White House unveils plan to donate 25 million vaccine doses abroad

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The Biden administration on Thursday announced it will donate 25 million coronavirus doses abroad, with about three quarters of them allocated to the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative, and the rest donated directly to handpicked countries.

“We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values,” President Biden said in a statement.

The White House said it will donate about 19 million doses to COVAX, which purchases and distributes vaccines to low-and middle-income countries. Administration officials said about 6 million doses will go to Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 million doses will go to Asia, and 5 million will go to Africa. Continue reading.

Eric Swalwell forced to hire private investigators because Rep. Mo Brooks is so scared of his subpoena

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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) is so terrified of the lawsuit by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) that he has been hiding from process servers for almost a month, just to avoid being subpoenaed.

Brooks was among many Republicans who spoke at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

“Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” proclaimed Brooks moments ahead of the crowd attacking Capitol Police and D.C. Metro cops. Brooks is even bragging about his involvement in the Jan. 6 attacks, using it in several Facebook ads for his campaign. But when asked to stand up for his speech and defend his involvement, Brooks is running scared and hiding. Continue reading.

‘Raw political fear’: George Conway torches GOP lawmakers for their ‘dereliction’ on Jan 6 commission vote

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George Conway is displeased with Republican lawmakers’ handling of all things Trump, but he argues that there is one failed effort that tops all of the rest. In a new piece published by The Washington Post, Conway fired off as he voiced his frustrations about Republicans’ efforts to block the Jan. 6 commission which would have established an entity to investigate the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. 

Although they allowed Trump to slide during both impeachment trials, Conway noted that at least they had some form of excuse for their actions regardless of how futile their justifications were.

However, where the Jan. 6 commission is concerned Conway argues: “There was no excuse — none — for what they did last week.” Continue reading.

QAnon leader tells followers she can time travel — and ‘retribution is coming’ for Democrats: report

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A QAnon adherent who claims she can time travel is whipping up her thousands of followers to carry out a plot to oust elected officials in the U.S. and replace them with QAnon followers, VICE News reports.

After months of building a network of groups in all 50 states, Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman promised her followers that “retribution is coming for what she says was the stolen 2020 election. She also claims Donald Trump will be reinstated into office. 

While growing her subscriber base on Twitch, Maras-Lindeman, who streams under the name Tore Says, has raked in tens of thousands of dollars, even convincing her subscriber base to donate over $80,000, so she could buy a new Tesla. Continue reading.

Congress wins battle for Trump aide’s testimony, but a broader war over subpoena power goes on

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Former White House counsel Donald McGahn’s interview with congressional investigators Friday will close one lingering chapter of House Democrats’crusade to hold the Trump administration to account — but is likely to leave uncertainty in its wake about what will happen in lawmakers’ next test of wills with the White House.

McGahn, considered a star witness in former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, flouted a congressional subpoena for two years and is not expected to offer any bombshell revelations about former president Donald Trump — beyond those he already provided to Mueller — when he meets with the House Judiciary Committee behind closed doors.

Instead, the appearance is Democrats’ way of demonstrating that congressionalsubpoenas must be obeyed — an argument they offered throughout a lengthy legal battle that seemed destined to reach the Supreme Court before a deal with the Biden administration ended the fight in what may prove to be a political win, but at best is a constitutional draw. Continue reading.

Talk of Trump 2024 run builds as legal pressure intensifies

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WASHINGTON, DC — Donald Trump was calling into yet another friendly radio show when he was asked, as he often is, whether he’s planning a comeback bid for the White House. “We need you,” conservative commentator Dan Bongino told the former president.

“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Trump responded. “We are going to make you very happy, and we’re going to do what’s right.”

It was a noncommittal answer typical of a former president who spent decades toying with presidential runs. But multiple people who have spoken with Trump and his team in recent weeks say such remarks shouldn’t be viewed as idle chatter. Instead, they sense a shift, with Trump increasingly acting and talking like he plans to mount a run as he embarks on a more public phase of his post-presidency, beginning with a speech on Saturday in North Carolina. Continue reading.

Justice Dept. secretly obtained New York Times reporters’ phone records during Trump administration

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The Justice Department revealed Wednesday that it had, during President Donald Trump’s administration, secretly obtained the phone records of four New York Times reporters, marking the third time in recent weeks that federal law enforcement has disclosed using the aggressive and controversial tactic to sift through journalists’ data.

The New York Times reported Wednesday night that the Justice Department had informed the newspaper it had seized the phone records of four of its reporters: Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau and Michael S. Schmidt. The Times reported that the department also disclosed it had secured a court order to take logs, but not contents, of the reporters’ emails but that “no records were obtained.” The records dated from Jan. 14, 2017, to April 30 of that year.

Anthony Coley, a Justice Department spokesman, confirmed the seizures in a statement, saying the department “notified four journalists that it obtained their phone toll records and sought to obtain non-content email records from 2017 as part of a criminal investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” Continue reading.

Stimulus Checks Substantially Reduced Hardship, Study Shows

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Researchers found that sharp declines in food shortages, financial instability and anxiety coincided with the two most recent rounds of payments.

WASHINGTON — Julesa Webb resumed an old habit: serving her children three meals a day. Corrine Young paid the water bill and stopped bathing at her neighbor’s apartment. Chenetta Ray cried, thanked Jesus and rushed to spend the money on a medical test to treat her cancer.

In offering most Americans two more rounds of stimulus checks in the past six months, totaling $2,000 a person, the federal government effectively conducted a huge experiment in safety net policy. Supporters said a quick, broad outpouring of cash would ease the economic hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Skeptics called the policy wasteful and expensive.

The aid followed an earlier round of stimulus checks, sent a year ago, and the results are being scrutinized for lessons on how to help the needy in less extraordinary times. Continue reading.

Tampa man pleads guilty to felony in Jan. 6 Capitol riot; his recommended prison sentence could set bar for other cases

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A Tampa man who carried a Trump flag into the well of the Senate on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Wednesday to one felony count of storming the Capitol to obstruct Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Paul Allard Hodgkins, 38, did not enter a cooperation deal with prosecutors, and he is not accused of any other wrongdoing or involvement with extremist groups.

In admitting to the stiffest felony count charged by prosecutors against individuals not otherwise accused of conspiracy or violence in the Capitol riot, Hodgkins faces a prison sentence of 15 to 21 months under federal guidelines. His sentencing is poised to become a test case watched by other defendants deciding whether to accept pleas, several defense lawyers said. Continue reading.

HC Commissioner Debbie Goettel (Dist. 5) Update: June 3, 2021

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