Donald Trump defies judge, throws courtroom tantrum on tense final day of New York civil fraud trial
Barred from giving a formal closing argument, the serially indicted, disgraced ex-president wrested an opportunity to air his many, many grievances in court at the conclusion of his massive New York civil fraud trial Thursday, unleashing a barrage of attacks and conspiratorial broadsides in a six-minute diatribe before finally being cut off by the judge. Judge Arthur Engoron let the 77-year-old con man continue almost uninterrupted for what amounted to a not-so-brief personal summation, then summarily cut him off for a scheduled lunch break. The circus was not televised.

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VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump issues absolutely unhinged claim
The serially indicted grifter doubled down on his legal team's preposterous claim that the president of the United States does — and must — have total immunity from criminal prosecution, even if they order 👏 the 👏 assassination 👏 of 👏 their 👏 political 👏 opponents. Got that? Show of hands — who's ready to give this guy a second term?

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Surprise aspect of Trump's disqualification SURGES into spotlight
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Wow.

Secret recording shows NRA treasurer plotting to conceal Wayne LaPierre's extravagant expenses
Soon to be ex-NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre's decades-long grift at the gun rights violence advocacy group is finally, finally being exposed in all its cartoonishly boneheaded glory. A recently revealed recording lays bare the elementary scheme to hide LaPierre's lavish, donor-funded lifestyle — including private air travel, regular limousine services, and frequent luxury hotel stays — from regulators, board members, and rank-and-file NRA members alike. We're guessing New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is pursuing the NRA and LaPierre over a range of alleged financial misdeeds, will have a few things to say about all this.

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

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott complains that he can't kill migrants crossing the border
In an appalling show of bloodthirsty xenophobia, the Republican governor of Texas lamented that "the only thing that we're not doing is we're not shooting people who come across the border, because of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder." That's because killing people is murder, Greg. As a pretend Christian you should probably know this. [RETWEET THAT!]

Take Action: Investigate Greg Abbott for human rights abuses!

Campaign finance watchdogs threaten No Labels with lawsuit
A coalition of left-leaning and nonpartisan campaign finance groups appear on the verge of filing lawsuits and complaints aiming to force the well-heeled, so-called centrist group, No Labels, to reveal its donors as it prepares to back a third-party bid for the presidency that could very well hand the keys to the Oval Office back to none other than Donald Trump. Make no mistake, No Labels is, in fact, FULL of labels — special interest groups, political operatives, brands, corporate overlords, ultrawealthy donors, you name it. They just don't want anyone to see them.

IRS says it collected $360 million more from rich tax cheats as its funding is threatened yet again
The IRS collected an additional $360 million in overdue taxes from delinquent millionaires as the department's leadership tries to promote the latest work it has done to modernize the agency with Inflation Reduction Act funding that Republicans are hellbent on stripping away. Makes a lot of sense (and dollars) — the GOP is bankrolled by millionaires, billionaires, and tax cheats, so anything threatening to stem the flow from that faucet is an existential threat.

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?

Staggering 1% of Gaza Strip population killed since Israel-Hamas war began
The death toll in Gaza has reached a grim milestone, with one of every 100 Palestinians there killed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, which started following Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. With 23,357 killed in Israel's military operation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, the Gaza Strip population has now lost 1% of its 2.3 million residents. More than 10,000 of those killed were children, and about 7,000 are reported to be still under the rubble. Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 Israelis, according to Israel's prime minister's office.

Ohio woman who miscarried at home won't be charged with corpse abuse, grand jury decides
Grand jurors declined to return an indictment for abuse of a corpse against Brittany Watts, who was facing a felony criminal charge for her handling of a home miscarriage. Watts, who was 22 weeks pregnant at the time, had been to her local hospital twice in the days leading up to her miscarriage. Her doctor had told her she was carrying a nonviable fetus and to have her labor induced or risk "significant risk" of death. An autopsy determined the fetus later died in utero and identified "no recent injuries," but prosecutors forged ahead with charging Watts anyway. Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, a key backer of Ohio’s successful fall amendment protecting access to reproductive health care, commended the grand jury and called for the "dangerous trend" of criminalizing reproductive outcomes to be halted.

And in other news...

Quagmire in the Middle East

Hope...

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