Monday's news
That’s it for me tonight. Thank you for reading along. To recap, here’s some of what we covered this afternoon:
- White House press secretary Jen Psaki tried to address criticisms over the Biden Administration’s decision, for now, not to increase refugee caps above levels set by Trump.
- DC ’s chief medical examiner ruled that Officer Brian Sicknick — who was injured during the 6 January riot at the US Capitol — died of natural causes.
- Biden is preparing to address the nation as the jury begins deliberations in Derek Chauvin’s trial for the killing of George Floyd.
- A new poll shows that most New Yorkers disapprove of their scandal-ridden governor, Andrew Cuomo, but a narrow majority doesn’t think he should resign.
- Roughly 80% of countries are now on the State Department’s travel advisory list, as Covid cases continue to spike around the world.
- Contributions from a Pac started by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are being returned by moderate Democrats.
Have a good night!
Updated
Democrats return contributions from Ocasio-Cortez PAC
The Republican Party has successfully pressured moderate Democratic lawmakers to return funds raised by a political action committee former by US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Reuters reports.
As part of a congressional campaign, the GOP launched a website today highlighting how more than two dozen Democrats — some in conservative-leaning districts — accepted thousands of dollars in donations from fundraising efforts tied to Ocasio-Cortez, and called on them to give the money back.
Ocasio-Cortez has contributed to more than 30 candidates in key seats, according to a spokeswoman, hoping to help Democrats maintain their majority.
“The Congresswoman is proud to stand for guaranteed healthcare, housing, and education for all people in the United States and will continue to do so regardless of how hysterical it makes the members of the Republican Caucus,” the spokeswoman told Reuters.
Even before the website launched, 4 Democratic representatives had reportedly returned the funds, in an attempt to get distance from the liberal lawmaker.
From Reuters:
Ocasio-Cortez set up her PAC, called The Courage to Change, after refusing to pay dues to the House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
One of the lawmakers who gave back the PAC’s cash, Representative Elissa Slotkin, said in a campaign finance report it was ‘unsolicited’.
The report from another Democrat, Representative Ron Kind, showed $5,000 to The Courage to Change had been refunded on March 31. The campaign of freshman Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux also returned the money.
The “climate clock” — an anxiety-inducing countdown posted by climate activists in New York’s Union Square got an optimistic update today, with the new addition showing the world’s renewable energy usage, now at 12%.
“If we just have the deadline, that’s really focused on doomsday, and it can make people feel hopeless. People need to be reminded there’s so much they can do in terms of taking action,” Alexandria Villasenor, a leader in the youth climate movement told Reuters.
The clock, which began counting down last September, measures the time remaining to reduce emissions before climate change’s worst effects become permanent, according to creators.
The new addition was unveiled as part of week-long series of events organized to put pressure on President Biden and other world leaders, who will be meeting virtually for a climate summit at the end of the week.
From Reuters:
Masked and outdoors, speakers shared stories of how their own communities had been hurt by climate-induced disasters.
‘We’re saying, get fossil fuel money out of your meetings, out of your politics. We’re saying, keep fossil fuels in the ground,’ said Thanu Yakupitiyage of 350.org, one of the event organizers. ‘We’re saying, ‘listen to frontline communities and the communities hit worst by the climate crisis’.
Behind the podium, the deadline clock counted down with six years, 256 days remaining, then flashed a message: ‘We are in a climate emergency but we have a window of hope if we #ActInTime’.
The State Department will update its travel advisories, officials announced today, to discourage Americans from traveling to roughly 80% of countries around the world, CNN reports.
“This does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country, but rather reflects an adjustment in the State Department’s Travel Advisory system to rely more on CDC’s existing epidemiological assessments,” the department said in statement issued to the press.
The guidance, now more in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes as Covid cases around the world rise rapidly, largely driven by a surge in India and spikes in new variants of the virus:
As travelers face ongoing risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State will begin updating its Travel Advisories this week to better reflect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) science-based Travel Health Notices that outline current issues affecting travelers’ health,” the State Department said. “Our Advisories also take into account logistical factors, including in-country testing availability and current travel restrictions for U.S. citizens”.
Here’s more on Senator Joe Manchin’s support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), a sweeping labor reform bill that passed the House in March.
Manchin – who represents Republican stronghold West Virginia – is considered one of the most conservative Democrats in the senate. But, speaking at a virtual event at the National Press Club today, he announced that he’d sign on as co-sponsor for the bill.
“This legislation will level the playing field,” Manchin said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move this bill through a legislative process.”
Thank you to @Sen_JoeManchin for becoming a co-sponsor of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
— IUPAT | Pass the PRO Act! (@GoIUPAT) April 19, 2021
In West Virginia and all across this country, there's a growing movement to expand workers' rights for the first time in nearly a century.
Together, let's make it happen! pic.twitter.com/2NWC6h6XuN
The bill, which would provide protections for workers attempting to organize, and allow unions to collect dues from non-members, passed 225-206 last month, with 5 Republicans voting in favor. It’s considered the biggest legislative priority for the labor movement, and has support from the White House.
“Nearly 60 million Americans would join a union if they get a chance, but too many employers and states prevent them from doing so through anti-union attacks,” President Biden said in a statement after it passed last month. “They know that without unions, they can run the table on workers – union and non-union alike.”
Still, it’s a long shot. While Manchin’s move will bolster optimism for the bill, he didn’t share details on how he would convince his colleagues to join him in supporting the measure. The Senate, though narrowly under Democratic control is sharply divided and it’s unlikely to gain enough support to get past a GOP filibuster.
From Reuters:
Even with Manchin’s support the bill does not yet have all 50 Democrats in the 100-member Senate, the level at which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it would get a vote. Democratic Senators Mark Warner, Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly still have not supported the bill.
And a Senate rule that requires most legislation to win 60 votes for passage instead of only a simple majority, could stand in its way”.
Updated
A new poll out today shows that, while a narrow majority of New Yorkers view scandal-ridden governor Andrew Cuomo unfavorably, they don’t want him to resign.
Just over half of the 801 voters surveyed by Siena College Research Institute last week said he shouldn’t step down, even after dozens of officials serving at both the federal and state level have called for him to give up his seat.
Still, roughly 57% said they wouldn’t plan to vote for him if he runs again.
Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by 5 current and former aides, allegations he has vehemently denied. The NY governor is also being investigated by federal prosecutors for policies to protect nursing homes from lawsuits during the Covid crisis, and the New York State attorney general is examining how Cuomo used state resources on a book, for which he received a seven-figure advance. Cuomo and has come under additional criticism for allegedly giving his inner circle preferential treatment when Covid tests were scarce.
Updated
Cheif medical examiner: Officer Sicknick died of natural causes
Capital Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died in the hospital the day after defending the US Capitol from an attack by a pro-Trump mob, died of natural causes, the District’s chief medical examiner ruled today.
Officer Sicknick suffered injuries during the attempted insurrection, but died from a stroke. Medical examiner Francisco J. Diaz, in an interview with The Washington Post, said there was no evidence that his death was caused by injuries or an allergic reaction to chemical irritants, but noted that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”
Sicknick, who was 42, collapsed in his office after the riot and died the following day. Autopsies show he suffered two strokes at the base of his brain steam due to a blood clot.
From the Washington Post:
The ruling, released Monday, likely will make it difficult for prosecutors to pursue homicide charges in the officer’s death. Two men are accused of assaulting Sicknick by spraying a powerful chemical irritant at him during the siege”.
In response to the D.C. Medical Examiner's finding that Ofc. Sicknick died of natural causes following two strokes -- which occurred after he confronted rioters at the Capitol on 1/6 -- @CapitolPolice says "This does not change the fact Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty." pic.twitter.com/mCTtVC1IPu
— Rebecca Kaplan (@RebeccaRKaplan) April 19, 2021
The US Capitol Police Department has accepted the findings, but issued a statement Monday saying that Officer Sicknick still died in the line of duty.
“The Department continues to mourn the loss of our beloved colleague,” the USCP wrote in press release. “The attack on our officers, including Brian, was an attack on our democracy.”
Updated
Earlier today, White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed criticisms over the Biden Administration’s decision to uphold the level of refugees allowed into the US, set by Trump.
Completely and utterly unacceptable. Biden promised to welcome immigrants, and people voted for him based on that promise.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 16, 2021
Upholding the xenophobic and racist policies of the Trump admin, incl the historically low + plummeted refugee cap, is flat out wrong.
Keep your promise. https://t.co/A82xYf1XpR
“The challenge is not the cap,” Psaki told reporters on Monday, explaining that the Administration will make a new determination on the number, within the next month. “The challenge is the ability to process.”
The move marked a shift from Biden, who promised to raise the number by 110,000 for the 2022 fiscal year. Last week, in a surprising about-face, the White House instead left the cap at 15,000, the same number set by the previous Administration, which had lowered it from 85,000.
From the New York Times:
Still, the news drew immediate criticism and within hours, the White House promised to announce a final, increased number by May 15.
‘The admission of up to 15,000 refugees remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest,’ Mr. Biden wrote in an executive memorandum released Friday. Ms. Psaki said on Monday that the order also said that the cap could be increased in the future”.
Gabrielle Canon here, signing on from the west coast to take you through the rest of Monday afternoon’s news.
As the the jury begins deliberations in Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd, president Biden is privately planning how best to respond, the Associated Press reports.
The Administration is considering whether the new president should address to the nation and could possibly deploy specially trained community facilitators from the Justice Department.
“Our objective is to ensure there is space for peaceful protest,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday, explaining that there have been a range of preparations laid out for how the White House will respond. “Of course we’ll let the jury deliberate and we’ll wait for the verdict to come out before we say more about our engagements,” Psaki said.
Pres. Biden is expected to deliver a statement once the jury renders a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, per multiple officials.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) April 19, 2021
No matter the outcome, I'm told it will acknowledge the grief and outrage sparked by George Floyd’s killing and other unarmed Black men by police.
From AP:
The plans for possible presidential remarks are still fluid, with the timing, venue and nature of the remarks still being considered, in part depending on the timing of the verdict, according to two White House aides who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The White House has been warily watching the trial proceed in Minneapolis — and then another shooting of a Black man by a white police officer last week — and are preparing for the possibility of unrest if a guilty verdict is not reached in the trial. Biden may also speak after a guilty verdict, the White House aides said”.
For breaking news updates on the trial, you can follow along here:
Afternoon summary
That’s it for me. I’m passing the blog over to my colleagues on the West Coast. To review:
- Surrogates for Joe Biden are mounting a pro-vaccine push.
- Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio is not running for Senate or reelection, he announced today.
-
Kimberly Guilfoyle has joined former Missouri governor Eric Greitens’ Senate campaign as national campaign chairman.
- Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia signed on as a co-sponsor to the PRO Act, aimed at overhauling workers’ rights and empowering them in disputes, he announced today.
Updated
Apple Inc. is planning to reinstate Parler in its app store.
Here are a few key portions of the letter Apple sent to lawmakers today informing them of Parler’s reinstatement: pic.twitter.com/u2KGyNBqWY
— Brian Fung (@b_fung) April 19, 2021
The Wall Street Journal has more:
After the mob attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, Apple and other big tech companies moved quickly to sever ties with Parler, which had given some people involved in the attack a forum for discussing their plans. Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.81% suspended Parler from its web-hosting services. Alphabet Inc., GOOG 0.20% like Apple, also removed Parler from its app store.
In response to criticism that it served as a staging ground for the Capitol attack, Parler has said that it referred dozens of examples of violent content to the FBI in the weeks before the mob gathered in Washington.
Apple had previously denied an earlier attempt by Parler to seek reinstatement.
Evelyn Douek, a Harvard Law School lecturer who studies content moderation, said that tech platforms, including Apple, need to provide clearer guidelines as to what content is acceptable.
“If Apple wants to get into the game of playing gatekeeper on the basis of content, it should be a lot more transparent about its requirements,” Ms. Douek said.
Mike Lindell (a.k.a. the MyPillow guy) kicked his feud with Dominion Voting System Inc. up a notch on Monday, according to Bloomberg News:
MyPillow sued Monday in federal court in Minnesota, where the company is based, doubling down on Lindell’s discredited claims of fraud against Dominion, saying “the adverse impact of electronic voting systems on the 2020 election was significant.”
“Dominion’s purpose is to silence debate; to eliminate any challenge to the 2020 presidential election; and to cancel and destroy anyone who speaks out against Dominion’s work on behalf of the government in administering the election,” MyPillow said in its complaint.
Dominion sued Lindell and MyPillow in February in federal court in Washington, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. It claimed the pillow company boosted sales by as much as 40% by echoing former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was rigged against him.
“This is a meritless retaliatory lawsuit, filed by MyPillow to try to distract from the harm it caused to Dominion,” Dominion lawyer Stephen Shackelford said in a statement.
Lindell is one of the closest allies to former president Donald Trump who has continued to loudly trumpet the debunked conspiracy theory that Dominion’s voting machines were used to secretly switch votes from Trump to Joe Biden.
Dominion has already sued Lindell over his claims:
Dominion sued Lindell and MyPillow in February in federal court in Washington, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. It claimed the pillow company boosted sales by as much as 40% by echoing former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was rigged against him.
CNN has an extensive deep dive into the acrimonious breakup between the business community and the Republican Party. Even before the 6 January Capitol riots, which provoked a batch of major U.S. companies to either withhold donations to all federal lawmakers or ones who fought certifying the election results, there was a fraying between the longtime Republican-business community alliance.
There’s no better example than the disunion between the GOP and the Chamber of Commerce. Per CNN:
For the Chamber, the dustup was another sobering reminder that their longtime ally, the Republican Party, is growing more populist by the year -- and many of its members now view the business groups with suspicion. For years there was cooperation between the party and the Chamber, blocking the Democratic policy agenda and electing Republicans during the Obama years. (The US Chamber is a lobbying organization funded by its members, from large corporations like 3M and Microsoft to small businesses. It is distinct from state and local chambers, some of which are members of the national Chamber).
But the fruitful partnership has been upended by shifts in both the political platform of the GOP and the more progressive social priorities for corporate America. As some Republicans embrace populism and economic paternalism typified by former President Donald Trump, groups like the Chamber are finding their member companies are less eager to follow the GOP’s trajectory.
For that, many Republicans privately argue that the one-time powerful lobby has lost its focus and can no longer be trusted as a pillar of the GOP coalition. The Chamber, meanwhile, insists its purpose -- advocacy for its members and for free enterprise -- hasn’t changed, even if the Republican Party has.
There’s more:
The flashpoint between the Republican Party and the business community over voting rights is only the latest example of a growing rift since the heyday of the Barack Obama era, when the US Chamber helped sink progressive legislation to boost unions and tackle climate change, pushed back against the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and aided the party’s takeover of the Senate in 2014.The Chamber has seen its clout on Capitol Hill tested even under Republican administrations, including in the second term of George W. Bush, when the President failed to quell his rightward flank in failing to pass a major bill granting legal status and a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants. But the election of Trump shook the symbiotic relationship. While the Chamber vigorously supported the Republicans’ top legislative priority -- the 2017 tax overhaul bill that lowered the corporate tax rate -- the lobby group saw its influence wane and ultimately decided to reach back out to Democrats.
Pressure among the left for Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer to retire is growing.
Another progressive group, Women's March, is calling on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire so Biden can replace him.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 19, 2021
"The longer Breyer stays on the Court, the more he risks leaving everything we care about in the hands of Mitch McConnell.” pic.twitter.com/iZvaShtgYm
The Women’s March’s call is just the latest in a series of lawmakers and activists expressing support for Breyer, 82, to retire. Last week Congressman Mondaire Jones of New York, Democrat, said “there’s no question that Justice Breyer, for whom I have great respect, should retire at the end of this term.”
Pressuring the justice to retire is not a consensus opinion within the Democratic Party, as Politico reported recently.
But even as some liberal groups boot up a “Breyer Retire” campaign, the Democratic Party is sensitive to the justice’s predicament. That’s why neither Democratic lawmakers nor President Joe Biden are putting overt retirement pressure on the Bill Clinton appointee while their party still holds the Senate. But Breyer’s future is on everyone’s minds, maybe even the justice’s own.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he would “never presume to tell a Supreme Court justice to retire,” but that Breyer himself “is very familiar with the potential risks of a Republican president appointing his successor.”
“He is well familiar with the way judicial appointments work, and I believe strongly he has in mind the best interests of the country and will make the right decision,” said Blumenthal, a member of the Judiciary Committee. “There are political realities that I hope judges will perceive.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this month that Joe Biden would not pressure Breyer to retire.
Biden willing ‘to compromise' on infrastructure bill
Top Republicans are saying they are open to some kind of bipartisan infrastructure bill and Joe Biden himself says he is too.
During his meeting with a bipartisan group with lawmakers today the president said: “I am prepared to compromise... It’s a big package but there are a lot of needs,” according to a White House pool report.
Today, the president added, the group would discuss how the infrastructure plan would be paid for.
“That’s what we’re going to try to figure out today...” Biden said.
This is yet another sign that negotiating signs are still open.
Updated
Barrett 'gets $2m book deal' to write about how judges should be impartial – report
The former attorney general William Barr and supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett have reportedly signed book deals – with Barrett paid a reported $2m for a volume on how judges should not bring their personal feelings into the way they rule.
Amy Coney Barrett has sold a book for an "'eye-raising amount' for a Supreme Court justice"--$2 million advance. My eyes are raised more about its subject: how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule https://t.co/TnqDQph4Pr h/t @MaazaMengiste
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) April 19, 2021
Barrett was appointed to the court in a hurried, politicized and bitter process last year, after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of progressive values.
The new justice is a strict Catholic and her presence on the 6-3 conservative court has given rightwing campaigners hope it will soon strike down Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling which established the right to abortion.
An unnamed source who spoke to Politico said Barrett’s advance was “eye-raising”. A spokesperson for the court did not comment.
Critic: Florida anti-riot law 'racist at its core'
An “anti-riot bill” signed today by Florida governor Ron DeSantis is “racist at its core”, one opponent of the Republican said.
DeSantis is prominently placed in polls regarding the next Republican presidential nomination if Donald Trump doesn’t run again. As the Associated Press reported on Monday, he “cited events around the US but not the 6 January riot in Washington as he signed a bill to create tougher penalties for people who participate in violent protests.
“The so-called anti-riot bill was a response to protests around the country because of police violence against African Americans. After the Capitol attack, Republicans pushing the legislation used it as an example to support the effort.”
Five people died and more than 400 were charged as a result of the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters told to “fight like hell” in Trump’s attempt to overturn his election defeat, based on the lie that Joe Biden’s victory was the product of electoral fraud.
But the Capitol riots weren’t mentioned as the Florida bill was signed by DeSantis, who criticised the Minnesota attorney general at the same time closing arguments were taking place in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, the Black man who died after Chauvin put a knee on his neck for almost 10 minutes.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I can tell you that case was bungled by the attorney general there in Minnesota. They didn’t handle it properly, so there may be some people disappointed,” DeSantis said.
Opponents of the bill said it was a racist reaction to a problem that hasn’t occurred in Florida. They saw it as an attempt to squash the voices of groups like Black Lives Matter.
“Not only is this racist at its core but it’s also a reaction to what occurred over the summer after the death of George Floyd,” said Democratic state senator Shevrin Jones. “The governor made no mention of the 6 January insurrection.”
He also noted that the governor made mention of the Chauvin trial with the expectation that there could be protests if Chauvin is acquitted.
“So he alluded to the verdict being not in the favor of justice, and so he says ‘We want to be prepared,”’ Jones said. “Be prepared for what? Not prepared for the white supremacists who stormed the Capitol, but he wants to be prepared for the demonstrations that will take place around this country if Derrick Chauvin is acquitted.”
The new law will enhance penalties for crimes committed during a riot or violent protest. It will allow authorities to hold arrested protesters until a first court appearance and will establish new felonies for organizing or participating in a violent demonstration.
It also strips local governments of civil liability protections if they interfere with law enforcement’s efforts to respond to a violent protest and adds language to state law that could force local governments to justify a reduction in law enforcement budgets.
It will make it a second-degree felony to destroy or demolish a memorial, plaque, flag, painting, structure or other object that commemorates historical people or events. That would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.”
Updated
Senator John Thune of South Dakota penned an op-ed published in USA Today saying a bipartisan infrastructure is possible if Democrats work with Republicans:
So let me be clear: A bipartisan infrastructure bill is possible if Democrats are interested in working with Republicans on traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and even modern infrastructure like broadband, if done correctly.
The proposal from the White House, however, misses the mark on our nation’s infrastructure needs and undermines the opportunity for bipartisan cooperation.
Their proposal would spend more taxpayer dollars subsidizing and promoting electric vehicles than on investments in roads, bridges, ports and waterways combined. Less than 6% of the $2.2 trillion plan would invest in roads and bridges, and the most expensive pieces of the proposal stretch the meaning of infrastructure far beyond how everyday Americans would ever define it.
Some items are worthy of bipartisan discussions. But it’s an abuse of the term and, frankly, insulting to the American people’s intelligence to describe billions of dollars for a “Civilian Climate Corps” and for schools to eliminate paper plates as “infrastructure.”
Critics argue that Republicans are nitpicking the meaning of infrastructure. Count me as someone who believes you should be straight with the American people if you’re asking for one of the largest tax hikes in generations to pay for one of the most expensive proposals in American history.
On the one hand, the fact that Thune, the second highest ranking Republican says a deal is a sure sign Republicans are open for discussion. At the same time though this is the latest example of the rhetorical stalemate between Democrats and Republicans on most policy initiatives the Biden administration has prioritized -Democrats say they want a bipartisan deal, Republicans say the same but say Democrats are offering too many nonstarters.
As I mentioned earlier in the day, for many Republican candidates running for office means also making a pilgrimage to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago (or both). That’s exactly what’s happening for multiple statewide candidates around the country.
For Missouri Senate watchers — @auctnr1 to Trumpland > pic.twitter.com/ITnbsthUGI
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) April 19, 2021
Josh Mandel, OHSEN candidate, is holding a fundraising lunch at Mar-a-Lago on April 26, with Trump's ambassador to Israel, as the "special guest" and megadonor Bernie Marcus, the only one who really stayed with Trump in 2020, listed on the invite.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 19, 2021
The Long and Mandel fundraisers underscore the influence Trump still has within the party even after presiding over Republicans losing control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Breaking news on the prosecution front of the 6 January Capitol riot:
NOW U.S. judge orders Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean and Joe Biggs jailed pending trial in Jan. 6 Capitol riot, handing victory to prosecutors in closely watched conspiracy case. Ruling being read now. Background here: https://t.co/NrzChYrJqN
— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) April 19, 2021
Background on the arrests and alleged involvement of Ethan Nordean and Joe Biggs here:
Joseph Biggs, one of four Proud Boys organizers charged in one of the Justice Department’s biggest cases stemming from the Capitol siege, said the bureau regularly turned to him for advice on antifa — a loosely affiliated collection of violent leftists that the bureau has described as adherents to an ideology rather than part of an organized group.
“In late July 2020, an FBI Special Agent out of the Daytona Beach area telephoned Biggs and asked Biggs to meet with him and another FBI agent at a local restaurant. Biggs agreed,” according to a late Monday court filing issued by Biggs’ attorney in an effort to keep Biggs out of pretrial detention. “Biggs learned after he traveled to the restaurant that the purpose of the meeting was to determine if Biggs could share information about Antifa networks operating in Florida and elsewhere. They wanted to know what Biggs was ‘seeing on the ground.’”
Biggs’ claims, not immediately corroborated by the FBI, nevertheless are likely to sharpen concerns that law enforcement has tolerated violence by the Proud Boys, who have long styled themselves as allies of the police in a fight against leftists. Like Biggs, Proud Boys national chair Enrique Tarrio has said in media interviews that he had long proactively communicated with law enforcement about Proud Boys’ plans in various cities — plans that routinely led to violent confrontations with leftist protesters.
Bracing for verdict in Chauvin trial over killing of George Floyd
White House press secretary Jen Psaki is holding a media briefing. As closing arguments continue in the trial of Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Psaki said it was important that people were able to protest peacefully.
“We’re not going to get ahead of the verdict,” Psaki said. The jury will be sequestered as it considers its verdict, a process that is expected to begin at the end of closing arguments, later today.
The jury was told to bring a packed bag with them today, ready to be sequestered.
Psaki said the White House wanted to make sure that “there is space for peaceful protest, but we will allow the jury to deliberate”.
Guardian US has a separate live blog dedicated to covering the Chauvin trial and related topics. There’s a livestream from court. You can read that here.
The Republican leader in the House and an extremist congresswoman who champions “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” have demanded action against the Democrat Maxine Waters, after she expressed support for protesters against police brutality.
On Saturday, Waters spoke in Brooklyn Center, the Minneapolis suburb where Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police last week.
The California congresswoman spoke before final arguments on Monday in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer who knelt on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes last May, resulting in the Black man’s death and global protests.
“I’m going to fight with all of the people who stand for justice,” said Waters, who is Black. “We’ve got to get justice in this country and we cannot allow these killings to continue.”
Tensions are high in Minneapolis.
Waters said: “We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”
Reuters reports from this morning’s Covid briefing by the White House, in which it has been announced that the US “is reviewing reports of potential additional cases of severe side effects among people who received Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 shot, beyond the half-dozen cases of serious blood clots that caused it to pause administration of the vaccine earlier this month”.
We are encouraged that it hasn’t been an overwhelming number of cases but we’re looking and seeing what’s come in,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said.
She added that the agency and the Food and Drug Administration were monitoring the US government database for additional reports of side effects.
Federal health agencies last week recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine for at least a few days after six women under 50 given the shot developed rare blood clots.
Here’s more on the subject from our health reporter, Jessica Glenza:
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has signed on as a co-sponsor of the PRO Act, legislation aimed at overhauling workers’ rights and empower them in disputes.
News: Manchin says at event with the National Press Club he is co-sponsoring PRO Act, saying it will "level the playing field" for union workers, adding he wants to work with both parties to move it through the "legislative process."
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) April 19, 2021
The support of Manchin is important. He’s one of the most conservative senators in the Democratic caucus and has made headlines lately for bucking his party at moments. His support for the bill will give other lawmakers cover to support it.
Here’s the Bloomberg News’s description of the proposal, which has already passed through the House of Representatives:
Labor unions’ strength was on display this week after the House passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (H.R. 842), the top priority for organized labor, for the second time, with more Democrats voting in favor compared to last year’s passage.
But progressives fear the caucus unity could be for naught without changes to the filibuster, a procedural rule that requires 60 votes to bring a bill to the floor in the Senate—which the bill is unlikely to garner.
Failures to pass progressive priorities like the PRO Act, gun control, or a hike in the minimum wage could imperil the party’s House majority in 2022, Democrats on the left say. At the same time, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce alerted lawmakers that voting in favor of the PRO Act would factor into future endorsements from the influential business group.
“This is not one of the more bipartisan plays,” Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) said about the PRO Act. “It’s hard to see us passing something in the Senate without dealing with the filibuster in one way or another.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, promised she would work to advance the bill. However a Democratic aide said Democrats don’t see a path to getting 10 GOP votes needed to break a filibuster in the 50-50 chamber.
Senate Democrats—particularly Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), who have opposed changing the filibuster—are facing renewed heat from organized labor leaders who said they’ll do whatever is necessary to pass the biggest expansion of union rights in nearly a century.
Updated
The White House released a 19-second video where Joe Biden says as of today everyone is eligible to receive a vaccine and the stockpile is large enough to facilitate that. Watch below:
As of today, every American is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For yourself, your neighbors, and your family — please, get your vaccine. pic.twitter.com/o75JYpGe6r
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 19, 2021
Biden surrogates mount pro-vaccine push
On the target date for nationwide availability of Covid-19 vaccines, the White House has started a campaign aimed at Americans still hesitant to sign up for a life-saving jab.
About a quarter of the US population is fully vaccinated, a landmark achievement almost unimaginable this time last year. But even though more than 567,000 have died in the US, vaccine hesitancy or politically inspired opposition are dogging attempts to end the pandemic.
Chief White House medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci is among officials reaching out to communities skeptical of the vaccines.
Black and Latino communities have received the vaccine at lower rates, though whether that is because of hesitancy or lack of access remains unclear. Although a legacy of experimentation and racism haunts US healthcare in general, polling suggests Black Americans are as eager to be inoculated as white.
Many conservatives openly decry Covid-19 regulations. Among 28% of white evangelical Christians, vaccines are seen as a non-starter.
“I’ll just tell you today, if being anti-mask and anti-vaccine is anti-government, then I’m proud to be anti-government,” Pastor Tony Spell recently told congregants at Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana.
“If you have a 99.6% survival rate, why do you want somebody to contaminate your bloodstream with something that may or may not hurt you?”
To combat such views, surrogates for Joe Biden will appear on TV and radio programs popular among Black Americans, Latinos and conservatives, Axios first reported. The administration is also partnering with social media companies and community partners. Fauci, 80, is even taking to Snapchat.
The targeted messaging also comes after officials temporarily benched the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine amid rare reports of blood clots, an announcement that further stoked anxieties. Jeffrey Zients, the White House Covid-19 coordinator, said last week the pause should “give the American people confidence” rather than concern.
“We believe that by empowering Americans with data and facts we will strengthen the public’s trust in government and increase their confidence in the vaccines,” Zients said.
Politico reports that Biden officials are frustrated with the slow movement health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra’s team have had on housing unaccompanied minors who came through the southern border:
The dissatisfaction with Becerra centers on complaints he’s been slow to take charge of the response since his confirmation on March 18, according to eight current and former government officials and others familiar with the situation. The administration has scrambled to find new shelters and speed the vetting of adults to care for the children as thousands remain in packed detention facilities along the border.
Biden aides led by Domestic Policy chief Susan Rice and Amy Pope, a senior adviser on migration hired to help direct the administration’s border response, have pressed the health department in meetings over the past several weeks to pick up the pace, warning that the influx of unaccompanied children is only likely to accelerate into the spring and early summer.
But a month into Becerra’s tenure, officials working on the issue have privately questioned his preparedness for managing such a sprawling emergency — and his willingness to take ownership of a historically intractable and politically divisive problem.
“He did not fully appreciate the issue when he first came in,” said one senior administration official. “It’s been a steep learning curve for him.”
Dismayed by the slow progress, the White House has concluded that Becerra’s team needs help organizing care for the rising number of migrant children spread throughout shelters administered by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement — a population that’s fast approaching 20,000.
This Politico report illustrates the struggle the Biden administration has experienced on dealing with immigration through the southern border. Last week, the Biden administration backtracked after initially saying it wouldn’t follow through on a pledge to let tens of thousands of refugees fleeing danger to come into the united States.
Plenty of attention is given to which potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate has visited with former president Donald Trump or traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a fundraiser. But less attention has gone to where else these likely contenders are going. The Hill’s Scott Wong reports that one place is the Republican Study Committee, a congressional group made up of conservative lawmakers:
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has addressed the Republican Study Committee (RSC) about the surge of migrants at the border. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told the conservative group last week they need to get tougher on President Biden and that former President Trump was to blame for losing the White House and Senate.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join the RSC this week at a news conference on Iran. And Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio are expected to meet with the group in the coming weeks and months.
Notably, there’s this nugget:
Meanwhile, during a packed RSC lunch at the Capitol Hill Club, Christie suggested it was time for the party to put Trump in the rearview mirror. The former governor previously had said Trump’s actions led to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, characterizing them as an “impeachable offense.” Last week, Christie said Trump had cost Republicans the White House and Senate.
“We didn’t lose the White House because the American people disagree with our ideas and support what [Democrats] are trying to do right now. We know why we lost. We know why we lost, and so does President Trump,” Christie told RSC members, according to RealClearPolitics.
Once upon a time the RSC was the conservative group to woo. Since then more aggressive outside groups and caucuses have formed. The attention they’re getting from expected 2024 hopefuls shows the RSC still has some sway.
Big news on the American campaign front. Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate and is planning to leave Congress.
This is a significant development in the #OHSen picture. Stivers has been linked to this job for a while in Ohio, and this would seem to take him out of the running. https://t.co/iZttIQsVuO
— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) April 19, 2021
Stivers, it’s important to note, is a former chairman of congressional Republicans’ campaign arm. He had also amassed a not insignificant warchest.
NEWS ... Rep. Steve Stivers, an Ohio Republican who chaired the NRCC, is retiring from Congress May 16 to become president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber. Stivers considered a Senate bid -- and raised $1.3m last quarter. But is not running
— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) April 19, 2021
Stivers’ district has trended Republican in the last few cycles but Democrats have won it at times. That’s an important point to keep in mind in a Congress where Democrats control the House of Representatives by only six seats with five vacant.
The Biden administration has directed agencies to stop using the phrases like “illegal alien” or “assimilation” in reference to immigrants. The Washington Post’s Maria Sacchetti has more:
The Biden administration has ordered U.S. immigration enforcement agencies to stop using terms such as “alien,” “illegal alien” and “assimilation” when referring to immigrants in the United States, a rebuke of terms widely used under the Trump administration.
The change is detailed in memos sent Monday to department heads at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the nation’s chief enforcers of federal immigration laws, according to copies obtained by The Washington Post. It is part of an ongoing effort to reverse President Donald Trump’s hard-line policies and advance Biden’s efforts to build a more “humane” immigration system.
Among the changes: “Alien” will become “noncitizen or migrant,” “illegal” will become “undocumented,” and “assimilation” will change to “integration.”
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News television personality-turned-Donald-Trump-adviser-and-surrogate, is chairing former Governor Eric Greitens’ of Missouri’s Senate campaign.
Kim Guilfoyle is chairing ERIC GREITENS' Senate campaign pic.twitter.com/aLTY8YCO72
— Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss4) April 19, 2021
There’s a lot to unpack here. Guilfoyle is not the first former Trump adviser to sign on to a Republican Senate campaign. Kellyanne Conway, a former senior counselor to the president during the Trump administration, is advising Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno of Ohio.
Greitens, political junkies will recall, is the former Missouri governor who resigned from office over allegations of blackmail and having an affair. He admitted to the affair but denied the allegations of blackmail.
Greiteins tenure as governor was, as St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum put it, “rocky”:
But his governorship was decidedly rocky, as he fought with Republicans who controlled the GOP-controlled legislature over a host of issues. And it came apart after it was revealed he had an extramarital affair before he was governor, which opened a Pandora’s box of personal and campaign finance-related issues over a roughly five-month period. He resigned while facing possible impeachment.
In February 2018, Greitens was charged with felony invasion of privacy after he was accused of taking a semi-nude photo of the woman he was having an affair with without her consent. That case fell apart after an investigator St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner hired allegedly made false statements during a deposition. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who then took over the case as a special prosecutor, declined to charge Greitens.
But even after the invasion of privacy case was dropped, Greitens still faced likely impeachment by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. He had made a myriad of enemies in the Missouri Republican Party, including then-Attorney General Josh Hawley — who turned over evidence to Gardner that resulted in Greitens being charged with felony computer data tampering related to use of a charity he helped found for political fundraising.
A group of high profile progressive lawmakers plan to roll out legislation aimed at moving the country more toward using renewable energy and modernizing public housing, according to The New York Times’ Emily Cochrane:
The introduction of the legislation, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, is the first of multiple proposals from progressive lawmakers as they seek to influence a $2.3 trillion infrastructure overhaul to address climate change and economic inequities.
Their proposal comes as Mr. Biden and his allies are navigating congressional crosscurrents that include the larger policy demands of a Democratic caucus that has little room for disagreement and Republicans who say they want to compromise, but have largely panned a plan paid for by tax increases. While the president has outlined the broad contours of his proposal, it is up to lawmakers to reach agreement on the final provisions and details of the legislation.
Some lawmakers are floating the prospect of downsizing Mr. Biden’s legislative plan to win the 10 Republican votes needed to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate, amid a flurry of lobbying from rank-and-file members. Progressive Democrats like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Sanders are instead doubling down on their call for a larger package than the president proposed and pushing to shape what could be one of the largest investments of federal dollars in a generation.
The progressives’ legislation, billed as the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, is a prong of the broader climate platform that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and others have long championed to help the United States wean itself from fossil fuels. It would repeal limitations on the construction of public housing and create grant programs to ensure improvements that not only address unsafe and aging housing, but reduce carbon emissions.
The legislation is unlikely to rally a lot of Republican support. Congressional Republicans have used the initial Green New Deal proposal to bash Democrats.
Goodmorning, Daniel Strauss here. I’ll be your initial blogger today. Let’s get started.
Joe Biden is slated to meet with a group of members of Congress to discuss his American Jobs Plan. The meeting will be in the Oval Office, according to the White House.
“These former state and local elected officials understand firsthand the impact of a federal investment in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure on their communities.”
The lawmakers are: Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, Senator Angus King of Maine, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Congressman Charlie Crist of Florida, Carlos Giménez of Florida, Kay Granger of Texas, and Norma Torres of California.
The meeting is the latest example of White House officials or the president himself meeting with members of Congress as they try and move Biden’s agenda. It’s one of a number of meetings happening this week. Gina Raimondo, the treasury secretary, and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, will meet with the Senate Democratic Steering Committee on Wednesday. On Thursday, Brian Deese, the director of Biden’s national economic council, and Anita Dunn, another close Biden adviser, will meet with the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.
For Democrats, the bipartisan meetings offer a bit of cover against Republican complaints that they were not involved in the legislation Biden is hoping to pass and therefore the president isn’t following through on a key premise of his presidential candidacy -uniting the country. These meetings allow Democrats to argue he is following through.
