VIDEO OF THE DAY: New Trump tapes capture him pressuring Michigan election officials
According to newly obtained audio, then-President Trump personally and aggressively leaned on two Republican election officials in Michigan's most populous county to thwart certification of the 2020 presidential election. Trump told them that they would look "terrible" if they certified the results and that they had to "fight for our country." Speaking exactly like a mafia boss, he promised them that his team would "take care" of them for doing his dirty work. After the call, the officials unsuccessfully attempted to rescind their votes for certification. Can we please lock this guy up already?

Take Action: Kick Fox News off the air for glorifying Trump's insurrection!

Rudy Giuliani declares bankruptcy, lists $500 MILLION in debts after being ordered to pay $148 million in defamation lawsuit
Play incredibly stupid, expensive games, win incredibly stupid, expensive prizes.

Take Action: Tell the DOJ to investigate state voter purges!

Republicans finally go too far with STUNNING stunt
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Unreal.

Police officer deployed to search Massachusetts classroom for a gay book
In an incident that perfectly illustrates a convergence point between two growing problems in American society — the MAGA moral panic over books and the ever-growing police state — a plainclothes cop entered an eighth grade classroom to carry out a Fahrenheit 451-style search for a book while wearing a body camera. The ACLU and other free speech advocates say they are alarmed by the resulting recording, as well as the entire Dec. 8 incident that took place after classes let out at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School. Schools are supposed to have internal procedures for book challenges. The time to put a stop to this Orwellian lunacy is now, before it spreads further.

Take Action: Tell Congress to investigate DeJoy’s deadly cover-ups!

Jury acquits 3 Washington state officers in death of a Black man who told them he couldn’t breathe
An audible gasp was heard from the gallery when a jury cleared three Washington state police officers of all criminal charges Thursday in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten, and restrained face-down on a Tacoma sidewalk as he pleaded for breath. Two of the officers had been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while the third was charged with manslaughter. Their attorneys argued that Ellis died from a lethal amount of methamphetamine that was in his system as well as a preexisting heart condition, not from the officers’ actions, and the jury found the three not guilty on all counts.

Take Action: Demand Clarence Thomas recuse himself in Trump disqualification case

At least 15 people are dead after unprecedented mass shooting at a Prague university
A student opened fire Thursday at a university in Prague, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20 in the Czech Republic’s worst mass shooting in history. The massacre took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. The gunman also died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot. The horrifying attack is of a kind that we rarely see outside of the United States — offering the chilling possibility that, thanks to America's global cultural hegemony, the phenomenon is now being exported.

Take Action: Don't let Republicans get away with taking credit for the Biden infrastructure plan they opposed!

US House quietly investigated separate sex tape scandal
It turns out that having sex on Capitol Hill, filming it, and posting it to social media might be more common than previously thought — and is not, as conservatives would have you believe, strictly the domain of Democratic staffers. Footage of a man masturbating in what appears to be the Capitol was obtained by Semafor, which reported that the clip circulated on Snapchat last year. Another Snapchat clip, a screenshot of which was viewed by the outlet, apparently shows two men having sex. Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse was told soon after the videos were posted that one of the participants was a member of his staff. A spokesperson for Newhouse confirmed to the outlet that reports of "purported, unbecoming behavior" by a senior staffer had prompted an investigation last year, but that "no conclusive evidence" had been found. The unnamed staffer denied to Semafor that he’d participated in the videos and disputed Newhouse’s office’s version of events. The aide said he departed Congress last summer on good terms for reasons unrelated to the investigation.

Corporate jagoffs have no place in Congress
Chris Deluzio for Congress: Chris is running for reelection in one of the most competitive districts in the nation. His GOP extremist opponents have sided with corporate jagoffs over the American people. We can't let them win. Will you chip in today to flip the House blue and get America back on track?

Israeli evidence doesn’t prove Hamas used al-Shifa Hospital as command center
A major pillar of the IDF narrative around the ongoing brutal war in Gaza crumbled as a new investigative report by The Washington Post concluded that the Israeli government’s evidence failed to prove that al-Shifa hospital in Gaza was a command center for Hamas. The Post analyzed open-source graphics, satellite images, and publicly disclosed materials from the IDF. Rooms connected to the tunnels found by the IDF "showed no immediate evidence of military use by Hamas," the newspaper said. The review also challenged statements from IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who pointed to five buildings allegedly used by Hamas at the hospital in an Oct. 27 press briefing, finding that none of the structures were connected to the tunnel network. Even after the November raid of the hospital, Israeli and American officials have stuck by their claims, with one telling the Post last week that they were "absolutely confident" with their intelligence and that "Hamas had been holding the hostages in the hospital compound until shortly before Israel went in." The UN says that at least 40 people, including four premature babies, died during the raid and its aftermath.

Biden ramps up the pressure on Mexico as border surge inflames a longstanding political problem
President Biden spoke with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Thursday as the US seeks additional assistance to drive down the number of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border. The call comes at a politically delicate moment for Biden, who has repeatedly grappled with migrant surges fueled by deteriorating conditions in the Western Hemisphere. In their call, the two presidents agreed that "additional enforcement actions are urgently needed" to reopen ports on the US-Mexico border where a migrant surge has strained federal resources and led to port closures. Given the fact that immigration is shaping up once again to be the central issue of Donald Trump's presidential campaign — along with all of the racism and xenophobia that comes with it — this is a wise move on Biden's part.

Maybe he was talking about fentanyl? GOP goons defend Trump’s "poisoning the blood" comments
Ohhhhh, right. Fentanyl. Trump's whole "immigrants are all drug dealers" trope. So then just the run-of-the-mill xenophobic fearmongering and not Hitler-fueled xenophobic fearmongering. Got it.

Biden believes Nippon purchase of US Steel deserves "serious scrutiny"
President Biden voiced concerns about the Japanese company's planned purchase of iconic American company US Steel, saying that it deserves "serious scrutiny" because of potential national security and supply chain concerns. At the same time, according to White House National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard, Biden "has been clear that we welcome manufacturers across the world building their futures in America with American jobs and American workers." The carefully worded remark shows the high stakes for Biden if his administration, through the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, were to block the deal on national security grounds since that would send a negative signal to the rest of the world about the openness of the US economy to foreign investment. The United Steelworkers union opposes the massive proposed sale which is a strong sign to supporters of organized labor that this deal might not be all upside for Americans.

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