Japanese firm Kawada Industries is on the leading edge of a growing industry that threatens to become a major disruptive force in the coming years: automated labor.
At a recent robot expo, Kawada showed off Nextage, a human-shaped robotic laborer the company says is intended to "work alongside" people. In actuality, the robot could end up replacing people whose job it is to carry out menial tasks on assembly lines. And at just 1,500 watts of power consumption while it is working -- less than some hair dryers -- the device or one like it could one day become a compelling alternative to sweat shop labor.
The Department of Justice was "blindsided" by Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony as the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
On June 16, committee member Zoe Lofgren told Raw Story they would be turning over evidence and transcripts.
"The federal prosecutors working on the case watched the aide’s appearance before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and were just as astonished by her account of former President Donald J. Trump’s increasingly desperate bid to hold on to power as other viewers. The panel did not provide them with videos or transcripts of her taped interviews with committee members beforehand, according to several officials, leaving them feeling blindsided," The Times reported.
The newspaper noted Tuesday's hearing "came at a critical moment in parallel investigations that will soon converge, and possibly collide, as the committee wraps up a public inquiry geared for maximum political effect and the department intensifies a high-stakes investigation aimed at securing airtight convictions."
Democrats control both the legislative and judicial branches in Washington, DC.
"Committee members have repeatedly suggested that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has not moved fast enough to follow up their investigative leads. But for reasons that are not entirely clear — classic Washington bureaucratic territorialism, the department’s unwillingness to share information or the desire to stage-manage a successful public forum — members have resisted turning over hundreds of transcripts until they are done with their work," the newspaper reported. "Senior Justice Department officials say that has slowed their investigation. Ms. Hutchinson’s name has not yet appeared on subpoenas and other court documents related to their investigation into the effort to overturn the 2020 election, and she did not seem to be a primary witness before the hearings."
The split has also angered Democrats who are not on the select committee.
“We need some action from the D.O.J., and we need it now,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told the newspaper.
“We’re in a time crunch now. Every day these criminals walk free is one more day of them evading justice. As we get closer to the midterm elections, I fear not acting will only empower the complicit Republicans more if they take power," he said.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), who practiced law for a quarter-century before being elected to Congress, scolded Garland to do his job.
\u201cToday shows clear evidence from a brave insider who heard & saw a seditious conspiracy that included a compliant Mark Meadows & an unhinged Donald J. Trump. Merrick Garland Do Your Job!\u201d
— Rep. Hank Johnson (@Rep. Hank Johnson)
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GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming received a warm welcome while speaking as part of the "A Time for Choosing" speakers series held by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
"I know at this moment we are confronting a domestic threat we have never faced before and that is a former president who is attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic and he is aided by Republican leaders and elected officials who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man," she said.
"Some in my party are embracing former President Trump and even after all we have seen, they are enabling his lies. Many urge we do not confront Donald Trump, that we look away, and that is certainly the easier path. One need only look at the threats facing the witnesses who have come before the Jan. 6 committee to understand the nature and magnitude of that threat, but to argue the threat posed by Donald Trump can be ignored is to cast aside the responsibility that every citizen, everyone must not do that, and we cannot do that."
"As the full picture is coming into view with the Jan.6 committee, it has become clear that the efforts Donald Trump oversaw and engaged in were even more chilling and more threatening than we could have imagined," Cheney said. "As we have shown, Donald Trump attempted to overturn the presidential election and attempted to stay in office and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. He summoned the mob to Washington, he knew they were armed on Jan. 6, he knew they were angry and he directed the violent mob to march on the Capitol in order to delay or prevent the counting of votes."
She addressed the choice facing the GOP.
"The reality we face today as Republicans, as we think about the choice in front of us, we have to choose, because Republicans cannot be loyal to both Donald Trump and to the Constitution at this moment," she said to applause.
"We must not elect people who are more loyal to themselves or to power than they are to our Constitution," she said, to more applause.
After praising Cassidy Hutchinson, Cheney trotted out what sounded like a 2024 campaign line.
"And I want to speak to every young girl watching tonight: the power is yours and so is the responsibility. In our great nation, one individual can make all the difference and each individual must try. There are no bystanders in a constitutional republic and let me say this to the little girls and young women watching tonight, these days, for the most part, men are running the world, and it is really not going that well," she said to cheers and applause.
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California on Wednesday revealed a fascinating detail uncovered by her colleagues on the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Lofgren worked for the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate and is the only member of the select committee to have participated in all four modern presidential impeachments.
She was interviewed on Wednesday evening by Anderson Cooper.
"The messages shown by Vice-Chair Cheney at the end of yesterday's hearing seemed to open the door to potential witness tampering," Cooper said. "Is the committee in possession of more messages along those lines? Has that evidence been shared with the Justice Department?"
"Let's just say, we're concerned," Lofgren replied.
"As you know, in a prior hearing, we talked about the hundreds of millions of dollars that the former president raised. Some of that money is being used to pay for lawyers for witnesses and it's not clear that that arrangement is one that is without coercion potential for some of those witnesses," she revealed.
"So, let's just say this," she continued. "It's a concern and anyone who is trying to disway or tamper a witness should be on notice that that's a crime and we are perfectly prepared to provide any evidence we have to the proper authorities."
