- Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore (R-GA) on consulting with his mommy about impeaching Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

We thought it would never happen but it did! Disgraced former president Donald Trump heeded the advice of his legal counsel and backed down from a ridiculous attention-grabbing stunt.
 

• On Thursday, Trump canceled the press conference he scheduled for Monday where he said he would present a report that would lead to his “complete EXONERATION.” On his Truth Social platform, Trump explained the decision in typical unhinged fashion, writing “Rather than releasing the Report on the Rigged & Stolen Georgia 2020 Presidential Election on Monday, my lawyers would prefer putting this, I believe, Irrefutable & Overwhelming evidence of Election Fraud & Irregularities in formal Legal Filings.” Lol, okay buddy. Sure thing. 

• After weeks of back-and-forth, Trump will also be skipping the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday and will instead sit down with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for a competing interview, possibly during the same time slot. Trump continues to hold a staggering 40-point lead over his next-closest GOP primary challenger, which he noted in yet another Truth Social post, saying “Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?” Even without his attendance, Trump will be the largest presence on the debate stage. 
   

• Continuing Trump’s slate of L’s, far-right Trump supporters have been assiduously lobbying Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) and other elected officials in Georgia to overhaul the state’s pardon rules after Trump was indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis earlier this week, to no avail. Taking such a measure would involve a constitutional amendment which would require a two-thirds vote in the state General Assembly and the support from a majority of voters in a referendum. That means it couldn’t pass without significant Democratic support, so no dice. Top aides to Kemp and State House Speaker Jon Burns summarily dismissed the idea.

Speaking of far-right Trump supporters getting their comeuppance…
 

• Justice Department prosecutors announced on Friday that they will seek a 33-year prison sentence for Enrique Tarrio—the former leader of the Proud Boys— convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the most consequential cases to emerge from the January 6 insurrection. If imposed, the sentence would be the longest punishment handed down to an insurrectionist by far. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers, also convicted of seditious conspiracy in his own case, received the longest sentence thus far of 18 years in prison. 
   

• Speaking of January 6, videos and photographs from the riot show that the man in the red “Trump 2020” hat following around conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as he ascended to the restricted area of the Capitol grounds where mobs of Trump supporters eventually broke in was none other than Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro. Chesebro is the “alleged” architect of the fake electors scheme, and when asked by the House January 6 committee where he was that day, he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. He is the only one of Trump’s unindicted co-conspirators in DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment now known to have been on the Capitol grounds on January 6. It remains unclear why Chesebro was following Jones around. He is now under indictment in Fulton County.

One thing’s for sure: we will all have a better weekend than anyone in the Trump orbit.

Los Angeles! Cancel your plans next Thursday and thank us later. Ruined’s host Halle Kiefer will be introducing The Babadook at Friend Of The Fest! It’s this Thursday, at Los Feliz 3 at 10pm. Tickets are on sale now and selling fast so get yours at here. 

President Biden welcomed leaders from Japan and South Korea to Camp David on Friday in an attempt to keep the two nations on speaking terms and further strengthen economic ties.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk (yeah, we’re still not calling it “X”) announced that the company will be eliminating users’ ability to “block” other users, sunsetting a key safety feature (because he wants the website to be run by racists and bots). 

Hurricane Hilary has grown to a Category 4 storm off the coast of Mexico and could reach Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years. 

A British neonatal nurse was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven infants and trying to kill six others during a year of deception in which she preyed on the vulnerabilities of sick newborns and their parents. 

A Canadian government minister demanded that Meta lift a ban on domestic news from its platforms to allow people to share information about wildfires in the country.

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Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) threw cold water on GOP calls to means-test the new statewide free-lunch program, saying, “The haves and the have-nots in the school lunchroom is not a necessary thing. Just feed our children.” Goddamn right!

A 19-year-old barber in Memphis, TN, named Darnell Wells has begun giving free haircuts to homeless people in his community.