A jury in Washington, DC has found four members of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. This is the second major trial of far-right extremists accused of plotting to forcibly keep President Donald Trump in power, and the four men now face up to 20 years in prison. The Justice Department has charged more than 400 people in connection with the Capitol attack, and the convictions of the Oath Keepers are seen as a major victory in their efforts to hold those responsible accountable.
Posts tagged as “Florida”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has defended the state's decision to block an Advanced Placement course on African American studies, citing its inclusion of lessons on Black queer theory and the prison abolition movement. He argued that the course was an attempt to "shoehorn in queer theory" and impose a political agenda on students, and called it "indoctrination". The proposed course was a multidisciplinary study of the African American diaspora, but DeSantis said the state will not allow courses that are used to push a political agenda.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out against efforts to restrict abortion access on the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, invoking fundamental American values such as freedom to make the case for protecting abortion access. She argued that without the ability to make intimate decisions, families cannot be truly free and detailed fights throughout history for certain liberties. In response, the White House took executive action to protect medication abortion, and Harris called abortion a "fundamental, constitutional right." She also spoke about the next steps in fighting for reproductive rights, in a time when many states are passing restrictive abortion laws.
Police in Daytona Beach responded to a report of a shooting at Advent Health Hospital on Saturday morning, discovering that a woman had shot her terminally ill husband and confined herself to his room. Police are currently negotiating with the woman to get her to surrender and come out of the hospital, and the investigation is ongoing.
The Justice Department has informed Rep. Jim Jordan, the new chair of the House Judiciary Committee, that it is ready to work with congressional investigators, but it will not share information about ongoing cases. The department's letter stated that any oversight requests must be weighed against the Department's interests in protecting the integrity of its work. Rep. Jordan had requested information on a range of topics, including immigration enforcement, investigations into threats against school boards, and some investigations known to be active.
A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit brought by former Florida state attorney Andrew Warren against Governor Ron DeSantis for suspending him last year. The judge ruled that the suspension violated Warren's free speech rights, but that he could not reverse the state-level suspension due to federal law. Warren will now have to plead his case to the Republican-controlled Florida Senate, which has the final say on whether to permanently remove him from office.
Donald Trump has dropped a federal lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James after a U.S. District Judge ordered him to pay nearly $1 million for a "completely frivolous" lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. The lawsuit had claimed James had abused her position to pursue a vendetta against Trump, but similar claims in state and federal court in New York were dismissed. Trump's lawyers filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in the case, marking the end of the legal battle between the two.
This article discusses a federal judge ordering former President Donald Trump and his attorney to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions for filing a lawsuit against Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and others. The judge said the lawsuit should never have been filed and was intended for a political purpose. The sanctions are intended to deter similar behavior in the future.