Closing summary
North Carolina’s supreme court handed down a ruling that paves the way for partisan gerrymandering in the state, which its GOP-controlled legislature is expected to use to oust four Democratic House lawmakers. Meanwhile, special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Donald Trump continues, with former vice-president Mike Pence appearing before his grand jury yesterday.
Here’s what else happened today:
Samuel Alito, author of the supreme court opinion overturning Roe v Wade, said a leak of the decision’s draft put conservative justices in danger.
Ron DeSantis is facing a reckoning over his actions while deployed at the Guantánamo prison camp, but does not like being asked about it.
An investigation into allegations of misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh prior to his supreme court confirmation contained omissions, a Guardian investigation has found.
Republican lawmakers nationwide are accusing their opponents of inciting “insurrections”, even when their actions don’t fit the definition of the word.
The White House was not pleased with Axios, after a report from the outlet detailing concerns about Biden’s age.
South Carolina’s abortion ban was defeated in part due to a revolt by female Republican senators, who joined with Democrats to vote down the proposal.
One of those lawmakers, Sandy Senn, spoke to MSNBC about what motivated her stand:
"I'm not going to vote in a way that's going to oppress women simply because the party might want me to pander to them."
— The Recount (@therecount) April 28, 2023
— South Carolina State Rep. Sandy Senn (R) defends joining Democrats to vote down a near-total abortion ban Thursday in the legislature pic.twitter.com/5igAVMyrCz
Democrats have a tough order next year. They will need to defend their control of the White House and majority in the Senate, and try to retake the House. The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly has more details on how Joe Biden plans to deploy vice-president Kamala Harris to to win a second term:
As Joe Biden seeks to conquer public concern he is too old to run for and complete a second term in office, the White House is reportedly planning to boost support for Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris, in the face of increasing Republican attacks.
An unnamed source “familiar with conversations inside the White House” told NBC News: “They need her to be strong. They know she is a target, and the attacks have always been intense, and the ante is going to be upped. So they want to make sure she is on the best possible footing.”
An unnamed Democratic strategist, meanwhile, pointed to Biden’s eight years as vice-president to Barack Obama.
Roe v Wade was overturned after Donald Trump appointed three conservative justices to the supreme court, which he was able to do because Republicans controlled the Senate. And Republicans gained control of the Senate by spending the 2010s ousting Democrats from their seats, as states once friendly to the party turned against them.
One of the last Democratic senators hanging on in a red state is West Virgnia’s Joe Manchin. He is up for re-election next year in a contest that could decide Senate control, and while he hasn’t said if he will seek a third full term, he gained a new challenger this week.
The Republican governor Jim Justice announced his candidacy alongside his pet, Babydog. The English Bulldog was right next to him in a public event to kick off his campaign, and in a Fox News interview:
Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV), with Babydog seated next to him, reacts to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) saying “I will win any race I enter” after Justice announced a run for his seat:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 28, 2023
“I welcome Joe Manchin to come into the race … But, at the end of the day, I think we’ll be OK.” pic.twitter.com/00htCIAp0h
Updated
By overturning Roe v Wade, Samuel Alito and other conservative supreme court justices allowed states to ban the procedure, and some Republican-led governments already have. But the Associated Press reports that such efforts have faced surprising headwinds in some Republican jurisdictions:
Abortion rights campaigners won notable victories in Nebraska and South Carolina on Thursday, blocking a six-week ban in the first state and a near-total ban in the second.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, a vote to end debate so the bill could advance failed by one vote. Cheers erupted as opponents of the bill waved signs and chanted: “Whose house? Our house!”
Jo Giles, executive director of the Women’s Fund of Omaha, was brought to tears.
“Wow!” she said. “This was unexpected, but we’re so glad to have this win. We have fought so hard. This bill is not what the majority of women in this state wanted.”
Abortion opinion leak made conservative justices 'targets of assassination': Alito
Samuel Alito, the author of last year’s supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade and allowing states to ban abortion, said the leak of a draft ruling put conservative justices in peril.
“Those of us who were thought to be in the majority, thought to have approved my draft opinion, were really targets of assassination,” Alito said in an interview published by the Wall Street Journal. “It was rational for people to believe that they might be able to stop the decision in Dobbs by killing one of us.”
The leak of the court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization marked a rare moment in which the public learned of the court’s decision before its official announcement. Supreme court chief justice John Roberts ordered an investigation into the leak, and this past January, the court’s marshal said she couldn’t say who was the culprit.
“I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody,” Alito said. “It was a part of an effort to prevent the Dobbs draft . . . from becoming the decision of the court. And that’s how it was used for those six weeks by people on the outside—as part of the campaign to try to intimidate the court.”
Supreme court justices rarely grant interviews, but Alito, who was appointed by Republican George W Bush, spoke to an an editor on the Journal’s editorial board, which is reliably conservative. The other interviewer was David B Rivkin Jr, a former attorney in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.
A woman who was jailed for her participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection embraced Donald Trump at a campaign event and called for the execution of Mike Pence.
At a Thursday campaign event in New Hampshire, QAnon supporter Micki Larson-Olson was pointed out to Trump as someone who participated in Jan 6. Trump then found Larson-Olsen, gave her a hug, and called her “terrific”, reported the Hill. Trump also told Larson-Olsen to “hang in there”.
During an NBC interview the following day, the woman called Trump the “real president”, adding that she “would like a front seat of Mike Pence being executed.”
Larson-Olsen was previously sentenced to six months in prison for her participation in Jan. 6 riots.
Updated
White House hits back over Biden 'age' article
The White House has responded to claims made by the political website Axios that White House staffers face challenges with Joe Biden because of his age.
In an article published Friday, Axios said voters were concerned about Biden’s age amid recent announcements that he plans to run for a second term.
The article also White House officials were “amazed at Biden’s stamina – often adding the caveat ‘for his age’” and had difficulty scheduling meetings with Biden outside of 10am to 4pm on weekdays.
In response to the article, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates criticized the outlet on Twitter, writing that Axios previously claimed White House advisers as sources on a story claiming Biden would not announce a reelection campaign. He posted:
Funnily, half our on record response was omitted. For transparency: “Are these the same ‘advisers and close allies’ who you wrote on April 3 ‘don't expect him to announce a run for re-election any time soon?’"
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) April 28, 2023
Age well, kids: "Biden holds back '24 launch" https://t.co/PuGtQKzfk1 https://t.co/yfBCDTSp9M
Updated
Our columnist Moira Donegan considers the current impasse between the Democratic-controlled Senate judiciary committee and the conservative US supreme court chief justice, John Roberts, over ethics rules and the justices, in light of reporting about Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch…
It was a short letter. John Roberts, chief justice of the US supreme court, was brief in his missive to Democratic senator Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate judiciary committee.
Citing “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence”, Roberts declined to appear before the committee to discuss disturbing recent revelations of ethics violations at the court.
Congress is meant to exert checks on judicial power – to investigate or even impeach judges who abuse their office or interpret the law in ways that violate its spirit, and to affirm that the elected branches will hold more sway over policy than the appointed one. But the chief justice’s show of indifference to congressional oversight authority reflects a new reality: that there are now effectively no checks on the power of the court – at least none that Democrats have the political will to use – and that the justices can be assured that they will face no repercussions even if they act in flagrant violation of ethical standards. It seems that they intend to.
Read on…
Here’s some lunchtime reading from Jason Stanley, Jacob Urowsky professor of philosophy at Yale University, and the author of How Fascism Works…
Fox News has finally broken ties with its most popular star, Tucker Carlson. His ousting has been bemoaned by some commentators, who have taken Carlson to be a rebellious anti-war populist, evading easy political characterization. But is it really so complicated to classify Carlson’s political ideology?
In late February 2022, Carlson, in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, began a pro-Russia monologue urging his audience to ask themselves the question: “Why do I hate Putin so much?”
The gist of Carlson’s comments about Russia’s leader is that Putin should not be regarded as an enemy. Instead, the real enemies of America are those who call white Americans racist, those who teach so-called critical race theory in schools, business elites who ship jobs abroad, and those who imposed Covid lockdowns on the United States.
Read on…
More shots have been fired in the brewing Republican brouhaha over Ron DeSantis’s fight with Disney, if from an unexpected artillery piece: that fielded by Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the US House.
“I’d give him the same advice I gave President Biden,” McCarthy told CNBC, while basking in having managed to pass a budget proposal amid a standoff with the White House over the increasingly pressing need to raise the debt ceiling.
“Why wouldn’t you sit down and negotiate and talk? If there’s differences, you can always find ways that you can solve this problem.”
DeSantis and Disney are at odds over the Florida governor’s so-called “don’t say gay” law about teaching gender and LGBTQ+ issues in schools, and DeSantis’s power grab at self-governing powers long enjoyed by the entertainment giant around its Disney World theme park near Orlando.
This week, Disney sued the governor and the governor, while on an international tour, snapped back.
McCarthy said: “This is a big employer inside Florida. I think the governor should sit down with them. I don’t think the idea of building a prison next to a place that you bring your family” – a threat made by DeSantis, possibly in jest – “is the best idea. I think it’d be much better if you sat down and solved the problems.”
DeSantis’s standing in the Republican presidential primary has slipped, as concerns about issues including his attempt to bend Disney to his will are expressed within the party.
McCarthy added: “If you’re going to be a large employer inside this state, you should also abide by the rules and run your business and don’t think you should get into politics. You can take whatever position you want, but remember, if you’re elected to run a business, that’s what your shareholders want you to do.”
Here, as previously trailed today, is some further reading about DeSantis’s military service:
The day so far
North Carolina’s supreme court has handed down a ruling that paves the way for partisan gerrymandering in the state, which its GOP-controlled legislature is expected to use to oust four Democratic House lawmakers. Meanwhile, special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Donald Trump continues, with former vice-president Mike Pence appearing before his grand jury yesterday.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Ron DeSantis is facing a reckoning over his actions while deployed at the Guantánamo prison camp, but does not like being asked about it.
An investigation into allegations of misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh prior to his supreme court confirmation contained omissions, a Guardian investigation has found.
Republican lawmakers nationwide are accusing their opponents of inciting “insurrections”, even when their actions don’t fit the definition of the word.
The verdict on the North Carolina supreme court’s decision from elections doyen Dave Wasserman is that Democrats are poised to lose four seats in the state:
NEW: as expected, new GOP majority on NC Supreme Court reverses previous court's ruling that partisan gerrymandering is illegal. This could wipe out four Dem seats, nearly doubling the GOP's cushion in the House. Full backstory at @CookPolitical: https://t.co/HkgUv9uCuJ
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) April 28, 2023
The big winner here could be House speaker Kevin McCarthy, who’s had a tough time running the chamber with the GOP’s mere four-vote majority. Another four Republican seats would certainly make his job easier.
North Carolina supreme court OKs partisan gerrymandering
The newly Republican-dominated North Carolina supreme court has handed down a decision that reverses a previous ruling declaring partisan gerrymandering illegal, setting the stage for the GOP to redraw the state’s congressional map to their favor, Politico reports.
The decision was not unexpected, and sets the stage for Democrats to lose House seats representing the states. Here’s coverage of the case from the Guardian’s Sam Levine last month, after oral arguments:
The North Carolina supreme court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a major gerrymandering case that could have significant implications for US voting rights.
In a highly unusual move, the North Carolina court appears poised to overrule itself and get rid of congressional and state legislative districts it approved last year. The GOP-drawn map that was struck down could have produced a 11-3 advantage for Republicans in the congressional delegation. The one that replaced it was far less advantageous to the GOP and wound up producing a 7-7 split in the 2022 midterm elections. The court’s decision would probably allow Republicans to get a more advantageous map back in place.
The Washington Post has obtained new images taken of Barack Obama and his top officials on the day in 2011 that US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
The images, which are interesting and coupled with a retelling of how the raid went down from the White House’s perspective, also feature people still active in Washington politics today, most notably Joe Biden.
Have a look here.
Ron DeSantis grew angry on Thursday when asked by a reporter in Israel about his time at Guantánamo Bay:
🔥 “That’s BS”: Ron DeSantis demolishes legacy media for using Guantanamo Bay TERRORISTS as sources to fit their "pre-ordained narrative" pic.twitter.com/uuZkH2TU57
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) April 27, 2023
One interesting thing about this clip is that it’s been shared on Twitter both by DeSantis’s own media operation (which is posted above) and by Democrats looking to attack the presumptive candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. Make of that what you will.
Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination any day now. He’ll do that amid a swirl of questions about his actions while working at the Guantánamo prison camp, the Guardian’s Julian Borger and Oliver Laughland report:
In the middle of a June night 17 years ago in the Guantánamo prison camp, guards and medical orderlies were urgently summoned to one of the inmate clinics, where an emergency was unfolding.
Two inmates, Ali Abdullah Ahmed and Mani Shaman al-Utaybi, had been brought in dead. A third, Yasser Talal al-Zahrani, had been rushed to the hospital on the US naval base but was declared dead there soon afterwards. The three men were found hanging from their necks, with their hands and feet bound and rags in their throats.
It was the worst loss of life in the prison camp’s history – in the midst of a turbulent year in which there were hunger strikes and riots as well as the three deaths – and officers around the base were roused from their sleep and rushed to Camp Delta, the main internment centre.
Rear Admiral Harry Harris arrived, the base commander who would go on to command the Pacific fleet, accompanied by Col Michael Bumgarner, the head of the overall prison complex. At some point, witnesses say, a more junior officer turned up, a 27-year-old navy lawyer, or judge advocate general (JAG), Lt Ron DeSantis.
Updated
The Biden administration announced on Thursday a set of new initiatives to discourage immigrants from illegally crossing into the US via the US-Mexico border.
The measures include harsher crackdowns on those who do come and new pathways that offer an alternative to the dangerous journey, the Associated Press reports.
Such alternatives include setting up migration centers in other countries, increasing the amount of immigrants allowed in, and faster processing of migrants seeking asylum. Those not eligible for asylum who cross over will be penalized, AP further reports.
The policies come as May 11 approaches, which will end the public health rule instituted amid the Covid-19 pandemic that allowed for many migrants to be quickly expelled.
Updated
The Montana governor was lobbied by his non-binary child to reject several bills that would harm transgender people in the state, according to the Guardian’s Sam Levine.
The son of the Republican governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, met their father in his office to lobby him to reject several bills that would harm transgender people in the state, the Montana Free Press reported.
David Gianforte told the paper they identify as non-binary and use he/they pronouns – the first time they disclosed their gender identity publicly. They told the outlet they felt an obligation to use their relationship with their father to stand up for LGBTQ+ people in the state.
“There are a lot of important issues passing through the legislature right now,” they said in a statement. “For my own sake I’ve chosen to focus primarily on transgender rights, as that would significantly directly affect a number of my friends … I would like to make the argument that these bills are immoral, unjust, and frankly a violation of human rights.”
Read the full article here.
Updated
A Tennesee lawmaker who was previously outsted for calling for gun control after a Nashville mass shooting has spoken about Zephyr being silenced.
In an interview with Democracy Now, Tennessee representative Justin Jones spoke with Zephyr about the need for continued solidarity.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” said Zephyr, after Jones said that several communities stood with Zephyr amid attempts to silence her.
"An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us."
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) April 28, 2023
Rep. Justin Jones of Tennessee and Rep. Zooey Zephyr of Montana share why they continue to act and advocate for their communities, in solidarity across the country. pic.twitter.com/0MzVAG6dxs
Updated
Earlier this week, Republicans in Montana barred the state’s sole transgender lawmaker, Democrat Zooey Zephyr, from the floor of the state House of Representatives.
Their justification? That Zephyr’s interaction with protesters who were demonstrating against her earlier silencing by the House’s Republican majority amounted to “encouraging an insurrection.” The Associated Press reports that such claims have become increasingly common in recent months in state legislatures where Republicans rule. Case in point, the rhetoric used by GOP lawmakers to briefly expel two Democrats from the Tennessee state House of Representatives earlier this month.
Here’s more from the AP:
Silenced by her Republican colleagues, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr looked up from the House floor to supporters in the gallery shouting “Let her speak!” and thrust her microphone into the air — amplifying the sentiment the Democratic transgender lawmaker was forbidden from expressing.
While seven people were arrested for trespassing, the boisterous demonstration was free of violence or damage. Yet later that day, a group of Republican lawmakers described it in darker tones, saying Zephyr’s actions were responsible for “encouraging an insurrection.”
It’s the third time in the last five weeks — and one of at least four times this year — that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections.
The tactic follows a pattern set over the past two years when the term has been misused to describe public demonstrations and even the 2020 election that put Democrat Joe Biden in the White House. It’s a move experts say dismisses legitimate speech and downplays the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Shortly after, the U.S. House voted to impeach him for “incitement of insurrection.”
Ever since, many Republicans have attempted to turn the phrase on Democrats.
“They want to ring alarm bells and they want to compare this to Jan. 6,” said Andy Nelson, the Democratic Party chair in Missoula County, which includes Zephyr’s district. “There’s absolutely no way you can compare what happened on Monday with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Violence occurred that day. No violence occurred in the gallery of the Montana House.”
This week’s events in the Montana Legislature drew comparisons to a similar demonstration in Tennessee. Republican legislative leaders there used “insurrection” to describe a protest on the House floor by three Democratic lawmakers who were calling for gun control legislation in the aftermath of a Nashville school shooting that killed three students and three staff. Two of them chanted “Power to the people” through a megaphone and were expelled before local commissions reinstated them.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports on the latest steps in Florida authorities’ march to tighten down on voting access, as the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis edges closer to announcing a presidential campaign:
Florida Republicans are on the verge of passing new restrictions on groups that register voters, a move voting rights groups and experts say will make it harder for non-white Floridians to get on the rolls.
The restrictions are part of a sweeping 96-page election bill the legislature is likely to send to Governor Ron DeSantis’s desk soon. The measure increases fines for third-party voter registration groups. It also shortens the amount of time the groups have to turn in any voter registration applications they collect from 14 days to 10. The bill makes it illegal for non-citizens and people convicted of certain felonies to “collect or handle” voter registration applications on behalf of third-party groups. Groups would also have to give each voter they register a receipt and be required to register themselves with the state ahead of each general election cycle. Under current law, they only have to register once and their registration remains effective indefinitely.
Stephanie Kirchgaessner reports that a 2018 investigation that played a role in Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the supreme court was less thorough than it appeared. If you read one Guardian story today, make it this one:
A 2018 Senate investigation that found there was “no evidence” to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault against the US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh contained serious omissions, according to new information obtained by the Guardian.
The 28-page report was released by the Republican senator Chuck Grassley, the then chairman of the Senate judiciary committee. It prominently included an unfounded and unverified claim that one of Kavanaugh’s accusers – a fellow Yale graduate named Deborah Ramirez – was “likely” mistaken when she alleged that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dormitory party because another Yale student was allegedly known for such acts.
Pence at center of Trump's attempt to keep Biden from White House
Here’s more from the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell about Mike Pence’s interview with federal investigators, and why his testimony may be so important to any case against Donald Trump:
Mike Pence testified before a federal grand jury on Thursday in Washington about Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a source familiar with the matter, a day after an appeals court rejected a last-ditch motion to block his appearance.
The former vice-president’s testimony lasted for around seven hours and took place behind closed doors, meaning the details of what he told the prosecutors hearing evidence in the case remains uncertain.
His appearance is a moment of constitutional consequence and potential legal peril for the former president. Pence is considered a major witness in the criminal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith, since Trump pressured him to unlawfully reject electoral college votes for Joe Biden at the joint session of Congress, and was at the White House meeting with Republican lawmakers who discussed objections to Biden’s win.
Pence interviewed by grand jury investigating January 6 insurrection
Good morning, US politics blog readers. On Thursday, former vice-president Mike Pence appeared before the grand jury empaneled by special counsel Jack Smith to consider charges against Donald Trump over the January 6 insurrection. The possibility that Trump could face a federal indictment over the attack, as well as his involvement in plots to stop Joe Biden from taking office and the classified materials found at Mar-a-Lago, is a major unknown in the presidential race, particularly since polls show Trump as the most popular Republican candidate. There’s no saying when Smith could make his charging recommendation, but Pence’s testimony is a reminder that the investigation remains a real threat to the former president.
Here’s what’s going on today:
House Democratic leadership will hold their weekly press conference at 10.30am eastern time. Expect plenty of railing against the debt limit proposal Republicans passed earlier this week.
Joe Biden is keeping it low key, presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy to the Air Force Falcons, champions of last year’s Armed Forces Bowl, at 2.30pm, then heading to a Democratic fundraiser in the evening.
Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat representing deep-red West Virginia, yesterday afternoon again called on Biden to negotiate with Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy on an agreement to raise the debt limit. The president has thus far refused to do so.
