Today's Liberal News

News Roundup: Mar-a-Lago search part of ‘criminal’ probe; Giuliani ‘target’ of Georgia investigation

As pro-treason Republicans shift from demanding to see the warrant used to search Mar-a-Lago (which didn’t work out well for them), to demanding to see the affidavit the department presented to a judge detailing the evidence they had for believing materials relating to a federal crime would be found there, a new Justice Department filing opposing its public release notes that it would cause “irreparable damage” to an “ongoing criminal investigation.

Justice Department court filing notes Trump investigation involves ‘highly classified materials’

In a Monday court filing, the Justice Department asked a federal court not to unseal the affidavit showing probable cause for the warrant to search Mar-a-Lago, giving reasons that underscore the hot water Donald Trump appears to be in.

Disclosing the affidavit now would, according to the filing, “cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation.

Ukraine Update: Butcher Wagner mercenaries post their location, HIMARS make them pay

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You expect rank incompetence from basic Russian troops, but Wagner mercenaries have proven some of the most valuable forces on the Russian side. They were instrumental in the conquest of along every single major Russian victory in the last several months—Popasna, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, and their (modest) advances around Bakhmut.

Trump offers to call off his violent thugs, but he has conditions

In a disturbing echo of his infamous exhortation to his Proud Boy supporters before the 2020 election to “stand back and stand by,” Donald Trump told Fox News Digital on Monday that he “will do whatever” he can “to help the country” following last week’s seizure of stolen documents from his Florida home. Trump said that the “temperature has to be brought down,” but stressed his conditions.

Giuliani confirmed as target of criminal investigation, will face the music in Georgia this week

Rudy Giuliani can slither away no more. The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney has informed former President Donald Trump’s slimy private lawyer that he is the target of a criminal investigation into the 2020 presidential elections in Georgia.

According to reporting from The New York Times, just last week Giuliani told prosecutors that he was too unhealthy to fly to Georgia to appear in front of the special grand jury.

The New Era of Political Violence Is Here

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.I’ve been thinking about the threats against law enforcement and Trump’s barely veiled warning to Attorney General Merrick Garland about a “country on fire.” We should no longer wonder if we can avert a new era of political violence in the United States. It’s already here.

The Odds of Getting COVID From Your Housemate Are ‘About a Coin Flip’

By this point, the pandemic saga has introduced us to a cast of recurring characters. Among them are the Chill Friend, who is totally over COVID precautions at this point, and the Unlucky Acquaintance, who has had COVID three times and brings it up whenever someone else falls sick. And then there is the Person Whose Roommate Has COVID.

Caitlin Dickerson on the Moral Catastrophe of Family Separations

Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, joined staff writer Caitlin Dickerson to discuss her cover story, a years-long investigation into the secret history of the Trump administration’s family-separation policy. Dickerson’s story argues that separating children was not an unintended side effect, as previously claimed, but its core intent.

“Will We Become Our Enemy?”: After Salman Rushdie Assassination Attempt, See Rare Free Speech Address

Renowned Indian British novelist Salman Rushdie is in critical condition and faces a long road to recovery after he survived an assassination attempt Friday morning in western New York. Rushdie is one of the most highly acclaimed writers in the world today and has lived underground for many years after facing systematic threats of assassination for his writing.

After One Year of Taliban Control, “Women and Girls of Afghanistan Have Lost Their Right to Be Human”

One year ago today, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, promising to bring stability after two decades of war and U.S. occupation. But the country now faces a grave humanitarian crisis and a severe rollback of women’s rights. We speak with Afghan journalist Zahra Nader, editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a new women-led outlet documenting human rights issues in Afghanistan.

Trump’s “Call to Violence” Against FBI as He Faces Espionage Act Charges Is “Replay” of Jan. 6 Riot

A search warrant made public on Friday reveals the FBI is investigating former President Donald Trump for three federal crimes, including violating the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records, after removing top-secret documents when they raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week. Meanwhile, Trump is calling the investigation a hoax, and Republican threats are growing against the FBI.

The Bigger This Fungus Gets, the Worse We’re Doing

Deep in the loamy soil of forests around the world, there exists a fungus called the honey mushroom that makes its living on death. A parasite that preys on weak trees, it sucks its victims dry of nutrients, then feasts on their postmortem flesh. Orchards and vineyards have fallen to it; gardeners, farmers, and foresters spend their days fruitlessly fighting the pesticide-resistant scourge.

Filipino Activist Walden Bello Speaks Out After Arrest Just Weeks After Marcos Jr. Inauguration

We speak to Walden Bello, the longtime Filipino activist and former vice-presidential candidate. He was arrested Monday on “cyber libel” charges, which he says was just a tactic by the new administration to suppress his vocal criticism of them. The arrest took place just weeks after the inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the former U.S.-backed dictator. Bello says people are “worried that this is a foretaste of things to come.

Saudi Spying Inside Twitter Led to Torture & Jailing of Saudi Man Who Ran Anonymous Satirical Account

A jury in California has convicted a former worker at Twitter of spying for Saudi Arabia by providing the kingdom private information about Saudi dissidents. The spying effort led to the arrest, torture and jailing of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who ran an anonymous satirical Twitter account. His sister, Areej al-Sadhan, and the lawyer for the family, Jim Walden, are calling on the Biden administration to push for his release.

Afghanistan: The Taliban Cracks Down on Women’s Rights as U.S. Sanctions Worsen Humanitarian Crisis

One year after the Taliban seized power again in Afghanistan, we look at the new government’s crackdown on women’s rights while millions of Afghans go hungry. We speak to journalist Matthieu Aikins, who visited the capital Kabul for the first time since the U.S. evacuation one year ago. He writes the country is being “kept on humanitarian life support” in his recent article for The New York Times Magazine.

Trump breaks the law, so Republicans say it’s the law that needs to go—and the agents who caught him

The Republican reactions to Trump, ahem, being caught with highly classified nuclear weapons-related documents after asserting to federal agents he didn’t have them continues, and as the facts worsen for Trump his pro-attempted-coup Republican allies are sliding towards the obvious endpoint. If a Republican leader commits a crime against the government, well then maybe that thing shouldn’t even be a crime at all!

Rand Paul has been homing in on that one.

Trump took classified docs and tried to hide them from investigators. His excuses don’t hold water

The Republican Party is now obsessively inventing excuses for why the man who attempted to overthrow the government rather than abide his election loss is allowed to make off with whatever classified nuclear weapons documents he wants to, after the coup’s failure, but we’ve been learning much more about the actual circumstances of the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club with each passing day.