January 1, Trump could be forced to testify over Capitol riot

Hello Americans,

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) left the possibility of subpoenaing former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for the hearings over the January 6 Capitol riot. “This is absolutely not a game. This is deadly serious,” she said. “There are some in my party, including Leader McCarthy, who continue to act as though this is about partisan politics, I think it’s really sad. I think it’s a disgrace.” Cheney said that Rep. Jim Jordan, along with Trump, could be called as a material witness. “They deserve to know about every phone call that was made in and out of the White House, every meeting, every discussion that was had that day in the White House as the Capitol building was under attack and so the committee will go wherever it needs to go to get to the facts,” she said.

A swastika was found carved into an elevator wall at the Department of State’s main headquarters. “As this painfully reminds us, antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a message sent to all department employees. “It’s still a force in the world, including close to home. And it’s abhorrent. It has no place in the United States, at the state department, or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it.” The swastika has been removed, and the incident is under investigation.

The White House received several fervent questions about why vaccinated people should wear masks if the Covid-19 vaccines are effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that some vaccinated individuals should resume wearing masks in certain situations, an update from the guidance that only unvaccinated individuals need face coverings. “I think the clear data shows that this pandemic is killing, it is hospitalizing, and it is making people very sick who are not vaccinated,” press secretary Jen Psaki said. “That still continues to be the case regardless of what the mask guidance is.”

Former Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi died after he broke his neck in a bicycle accident. He was 77. A former spokesman said Enzi went peacefully surrounded by family and friends. Gillette police received a report of a man lying unresponsive near a bike on the road. Authorities do not indicate that anyone else was involved in the accident. “Former Senator Mike Enzi was a loving family man + dedicated public servant,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said via Twitter. “Through decades of friendship & service, I was honored to learn from Mike. He cared about the future of our country in every way & kept a sharp eye on Congress’ fiscal responsibilities.”

The FBI told Congress that it should not attempt to make ransomware payments illegal. The bureau says that banning ransom payments could inadvertently create opportunities for further extortion by cybercriminals. “If we ban ransom payments now, you’re putting US companies in a position to face yet another extortion, which is being blackmailed for paying the ransom and not sharing that with authorities,” said Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division. “It’s a really complicated conversation, but it’s our position that banning ransom payments is not the road to go down.”

A man accused of slaying eight people at Atlanta-area massage parlors, most of them women of Asian descent, pleaded guilty in four of the cases and received four sentences of life without parole. Robert Aaron Long, 22, still awaits sentencing on the other four deaths as they are under prosecution in a different county. Long could receive the death penalty if convicted. Additionally, he faces charges of aggravated assault and domestic terrorism. Prosecutors say they will seek to have the deaths classified as hate crimes. Rep. Bee Nguyen said the crimes appeared to be at the “intersection of gender-based violence, misogyny, and xenophobia.”

Be well,

Fraser Dixon

Sources

• Trump could be forced to testify over Capitol riot, says Liz Cheney: ‘This is not a game’
• US state department investigating swastika carved into elevator
• White House calls masks ‘extra’ protection for vaccinated while reiterating ‘the vaccines work’
• Ex-US Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming dies after bicycle accident
• FBI tells Congress ransomware payments shouldn’t be banned
• A Man Accused Of Killing 8 In Atlanta Area Spa Shootings Pleads Guilty To 4 Deaths