Truman statue takes place in Capitol Rotunda
WASHINGTON — In what could be their last joint appearance before the midterm elections, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined with other lawmakers on Thursday to unveil a new statue of Harry S. Truman.
While Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the leaders of the Missouri delegation largely stuck to Truman’s history in Congress and the White House, McCarthy took a subtle turn toward the political present.
Truman’s slogan “The buck stops here!” is good advice for everyone, said McCarthy, who hopes to be speaker next year.
“I think it is sound advice, not just to a president, but I think to a nation. Everyone should listen to it, especially policymakers. Don’t blame others for your failings. Learn from them, and fix it. Whatever the dangers today, it is important that we learn from history as we welcome this statue to the Rotunda,” McCarthy said. “Let’s work to build a nation that is safe, a future that is built on freedom and a government that is accountable.”
—CQ-Roll Call
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s husband files for divorce
The husband of outspoken Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed for divorce Wednesday after 27 years of marriage, according to the pair’s hometown paper, the Rome News-Tribune.
Perry Greene reportedly said that their union is “irretrievably broken” and filed a motion to seal his filing, which he said contains sensitive information.
Greene has made headlines regularly since taking office in 2021, largely for her sensational attacks on other lawmakers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who has called her colleague “deeply unwell.”
Bizarre social media claims and videos made before Greene came to power also show Greene engaging in odd behavior such as harassing school shooting survivors she blamed for supporting gun safety legislation.
She had also suggested space lasers owned by a prominent Jewish banking family may have been responsible for wildfires in California. While Greene has since walked back those conspiracy theories, she insisted during a February interview that the 2020 election was rigged, though she confessed, “I don’t know how.”
—New York Daily News
Whitmer kidnap plotter deserves 'substantial' prison term, feds say
A Waterford Township man convicted of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer deserves a "substantial" federal prison sentence to deter rising threats from domestic extremists bent on achieving political change through violence, prosecutors said Thursday.
But prosecutors also urged U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to give Kaleb Franks a break because he cooperated with the government, testifying against two ringleaders during two trials this year. Franks pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping conspiracy, punishable by up to life in federal prison, and advisory guidelines call for a sentence of up to 15 1/2 years.
Franks, 28, will be sentenced Oct. 6, two months after he helped secure the convictions of kidnap plot ringleaders Adam Fox, 39, and Barry Croft, 46, who face up to life in federal prison. Two others, Lake Orion resident Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta of Canton Township, were acquitted on kidnapping conspiracy charges.
The trials represented the largest domestic terrorism case in a generation that has shed light on political extremism in Michigan and beyond. Franks was convicted of being part of a broader group of people who were angered by pandemic restrictions and hoped to spark a second Civil War.
—The Detroit News
Journalist arrested as authorities in Iran crack down on protests
Iranian authorities have arrested another journalist for reporting on the protests after nearly two weeks of demonstrations triggered by the death of a woman in custody.
The pro-reform Hammihan newspaper reported Thursday on Telegram that Elahe Mohammadi had been summoned by the judicial authorities but was arrested on the way there.
The Iranian Journalists' Association has repeatedly called for the immediate release of all reporters who have been detained for covering the protests. No figures have been released, but dozens may have been arrested. Supporting the protests, or reporting on them, could incite further unrest and therefore can be seen as a crime, according to the Iranian judiciary.
The protests were triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who fell into a coma and died in hospital after she was arrested Sept. 13 for not covering herself according to Iran's strict Islamic dress code. It is unclear what caused her death.
—dpa
