Month: July 2024

On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first sitting Democrat in Congress to call for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, citing his poor debate performance and the fallout since. Numerous Democrats have expressed concerns or suggested that Biden leave the race; however Doggett, who has served in Congress since 1995, is the first lawmaker to say it openly: “I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.” (per CBS News.)

Doggett said in a statement Tuesday: “Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang. Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory—too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now. President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024.”  

Doggett, 77, added that represents the same congressional district as former President Lyndon Johnson during his time as a U.S. representative, and wants Biden to follow Johnson’s example when he declined to seek a second term in the White House (due to his low popularity amid the Vietnam War and cultural upheaval in America).  Doggett said of Johnson: “Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same.”

The Texas Democrat said he believes Biden has “achieved much for our country at home and abroad” as president, but added: “While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional. He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process .. President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump. I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”

Biden insiders said the president is “staying in” and noted that other Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have provided supportive statements standing behind Biden. A Biden campaign spokesperson said Biden “absolutely will not” withdraw his candidacy.

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Rudy Giuliani — former NYC mayor and ex-attorney to Donald Trump — was disbarred on Tuesday in a decision handed down by the Appellate Division First Department in New York. The state court stripped Giuliani of his law license over his efforts to help subvert and overturn the 2020 election.

The New York Appellate Division ruled to disbar Giuliani “effective immediately” saying he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer” for former President Donald Trump and his 2020 presidential campaign, in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.

Per ABC News, the 31-page ruling adds: “Contrary to respondent’s allegations, there is nothing on the record before us that would permit the conclusion that respondent lacked knowledge of the falsehood of the numerous statements that he made, and that he had a good faith basis to believe them to be true.” The decision by the New York panel noted that “the seriousness of respondent’s misconduct cannot be overstated,” adding that Giuliani”not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant.”

Giuliani was admitted to New York’s bar in 1969 but had his state license to practice law suspended in 2021 over his work to overturn the election, and later suspended in Washington. Giuliani claimed he believed the statements at the time he was making them but the court was not persuaded.

Giuliani’s political advisor Ted Goodman told The Hill that the former mayor intends to appeal the decision: “Members of the legal community who respect the rule of law in this country should immediately come forward and speak out against this politically and ideologically corrupted decision. We will be appealing this objectively flawed decision in hopes that the appellate process will restore integrity into our system of justice.”

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New York State police confirmed on Monday that five members from the same metro-Atlanta family died in a plane crash on their way home from a baseball tournament in upstate New York. The family members were returning from a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

New York State Police responded to a plane crash in Masonville, New York (90 miles south of Syracuse, N.Y.) on Sunday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m., and found the bodies of five occupants in the wreckage of a Piper Malibu Mirage.  The plane had departed from Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta and was headed to Charleston, W.Va., for refueling and was schedule to continue from there to Cobb County International Airport in Georgia.

New York State police said in a statement: “A multi-agency effort search of the area, with the utilization of drones, ATVs and helicopters, led to the discovery of debris and ultimately to the downed aircraft.” Search teams found the bodies of five passengers in the wreckage.

Police later identified the victims as family members who hailed from Georgia: 76-year-old Roger Beggs (assumed to be the pilot), 43-year-old Laura Van Epps, 42-year-old Ryan Van Epps, 12-year-old James R. Van Epps and 10-year-old Harrison Van Epps. According to records obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the family lived in Alpharetta, GA.

NYSP has not said what caused the plane to crash; Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wrote in a statement: “As we learn of this tragic news, please join Marty, the girls, and me in praying for the loved ones of the Beggs and VanEpps families. We offer our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved them,”

The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal of Investigation, Collision Reconstruction Unit, and Forensic Identification Unit are working with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Board to determine the cause of the crash.

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On Monday, July 1, the Supreme Court deemed that Donald Trump is partially immune from his 2020 election subversion charges. The Court said “official” acts taken by a president are protected, but not steps he took as a candidate.

In a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines, the court ruled that Trump can be tried for any of his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss that were not taken in his official capacity. They ruled against Trump’s claim that he enjoys immunity from prosecution as a whole, but said that he is absolutely immune from being charged for “official” presidential acts.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the 6-3 majority: “The parties before us do not dispute that a former President can be subject to criminal prosecution for unofficial acts committed while in office. They also agree that some of the conduct described in the indictment includes actions taken by Trump in his unofficial capacity.”.

The majority asserted that there should be a clearer distinction between official presidential acts and private acts that happen to be done by a president, with the court’s syllabus reading: “The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But under our system of separated powers, the President may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for his official acts.”. The decision brings the case back down to a lower court, which must now figure out whether any of the allegations in the Jan. 6 case fall under the category of “unofficial” acts, and whether a fair Jan. 6 trial could move forward with the Supreme Court’s ideology in mind.

On Truth Social, Trump called the decision a “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY.”

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The National Hurricane Center said over the weekend that Hurricane Beryl has become an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as it heads towards the Windward Islands, bringing life-threatening winds and storm surge to the Caribbean.

Per CBS News, Beryl was located about 310 miles east-southeast of Barbados with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph and was moving west at 21 mph. Beryl strengthened into a category 4 Sunday afternoon and is expected to continue to strengthening as it travels west across the Atlantic.  As its center moves across the Windward Islands early Monday, it will bring hurricane conditions including heavy rainfall, before traveling through the southeastern Caribbean on Monday night and Tuesday.

Hurricane warnings are already in effect in Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Tobago. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Martinique, while a tropical storm watch is in effect in Dominica and Trinidad. The National Hurricane Center said that ‘this is a very serious situation developing for the Windward Islands,’ adding that Beryl was “forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge … as an extremely dangerous hurricane.”

It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history. According to the National Hurricane Center, two hurricane hunters were en route to the storm to gather more details about its intensity.  Beryl is now only the third Category 3 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic in June, and is the second named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic.

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address: “We need to be ready. You and I know when these things happen, it is better to plan for the worst and pray for the best .. do not let your guard down.”  St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a public address that shelters will open Sunday evening as he urged people to prepare: “please take this very seriously and prepare yourselves. This is a terrible hurricane.”

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Police have charged the man behind the wheel of an SUV that killed four people with DWI, after the man crashed into a Long Island nail salon at high speed. An NYPD officer was among the four killed, while ten others were injured during the incident.

Suffolk County Police said that Steven Schwally, 64, was driving a Chevy Traverse southbound at a high rate of speed through a parking lot in Deer Park at around 4:30 p.m. when he crossed a roadway and continued into another parking lot. Schwally then crashed through the front window of Hawaii Nail & Spa, traveling nearly all the way through to the back of the salon.

Three women and a man were pronounced dead at the scene; they were identified by police as: Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens; Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing, Queens; and Emilia Rennhack, 30, an off-duty NYPD officer who lived in Deer Park. Nine other people, including a 12-year-old girl, were injured and rushed to local hospitals. One person had to be airlifted.

Suffolk County Police arrested Schwally, of Dix Hills, and charged him with DWI after the crash. Police say Schwally was among those hospitalized, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Police say he will be arraigned at a later date.

Witnesses reported seeing the vehicle swerving as it left the Kohl’s parking lot across the street from the salon. Fire officials say the vehicle traveled all the way through the building, remaining stuck in the back of the salon for hours after the crash.

NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban wrote, “Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of Police Officer Emilia Rennhack, whose life was taken far too soon. We offer our support to Emilia’s family, friends, and co-workers during this incredibly difficult time. Please keep our officer and her loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”

Mayor Eric Adams wrote in part, “It is never easy to get word that we have lost one of our own dedicated public servants — no matter the circumstances.”

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