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Overnight News Digest: “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal” [1]
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Date: 2022-09-01
Biden sounds newly strong alarm: Trumpism menaces democracy
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” he said before an audience of hundreds, raising his voice over pro-Trump hecklers outside the building where the nation’s founding was debated. He said he wasn’t condemning the 74 million people who voted for Trump in 2020, but added, “There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” using the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
In his speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, Biden unleashed the trappings of the presidency in an unusually strong and sweeping indictment of Trump and what he said has become the dominant strain of the opposition party. His broadside came barely two months before Americans head to the polls in bitterly contested midterm elections that Biden calls a crossroads for the nation.
President Joe Biden charged in a prime-time address Thursday that the “extreme ideology” of Donald Trump and his adherents “threatens the very foundation of our republic,” as he summoned Americans of all stripes to help counter what he sketched as dark forces within the Republican Party trying to subvert democracy.
Biden rips Trump and his supporters as ‘clear and present danger’ to U.S. democracy
“There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” Biden declared. “And that is a threat to this country.”
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said at Independence Hall in downtown Philadelphia, clarifying that not every Republican is devoted to Trump before barreling ahead in one of the most fiercely political speeches of his presidency.
President Biden tilted into campaign mode in a combative speech in Philadelphia on Thursday, targeting his predecessor and tarring the modern Republican Party as an entity infected by extremists intent on stripping Americans of treasured rights.
Biden Slams ‘MAGA Republicans’ in Fiery Speech: ‘You Can’t Love Your Country Only When You Win’
“You can’t be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on January 6 patriots,” Biden said in an appearance earlier this week , singling out Graham’s statements as contributing to the climate of political violence. “Where the hell are we?” said Biden, questioning the “idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying, ‘If such and such happens, there’ll be blood in the street’?”
After Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News that “there’ll be riots in the streets” if Trump is prosecuted for mishandling classified documents, Biden responded by publicly rebuking Graham and the Republican Party.
The President condemned political violence, referencing the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent his electoral college certification on January 6th, 2021. “We can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American. They are incompatible,” said Biden. […]
[…] Biden drew lines between supporters of his predecessor and the “majority of Republicans” but took a torch to the electoral conspiracies of Trump and his enablers. “Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election, either they win or they were cheated,” said Biden. “You can’t love your country only when you win.”
Protesters yell into bullhorn, attempting to disrupt Biden’s speech
Biden saying that the heckler is “entitled to be outrageous” is the difference, right there between Biden and Trump. Or liberals and MAGA. Trump and MAGA would call for that heckler to be beaten.
Later, Biden said the protesters were “entitled to be outrageous.”
“Throughout our history, America has often made the greatest progress coming out of some of our darkest moments, like you’re hearing from that bullhorn,” Biden said.
A small group of protesters outside the security perimeter near Fifth Street and Chestnut Street attempted to disrupt President Biden’s speech by yelling into a bullhorn “F— Joe Biden!” and the popular conservative protest “Let’s go, Brandon!”
Democrat Mary Peltola wins special U.S. House election, will be first Alaska Native elected to Congress
Democrat Mary Peltola is the winner of Alaska’s special U.S. House race and is set to become the first Alaska Native in Congress, after votes were tabulated Wednesday in the state’s first ranked choice election. Peltola topped Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin after ballots were tallied and votes for third-place GOP candidate Nick Begich III were redistributed to his supporters’ second choices. Peltola, a Yup’ik former state lawmaker who calls Bethel home, is now slated to be the first woman to hold Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat. […] “What’s most important is that I’m an Alaskan being sent to represent all Alaskans. Yes, being Alaska Native is part of my ethnicity, but I’m much more than my ethnicity,” she said.
The Atlantic
Trump Can’t Hide From the Mar-a-Lago Photo
… so far, the federal government has been a step ahead of Trump at every turn. The latest demonstration came in a filing late last night, in which prosecutors dramatically swept away the most recent excuses from Trump and his allies, who have insisted that the former president cooperated with the government and acted in good faith. The filing provides evidence that Trump and his team not only didn’t hand over all classified materials, but actively sought to conceal them by misleading the FBI. And a striking photograph, showing cover sheets with bold red block letters reading top secret // sci, preempts any claim that Trump might simply not have realized the documents were classified. […] Using the dry language of legal filings, DOJ’s filing yesterday effectively calls Trump’s aides a passel of bald-faced liars: “That the FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the ‘diligent search’ that the former President’s counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls into serious question the representations made in the June 3 certification and casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter.”
ABC News
Cipollone, Philbin expected to appear Friday before federal grand jury probing Jan. 6
Two former top Trump White House lawyers are expected to appear Friday before a federal grand jury investigating the events surrounding Jan. 6, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, ABC News reported last month. The move to subpoena the two men has signaled an even more dramatic escalation in the Justice Department's investigation into the Jan. 6 attack than previously known. Members of former Vice President Mike Pence's staff have also appeared before a grand jury.
Politico
Judge again rejects Graham bid to throw out subpoena in Atlanta-area Trump probe
A federal judge has for the second time rejected Sen. Lindsey Graham’s effort to block a grand jury subpoena issued by the Atlanta-area district attorney investigating … Donald Trump and his allies’ effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. In a 23-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May ruled that the South Carolina Republican’s claim to be immune from such questioning — thanks to the protections of the so-called speech or debate clause of the Constitution — is not as sweeping as Graham claimed it to be. […] "[T]he Court does not find that it can simply accept Senator Graham’s sweeping and conclusory characterizations of the calls and ignore other objective facts in the record that call Senator Graham’s characterizations into question,” May wrote. She said she was “unpersuaded by the breadth of Senator Graham’s argument.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ginni Thomas pressured Wisconsin lawmakers to change 2020 election result
In the days following … Donald Trump's loss in 2020, at least two Wisconsin lawmakers received an email from longtime conservative activist and wife to a U.S. Supreme Court justice Ginni Thomas urging the legislators to change the outcome of Wisconsin's presidential election, according to a new report. Thomas, using an email program that allowed her to communicate with lawmakers on a mass scale, sent messages to Senate Elections Committee chairwoman Kathy Bernier and state Rep. Gary Tauchen, R-Bonduel, on Nov. 9, 2020, asking both to "take action to ensure that a clean slate of Electors is chosen for our state," according to The Washington Post and emails obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel under the state's public records law.
The Hill
Jan. 6 panel alleges Gingrich involvement with Trump efforts, seeks interview
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is asking former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to voluntarily sit with its investigators, claiming he advised the Trump team in the days after [his] loss in the 2020 election. “Information obtained by the Select Committee suggests that you provided detailed directives about the television advertisements that perpetuated false claims about fraud in the 2020 election, that you sought ways to expand the reach of this messaging, and that you were likely in direct conversations with … Trump about these efforts,” the committee wrote in its letter to Gingrich.
NPR News
Oath Keepers attorney has been charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice
An attorney for the far-right, anti-government group the Oath Keepers has been indicted in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Kellye SoRelle, who was arrested in Junction, Texas, is latest person with ties to the group to face charges stemming from the insurrection. A grand jury in Washington, D.C., handed up an indictment charging her with four counts, including conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding and obstruction of justice. […] SoRelle is a lawyer and close associate of Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers… SoRelle took up Rhodes' position as head of the group after he was charged, according to some reports.
BuzzFeed News
An Ex-NYPD Cop Who Stormed The Capitol And Attacked An Officer Has Been Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison
An ex-NYPD cop who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, making it the longest punishment to be handed down in connection with the riots so far. "What you did that day, it is hard to really put into words," Judge Amit P. Mehta told Thomas Webster on Thursday, NBC News reported. "I still remain shocked every single time I see [video of the attack]."
The Nevada Independent
Cortez Masto and Sisolak hold slim leads, are losing Hispanic support, AARP poll finds
In Nevada’s high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate, Democratic incumbents Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto hold narrow leads over their Republican challengers, according to a new AARP-commissioned poll focused on older and Hispanic voters and shared with The Nevada Independent. In the Senate race, Cortez Masto leads Republican nominee and former Attorney General Adam Laxalt by less than 4 points (44 percent to 40 percent) — within the poll’s margin of error. In the gubernatorial race, Sisolak holds a 3-point lead over Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo (41 percent to 38 percent). Despite those slim leads, the poll revealed shrinking margins of support from Hispanic voters for both Cortez Masto and Sisolak, who both relied heavily on the state’s Democratic-leaning Latino voting bloc during their most recent electoral wins.
Houston Chronicle
How the biggest Republican stronghold in Texas could cost Gov. Abbott his job
Beto O'Rourke invited them into the shade on a searing 100-degree summer day. He gave them cold water. And then, they gave him hell. Greatly outnumbering his own supporters at Blodgett Park just miles from the Oklahoma border, protesters wearing Trump shirts and holding homemade signs quickly overwhelmed the El Paso Democrat's plans for a rally and charm offensive with shouts about their guns, their oil-based economy and the freedom to raise their cattle. […] The rally never really got off the ground. […] "We wanted to send him a message. He's not welcome here," said Gyene Spivey, the Republican Party chairwoman for Hansford County. "I wish he'd just go back down the road to El Paso."
The Washington Post
In fiercely contested Kherson, Ukraine pushes to retake occupied lands
Ukraine’s military has kept Ukrainians and the world guessing about the counteroffensive it claims to have launched in this Russian-occupied territory… “It’s very risky here now,” said one soldier, who asked not to be identified by name or unit. “The Russians are very close and their weapons are not very precise. Their rockets can go anywhere.” Kherson was the first strategically important city captured by Russia at the start of the invasion in late February, and the broader Kherson region helps form Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coveted “land bridge” to Crimea, which Russian invaded and annexed in 2014.
The Kyiv Independent
IAEA team finally arrives at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, intense battles continue across front line
Despite obstruction from Moscow, the UN-led International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission finally reached the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Sept. 1. As the IAEA team of 14 experts headed through the battlefield to Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Russian forces began shelling the occupied city of Enerhodar and the pre-agreed route of the mission to the plant, Ukrainian authorities reported. Later in the morning, one of the two operational reactors shut off due to Russian attacks near the plant and turned on the emergency protection, Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom reported. While the mission’s road through occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia Oblast was far from safe, their arrival is seen as a sign of hope amid Russia’s ongoing nuclear blackmail.
CNBC
Lukoil chairman Ravil Maganov is the 8th Russian energy executive to die suddenly this year
The death of Ravil Maganov, chairman of the Russian oil giant Lukoil, at a hospital in Moscow on Thursday appears to mark the eighth time this year that a Russian energy executive has died suddenly and under unusual circumstances. Maganov died after falling out of the window of the capital’s Central Clinical Hospital, according to the Russian state-sponsored news outlet Interfax. The circumstances of Maganov’s death were confirmed by Reuters, citing two anonymous sources. But Lukoil, the company that Maganov helped to build, said the 67 year old had “passed away following a serious illness” in a press statement. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request from CNBC for an official statement.
Reuters
Gorbachev died shocked and bewildered by Ukraine conflict - interpreter
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, was shocked and bewildered by the Ukraine conflict in the months before he died and psychologically crushed in recent years by Moscow's worsening ties with Kyiv, his interpreter said on Thursday. Pavel Palazhchenko, who worked with the late Soviet president for 37 years and was at his side at numerous U.S.-Soviet summits, spoke to Gorbachev a few weeks ago by phone and said he and others had been struck by how traumatised he was by events in Ukraine. "It's not just the (special military) operation that started on Feb. 24, but the entire evolution of relations between Russia and Ukraine over the past years that was really, really a big blow to him. It really crushed him emotionally and psychologically," Palazhchenko told Reuters in an interview.
Reuters
Putin denies Gorbachev a state funeral and will stay away
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to miss the funeral of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, denying the man who failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet empire the full state honours granted to Boris Yeltsin.
EuroNews
Poland to demand €1.3 trillion from Germany in WWII reparations Access to the comments
The Polish government on Thursday estimated the financial cost of World War II losses under Nazi occupation at €1.3 trillion and said it would "ask Germany to negotiate these reparations". "It's a significant sum of 6.2 trillion" zlotys, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, told a conference. He added the process of Poland's getting the reparations would be "long and difficult". The sum was announced at the release of a report on the cost of years of Nazi German occupation. Some 30 historians, economists and other experts have been working on the document since 2017.
EU Observer
Eurozone inflation hits record, piling pressure on ECB
Inflation in the eurozone countries rose to another record high in August, putting more pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise interest rates significantly. Consumer prices rose to 9.1 percent in the 19 EU members sharing the euro currency, from 8.9 percent in July, Eurostat, the bloc's statistics agency, said on Wednesday (31 August)… The highest rates were recorded in Estonia at 25.2 percent, Lithuania 21.1 percent and Latvia with 20.8 percent hikes. Rates in Belgium, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia were all above 10 percent, Eurostat estimated.
Deutsche Welle
Uyghur community slams UN's China report as too little, too late
The United Nations has outlined "credible" reports of torture against Uyghur people in the region of Xinjiang. While for some it represents a "game changer," for others the long-awaited report is insufficient. After waiting for almost a year, the United Nations Human Rights Office released the Xinjiang report on Wednesday, suggesting that China's large-scale internment and treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in western China may amount to "crimes against humanity." Human rights organizations have weighed in on the significance of this report, saying the findings expose the extent of harm that China has done to more than one million ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. Others say the final results show why Beijing tried so hard to prevent the report from being released.
BBC News
Pakistan floods: Time running out for families in Sindh
People in southern Pakistan face yet more devastation after record floods blamed on climate change submerged a third of the country, killing more than 1,100 people. A surge of water is now flowing down the Indus river, threatening communities in southern Sindh province. Local officials say 1.2 million people have been displaced in Dadu district in Sindh, where hundreds of villages are submerged - and there is still more water coming. The military is evacuating the stranded by plane and many others by boat. Thousands more are still on the flood path and need to be moved - but there isn't much time.
Agence France-Presse via The Guardian
South African court bans offshore oil and gas exploration by Shell
A South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast. The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life. The 2014 decision granting the right for the “exploration of oil and gas in the Transkei and Algoa exploration areas is reviewed and set aside”, the high court ruled in the southern city.
Los Angeles Times
What the end of the Pelosi era could cost California
California could be on the cusp of losing one of the most effective national political allies it’s ever had. Now in her second stint as House speaker, Nancy Pelosi has quietly and relentlessly promoted progressive California-backed policies on topics such as climate change, drought and healthcare. […] She said in November 2020 that this would be her last term as speaker, though she has since distanced herself from that timeline. At 82, she is running for reelection in her San Francisco district, but some think she might retire after the midterm. The prospect of Pelosi‘s departure has some Californians pondering what kind of power vacuum she will leave, and what it will mean for the state’s influence in Washington.
Dallas Morning News
Baristas steamed at Ted Cruz depiction as pothead slackers eager for handouts
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