DC, Berkeley, Ridge , Tennessee, Los, New Mexico, Hanford, antiprotons, Hiroshima, Lowell Georgia, San Diego, Chicago, Washington ,

☆ For Trump and Allies, a Waiting Game as Georgia Indictment Decisions Loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Danny Hakim | More About Danny Hakim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Because of the logistics involved in bringing such a high-profile case, Ms. Willis has telegraphed a timeline for any charges she may bring. This week, Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating Mr. Trump’s attempts to reverse his defeat, informed the former president that he could soon face indictment. But while Mr. Trump could theoretically derail a federal case or pardon himself if he was re-elected president, Georgia law makes pardons an option only five years after the completion of a sentence. Getting a sentence commuted would require the approval of a state panel. Racketeering charges were raised as an option from the early days of the Georgia case.

Persons: Trump, Brad Raffensperger, Joseph R, Biden, Willis, Jack Smith, Trump’s Organizations: Judicial, Attorney, The New York Times Locations: Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia

“This is part of a national coordinated” effort to stop Mr. Trump, she added. The Michigan charges were announced on the same day that Mr. Trump said he received another so-called target letter from Jack Smith, the special counsel for the Justice Department who is investigating his efforts to hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election. Both investigations are part of a reckoning over the conspiracy theories Mr. Trump and his allies have promoted about the election. Outside of Michigan, supporters of Mr. Trump, then the president, pushed to convene slates of fake electors in six other swing states that Mr. Biden actually won. One of those states, Georgia, is the site of a separate criminal investigation involving Mr. Trump himself, who pressured state officials to help him overturn his loss.

Persons: Trump, Kathy Berden, Marian Sheridan, Jack Smith, Joseph R, Biden, Mr, —, Mike Pence, Matthew DePerno, Nessel Organizations: Republican National Committee, Justice Department, Capitol, Mr, Trump, Biden, Republican Locations: Michigan, Georgia

Weeks later, Mr. Trump is the former President Trump. Instead, in a brief televised address shortly before 2:30 a.m., Mr. Trump furiously laid down his postelection lie. For weeks, Mr. Trump had been peppering him with tips of fraud that, upon investigation by federal authorities, proved baseless. The cavalry “is coming, Mr. President,” Kylie Kremer tweeted to Mr. Trump on Dec. 19. On Jan. 15, Mr. Trump acquiesced to an Oval Office meeting with Mr. Lindell, who arrived with two sets of documents.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Joseph R, Biden, Justin Clark, Rudolph W, Giuliani, Clark, Weeks, Mitch McConnell, McConnell, Jared Kushner, McConnell’s, Biden’s, William P, Barr, Mr, Trump’s, Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, sleuths, MyPillow, Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, Stephen K, Bannon, Michael T, Flynn, platformed, Jared Taylor, Enrique Tarrio, Doug Mills, Eric, “ We’re, ”, Fox, Eric Trump, Newt Gingrich, Joe Biden’s, Kevin McCarthy, Laura Ingraham, Obama, Dennis Montgomery, Thomas McInerney, McInerney, John McCain, Bannon’s, “ it’s, Paul Gosar, Doug Ducey, Roy Blunt of, Roy Blunt, Anna Moneymaker, —, “, ” Mr, Mark Meadows, Josh Holmes, Kushner, — Mr, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Lindsey Graham, Sean Hannity, Lindsey Graham of, Sean Hannity’s, — I’ve, Let’s, Graham, Pat A, Axios, Brendan Smialowski, “ Hannity, Thomas, Jenna Ellis, Matt Morgan, Al Gore, George W, Bush, Brooks, Stefan Passantino, Powell, Lynsey Weatherspoon, Gore, William H, Rehnquist, Giuliani —, Kris Kobach, Mark Martin, Lawrence Joseph, Kobach, Uncle Sam, Mr . Biden, Ken Paxton, Jeffrey M, Landry, Paxton, Kyle D, Hawkins, Jacquelyn Martin, Joseph, Richard L, Chris Carr, Carr, Mike Johnson of, Mike Johnson, McCarthy, Privately, Ted Cruz of, John Sauer, ’, ” James E, Nicolai, North, Wayne Stenehjem, Stenehjem, Wayne, Tasos Katopodis, MAGA, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Marsha Blackburn of, Ms, Blackburn, Amy Kremer, Ann Stone, Roger Stone, Amy Coney Barrett, Kremer’s, Kylie Jane Kremer, Jennifer Lawrence, Dustin Stockton, Lawrence, Stockton, I’ve, Lindell, they’d, Taylor, Greg Locke, Covid, Michael McKinney, Tucker Carlson, Carlson’s, “ Donald Trump, ” Ms, Meadows, Georgia runoffs, Byrne, Cipollone, he’d, Martin, Mike Pence, reconvene, ” Kylie Kremer, James Yeager, Kylie Kremer, Yeager’s, Lawrence whooped, John Kennedy, James Lyle, Josh Hawley, “ You’ve, Lyle, Couy Griffin, Kennedy, Pete Marovich, Kremer, Julie Jenkins Fancelli, Alex Jones, Caroline Wren, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr, Katrina Pierson, Brad Raffensperger, Jeffrey A, Rosen, Department’s, Jeffrey Clark, Scott Perry, Hawley, Cruz, Year’s, Tom Cotton of, Cotton, Cindy Chafian, Chafian, Jones, Stone, Locke, Jan, “ You’ll, Gosar, Griffin, Robert O’Brien, I’m, ’ ”, Kenny Holston, Donald Trump, ” Mark Walker, Ben Margot, Stefani Reynolds, Samuel Corum, Erin Schaff, David J, Ted Cruz, John Bazemore Organizations: Twitter, Dominion Systems, Trump, Biden, Dominion, New, New York City, The New York Times, Senate, New York, Republican Party, Capitol, White, Times, The Times, America News Network, Fox, America, Boys, New York Times, American, Air Force, Electoral College, Republicans, Joe Biden’s Democratic Party, Republican, Facebook, Democrats, Associated Press, “ Fox & Friends, White House, West Wing, “, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Veritas, Justice Department, Postal Service, York Daily, Agence France, Zignal Labs, Amistad, Thomas More Society, Mr, Electoral, Supreme, Lawyers, General Association, Associated, State, University of California, Republican House, Women, Tea Party, Trump -, Breitbart, of, Credit, SPAN, Tea Party Express, Republican National Committee, Internet, Army, Des Moines Register, Marine, General Services Administration, Swedish, Cowboys, Capitol ., Street Journal, Save, General Association ., Law Defense Fund, Freedom, Coalition, Proud Boys, Willard, Homeland Security, Party, Getty, Georgia Electoral College Locations: Detroit, Arizona, Georgia, New York, America, China, Trump, Grand Rapids, Mich, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Santa Cruz ,, Arizona —, Russia, North Vietnam, United States, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Kentucky, Utah, Alaska, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Erie, Pa, Pennsylvania, Long, Bush, Florida, tightest, Kansas, North Carolina, Ken Paxton of Texas, Texas, State of Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Irvine, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Ted Cruz of Texas, Missouri, Washington, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Trump’s, Hudson, Stockton, Tennessee, Des Moines, Meadows, White, fistfights, Nashville, West Monroe, La, Louisiana, drumbeating, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Delaware

☆ Wikipedia’s Moment of Truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Jon Gertner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

At the moment, it goes against the grain to bet against A.I. The big tech companies, wagering billions on the new technologies and largely undaunted by their shortcomings or risks, seem intent on forging ahead as fast as they can. While Wikipedia’s licensing policy lets anyone tap its knowledge and text — to “reuse and remix” it however they might like — it does have several conditions. Mixing Wikipedia’s corpus into a chatbot model that gives answers to queries without explaining the sourcing may thus violate Wikipedia’s terms of use, two people in the open-source software community told me. In April, Reddit announced that it would not make its corpus available for scraping by big tech companies without compensation.

Persons: Theo, Joseph Reagle, Reagle, Reddit, Nicholas Vincent, Selena Deckelmann, Vincent, ‘, ’ Organizations: Northeastern University, A.I, Getty, Wikimedia Foundation, Google Locations: TikTok, California

Which Presidential Candidates Are Leading the 2024 Money Race? Federal disclosures on Saturday provided a first glimpse of the money race between the presidential candidates for 2024, showing who has amassed the most campaign cash so far. Joint Fund-Raising Committees Joint Fund-Raising Committees Allow two or more political committees to raise money together and pass the proceeds along to their member committees. Generally, a leadership PAC cannot spend money directly on the candidate’s campaign. DONATIONS FROM: Other PACs Individuals $5,000 limit $5,000 limit Leadership PAC $5,000 limit $5,000 limit Other PACs Campaign Committees Limit to campaign committees is for the primary election.

Persons: Donald J, Tim Scott, Joseph R, Biden, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump, Tim Scott of, Mike Pence, Doug Burgum, Burgum, Nikki Haley, Kennedy, Chris Christie, Suarez, Asa Organizations: Trump, Republican, Biden, Gov, Republicans, Fund, Democratic National Committee . Campaign, Trump Save America, America, Inc, Mr, Save, PAC, Campaign, Opportunity, Win Data, America Data, America PAC, SFA, SOS America PAC Locations: Tim Scott of South Carolina, Florida, North Dakota, Biden’s

☆ Why Americans are obsessed with peanut butter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Natalie Rice | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Skippy was the leading peanut butter brand in the U.S. until 1980, a title that now belongs to Jif. Pond, that became the first brand to commercially develop peanut butter in 1920, sparking the way we eat peanut butter today. "We've launched certain innovations specifically in Asian markets to help enable that type of cooking use for peanut butter. Domestically, Americans eat an average of 4.25 pounds of peanut butter per capita, a figure that increased temporarily during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the National Peanut Board. As the family came together in the middle of the day, we saw that it introduced this love and affection for peanut butter to children who will hopefully carry that love and affection for peanut butter into [their] lifetime," he added.

Persons: Skippy, Joseph Rosefield, Peter Pan, Matt Smith, Circana, Costco's Kirkland, Smucker's, Jif, Smith, Rebecca Scheidler, they've, Ryan Christofferson, Christofferson, aren't, they're, Bob Parker, It's, it's, We've, Parker, Domestically, —, Scheidler Organizations: Equity Research, Stifel Financial Corp, Hormel Foods Corp, Post, Holdings, Foods, Hormel Foods, Spam, Unilever, Peanut Board, FDA, Hormel, National Peanut Board Locations: Jif, U.S, Chicago, Smucker, Uncrustables, Longmont , Colorado, McCalla , Alabama, Mexico, Canada, China

☆ Utah G.O.P.’s Map Carved Up Salt Lake Democrats. Is It a Legal Matter?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Michael Wines | More About Michael Wines | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The 550,000 voters in Salt Lake County, Utah’s most populous, handed Joseph R. Biden Jr. an 11-percentage point victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 contest for president. On Tuesday, the Utah Supreme Court will consider whether to wade into the increasingly pitched nationwide battle over partisan gerrymanders. The justices will decide whether the state’s courts can hear a lawsuit challenging the House map, or whether partisan maps are a political issue beyond their jurisdiction. But voting rights advocates say Utah’s Constitution offers a stronger case than the federal one for reining in political maps. He said other relevant provisions in the State Constitution, but absent from the federal Constitution, include guarantees of free elections and the right to vote.

Persons: Joseph R, Biden, Donald Trump, ”, Mark Gaber Organizations: Republican, Utah Supreme, U.S, Supreme Locations: Salt Lake County, Utah’s, Utah, State, Washington

☆ Hill Harper, ‘Good Doctor’ Actor, Enters Senate Race in Michigan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Jazmine Ulloa | More About Jazmine Ulloa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hill Harper, an author and actor, on Monday entered Michigan’s 2024 Senate race, pledging to run to the left of Representative Elissa Slotkin, a moderate Democrat, in what is expected to be one of the most closely watched Democratic primary races in a 2024 presidential battleground state. Mr. Harper, a first-time candidate known for his roles on “CSI: NY” and “The Good Doctor,” began his campaign with a message focused on expanding Social Security and access to affordable health care, as well as tackling income inequality and student debt. In an interview, he said he planned to position himself as “the most progressive candidate” in the race and would work to bring jaded and unheard voters back into the Democratic fold. Donald J. Trump won this industrial Midwestern state by nearly 11,000 votes in 2016, and lost it to Joseph R. Biden Jr. by more than 150,000 votes in his 2020 re-election bid. Mr. Trump focused on the voting in Michigan in his efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

Persons: Hill Harper, Elissa Slotkin, Harper, ”, Donald J, Trump, Joseph R, Biden Organizations: Monday, Senate, Democratic, CSI, NY, Social Security, Washington , D.C, Michigan Statehouse Locations: Michigan, Washington ,, Washington

☆ Pope names Argentine bishop, author of kissing book, to top Vatican post
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Vatican statement on Saturday said Francis had chosen fellow Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez to be the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). The powerful post of DDF prefect was held by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for 23 years before he became Pope Benedict in 2005. "The kiss is a meeting of the two in a moment in which there is nothing else besides them, and nothing else matters," Fernandez wrote in the book. The Vatican did not mention the book in the partial list of his publications it issued with the appointment announcement. Francis succeeds Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria, a Spanish Jesuit, who is at the end of his mandate.

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Victor Manuel Fernandez, Fernandez, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict, Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria, Philip Pullella, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Catholic, Argentine, Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, Spanish Jesuit, Thomson Locations: Argentine, Spanish

☆ Proud Boys members fined over $1 million in ‘hateful and overtly racist’ church destruction civil suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Josh Campbell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Members of the right-wing extremist group, the Proud Boys, have been ordered to pay more than a million dollars as part of a civil suit judgment involving the destruction of property in December 2020 at the predominantly Black campus of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. DC Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz approved Friday’s default judgment against Proud Boys members Joseph R. Biggs, Enrique Tarrio, Jeremy Bertino and John Turano, as well as the group’s limited liability corporation. In a blistering order, Kravitz described the “highly orchestrated” and “hateful and overtly racist conduct” from members of the Proud Boys during the “attack” on the Metropolitan AME church, in which a Black Lives Matter sign owned by the church was allegedly destroyed. A request for comment on the judgment has also been made to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. According to Kravitz’s order, on December 12, 2020, several people in Proud Boys regalia “leaped over Metropolitan AME’s fence, entered the church’s property, and went directly to the Black Lives Matter sign.

Persons: Neal E, Kravitz, Joseph R, Biggs, Enrique Tarrio, Jeremy Bertino, John Turano, ”, “, Arthur Ago, Tarrio, Donald Trump, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, DC, Proud Boys, Metropolitan AME, Tarrio, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal, “, Boys Locations: Washington , DC, Tarrio, Black, Washington

☆ Former Trump Campaign Official in Talks to Cooperate in Jan. 6 Inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Alan Feuer | Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Roman, a top official in former President Donald J. Trump’s 2020 campaign, is in discussions with the office of the special counsel Jack Smith that could soon lead to Mr. Roman voluntarily answering questions about a plan to create slates of pro-Trump electors in key swing states that were won by Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a person familiar with the matter. If Mr. Roman ends up giving the interview — known as a proffer — to prosecutors working for Mr. Smith, it would be the first known instance of cooperation by someone with direct knowledge of the so-called fake elector plan. That plan has long been at the center of Mr. Smith’s investigation into Mr. Trump’s wide-ranging efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In the past few weeks, several witnesses with connections to the fake elector plan have appeared in front of a grand jury in Federal District Court in Washington that is investigating the ways in which Mr. Trump and his allies sought to reverse his defeat to Mr. Biden. Among them was Gary Michael Brown, Mr. Roman’s onetime deputy, who was questioned in front of the grand jury on Thursday.

Persons: Michael Roman, Donald J, Jack Smith, Roman, Joseph R, Biden, Smith, Mr, Trump, Gary Michael Brown, Roman’s Organizations: Trump, Mr, Court Locations: Trump’s, Florida, Washington

☆ Pope Francis orders ex-aide of Pope Benedict to leave Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, June 15 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has ordered Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the private secretary and long-time aide of the late Pope Benedict, to return to his native Germany by the end of the month without any new assignment, the Vatican said on Thursday. A Vatican statement put an end speculation about what role Gaenswein, a powerful figure in the Vatican for more than a decade before Francis sidelined him after a personal falling out, would have in the Church. Former Pope Benedict died on Dec. 31, nearly a decade after he resigned in 2013, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years. The two-line statement said Francis "had disposed" that the 66-year-old Gaenswein return to his diocese of Freiburg "for the time being". He was Benedict's personal secretary from 2003, when Benedict was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and remained at his side for nearly 20 years, nearly 10 of them after Benedict resigned.

Persons: Pope Francis, Georg Gaenswein, Pope Benedict, Francis, Gaenswein, Benedict, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, Pope Benedict's, Philip Pullella, John Stonestreet, Toby Chopra Organizations: CITY, Church, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Germany, Freiburg, Gaenswein

☆ Trump’s Misleading Defenses in the Classified Documents Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Linda Qiu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

What Mr. Trump Said“I was supposed to negotiate with NARA, which is exactly what I was doing until Mar-a-Lago was raided by gun-toting F.B.I. The court-approved search of Mr. Trump’s Florida residence unfolded after he repeatedly resisted the government’s requests that he return the material, even after being subpoenaed. What Mr. Trump Said“Biden sent 1,850 boxes to the University of Delaware, making the search very, very difficult for anybody. Unlike presidential documents, which must be released to the archives once a president leaves office, documents from members of Congress are not covered by the Presidential Records Act. What Mr. Trump Said“When caught, Hillary then deleted and acid-washed.

Persons: Trump Said “, Lago, F.B.I, Trump Said “ Biden, Joseph R, Biden, Hillary Organizations: NARA, Mar, Presidential, University of Delaware, The New York Times Locations: Trump’s Florida

☆ How Christie and Trump’s Friendship Flourished, Then Deteriorated
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It ended nearly 20 years later, when Mr. Trump refused to concede the 2020 election to Joseph R. Biden Jr. Mr. Christie gave Mr. Trump a boost by endorsing his 2016 candidacy after ending his own bid for the Republican nomination, and then coached him for debates and led his initial presidential transition team. In return, Mr. Trump passed him over for the roles of vice president and attorney general. Mr. Trump eventually turned back to Mr. Christie for other advice during his term. But by the midway point of the presidency, Mr. Christie seemed content to be on the outside.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Joseph R, Biden, Chris Christie, Christie Organizations: Republican Locations: New Jersey

For months, people in Mr. Trump’s orbit have been puzzled by and wary about the low profile kept by Mr. Meadows in the investigations. As reports surfaced of one witness after another going into the grand jury or to be interviewed by federal investigators, Mr. Meadows has kept largely out of sight, and some of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe he could be a significant witness in the inquiries. Mr. Trump himself has at times asked aides questions about how Mr. Meadows is doing, according to a person familiar with the remarks. Mr. Meadows was around for pivotal moments leading up to and after the 2020 election, as Mr. Trump plotted to try to stay in office and thwart Joseph R. Biden Jr. from being sworn in to succeed him. Those texts served as a road map for House investigators.

Persons: Meadows, Trump, George Terwilliger, Trump’s, Joseph R, Biden Organizations: White House, Capitol Locations: Meadows

☆ Pence Seeks to Go Where No Vice President Has Gone Before
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Having a former vice president contest the president he served for their party’s nomination in contested primaries is like a 234-year flood,” said Joel K. Goldstein, a specialist on the vice presidency at the St. Louis University School of Law. The broken relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence is itself a historical anomaly, of course. “The reason why no other vice president appears to have run against his president is that he was selected by the president, and there is almost always a personal bond stemming from a sense of loyalty and gratitude,” said Richard Moe, who was the chief of staff to Vice President Walter F. Mondale. In 1800, Vice President Thomas Jefferson challenged President John Adams, defeating the incumbent’s bid for a second term. Adams and Jefferson had run against each other in 1796, with Adams prevailing and Jefferson becoming vice president because he was the runner-up.

Persons: ”, Joel K, Goldstein, ” “, don’t, “, Pence, Trump, Joseph R, Biden, Mike Pence ”, Richard Moe, Walter F, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Adams, Jefferson Organizations: St, Louis University School of Law, Electoral College, Mondale, Trump

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