Michael Cohen Believes Trump Saw Mar-a-Lago Docs As A ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card
Trump’s former fixer suggested the ex-president kept classified documents so he could effectively blackmail the government if he needed to.
Today's Liberal News
Trump may still be holding classified documents. What they are, and where they are, is a mystery
The 15 boxes of material that Donald Trump grudgingly returned the the National Archives in January was clearly missing many of the documents that should have been there. Even after the FBI conducted a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club over the summer, it’s not clear that well-known documents have been returned, including the letter President Barack Obama left for Trump and the correspondence between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Nuts & Bolts—Inside a Democratic campaign: Updating the rules around training your canvass
Welcome to Nuts & Bolts, a guide to Democratic campaigns. I’ve helped write this series for years, using information from campaign managers, finance directors, field directors, trainers, and staff, responding to questions from Daily Kos Community and Staff members, and addressing issues that are sent to me via kosmail through Daily Kos.
A few years ago, I wrote a diary in this series about the absolute requirements I place around running a strong canvass.
GOP Senator Makes Racist Comment Equating Black People To Criminals
Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Democrats support reparations for enslaved people’s descendants because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin Says Democratic Party Needs ‘New Blood’
The Michigan Democrat said that, while she would support President Joe Biden if he’s the 2024 nominee, the party desperately needs younger leaders.
Griner, Whelan Could Be Released From Russia This Year: Ex-Ambassador
“I am cautiously optimistic, I think it’s going to be a two-for-two,” said former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson after recent meetings with Russian leadership.
SNL Needs to Log Off
Pop-culture gossip is like catnip for Saturday Night Live. Celebrity misbehavior has fueled many, many of the show’s sketches over the years—some of them quick-witted and clever, some of them bizarre duds. But not all celebrity news is created equal: There’s Will Smith’s Oscars slap, and then there’s the befuddling recent fallout of the YouTube stars the Try Guys.
Putin’s Regime Faces the Fate of His Kerch Strait Bridge
On Saturday, the Ukrainians hit the Kerch Strait Bridge, which leads from Russia to Crimea, with something—a missile, explosives planted by naval commandos, a truck laden with explosives. No one who knows is saying for sure. As is the way of military commentary in 2022, experts—real, fake, self-proclaimed—are studying the imagery floating around Twitter and insisting that they know just what happened.
Litany for Dictatorships
When “Litany for Dictatorships” was published in 1935, the world was gripped by cruelty. Adolf Hitler had established concentration camps and—the same month the poem appeared in print—passed the Nuremberg Laws stripping German Jews of citizenship. Joseph Stalin controlled the Soviet Union through secret police and Gulags, while encouraging neighbors to turn one another in for supposed disloyalty.
Trumpism Has Found Its Leading Lady
As election returns rolled in on the evening of November 3, 2020, a local news host in Phoenix was starring in an intensely awkward broadcast. The Fox 10 anchor Kari Lake was refusing to call Arizona for Joe Biden—even though her network had already done so. “If [voters] wake up tomorrow or two days later and it flips,” she insisted, her pendant earrings swinging, “there’s distrust in the system.” Lake’s co-anchor, John Hook, lost patience.
What Afghans Want the Rest of the World to Know
Hajera gave birth to her daughter, Sarah, in Kabul two weeks after the Taliban took over Afghanistan last summer. Hajera is 35 and worked as a government economist. She and her husband already had two sons and were happy to be welcoming a daughter. But they soon lost their jobs, and the Taliban erased the rights women had gained over the previous two decades.An Afghan women’s-rights activist had connected me with Hajera, who was too afraid to share her last name.
Arizona appeals court reinstates injunction blocking abortion ban
The ruling means that abortions can again take place in Arizona, at least for now, unless the state Supreme Court steps in.
U.S. will divert travelers who have been to Uganda to 5 airports as Ebola outbreak worsens
All passengers, including U.S. citizens and residents, who have been in Uganda in the last 21 days will be flown to airports in New York, Newark, Atlanta, Chicago or Washington.
66 clinics across 15 states have stopped offering abortions post-Roe
As of Wednesday, abortions are almost entirely unavailable in 14 states and significantly limited in a 15th, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute.
Biden’s Operation Warp Speed revival stumbles out of the gate
The administration’s plans to create a new accelerator for Covid vaccines and treatments has hit a wall.
Biden admin allocates $6 million more for family planning clinics
The move comes as President Joe Biden meets with officials, doctors and advocates to mark 100 days since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Fed’s Powell ignores politics — and may pay a heavy price
It’s a rare moment for a Fed chair to toss aside all political considerations and ignore frantic investors.
The Fed’s Powell is squeezing the global economy
The Fed’s interest rate hikes have fueled market turmoil by boosting the value of the dollar and feeding higher borrowing costs.
The Fed is declaring war on inflation. It could lead straight to recession.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has pledged to do whatever it takes to curb inflation.
U.S. inflation falls for 2nd straight month on lower gas costs
Despite the signs of moderating price increases, inflation remains far higher than many Americans have ever experienced and is keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve.
G-7 announces price cap deal on Russian oil in win for Yellen
The plan touted by the U.S. Treasury secretary aims to diminish the Kremlin’s revenue while preserving the global oil supply.
Decriminalize & Deschedule: Advocates Welcome Biden Pardons But Demand Deeper Reform of Cannabis Laws
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he is pardoning everyone convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law, and said the classification of the drug would undergo review. The move will remove many legal barriers for thousands of people to gain jobs, housing, college admission and federal benefits, and fulfills a campaign pledge made by Biden.
In Rebuke to Putin, Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Human Rights Campaigners in Ukraine, Belarus & Russia
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to two human rights groups, the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine and Memorial in Russia, as well as imprisoned Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised their work criticizing power and protecting fundamental human rights in neighboring countries torn apart by war.
Walking a Tightrope on Ukraine: How India Is Balancing Ties to Russia & United States
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call on Tuesday that he will help peace efforts with Russia, just days after India abstained from a United Nations vote condemning the Russian annexation of four regions in Ukraine.
“Complete Dissatisfaction with the Current Order”: Why Mahsa Amini Protests in Iran Are Not Slowing Down
Protesters in Iran are continuing to demand justice for Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in the hands of the so-called morality police, as well as envisioning a political future beyond the Islamic Republic. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights estimates at least 154 people have been killed since the protests began.
Ukraine update: Let the purges begin! Russian military leaders find themselves discarded
Russian sources on Telegram are reporting that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Army Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov have both been removed from their roles. According to the channel for the Wagner mercenary group, this is directly related to the explosion which heavily damaged the Kerch Bridge connecting the Crimea Oblast in Ukraine with Russia.
This may or may not be true.
Studies finds EPA lagging on power sector accountability rules, utilities falling short of goals
The climate advocacy group Evergreen Action wants the Environmental Protection Agency to take a good, hard look at the 10 crucial rules it must finalize in order to hold the power sector accountable. According to Evergreen Action’s latest report, six rules—including carbon standards for new and existing power plants, stronger standards for air toxins, and stronger national smog and soot standards—have been delayed.
Connect! Unite! Act! Don’t like phone calls from strangers? I can help you stop them
Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be.
Proud Boy pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy
The Justice Department will now have the cooperation of Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino in its case against the extremist group’s leader, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, and four other members currently facing charges of seditious conspiracy.
Bertino, a resident of North Carolina, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. In addition to admitting that he conspired to forcibly stop the transfer of power on Jan.
Election denialists unleash an array of strategies aimed at undermining democracy itself
Within a few weeks of the Jan. 6 insurrection, it became crystal clear that the Republican Party, by openly embracing both Donald Trump’s Big Lie that fueled the violent attack on democracy and the mob of far-right “Patriots” who undertook it, had ceased to be a viable partner in American democracy.