The Full Belmonte, 6/28/2022
“The Jan. 6 committee called a surprise hearing for Tuesday to ‘present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony,’ according to a statement. The abruptly scheduled 1 p.m. session was announced after the committee said it had obtained new video evidence from inside the Trump White House before and after the 2021 insurrection.” Read more at Bloomberg
Lawyer John Eastman during a public hearing this month to investigate the 2021 attack on the Capitol.PHOTO: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS
“WASHINGTON—Federal agents have seized the phone of John Eastman, a conservative lawyer and key figure in then-President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a Monday court filing, in the latest signal that the Justice Department is ramping up its criminal investigation into that effort.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents acting on behalf of the Justice Department’s inspector general stopped Mr. Eastman and took the iPhone as he was leaving a restaurant on Wednesday, he wrote in a motion filed in New Mexico seeking to recover the device from the government.
The same day, federal agents searched the Northern Virginia home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who promised to help Mr. Trump’s efforts to reverse his election loss by pressuring the agency to promote his false claims of widespread election fraud. The agents took into their possession all of Mr. Clark’s electronic devices, he later said.
The seizures offered some of the clearest indications yet that prosecutors investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have moved beyond the violence on the day the election results were set to be certified and are examining the actions of senior officials involved in Mr. Trump’s efforts to stay in office.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Vladimir Putin is traveling to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan this week as part of his first foreign trip since launching Russia’s war on Ukraine, which is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians since it began in February. On Monday, Kremlin forces reportedly added to the death toll, launching a missile strike on a mall in Kremenchuk filled with civilians, killing at least 13 of them, according to Kyiv officials.” Read more at Bloomberg
Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a blaze caused by what authorities said was a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk on June 27. Photographer: Ukrainian State Emergency Service/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Group of Seven countries for help to push Russia out by the end of the year.
“Kyiv requires more military, political and financial support to end the war, he said, according to an official present for his video address to the G-7 leaders, who are meeting in the German Alps. Zelensky’s remarks came as the U.S. announced a new round of military aid for Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow, while G-7 leaders agreed to start work on a mechanism to cap the purchase price of Russian oil. Meanwhile, Russian missiles hit a shopping mall in central Ukraine with around 1,000 civilians inside, Zelensky said.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Court sides with praying coach
Former coach Joe Kennedy takes a knee in front of the Supreme Court after his case was argued in April. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
“The Constitution protects on-field prayers by public high school coaches, the Supreme Court's conservative majority said today in a 6-3 ruling.
Joseph Kennedy, a former assistant coach at a Washington state high school, prayed after games — and often had students join him.
The school board instructed him to stop. Kennedy sued, saying his right to free speech was violated.
Lower courts held that because Kennedy was hired in an ‘influential role for student-athletes,’ his speech as a public-school employee was unprotected by the First Amendment. Go deeper. Read more at Axios
The Supreme Court building against a stormy sunset. (WLDavies / Getty) (WLDavies / Getty)
“Since Friday, the US Supreme Court has been under withering fire from many quarters (and many countries) for its leap to the right on guns and abortion. New polls affirmed that a majority of Americans reject its judgment that women do not have a right to end a pregnancy under the Constitution and see the ruling in that case as purely political. While anti-abortion groups and the gun industry praised the matching 6-3 opinions by the Republican-appointed majority, some legal observers have eviscerated the reasoning used by Clarence Thomas (who is urging more federal rights be targeted for review) and Samuel Alito to arrive at their conclusions. Both the Democratic-appointed dissenters and members of Congress are now calling into question the court’s legitimacy as an institution. But on Monday, the same six justices picked by George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump kept going, moving to dismantle precedent in yet another foundational area of American jurisprudence: the separation of church and state. In ruling that a public high school employee could lead prayers on the field after a sports event, the six justices built on another of their decisions last week, one in which they held that taxpayers could be made to fund religious schools in certain circumstances.” Read more at Bloomberg
Texas police in riot gear confront abortion rights demonstrators during a Rally For Reproductive Freedom in Austin on June 26. Photographer: Alex Scott/Bloomberg
The fallout from the majority’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade continues to spread across the country, to state capitals and lower courts. But abortion opponents, having secured their decades-old dream, are finding they don’t all agree on what to go after next—some, led by former Vice President Mike Pence, want to end abortion rights for all women. Part of the anti-abortion movement’s long-term strategy has included the use of so-called crisis pregnancy centers, which are funneling cash into social media efforts, targeting teens and young adults on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. But some of them, as it turns out, have been using these platforms to spread what health care professionals warn is harmful misinformation. —David E. Rovella and Natasha Solo-Lyons
“WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Monday again declined to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, a landmark 1964 case that set a high bar for suing news organizations for defamation, drawing a dissent from Justice Clarence Thomas.
The court turned away an appeal by Coral Ridge Ministries Media, a Florida-based evangelical organization that unsuccessfully sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for calling it a ‘hate group.’
Writing on his own, Justice Thomas reiterated his view that the ‘actual malice’ standard established by Sullivan has ‘allowed media organizations and interest groups to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’
Sullivan held that public figures suing for defamation must clearly and convincingly prove ‘actual malice’—in other words, that the person or media outlet being sued either knew they were publishing falsehoods or acted with a reckless disregard for the truth.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the actual malice standard has ‘allowed media organizations and interest groups to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’PHOTO: ERIN SCHAFF/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Sullivan case involved a 1960 newspaper advertisement criticizing the treatment of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil-rights activists by local officials in Montgomery, Ala. L.B. Sullivan, a Montgomery city commissioner, alleged that the advertisement libeled him because it misstated certain facts, such as claiming that Black students protesting at the state Capitol sang ‘My Country ’Tis of Thee’ when in fact they sang the national anthem. The Alabama Supreme Court upheld a $500,000 damage award.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that ruling and laid out the actual malice standard as a guidepost for lower courts considering defamation claims made by public figures.
The First Amendment reflected a ‘profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials,’ Justice William Brennan wrote for the court in 1964.
The outcome in the Coral Ridge case wasn’t surprising, because last year the Supreme Court declined to hear a different case that could also have been a vehicle for overturning Times v. Sullivan.
In that case, involving an Albanian man who said a book falsely linked him to arms dealers, Justice Neil Gorsuch joined Justice Thomas in saying that Times v. Sullivan needs to be reassessed.
Justice Gorsuch didn’t join Justice Thomas’s dissent in the Coral Ridge case, however.
It is possible Justice Gorsuch remains interested in revisiting Sullivan but is waiting for a case with different facts, said Gautam Hans, a professor of media law at Vanderbilt Law School.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing today in Khimki, outside Moscow. Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
“At a closed-door preliminary hearing on Monday, a Russian court set a trial date of July 1 for WNBA star Brittney Griner. Go deeper.” Read more at Axios
“Forty-six people were found dead and 16 others were taken to hospitals Monday after a tractor-trailer containing suspected migrants was found in a remote area of San Antonio amid soaring temperatures in Texas, officials said.
16 others found inside the truck are being treated at a hospital, Fire Department Chief Charles Hood said, including 12 adults and four children, who he referred to as teenagers and young adults. None of those who died were children, Hood said.
‘They were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion,’ Hood said, later adding that there were no signs of water or working air conditioning unit on the semi-truck.
Hood said those still alive were too weak to help themselves out of the truck. Temperature highs in the San Antonio area were expected to reach the 90s to near 100 degrees Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Three people have been taken into custody, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Monday. ‘We don’t know if they are absolutely connected to this or not,’ he said.” Read more at AP News
“Three people died and a number of passengers were injured when a cross-country Amtrak train collided with a dump truck Monday afternoon in rural Missouri, causing several cars and locomotives to derail.
The Southwest Chief Train 4 was carrying approximately 243 passengers and 12 crew members when it hit the truck at 12:42 p.m. local time at a public crossing near Mendon, Mo., about 85 miles northeast of Kansas City. The crossing had no lights or electronic control devices.
Amtrak said eight train cars and two locomotives derailed. Scenes aired on local television showed a string of overturned train cars.
A screenshot of a video showing passengers at the scene of the Amtrak derailment near Mendon, Mo.PHOTO: ROB NIGHTINGALE/STORYFUL
Two people on the Los Angeles-to-Chicago train and one person in the truck died, said Cpl. Justin Dunn, an officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He said it wasn’t known if the fatalities on the train were among passengers or crew.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
A judge struck down a New York City law would have allowed lawful permanent residents or those authorized to work in the U.S. to vote in municipal elections.PHOTO: MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO/GETTY IMAGES
“A New York City law that would have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections was struck down Monday by a Staten Island judge who said the measure violates the state constitution.
State Supreme Court Justice Ralph J. Porzio said in his ruling that the New York State Constitution grants voting rights to citizens who meet age and residency requirements.
‘Though voting is a right so many citizens take for granted, the city of New York cannot ‘obviate’ the restrictions imposed by the Constitution,’ Justice Porzio wrote.
His ruling invalidated a city law that would have allowed more than 800,000 lawful permanent residents or those authorized to work in the U.S. to vote in municipal elections beginning in 2023, including races for mayor, public advocate and other city positions. The law doesn’t grant voting rights to immigrants who entered the country illegally.
Republican officials filed a lawsuit in early January challenging the law as soon as it went into effect.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Abortion-rights advocates are now moving to sue individual states over bans and trigger laws, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez reports.
Lawsuits challenging trigger laws aimed at making nearly all abortions illegal in Utah, Louisiana, Texas and Idaho were quickly filed.
A court today stopped Louisiana's anti-abortion law, making it the first state law to be blocked since Roe's fall.
Without Roe's federal protections, abortion-rights advocates can't use the case as a precedent to challenge state bans.
Instead, they'll take other factors into consideration, including whether specific state constitutions protect abortion access. That strategy is being used in the Utah and Louisiana cases.
Another consideration: Whether there's a state-court precedent that protects the right to an abortion.” Read more at Axios
“A Subway employee was fatally shot and another worker was critically injured after an argument with a customer ‘about too much mayo’ on his sandwich, police said.
Officers responded to the shooting at the downtown Atlanta gas station shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
During a news conference Monday, police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. identified the worker who died as a 26-year-old woman. A second employee, a 24-year-old woman, was also shot and seriously injured, police said.
A 5-year-old child was also in the restaurant at the time of the shooting but was not injured, police said.
The women were taken to a hospital for treatment, where the 26-year-old was pronounced dead. Police did not release her name.
Hampton said the woman who survived was in critical condition on Monday.
According to police, a customer went into the restaurant to order a sandwich and became angry about his sub.” Read more at USA Today
“NEW YORK – A heckler who clapped former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the back at a campaign event was arrested, jailed for more than 24 hours and now faces an assault charge.
The episode Sunday at a Staten Island supermarket produced dueling accounts, with Giuliani likening the touch to being hit by a bullet, saying it could have killed him, while the man's lawyers described it as a tap, meant to get the mayor's attention.
Security camera video obtained by the New York Post captured the encounter, which happened as Giuliani was campaigning for his son, Andrew, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesday's primary.
Giuliani was standing with a group of people when a man walking past reached out, touched the Republican's back with an open palm, and then said something as he walked away.” Read more at USA Today
Yesli Vega speaking to supporters in Woodbridge, Va., after winning the Republican nomination for Virginia's Seventh Congressional District last week.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times
A Republican House candidate falsely suggests that rape victims are unlikely to get pregnant
The nominee, Yesli Vega, a supervisor and sheriff’s deputy in Prince William County, made the remarks at a campaign stop last month in Stafford County, according to Axios, which published the audio recordings on Monday.
The person Ms. Vega is speaking with in the two clips, which together run about a minute long, is not identified and Axios did not reveal the source of the audio.
In a statement, Ms. Vega did not dispute the authenticity of the recordings, but said: ‘As a mother of two children, yes I’m fully aware of how women get pregnant.’
The first clip indicates Ms. Vega was speaking in the context of the debate about abortion, as she can be heard saying: ‘The left will say, ‘What about in cases of rape or incest?’’
Ms. Vega cited her experience as a police officer, saying that she had ‘worked one case’ since 2011 ‘where as a result of rape the young woman became pregnant.’
In the second clip, after the unidentified woman said she heard that it is ‘harder for a woman to get pregnant if she’s been raped,’ Ms. Vega replied: ‘Well maybe, because there’s so much going on in the body, I don’t know. I haven’t, haven’t, you know, seen any studies but if I’m processing what you’re saying it wouldn’t surprise me, because it’s not something that’s happening organically, right? It’s forcing it.’
After the unidentified woman said the body ‘shuts down,’ Ms. Vega replied: ‘Yeah, yeah, and then the individual, the male, is doing it as quickly, it’s not like, you know, and so I can see why maybe there’s truth to that.’
Ms. Vega’s statement did not say directly whether she stood by her comments. ‘Liberals are desperate to distract from their failed agenda,’ the statement reads. She also said her political opponents ‘would rather lie and twist the truth’ than explain their stance on abortion.
Her campaign did not explain what ‘lie’ her comment was referring to.
Ms. Vega won a June 21 Republican primary to take on the Democratic incumbent Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District, a newly drawn, Democratic-leaning district. Ms. Spanberger supports abortion rights.
On Twitter, Ms. Spanberger called Ms. Vega’s comments ‘extreme and ignorant’ and ‘devoid of truth.’
Ms. Vega’s recorded comments are similar to remarks made in August 2012 by Representative Todd Akin, who, as the Republican Senate nominee in Missouri, said pregnancy from rape is ‘really rare’ because, ‘If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.’
Leading Republicans called on Mr. Akin to drop out of the race, which he rebuffed. He went on to lose the race to the Democratic incumbent, Senator Claire McCaskill, by nearly 16 percentage points.” Read more at New York Times
Thousands of demonstrators pack Union Square Park in Manhattan on Friday. Photo: Frank B it matters: This is an unusual case where the losing side wants to talk all about it. The winning side wants the spotlight elsewhere.
Axios' Sophia Cai got a first look at websites that Democrats' House and Senate campaign arms launched today — less than 72 hours after the Supreme Court ruling — blasting GOP candidates' abortion records.
Democrats see it as a mobilizing issue for suburban women in swing House districts across the country.
The House Democratic (DCCC) site is called ‘Extreme GOP.’
The Senate Democrats' (DSCC) site is: ‘This is the GOP on Abortion.’
Republicans know the issue could hurt them with those very same voters, so they will try to keep slamming President Biden on pocketbook issues, Axios' Lachlan Markay reports.
Samantha Bullock of the House Republicans' campaign arm (NRCC) said: ‘This ruling does nothing to change the fact that voters' top concerns are rising prices, soaring crime, and the disaster at the southern border.’” Read more at Axios
Graphic: CBS News
“Two polls released in the past 24 hours give Democrats hope the issue will move voters.
A CBS News/YouGov poll of 1,591 adults found 50% of Democrats were more likely to vote based on the Roe ruling, while only 20% of Republicans said the same.
In an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll out this morning (941 adults), 78% of Democrats said the court's decision makes them more likely to vote this fall — 24 points higher than Republicans.” Read more at Axios
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
“More than 1 million voters across 43 states switched to the Republican Party over the past year, while 630,000 became Democrats, AP found by analyzing voter-registration data.
So the GOP got two-thirds of the nearly 1.7 million voters who changed parties in states with data available for the past 12 months.
Why it matters: It's a new sign of a red wave brewing for this fall's midterms.
Between the lines: The phenomenon has played out virtually everywhere — red states and blue states ... big cities and small towns — since President Biden took office.
What's happening: Well-educated swing voters who turned against former President Trump appear to be swinging back.
Zoom in: Tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party's gains in recent years are becoming Republicans.
The outlier: Only Virginia, which held off-year elections in 2021, saw Democrats notably trending up over the last year. And Dems got wiped out in last fall's statewide elections. Keep reading. Read more at Axios
Credit Suisse was found guilty of helping a Bulgarian crime ring launder money related to cocaine trafficking.
“The bank said it would appeal a Swiss criminal court’s finding that it didn’t do enough to monitor accounts used by the crime ring. Credit Suisse was fined around $2.1 million and ordered to pay around $20 million to the Swiss government.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Republican candidate for Illinois governor Darren Bailey speaks during a campaign stop in Athens, Ill., on June 14. Photo: John O'Connor/AP
“The Illinois governor's race is on track to become the most expensive campaign for a non-presidential office in U.S. history, the N.Y. Times' Reid Epstein reports (subscription).
Why it matters: It's a battle of billionaires.
The incumbent, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), is America's richest elected official, and part of the family that founded the Hyatt hotel chain.
In a juicy twist, Pritzker is spending big to promote the drawling, Trump-backed Republican over the establishment candidate in tomorrow's primary.
Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association have spent a combined $35 million to attack the establishment's Richard Irvin and lift the Trumper, Darren Bailey, The Times reports:
‘No candidate for any office is believed to have ever spent more to meddle in another party’s primary.’
Both Republicans have billionaire backers:
Ken Griffin and Dick Uihlein — among the country’s biggest Republican donors — have combined to pour more than $60 million into the primary, AP reports.
Griffin, the Chicago hedge fund founder, is underwriting Irvin, currently the first Black mayor of Aurora, Chicago’s largest suburb (Second City's second city, ya might say).
Uihlein, a major Trump supporter who founded the office supply company Uline, is funding Bailey — a farm-raised state senator who fought mask mandates, and is endorsed by Trump.
Quote of the day: David Smith — executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, an anti-abortion group whose political arm backs Bailey — told The Times the GOP race is about crushing moderates:
‘This primary has got to purge the Republican Party of those who are self-serving snollygosters.’” Read more at Axios
“Sam Gilliam, a Washington artist who helped redefine abstract painting by liberating canvas from its traditional framework and shaking it loose in lavish, paint-spattered folds cascading from ceilings, stairwells and other architectural elements, died June 25 at his home in the District. He was 88.
The cause was kidney disease, said Adriana Elgarresta, public relations director of New York’s Pace Gallery, which represents his work, along with the David Kordansky Gallery.
Mr. Gilliam was a relatively unknown art teacher in D.C.-area schools when he burst to international attention in 1969 with an exhibition that stunned the art community with its bravado.
Resembling a painter’s giant dropcloths, his flowing, unstructured canvases, known as drapes, appeared in what was then known as the Corcoran Gallery of Art. The extravagantly colored swags of fabric were suspended from the skylight of the Beaux-Arts building’s four-story atrium and prompted then-Washington Star art critic Benjamin Forgey to summarize the impact as “one of those watermarks by which the Washington art community measures its evolution.”
In a matter of months, Mr. Gilliam would become known throughout the country and later around the world as the painter who had knocked painting out of its frame. Over a career that spanned decades and several stylistic changes — not all of them as well received as his drapes — Mr. Gilliam would forever be known as an artistic innovator because of the Corcoran show.” Read more at Washington Post
“On the eve of the hearing before the independent disciplinary officer who will make the initial ruling on what kind of punishment Deshaun Watson will face, the NFL has recommended that the quarterback serve an indefinite suspension of at least a year.
The league informed Sue L. Robinson, the former federal judge who serves as the disciplinary officer, Watson and the NFL Players Association of its recommendation Monday evening, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by either party to comment on the matter.
Upon completion of the hearing, which is slated to begin Tuesday and possibly extend into Wednesday, Robinson - who is jointly compensated by the league and players union - will review the facts gathered during a year-long investigation conducted by the league. She will also consider the arguments presented by the lawyers of the NFL and NFL Players Association.” Read more at USA Today
“A Sunday brawl between the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels was far more violent and extensive than typical baseball fights. One day later, the punishment handed down by Major League Baseball reflected that reality.
MLB on Monday suspended 12 players, managers and coaches for a total of 47 games after a fight that began after Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz hit Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker with a pitch, one inning before throwing inside on rookie outfielder Julio Rodriguez. Both apparent purpose pitches came one day after the Mariners nearly struck Angels star Mike Trout in the head with a pitch.
A war of words immediately erupted from both dugouts and Winker walked purposefully toward the Angels' dugout, sparking a benches-clearing incident that resulted in several impactful melees, most notably Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford striking an Angel with punches and injured Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon shoving Winker in the face.” Read more at USA Today
The Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners cleared the benched during a brawl in the second inning at Angel Stadium. JAYNE KAMIN-ONCEA, USA TODAY SPORTS
Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong told fans that he will renounce his U.S. citizenship because of his disgust over the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
In a profanity-filled speech onstage at London Stadium last Friday, Armstrong said he no longer wants to be a U.S. citizen.
‘I’m … renouncing my citizenship. I’m f---ing coming here,’ he said to fans, who erupted with claps and cheers. Green Day is on tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer. ‘Oh, I’m not kidding, you’re going to get a lot of me in the coming days.’
Armstrong, 50, has been vocal about his political views in the past, including striking out against former president Donald Trump for refusing to concede the 2020 election. He was born in the United States.
The ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ singer joins a long list of celebrities who have said they would leave the country over political difference. Whoopi Goldberg and Miley Cyrus both pledged to leave if Trump was elected — but didn’t follow through. Barbra Streisand said she wanted to go to Canada.” Read more at Washington Post
“Veteran journalist Alex Wagner will succeed Rachel Maddow as 9 p.m. ET host on MSNBC, beginning Aug. 16. Her show will air Tuesdays through Fridays. Maddow will continue on Mondays. Go deeper.” Read more at Axios
“Stand atop any of Nashville’s rooftop bars at sunset and you’ll find a gleaming new skyline composed largely of hotels. Practically every luxury brand is swooping in: Over the next three years, Nashville is expecting an influx of five-star hotel brands that include 1Hotel, Edition, Conrad, and Ritz-Carlton, plus a full renovation of the city’s grand dame, The Hermitage, which first opened in 1910. Perhaps most luxurious will be a Four Seasons, slated to open late this summer.” Read more at Bloomberg
Nashville Photographer: Eilon Paz/Bloomberg
Atari = 50
Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images
“Atari, which popularized video games as we know them, turns 5-0 today.
Atari’s Pong, ubiquitous in bars and restaurants, kicked off the arcade explosion in 1972.
In the late '70s, the Atari 2600 became the first huge home gaming console.
Read more at Axios