Supreme Court case: The justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have not indicated when they might rule on the Colorado ballot case after today’s oral arguments. The court agreed to hear a challenge to a ruling by Colorado’s courts that Donald Trump is disqualified from holding office because he participated in and gave aid and comfort to an insurrection as part of Trump’s attempts to remain in power after having lost the 2020 election. Colorado cited Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment which prohibits anyone involved in an insurrection who had previously taken an oath of office from again holding office. Trump’s lawyers have argued that the presidency is not an office of the U.S. government, even though the oath that Trump took during his inauguration refers to his holding the office of president.
Trump’s border crisis: Conservative Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona took to the Senate floor yesterday and made speeches blaming Donald Trump and his Republican allies for the border crisis. They made it plain that Trump pressured Republicans not to try to solve the problems at the border so he could continue to use the border as a campaign issue. Both Lankford and Sinema helped negotiate the bipartisan border legislation that was killed when it didn’t get enough Republicans votes.
Helicopter crash deaths: Marine officials in San Diego reported this morning that all five U.S. Marines on board a helicopter that crashed in mountains near San Diego were killed. The helicopter crashed in bad weather. The helicopter had gone missing on Tuesday night while flying from Las Vegas back to the Marine Corps Miramar Air Station at San Diego. President and Mrs. Biden said they were heartbroken to learn of the deaths and issued condolences to the families.
Iraq’s threat: Iraq’s military said today it is more determined than ever to stop the U.S. military from being active in Iraq. The statement came after the U.S. drone strike in Iraq’s capital Baghdad that killed a leader of the Hezbollah militia. A U.S. drone targeted an SUV in which the Hezbollah leader was riding. The SUV was hit and burst into flames. The U.S. said the Hezbollah leader was in charge of staging attacks on U.S. personnel.
Williamson drops out: Marianne Williamson has ended her campaign to try to take the Democratic Presidential Nomination away from President Biden. Williamson, who is 71, had received only 2% of the vote in the South Carolina primary and about the same in the Nevada primary. She also had run in 2020 but dropped out after losing a couple of primaries. Biden’s other primary challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, still is running.
Israeli airstrikes: Israel staged new airstrikes in Rafah in the Gaza strip today, killing at least a dozen people. Rafah was supposed to be a secure place for refugees but has come under attack by Israel. Today’s attacks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally rejected a plan from Hamas that called for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Gaza of all Israelis. Hamas claimed that once that happened it would release the hostages it still holds.
Cover photo by Supearnesh / Wikimedia Commons
