November 14, 2024

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Trump latest: Republicans unleash on Trump, say he could have stopped Jan 6 attack earlier

Trump latest: Republicans unleash on Trump, say he could have stopped Jan 6 attack earlier

Trump brags about the size of his rally on January 6

As the investigation into the attack on the US Capitol steadily yields more information about the events leading up to the 6 January attack, a new memo has been released detailing a new angle on the Trump team’s efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election.

The memo, written by attorney Kenneth Chesebro, spells out a contorted multi-day plan to have Mike Pence take control of the electoral certification in the Senate, something the vice president ultimately refused to do despite intense pressure from the then-president.

Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, a member of the House 6 January committee, has said that Donald Trump will “get his comeuppance” over the attack on the US Capitol.

Suggesting that criminal charges may soon be brought against the former president, Mr Raskin labelled Mr Trump “guilty as sin” and called him a “one-man crime wave” in an interview with Salon.

The select committee is set to begin its public hearings this month.

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Kentucky GOP congressman calls for ending gun-free school zones in response to Uvalde

A Trump-endorsed GOP congressman in Kentucky believes the solution to mass shootings targeting schoolchildren is completely getting rid of gun-free zones around schools, where members of the public are not allowed to carry weapons.

“The biggest thing we can do here today is repeal the 1990 Gun-Free School Zone Act so that the default condition in this country is not to advertise every student as a target,” Thomas Massie asserted at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Mr Massie was endorsed for reelection by Donald Trump last month. The former president said that the conservative congressman “fights hard to Protect your Liberties, especially the First and Second Amendments, which are under siege by the Radical Left”. He previously had called for Mr Massie’s ouster from the GOP over his opposition to a Covid-19 relief package.

Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:

John Bowden3 June 2022 03:12

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Biden hammers Republicans for opposing AR-15 restrictions

In a primetime address on Tuesday President Joe Biden took a much sharper tone against Republican opposition to firearm restrictions, blaming them for a spike in mass shootings that occurred after the end of the assault weapons ban.

”After Republicans let the law expire in 2004 — and those weapons were allowed to be sold again — mass shootings tripled,” his Twitter account noted during the remarks.

The president’s words came after several Republicans including Donald Trump addressed a convention of the National Rifle Association in Houston, Texas, just days after a mass shooting occurred at an elementary school in the state.

Read more in The Independent from John Bowden:

John Bowden3 June 2022 02:08

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Biden to address Americans on gun violence in primetime address

In a little less than an hour President Joe Biden is slated to give a national address, announced only a few hours earlier, regarding gun violence and a spate of mass shootings that have torn through the nation in recent days.

The president is vowing action to address gun violence but faces an uphill battle to seeing any legislation pass through the Senate due to the 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats in the chamber. Some lawmakers are currently meeting in the hopes of striking a compromise as the chamber recesses this month.

Read more about Mr Biden’s address from Eric Garcia and Alex Woodward in The Independent:

John Bowden3 June 2022 00:01

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Pennsylvania GOP governor nominee endorsed by Trump agrees to meet with January 6 committee

The bombastic Trump supporter running under the Pennsylvania GOP’s banner in the state’s gubernatorial race is one of the top supporters of Donald Trump’s 2020 eletction fraud conspiracies.

Now, Doug Mastriano will meet with the January 6 committee as the panel’s lawmakers look at his own actions around the attack on Congress, when he and other Trump supporters descended upon Washington DC in an effort to halt the certification of the election.

Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:

John Bowden2 June 2022 22:10

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The rise of the AR-15: Why America is defending a ‘weapon of war’

The ban on assault-style weapons including the AR-15 expired in 2004, during the height of popular sentiment for America’s military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where conflicts quickly popularised both the military-grade style of weaponry and tactical gear as well as the desert-style camouflage that surged onto the scene of casual military memorabilia and gear collections.

The weapon used in recent tragedies in Uvalde, Buffalo an elsewhere has even some gun owners rethinking their role in spreading ownership of assault rifles.

Read more from The Independent’s John Bowden:

John Bowden2 June 2022 21:25

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ICYMI: Trump ally Ted Cruz ‘disappointed’ by Republicans withdrawing from NRA meet

Ted Cruz lashed out over the weekend at his fellow Republicans like Texas Lieutenant Gov Dan Patrick for withdrawing from appearances at an NRA convention in their home state following the mass shooting in Uvalde.

“I was disappointed to see so many others make the decision not to be there. In part because the media narrative that comes out of horrific crimes, horrific mass murders within seconds, the media immediately wants to politicize them and use them to advance their longstanding political agenda that they had moments before the murder occurred,” he argued on his podcast.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg:

John Bowden2 June 2022 20:27

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Republicans unleash on Trump, say he could have stopped Jan 6 attack earlier

Republicans who were in contact with the White House during the deadly January 6 attack on Congress are standing by their statements calling for the president to take charge and call off his supporters, telling CNN that the ex-president was “derelict” in his duty to act in that moment.

The stunning condemnations come as many of the party’s most prominent leaders, like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, remain loyal to the former president.

“I thought there was only one person who could stop it and that was the President,” one lawmaker described by CNN only as a “senior Republican” told the network. “I don’t know that I can think of another situation that was as grave for the nation, or as affecting for the nation, where the President didn’t say something.”

John Bowden2 June 2022 18:43

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Biden rolls back some Trump Cuba policies

The Biden administration has ended the Trump-era ban on US direct travel to Cuba, a move first announced last month that is part of a readjustment of the US’s policies towards Cuba, the socialst Caribbean nation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the action was taken “in support of the Cuban people, and in the foreign policy interests of the United States”. Cuba’s foreign ministry responded by condemning the ongoing US trade embargo, which is responsible for Cuba’s inabilty to import many goods from abroad.

Read more in The Independent from Alisha Rahaman Sarkar:

John Bowden2 June 2022 18:08

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ICYMI: Trump brands deadly January 6 attack a ‘hoax’

Donald Trump unleashed his latest attack against Liz Cheney on Saturday, telling a crowd in Jasper, Wyoming to vote for her primary challenger Harriet Hageman.

While doing so, he condemned the congresswoman for her service on the January 6 commission, the House select committee investigating the deadly attack on the United States Congress.

“As one of the nation’s leading proponents of the insurrection hoax, Liz Cheney has pushed a grotesquely false, fabricated, hysterical partisan narrative,” Mr Trump protested to his followers.

Read more from The Independent’s Eric Garcia:

John Bowden2 June 2022 17:08

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Chris Murphy calls for gun control action in op-ed for Fox News

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote an op-ed in Fox News calling for action on gun violence as he begins bipartisan negotiations with Republican senators.

Mr Murphy, who was sworn in weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, is the most outspoken Democratic senator when it comes to gun safety. Last week, after Salvador Ramos shot and killed 21 people in Uvalde, Texas, Mr Murphy gave a floor speech imploring the Senate to act.



I believe that the Second Amendment protects a citizen’s right to buy and own firearms. But I also believe that like every constitutional right, there are limits. I don’t believe the Constitution protects the right of criminals or people with serious mental illness to own weapons. And while all of us might draw the line in a different place, I think we all agree that the Constitution allows Congress to decide which weapons are so dangerous as to be kept exclusively in the hands of the military.

Senator Chris Murphy, writing for Fox News

Continue reading the fully story from Eric Garcia below.

Johanna Chisholm2 June 2022 16:08