By Helen Coster
(Reuters) - Fox News's $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over its coverage of false vote-rigging claims in the 2020 U.S. election made headlines on Tuesday, except on the cable channel itself, whose mention of it was somewhat muted.
Hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who had been expected to testify in the Dominion trial, did not reference the settlement, the largest struck by an American media company, during their primetime broadcasts on Tuesday night.
Dominion had alleged that statements made on Carlson's show after the 2020 election were defamatory and that messages between Carlson and his team were proof he and his team knew claims that Denver-based Dominion's ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden were false.
Fox News is owned by Fox Corp and is the most-watched U.S. cable news network.
Fox anchor Neil Cavuto broke into his headline news show "Your World" about 4:30 p.m. ET to report the settlement and read a statement by Fox in which it said it was pleased to have reached an agreement to avert a trial and acknowledged the judge's ruling that the claims about Dominion were false.
Howard Kurtz, the host of Fox News' MediaBuzz show, appeared on Cavuto's show and during "Special Report with Bret Baier." On "Special Report" Kurtz read the Fox statement, but did not include the dollar figure of the settlement.
In response to a Reuters request for comment about Fox's coverage of the settlement, a spokesperson shared the company's statement about the Dominion settlement that aired on Cavuto and Baier's shows.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in Wilmington; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Washington (AFP) - Elon Musk promised to make Twitter the "most accurate source of information about the world," but he has repeatedly used his own account to amplify false claims from some of the most notorious disinformers on the internet, according to an AFP analysis of his online activity.
The posts show Musk drawing attention to misinformation about everything from the war in Ukraine to the attack on US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's husband. Last week, the billionaire boosted a tweet that wrongly suggested doctors misdiagnosed flu cases as Covid-19 deaths.
"One of the greatest mysteries of Covid-19: Where did the flu go in 2020 and 2021?" an account called "KanekoaTheGreat" said, to which Musk replied: "Good question."
It was one of at least 40 times the billionaire replied to the profile, which has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, since purchasing Twitter for $44 billion nearly six months ago. He has only replied to a handful of accounts more in that time.
Using data from PolitiTweet, a website that tracked public figures' posts until Twitter cut off its access, AFP reviewed thousands of replies Musk published between late October and March.
He shared a fabricated CNN segment, called a made-up quote "wise words" and falsely claimed police escorted a rioter through the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He amplified a post blaming mass shootings on LGBTQ individuals and endorsed a fake casualty count from Ukraine.
Musk has also downplayed Covid-19 and promoted spurious claims about vaccines causing blood clots, miscarriages and heart problems.
"We are running out of 'conspiracies' that turned out to be true!" the Twitter owner said in March, replying to a tweet that listed Covid-19 and vaccine safety among the "biggest media lies."
Days later, he tweeted that the "best way to fight misinformation is to respond with accurate information."
Experts say Musk's activity is concerning -- and not just because of his online influence.
"Musk has almost 135 million Twitter followers and forced his engineers to increase the reach of his tweets, so we should worry when he spreads misinformation," Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth College professor who studies misperceptions in politics, told AFP.
"I'm most worried, though, about what these tweets reveal about the judgment of the person who determines the policies of a major social media platform."
Researchers have tied Twitter's recent policy changes -- including Musk's reinstatement of suspended accounts and its overhaul of verification practices -- to spikes in misinformation.
NewsGuard, a company that assesses websites' credibility, found accounts paying for Twitter's subscription service are inundating the site with false claims.
Musk is driving attention to some of these accounts.
"Got the Elon Musk stamp of approval," said "KanekoaTheGreat" on Telegram after one such reply.
A January study from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based think tank, recorded a "staggering" increase in Musk's interactions with right-wing accounts since acquiring Twitter, including several profiles other research identified as spreaders of US election misinformation.
Musk has repeatedly amplified posts from sources such as the pro-Donald Trump page "Catturd," the anti-LGBTQ account "Libs of TikTok" and the conspiratorial website ZeroHedge.
Ian Miles Cheong, a far-right blogger, has received at least 60 replies from Musk -- topping all but a few other profiles, according to AFP's analysis. In one instance, Musk amplified a tweet blaming Joe Biden for an immigration program that started under Trump.
"Musk is elevating some of the worst voices on Twitter," Nyhan told AFP. "These interactions are likely to increase the reach and prominence of the accounts."
In some cases, the Twitter boss has helped mainstream false narratives.
After an intruder broke into Pelosi's California residence and struck the lawmaker's husband with a hammer in October, Musk tweeted a link to an article claiming he was drunk and quarreling with a male prostitute. #Pelosigaylover trended on Twitter.
Court filings and footage of the incident disproved the claims, which stemmed from a site that had previously published misinformation. But the damage was done.
"It's really sad for the country that people of that high visibility would separate themselves from the facts and the truth in such a blatant way," Nancy Pelosi said at the time. "It is traumatizing to those affected by it. They don't care about that, obviously."
Twitter responded to AFP's requests for comment with the poop emoji, an auto-reply Musk launched in March.
By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife Jill released their federal tax return on Tuesday, showing the couple earned nearly $580,000 last year and paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.8%.
The Bidens also donated roughly 3.5% of their income, or $20,180, to 20 charities, including one associated with U.S. police unions.
The annual disclosure ahead of the deadline at midnight Tuesday for most Americans to file their tax returns comes before a 2024 presidential race in which Biden is expected to seek a second four-year term.
Such a contest could set up a re-run of the 2020 presidential election between Biden, a Democrat, and Republican former President Donald Trump. In contrast to Republicans, Biden has proposed higher taxes on corporations and individuals making over $400,000 per year.
Trump broke with the tradition of presidents making their federal tax returns public, saying he was not able to do so while being audited by the Internal Revenue Service, even as the agency claimed he was free to release them.
The Bidens reported 2022 federal adjusted gross income of $579,514 and paid $137,658 in federal income tax. The previous year, Biden's first as president, they reported $610,702 in income.
Biden draws a $400,000 wage as president of the United States. Jill Biden earned $82,335 from her job teaching English at Northern Virginia Community College.
The remainder of their income is drawn from investment interest, pensions, annuities, distributions from retirement accounts and Social Security as well as a corporation that collects their book royalties, according to the joint tax return.
Their charitable donations included contributions to churches and organizations focused on helping children and first responders, including $2,000 to the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation.
The National Fraternal Order of Police, the biggest U.S. officers' union, endorsed Trump in 2020 and has opposed many of Biden's proposed reforms in the aftermath of George Floyd's 2020 murder in the custody of a former Minneapolis police officer.
Their charitable organization, the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, holds an annual memorial service for law enforcement officials who die in the line of duty, which Biden has addressed as president.
"The National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation does important work serving the families of officers who have given their lives in the line of duty," said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates. "President Biden recognizes the sacrifices made by fallen officers and their families, including when he speaks at the National Peace Officers' Memorial Service."
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, reported federal adjusted gross income of $456,918, paying $93,570 in federal income tax for an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5%.
The income included $219,171 in salary paid to Harris by the U.S. Senate, $62,870 from her books and $169,665 earned by Emhoff at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches. They contributed roughly 5% of their income, or $23,000, to charity, according to the joint return.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)
Washington (AFP) - A Black US teenager who was shot twice after ringing the wrong doorbell has an invitation to the White House once he's recovered, President Joe Biden promised Tuesday, as the suspected shooter, an elderly white man, surrendered to authorities.
Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice, once in the head, last Thursday night in the midwestern state of Missouri, after going to the wrong house while trying to pick up his twin brothers.
Biden slammed the incident as another example of the United States' failure to deal with widespread gun violence.
"No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. We've got to keep up the fight against gun violence," Biden tweeted, saying he'd spoken with Yarl and his family the night before.
"And Ralph, we'll see you in the Oval once you feel better," the president added.
The suspected shooter, 84-year-old Andrew Lester, was charged on Monday with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action, local prosecutor Zachary Thompson said.
Lester turned himself in on Tuesday, a Clay County sheriff's department spokesperson told AFP.
He was released later in the day on a $200,000 bail, a spokesperson confirmed later.
According to court documents, Lester said he thought the teen was trying to break into his house, and shot him through the glass storm door.
Outrage had risen over the case throughout the weekend, after it was revealed that Lester had initially been released without charges following 24 hours in custody.
"To pretend that race is not a part of this whole situation would be to have your head in the sand," Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told CNN Tuesday. "This boy was shot because he was existing while black."
Yarl was released from the hospital and continuing to recover at home, his mother Cleo Nagbe told CBS on Tuesday.
"He went and rang the doorbell. And he was supposed to stay outside, and his brothers were supposed to run outside, get in the car and they come home," Nagbe said.
"While he was standing there, his brothers didn't run outside, but he got a couple of bullets in his body instead of a couple of twins coming up, out, and giving him a hug."
Yarl's aunt, Faith Spoonmoore, said on a GoFundMe campaign that her nephew was a gifted student who dreamed of studying chemical engineering.
The fundraiser had pulled in nearly $3 million for Yarl by Tuesday afternoon.
Deadly shootings are a regular occurrence in the United States, a country of around 330 million people that is awash with an estimated 400 million guns.
But Yarl's case has sparked a particular outcry as the nation continues to grapple with a long history of lack of accountability for violence against African Americans.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a Sunday night press conference that the information at the time "does not say that it's racially motivated" and that the investigation was still active.
"But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case. I do recognize and understand the community's concern."
Charges were also filed Monday in a similar case in New York state, where a 20-year-old woman was shot dead.
Police in New York state said Kaylin Gillis had been fatally shot by a homeowner on Saturday night when she showed up with three others at the wrong address when trying to find a friend's house.
"While they were leaving the residence after they determined that they were at the wrong house, the subject came out on his porch for whatever reason and fired two shots, one of which struck the vehicle that Kaylin was in," said Jeffrey Murphy, the sheriff of Washington County, where the shooting took place.
The homeowner identified as the person who fired the shots, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan, was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree murder, according to the sheriff's office.
President Joe Biden has invited Ralph Yarl to visit the White House once the Kansas City teen recovers after being shot last week after he rang the wrong doorbell. “No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence,” Biden said in a tweet Tuesday. “And Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better.” Biden spoke with Yarl and his family Monday evening as national outrage continues over the shooting. Yarl, a Black 16-year-old Kansas City student, was allegedly shot by Andrew D. Lester, a white ...
Washington (AFP) - US President Joe Biden slammed Republicans' debt ceiling plan Tuesday, saying it would result in "huge cuts" to important government programs on which millions of Americans depend.
Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the US House of Representatives, officially unveiled specifics of the plan earlier in the day, urging members of his party to act in concert as they go head to head with the president.
The United States hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January, prompting the Treasury to take "extraordinary measures" that allow it to continue financing the government's activities.
But if the debt ceiling is not raised or suspended by Congress before current measures are exhausted, the US government risks defaulting on payment obligations as early as July, with profound implications for the economy.
House Republicans are vowing to only raise the debt ceiling if federal spending caps are implemented, in an attempt to curb what they say is "reckless" spending by Democrats.
McCarthy is urging a floor vote before the end of the month, posting on Twitter Tuesday that it was "time to stop the madness."
"Democrats' reckless spending caused inflation, a banking crisis, and so many other problems," McCarthy wrote.
Biden, however, accused the Republican leader of proposing "huge cuts to important programs" that "millions of Americans count on," and says their plan would return the country to "the same old trickle-down economic theories of the past."
McCarthy's proposal would, among other things, return federal government spending to 2022 levels and limit its growth to one percent per year over the next 10 years.
Democrats are strongly opposed to the Republican proposal, arguing that linking a debt ceiling increase to budget cuts amounts to blackmail.
McCarthy "threatened to become the first speaker to default on our national debt," Biden said.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that no one "should confuse this wish-list as anything more than a recycling of the same bad ideas we've heard about for weeks."
The US president has said repeatedly that he is ready to discuss spending reductions but that Congress must first pass a "clean" -- no-strings-attached -- debt ceiling increase before time runs out.
McCarthy and Biden met in early February to discuss possible outcomes, but were unable to reach a compromise.
McCarthy must additionally overcome dissension in his own Republican ranks between his party's right wing and its more moderate lawmakers, to ensure the bill's passage in the House.
Fox News has settled its case with Dominion voting systems, according to multiple reports. Fox News must pay Dominion $787.5 million, per the settlement agreement.
CBS congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane tweets that the judge has confirmed that "parties have resolved their case."
The unspecified settlement avoids what had been expected to be an embarrassing trial for the conservative outlet.
CNN reports that “the judge just announced in court that a settlement has been reached in the historic defamation case between News and Dominion Voting Systems.”
In a statement, Fox News said that “we are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
Dominion Voting Systems had sued Fox News for $1.6 billion, alleging the conservative network promoted Donald Trump's baseless claim that its machines were used to rig the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden.
IN OTHER NEWS: 'That's totally fallacious, ma'am': Witness shreds Marjorie Taylor Greene for misinformation
Dominion alleged that the network began endorsing Trump's conspiracy because the channel was losing its audience after it became the first television outlet to call the southwestern state of Arizona for Biden, effectively projecting the Democrat would win the presidency.
Fox News denied defamation. The network claimed it was only reporting on Trump's allegations, not supporting them, and is protected by free speech rights enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Dominion's lawsuit has proved embarrassing to Fox.
Murdoch admitted in a deposition in the case that some on-air hosts had "endorsed" the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
But he denied that the network in its entirety had pushed the lie, according to court documents filed by Dominion in February.
A separate filing showed Murdoch had described comments by former Trump advisors Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell pushing Trump's claims as "really crazy stuff. And damaging."
Dominion's lawyers also released a trove of internal Fox News communications in which some commentators expressed a dislike of Trump, despite praising him on air.
"I hate him passionately," Carlson said of the ex-president after his election loss.
Fox News has accused Dominion of "cherry-picking and taking quotes out of context."
With additional reporting by AFP
Donald Trump last week falsely claimed that while he was president, Vladimir Putin never bragged about Russia’s nuclear capability, CNN reports.
Trump on Friday in a speech at a National Rifle Association conference in Indianapolis said “nuclear” is one of the two “N-words” that world leaders should never use.
The former president said Putin’s use of the nuclear threat didn’t happen until Joe Biden became president.
“Now it’s talked about every single day, including by Putin. He goes, ‘You know, we’re a great nuclear power.’ He says that publicly now – he never said that when I was here,” Trump said.
IN OTHER NEWS: Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she saw 2,000 pages of evidence on 'Biden crime family'
“Because you don’t talk about it. It’s too destructive. You don’t talk about it. Now they’re talking about it all the time.”
Trump made a similar assertion in January, according to the report.
“If you take a look right now, the ‘nuclear’ word is being mentioned all the time,” he said in a video.
“This is a word that you’re not allowed to use. It was never used during the Trump administration. But now other countries are using that word against us because they have no respect for our leadership.”
Both statements have been deemed false, CNN fact checker Daniel Dale reports.
Dale writes that “Trump’s claims are false. During his time in the White House, Putin repeatedly referred to Russia as a ‘major nuclear power’ – in fact, Putin called both Russia and the US “major nuclear powers” as he stood beside Trump at a joint press conference in 2018 – while warning of the catastrophic consequences of a nuclear war and boasting about what he claimed were Russia’s nuclear capabilities.”
Dale notes that during a 2018 speech Putin boasted of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile he described as “invincible.”
Trump in a 2018 phone call with Putin criticized the Russian leader over a video depicting a nuclear missile attack on Florida, Axios reports.
Putin in 2018 also issued an incendiary warning that he would use nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on Russia, according to a statement translated by The Moscow Times.
“An aggressor should know that vengeance is inevitable, that he will be annihilated, and we would be the victims of the aggression,” Putin said.
“We will go to heaven as martyrs, and they will just drop dead. They will not even have time to repent for this.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed on Tuesday that she has seen 2,000 pages of evidence outlining what she's calls the Biden crime family's extensive misdeeds, including alleged human trafficking.
Greene, who earlier in the day was shredded for purportedly providing misinformation about the origin of the COVID-19, posted on Twitter that the "Biden crime family participated in human trafficking by soliciting prostitutes from the United States and abroad in countries like Russia and Ukraine."
"There is an entire crime enterprise wrapped around Joe Biden and his family," she added.
Attached to the tweet is a video of Greene, who is seen standing in front of the camera in a black jacket. She says she "just finished reviewing the financial records in the Treasury."
IN OTHER NEWS: 'Ethical mess': DA seeks removal of attorney representing fake Georgia electors in Trump probe
"What I saw was over 2,000 pages of jaw-dropping information. There's basically an enterprise wrapped around Joe Biden involving not only multiple family members - more than we thought there were - but other people, as well, Greene said in the Twitter video. "And just a complete conglomerate of LLC shell companies where money was passing through from foreign countries."
Greene added that the American people deserve to know about the Biden family's "crimes," and noted that the GOP House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has a "much bigger investigation to do than thought."
Greene has repeatedly railed against Biden and Democrats, including reportedly using vile language against Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and declaring that Democratic victories will erode American democracy and lead to socialism.
She has also called white men the most oppressed group in the United States.
And she promotes the smear that billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, a Jew who survived the Holocaust, was really a collaborator who "turned in his own people over to the Nazis."
In 2017, she said that "Q is a patriot," referring to the supposed secret whistleblower of QAnon who was working from inside the Trump administration to reveal the deep state's network of pedophiles and power brokers.
QAnon crept up on the fringes of social media but has since spilt into the mainstream thanks to widely shared posts on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Greene was also recently in the news for spending $65,000 on a home fence.
Watch the video below or at this link.
With additional reporting by AFP
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy traveled to Wall Street on Monday, the financial capital of the world, to deliver a speech at the New York Stock Exchange demanding President Joe Biden negotiate with him on the debt ceiling while he unveiled what is being called his latest “scheme” – taking the debt ceiling “hostage,” failing to produce his long overdue budget, and revealing that it will include a requirement that people who use food stamps to survive will to have to work to get them.
It hasn’t been well received.
In fact, most aspects of his speech, and even his choice of venue, have been thoroughly lambasted, discredited, or just mocked over the past 24 hours.
“Kevin McCarthy literally going to the New York Stock Exchange to pitch cutting food stamps for poor people is… well, there’s a reason why people think Kevin is an idiot,” tweeted Vox’s generally reserved Ian Millhiser.
“Today at the NYSE, Speaker McCarthy explained his scheme to slash food aid for low-income Americans to his true constituents: Wall Street and massive corporations who pay little to no taxes,” tweeted the New York Working Families Party.
“Delivering today’s speech threatening our economy at the New York Stock Exchange shows Speaker McCarthy is either in denial about the danger of his threats or intentionally hoping for market turmoil,” tweeted U.S Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA). “I’m not sure which is worse.”
It wasn’t just the venue. Far from it.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday railed against McCarthy’s speech: “I’ll be blunt, if Speaker McCarthy continues in this direction, we are headed to default.”
It gets worse for McCarthy.
Indeed, McCarthy’s “argument is out of date,” wrote noted author and professor of history Heather Cox Richardson overnight in her Substack newsletter.
“It’s time to get Americans back to work,” McCarthy on Monday declared, despite unemployment having hit a 54-year low, (and a new historic low for Black unemployment), as the Speaker blamed President Joe Biden, alleging he’s keeping Americans from obtaining employment.
McCarthy repeatedly promised he “will grow the economy,” as he promised to bring jobs back from China, while complaining that “there are more job openings than people who are looking for jobs.”
He touted House Republicans’ HR 1 legislation, the “Lower the Energy Cost Act,” that “makes us less dependent upon China, and it brings jobs back to America that will grow the economy,” he said.
Now, we should presume that McCarthy has an economist on staff, hopefully. But it does not appear so, because what he’s promising doesn’t actually work.
Economists tell us that inflation is still at higher levels because the economy is growing too fast – which is why the Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates, literally to slow the growth so we don’t explode into a recession. And yet McCarthy wants to grow the economy which in theory will lead to higher inflation.
“I have full confident [sic] that if we limit our federal spending, if we save the taxpayer money,” said Speaker McCarthy, in his unique manner. “If we grow our economy, yes we will end the dependence on China, we will curve [sic] inflation, and we will protect Social Security and Medicare for the next generation.”
“In reality,” Professor Richardson observes, “the inflation that plagued the U.S. as it reopened from the worst days of the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed dramatically, making it clear that the policies of the Biden administration are working. As Jennifer Rubin noted yesterday in the Washington Post, the annual inflation rate for producers is 2.7%—the lowest rate in more than two years—while consumer price increases are at their lowest point since May 2021: 5%. Gasoline prices have dropped 17.4% since the high prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The overall declines mark nine months of slowing inflation.”
She goes on to deflate McCarthy’s claims.
“At the same time, labor force participation is at record high levels,” Richardson notes. “Real incomes—that is, incomes after inflation is factored in—have risen 7% for those making $35,000 a year or less and 1.3% across the whole economy. Meanwhile, the deficit has dropped more than $1.7 trillion in two years.”
McCarthy also said he wants to create more job openings, while acknowledging that there aren’t enough people to fill the job openings we currently have.
Which is why, just like Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Iowa Republicans gutting child labor laws to allow America’s most vulnerable population to work adult jobs, Speaker McCarthy is looking for anyone (except the people staring him in the face: undocumented immigrants, and migrants from Central America) to fill those jobs.
Instead, McCarthy wants to put Americans to work, Americans who for many reasons need government assistance – food stamps – while ignoring that most families on food stamps already have people working at least one job.
“Our proposal will also restore work requirements that ensure able-bodied adults without dependents, earn a paycheck, and learn new skills that will grow our economy and help the supply chain. Right now there are more job openings than people who are looking for jobs. You know why? It’s in part because of the Biden administration weakened work requirements,” McCarthy claimed. “Incentives matter. And the incentives today are out of whack. It’s time to get Americans back to work. Don’t believe anyone who says our plans hurt Americans’ social safety net.”
“We are very generous nation,” McCarthy claimed, ignoring that most industrialized nations provide far more services, like universal healthcare. “A hand up, not a hand out,” he said invoking Ronald Reagan, but just the parts that fit his narrative, not the main focus of his speech.
What was the main focus of his speech?
The debt ceiling. And his desire to negotiate over it — or, as many are saying, holding the nation hostage to fringe House Republicans’ demands.
“McCarthy is trying to hide the Republicans’ own bumbling disarray,” tweeted Richardson. “Congress negotiates over the BUDGET, not the debt ceiling, which simply pays for bills already rung up in large part by the Republicans themselves. But they can’t agree on a budget, so are screaming about Biden.”
Pointing to his Morning Memo titled, “This Is The Dumbest Debt Ceiling Fight Ever,” Talking Points Memo executive editor David Kurtz tweeted, “Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has such a tenuous grip on his own conference that the debt-ceiling hostage-taking he is attempting to pull off has all the hallmarks of the bumbling kidnapping capers you see in the movies.”
Professor Richardson actually had a lot more to say about Speaker McCarthy in her newsletter.
“McCarthy has not offered a budget proposal because the Republican conference cannot agree on one,” she says, noting he is “trying to use the threat of national default to extract the cuts extremist members of his conference want. The Biden administration has made it clear that it will not negotiate over paying the nation’s bills, especially since about a quarter of the debt was accumulated under former president Trump, $2 trillion of it thanks to tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. In those years, Congress raised the debt ceiling three times. Biden presented his own long, detailed budget, full of his own priorities, as a start to negotiations in March, and he says he is eager to sit down and hammer out the budget once McCarthy produces his own plan. McCarthy is trying to deflect from his inability to do that but is confusing the issue, suggesting that he has the right to negotiate instead over whether or not to pay our bills.”
House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ spokesperson, Christie Stephenson, on Monday blasted “Speaker McCarthy’s refusal to produce a Republican budget,” and his New York Stock Exchange speech:
“A speech is not a plan. Extreme MAGA Republicans continue to treat the full faith and credit of the United States as a hostage situation while their so-called budget proposal remains in the witness protection program. As always, we will evaluate any legislative text when and if House Republicans can ever agree with themselves about how much they want to devastate American families in order to finance tax cuts for the wealthy, well-off and well-connected.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claims to have proof that President Joe Biden and his family are engaged in financial crimes, but a national security expert believes she may have improperly revealed confidential government documents.
The Georgia Republican has been claiming that she reviewed 2,000 pages of financial reports held by the U.S. Department of Treasury that back up right-wing conspiracy theories about the Biden family allegedly receiving "millions of dollars" from foreign companies and engaging in sex trafficking, and she urged whistleblowers to come forward.
"I just walked out of the Treasury after reviewing financial reports on the Biden’s and their web of LLC’s and wire transfers from MANY foreign countries that created a vast criminal enterprise bigger than anyone can comprehend. Whistleblowers can receive protection if they come forward now," Greene tweeted Monday.
She followed up on Tuesday by tweeting out a lengthy list of her claims, although those allegations could not be verified.
RELATED: 'That's totally fallacious, ma'am': Witness shreds Marjorie Taylor Greene for misinformation
"Reading over 2,000 pages of financial reports in the Treasury about all the Biden family members receiving millions of dollars through LLC’s like Burisma from Ukraine and dozens of other LLC’s that were opened and closed to launder money from foreign countries and pay the Biden family members, I can’t help but wonder, as Americans pay their taxes, if any of them paid taxes on all the money they laundered?" Greene tweeted.
"Or what about the LLC called Owasco that Hunter owned and paid countless prostitutes, even from Russia and Ukraine, and the report states it was a human sex trafficking ring," the lawmaker continued. "The report estimates there were 28 customers paying the sex slaves. Americans go to jail everyday in this country for much less, some even for walking in the Capital for a few minutes on J6. It was and still is all much bigger and worse than people thought, but the most dangerous part is that the Biden’s have created a international crime enterprise around Joe Biden’s powerful VP and Presidential seats. Which means our entire country is compromised because of Joe Biden and the Biden family crime syndicate."
Attorney Bradley Moss, who specializes in national security and the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act, said Greene's post, if accurate, may have violated the law.
"I’m sorry, are you quoting from confidential treasury reports?" Moss tweeted.
Former President Donald Trump complained on Tuesday after billionaire Elon Musk revealed that he had voted for President Joe Biden.
During an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday, Musk said he had voted for the current president in the 2020 election.
"I didn't vote for Trump," he explained. "I actually voted for Biden. I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of Biden, since that would be inaccurate."
Trump used his Truth Social platform to react to Musk's remarks.
"I don't believe Elon Musk voted for Biden, not for a minute!" Trump exclaimed. "He told me that he voted for me, but who knows about that, and who cares?"
"Elon is just trying to make friends with the absolutely horrible Biden Administration because of all the government subsidies he gets, and all the permits he needs," he continued. "His space company, car company, battery company, tunnel company, and even Twitter, which was illegally controlled by the FBI, need government HELP & SUBSIDIES. HE IS JUST 'MENDING FENCES!'"
It was not immediately clear how Musk could benefit by telling the Fox News audience that he did not vote for the Republican candidate.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Monday that she will not support an effort to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, effectively sinking Democratic hopes of breaking a tie on the panel that has helped Republicans blockade President Joe Biden's federal judge nominees.
Collins (R-Maine), a self-styled moderate who has played a decisive role in the far-right takeover of the nation's federal court system, called the push to replace Feinstein (D-Calif.) as she recovers from shingles—something the senator herself requested last week—part of a "concerted campaign to force her off the Judiciary Committee."
"I will have no part in it," Collins added.
Collins was the latest Republican senator to express opposition to temporarily replacing Feinstein, a move Democrats were expected to attempt this week via the unanimous consent process—which was always a longshot given that any single senator could sink the effort.
Now it also appears highly unlikely that Democrats will be able to get the necessary 60 yes votes for a potential Feinstein replacement, with Collins joining Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and others in opposition.
While Collins framed her objection to replacing Feinstein as a show of respect for the longtime senator—even though the obstruction goes against Feinstein's stated wishes—other Republicans made clear that they simply want to keep stonewalling Biden's judicial nominees.
"I will not go along with [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer's plan to replace Senator Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee and pack the court with activist judges," Blackburn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote in a social media post earlier Monday. "Joe Biden wants the Senate to rubber stamp his unqualified and controversial judges to radically transform America." (Blackburn had no problem voting to confirm unqualified and highly "controversial" judges nominated by former President Donald Trump.)
Along with Feinstein's indefinite absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee—which has left the panel deadlocked at 10-10—the Democratic leadership's continued adherence to the antiquated "blue slip" tradition of giving senators veto power over nominees for federal court seats in their home states has ground the judge confirmation process to a halt.
Earlier this month, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced she would not return a blue slip for Scott Colom, a Biden U.S. district court nominee who had bipartisan support. Under current norms upheld by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Hyde-Smith's opposition is enough to sink Colom's nomination.
"If you want an example of how one side plays to win and the other does not, look at how Durbin refuses to get rid of blue slips—handing Republicans a unilateral veto of Biden’s judicial picks—while Republicans won't so much as let an ailing Feinstein be replaced temporarily," said Brian Fallon, executive director of the advocacy group Demand Justice.
There are currently 58 vacancies on U.S. district courts and six on circuit courts, according to Demand Justice chief counsel Christopher Kang. The American Constitution Society noted earlier this month that "the Senate has made limited progress on judicial nominations in recent weeks, with only three confirmations since March 16."
"As of April 6," the group observed, "there are still 18 Article III nominees pending on the Senate floor, waiting for cloture and confirmation votes."
A dozen Biden judges are awaiting a vote from the evenly split Senate Judiciary Committee, in which a tie means a nominee does not advance.
The consequences of failing to fill vacant lifetime federal court seats could be disastrous, given the Republican Party's willingness to abandon Senate norms to ram through extreme judges whenever they get the opportunity. During Trump's four years in office, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed more than 230 federal judges—a recent record that appears safe given the slowing pace of Biden judicial confirmations.
With the Feinstein replacement effort all but dead, the path forward for Democrats is unclear.
Feinstein is facing growing calls to resign from the Senate entirely, which would allow California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a replacement who would serve through 2024. That replacement would still have to win Senate approval to sit on the judiciary panel.
"Whatever deal Democrats negotiate—if any—they should make no promises about keeping the 'blue slip' tradition that gives individual senators what amounts to a veto over prospective judicial nominees from their home states," columnist Jill Lawrence wrote for The Bulwark on Monday. "It's not a law. It's not in the Constitution. Biden, when he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, used blue slips to assure consultation but considered them advisory, not binding."
Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of the Take Back the Court Action Fund, told Lawrence that Democrats "have a responsibility to do everything they can to rebalance the judiciary and dilute control" of Trump judges, who have worked to gut abortion rights, weaken gun regulations, and protect polluters.
"There are few things more urgent for the Senate to do than fill these open seats," said Lipton-Lubet.
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