- Biden moves at the margins as Congress stalls on civil rights (Politico) The president is adopting a more aggressive strategy to promote civil rights, but there’s only so much he can do from the White House.
- Kinzinger becomes the first Republican member of Congress to call on Gaetz to resign (Politico) – On Thursday, a court hearing indicated that former tax collector Joel Greenberg, one of Gaetz’s closest friends, was likely cooperating with federal prosecutors.
- Key figure in Matt Gaetz probe likely cooperating with federal prosecutors (Politico) – “I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Joel Greenberg’s defense attorney said.
- Gaetz paid accused sex trafficker, who later sent same amount of cash to teen girls: report (The Hill) – Gaetz sent two Venmo transactions amounting to $900 to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018. Greenberg later sent money to three girls labeled as “Tuition,” “School” and “School” that totaled $900.
- Second staffer for Matt Gaetz has resigned (The Hill) – Gaetz’s legislative director Devin Murphy was the second staffer to leave, following Luke Ball, the communications director.
- Manchin on his increased call for bipartisanship: Capitol riot ‘changed me’ (The Hill) – “You can’t have this many people split to where they want to go to war with each other,” he said.
- US gun violence ‘an international embarrassment,’ says Biden (The Hill) – “Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment,” Biden said. “They’re phony arguments suggesting these are Second Amendment rights at stake with what we’re talking about.
- China report accuses US of causing humanitarian disasters (AP) – The report from the government-backed China Society for Human Rights Studies said foreign wars launched under the banner of “humanitarian intervention” have not only cost the belligerent parties a large number of military lives but also caused extremely serious civilian casualties and property damage, leading to horrific humanitarian disasters.
- Expert Witness Pinpoints Floyd’s Final Breath and Dismisses Talk of Overdose (New York Times) – A pulmonologist told jurors that Derek Chauvin pressed 86.9 pounds onto the neck of George Floyd, who tried to push himself off the pavement with his fingertips.
- George Floyd died of low level of oxygen, medical expert testifies; Derek Chauvin kept knee on his neck ‘majority of the time’ (Washington Post) – Several prosecution experts refuted defense claims that drugs and Floyd’s health contributed to his death.
