Biden doesn't support expanding the Supreme Court, White House says

Source: ABC News

President Joe Biden remains unmoved on the issue of court expansion, the White House said, despite his criticism of the Supreme Court rulings handed down this week on gun rights and abortion.

"That is something that the president does not agree with," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday when asked about such a reform. "That is not something that he wants to do."

Democrats and activists are floating the idea after the high court expanded gun rights and did away with 50 years of precedent to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and others expressly called for expanding the court in the wake of the decision on abortion access.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/US/biden-support-expanding-supreme-court-white-house/story%3fid=85703773

Supreme Court sides with inmate who wants to die by firing squad

Source: CNN

(CNN)The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a death row inmate in Georgia who is challenging the state's lethal injection protocol and seeks to die by firing squad -- a method not currently authorized in the state.

The court said the inmate could bring the challenge under a federal civil rights law that allows individuals to seek remedies when their Constitutional rights are violated. The decision could make it easier for inmates to challenge their potential execution method.

The 5-4 majority opinion was written by Justice Elena Kagan, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett penning a dissent joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.

Kagan said that the law at issue, Section 1983, "broadly authorizes suit against state officials for the deprivation of any rights secured by the Constitution."

Read more: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/06/23/politics/supreme-court-death-row-inmates/index.html

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum indicted

Source: CBS Miami

MIAMI - Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been indicted on multiple charges connected to campaign contribution fraud during his 2018 run for governor of Florida.

A federal grand jury has returned a twenty-one count indictment against Gillum, 42.

The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2019, Gillum and co-defendant Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud, by unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds from various entities and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose.

The indictment also alleges Gillum and Lettman-Hicks used third parties to divert a portion of those funds to a company owned by Lettman-Hicks, who then fraudulently provided the funds, disguised as payroll payments, to Gillum for his personal use.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/miami/news/former-democratic-gubernatorial-candidate-andrew-gillum-indicted/

US seeks full reset with Saudi Arabia, effectively moving on from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Source: CNN

Senior US officials have conveyed to Saudi Arabia that the US is prepared to move forward with a "reset" of the relationship, and effectively move on from the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in order to repair ties with the key Middle East ally, senior US officials tell CNN.

The planning for a reset is a dramatic about-face for President Joe Biden, who came into office vowing to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" over Khashoggi's murder. His administration also released an intelligence report last year that directly accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of orchestrating Khashoggi's killing.

But officials say Biden, who is under immense pressure to crack down on Russia and lower domestic gas prices amid inflation that's rising at the fastest pace since 1981, has set aside his moral outrage to pursue warmer relations with the Kingdom amid the dramatic global upheaval spurred by the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

"Both sides have decided that for the sake of achieving peace and stability in the Middle East, we need to move past it," said one senior US official, referring to Khashoggi's murder. The Saudis, for their part, consider the Khashoggi case closed—and have made that clear to the US, officials said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/politics/us-saudi-relationship-reset-jamal-khashoggi/index.html

David Hogg offers apology to Rubio

Source: The Hill

March For Our Lives co-founder and Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg apologized to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday for mistakenly calling him out for a skipped meeting on gun reform legislation.

“Rubio staff said I can’t meet with him or his staff because I ‘trigger’ him. I just wanna have a conversation,” Hogg wrote in a tweet around noon.

“Please meet with me @marcorubio I just want to figure out how we can stop these things from happening,” Hogg added. “We have to end the continuous debate and find what we can agree on”.

Hogg’s initial tweet drew a quick response from Rubio’s chief of staff, Michael Needham, who accused Hogg of intentionally lying about the meeting.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/news/state-watch/3518039-david-hogg-offers-apology-to-rubio/amp/

Biden: Tuesday primaries sent 'clear message' voters want tough-on-crime policies

Source: The Hill

President Biden said that Tuesday’s primary results in California, Mississippi and other states sent a message that voters want leaders who will take a tough stance on crime.

“I think the voters sent a clear message last night. Both parties have to step up and do something about crime, as well as gun violence,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday before boarding Air Force One to travel to California.

He called on states and localities to spend billions of dollars allocated in the American Rescue Plan “to hire police officers and reform the police departments.”

“Very few have done it,” he said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/news/administration/3516046-biden-tuesday-primaries-sent-clear-message-voters-want-tough-on-crime-policies/

Florida IG report: 'Insufficient evidence' for DeSantis critic's claims of Covid cover-up

Source: NBC News

A prominent critic of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Covid response made “unsubstantiated” and "unfounded" claims that state health officials had fired her because she refused to present manipulated data online, according to an inspector general’s report obtained by NBC News on Thursday.

The 27-page report from the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Inspector General said it found "insufficient evidence" or no evidence to support Rebekah Jones' accusations that she was asked to falsify Covid positivity rates or misrepresent them on the state’s dashboard she helped design. The report also "exonerated" officials accused by Jones of wrongdoing because they removed a data section from the website to ensure that private individual health information was not released publicly.

The independent report paints a portrait of an employee who did not understand public health policy or the significance of epidemiological data, did not have high-level access to crucial information and leveled claims that made professional health officials "skeptical."

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-ig-report-insufficient-evidence-desantis-critics-claims-covid-rcna30647

Congressman Tom Reed resigns, effective immediately, following sexual misconduct accusation

Source: WKBW

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WKBW) — Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY23) announced his immediate resignation from office on the floor of Congress on Tuesday.

The resignation comes after Reed had previously announced in late March that he would not run for public office in 2022.

Reed was accused of sexual misconduct earlier this year, relating to an incident during a political trip to Minnesota in 2017.

His accuser, Nicolette Davis, told the Washington Post that Reed massaged her, unclipped her bra and put his hand on her thigh while at an Irish pub in Minneapolis.



Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wkbw.com/news/politics/congressman-tom-reed-resigns-effective-immediately-following-sexual-misconduct-accusation%3f_amp=true

Marcos set for landslide win in Philippine presidential election

Source: Nikkea Asia

MANILA -- Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator, is set to win the country's presidency by a landslide, in a remarkable reversal of fortunes for a political dynasty that 36 years ago was ousted by the "People Power" revolution.

Marcos is on course to secure around 60% of the vote in Monday's election, giving him the strongest mandate for president since his father's rule.

As of 11:24 p.m. and with votes counted from 77.32% of precincts, Marcos has 25.05 million votes, according to multiple local media outlets that cite data from the election commission late on Monday. His closest opponent, Vice President Leni Robredo, was on 11.92 million votes.

Marcos' win concludes a decadeslong effort by his family to reclaim power after the 1986 mass uprising, which abruptly ended his father's 20-year rule and forced the Marcoses into exile in Hawaii until the early 1990s.

Read more: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Philippine-elections/Marcos-set-for-landslide-win-in-Philippine-presidential-election

Shontell Brown defeats Nina Turner again (This time it's a landslide)!