Daily Archives: June 15, 2022

Las Vegas ranked in top 5 cities for infidelity – KLAS – 8 News Now

Posted: June 15, 2022 at 6:23 pm

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Try as we might to overcome Las Vegass reputation as an anything goes city, it looks like one not-so-welcome ranking is here to stay. Las Vegas is ranked as the fourth top city for infidelity for the second year in a row.

The 2022 list was compiled by the dating site Ashley Madison. It published the list of infidelity towns using its own data from more than 70 million users.

The cities coming in above Las Vegas were Atlanta at number three, Miami at number two, and Orlando at number one.

The changes this year include St. Louis and Boise trading the six and seven spots.

The website has been widely criticized ever since it launched in 2002.The CEO of a competing dating site once saidAshley Madison was a business built on the back of broken hearts, ruined marriages and damaged families.

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Las Vegas ranked in top 5 cities for infidelity - KLAS - 8 News Now

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Chinatown is the most exciting place to eat in Las Vegas – Los Angeles Times

Posted: at 6:23 pm

LAS VEGAS

Platters and steamer baskets are arriving fast at Rainbow Kitchen, a Cantonese restaurant that anchors the western end of a single-level, sand-colored strip mall south of Las Vegas remarkable Chinatown. They cover the table with the heart-racing variety that can make dim sum such a joy.

I reach for the har gow as soon as a server whizzes by with our order. The translucent wrappers pleated around the shrimp dumplings fit as snugly as cocoons. Too many versions of har gow cleave to the parchment paper beneath them in a gummy mess, but these lift cleanly, and the seafood inside snaps back at the first bite.

For the record:

3:20 p.m. June 10, 2022An earlier version of this post said Rainbow Kitchen is in Las Vegas Chinatown. It is several miles south of that neighborhood.

Abalone chicken sou, a showstopper among the dim sum dishes at Rainbow Kitchen in Las Vegas Chinatown.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

Herbal steam escapes as I unfold the lotus leaf wrapped around glutinous rice. My tablemates and I hunt for slices of lap cheong and dark wisps of chicken suspended in the rice like sticky amber. We plunge our chopsticks into squiggly cheong fun filled with curled shrimp, and sweet, spongy chickens feet, and curls of green pepper stuffed with shrimp paste.

Small tarts arrive last, as both showstoppers and a savory sort of dessert. Oval shells of puff pastry hold chicken, mushroom and scallion, all minced. On top of each tart lays an oblong piece of dried abalone, reconstituted to the texture of a firm scallop and lacquered with soy-rich sauce. The tart mimics the shape of the abalone; the flavors flip umami-fueled somersaults. It is exquisite in appearance and taste.

Ive had the dish once before at Lung King Heen, the three-Michelin-star restaurant in the Four Seasons Hong Kong, where chef Chan Yan-tak engineered the combination. The version at Rainbow Kitchen where owner Bill Chiang and chef Yung Tse, who both grew up in Hong Kong, are quick to cite the luxe inspiration rivals the original.

Har gow and shiu mai, center, are among Rainbow Kitchens standout classic dim sum dishes.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

It wasnt only the abalone tart that left me relishing the meal. In my coast-to-coast travels over the last decade, the delicate finesse of the dumplings and pastries at Rainbow Kitchen made for some of the best dim sum Ive had in North America.

My first-time experience of the restaurants excellent food was thrilling. During a recent week of immersive dining, inspired by Rainbow Kitchen, I turned my focus toward eating through the citys Chinatown. I soon understood, clearer than ever, that the dynamic, multifaceted area is the most exciting place to eat in Las Vegas.

A three-mile sweep that begins about a six-minute drive west of the Strip along Spring Mountain Road loosely defines the Chinatown district. It runs between Valley View Boulevard, where youll find a curative bowl of chicken pho served at Pho Ga Tony Tony at the intersections southeast corner, and the Korea Town Plaza on South Rainbow Boulevard. Its labyrinths of strip malls and shopping complexes is a familiar and promising sight if youve ever immersed yourself in the riches of the San Gabriel Valley. It houses nearly 200 restaurants serving the cuisines of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines ... for starters.

The gate to Chinatown Plaza on Spring Mountain Road in Las Vegas.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / For The Times/Los Angeles Times)

Asiatown would be a far more accurate descriptor, but the areas name has a precedent. Its young existence began with the 1995 opening of Chinatown Plaza, built by James Chen and two business partners, K.C. Chen and Henry Hwan; the trio were high school classmates in Taiwan. They lined roofs with Taiwanese ceramic tiles and installed a paifang inspired by Tang Dynasty architecture as a gateway entrance. Their aim was specific: They created the plaza to serve visiting Asians and Las Vegas growing Asian American population. Beyond restaurants, tenants included a real estate office, a wedding chapel and a 99 Ranch Market.

A quarter century later, nearly two dozen shopping centers dot the surrounding landscape. So eating well in Chinatown is no sudden revelation: Its more that the district has reached a competitive pinnacle of superior options in every tier of dining.

These days Ill rest my head at a Strip hotel and stick around for, say, a Silk Sonic concert. When it comes to dining, though, the relentless crowds and the corporate sheen, thicker than ever, have me looking for exit ramps. Also, the compelling restaurant openings lately often come from L.A. chefs and restaurateurs. I already know how good we have it back home. (That said, Roy Chois Best Friend in Park MGM is one thats worth planning ahead for a reservation.)

When its mealtime I mostly steer my car west to Spring Mountain Road.

Taiwan Deli is a destination for Taiwanese breakfast in Vegas Chinatown.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

At breakfast, with the temperatures outside already rising, the destination one morning is a booth in the back of Taiwan Delis cool, dark room. The long menu channels many of the most popular sunrise street foods in Taiwan: oblong baked savory pastries filled with ropy threads of pork or egg or braised beef and mustard greens; turnip cakes, steamed dumplings and jiu cai he zi (pan-fried hand pies plump with sliced leeks, scrambled egg and vermicelli noodles); variations of fan tuan, its tubes of sticky rice filled with greens or meats; and, on almost every table, bowls of hot soy milk with long, crackling youtiao for dipping.

When I order o ah jian layered with textures in a swirl of omelet, oysters and sweet potato starch that firms into a gel when it cooks it amuses our server. Oh, so you like Taiwanese food! she says. You should get the stinky tofu too. I take her playful dare, and I eat it with pickled vegetables between bites of beef roll and soy milk. It blasts more fermented pungency than plenty of versions Ive tried in the SGV . I dont need coffee. Im thoroughly awake.

Unlike the deep historical contexts of Chinatowns in New York, San Francisco and L.A.s rebuilt New Chinatown, Vegas counterpart was founded with intention as a pluralistic business community; in a real sense its designed to be surveyed by cuisine. Can the whole family agree on Korean barbecue? 8 Oz Korean Steakhouse mixes and matches smart combinations of meat say, boneless short rib, beef belly, pork jowl and gently spicy pork bulgogi in various sizes and price points, with the very modern inclusion of cheese fondue for dipping. Hungry for a burger? Among the Japanese-inspired creations at Fukuburger, my go-to is the Karai, slicked with avocado cream and habanero kabayaki and crowned with pickled cucumbers; its flavor-texture interplays are at once sharp and soothing.

Pan fried pork buns with a lacy top at China Mama.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

Dumplings? The choices overwhelm, but I have a clear starting point: China Mama, where Ivy Ma excels at sheng jian bao, a cluster of pan-fried pork buns bound in a web of glassy, lacy batter. Follow those with her textbook mapo tofu, the silken clouds adrift in a fiery sunset of Sichuan peppercorn-infused oil.

Given the districts dominant architectural themes, it also tracks to explore Chinatown by shopping center. Among the grander entrants, Shanghai Plaza opened in 2019: It covers a sprawling 57,000 square feet with a warren of two-story buildings adorned with red brick columns. Its culinary centerpiece, Shanghai Taste, hides inconspicuously among rows of lookalike facades; look for groups gathered outside, waiting for seats or to-go orders.

Shanghainese chef Jimmy Li and business partner Joe Muscaglione opened noodle house Niu-Gu together in 2016, but theyve found an adoring audience in their new venture. Shanghai Tastes xiao long bao are the biggest draw. Soup dumplings can suffer from all sorts of engineering issues, but Lis are structural paradigms: thin yet sturdy wrappers, heavy with broth, with twisted tops that pop off easily for slurping. Wonderful Shanghai-style appetizers kao fu (braised wheat gluten with a honeycomb texture, paired with wood-ear mushrooms), refreshing bean curd noodles served cold in scallion oil, sweet-and-sour pork ribs round out the meal.

A server at Shanghai Taste shows off the restaurants vegetarian xiao long bao.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

Im naive about Shanghai Tastes popularity. I show up for lunch on Monday at 12:30 and a staffer quotes me an hour and 15 minute wait. Lesson learned: Sign up for the Yelp wait list ahead of time. But it gives me time to wander the complex. I start the day with desserts: an appetite-revving mango-chile pop from the Paleta Bar nearby and hot, fish-shaped taiyaki filled with custard from SomiSomi a couple of buildings over. There is still plenty of room for soup dumplings.

As with Li and Muscaglione, Bank Atchawaran, who runs the Thai restaurant Lamaii a block from Shanghai Plaza, earned his success through years of name recognition in the community. Atcharawan was formerly a sommelier at Lotus of Siam, the off-Strip Thai restaurant with a remarkable wine program made famous by Jonathan Gold during his years writing for Gourmet magazine. Atcharawan opened his first restaurant, Chada Thai & Wine, in Chinatown in 2012; it closed in 2018 and he regrouped with Lamaii a year later.

Mango with sticky rice at Thai restaurant Lamaii.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

Gray leather booths line the dining room below rows of lantern chandeliers casting coppery shadows. The menu charts dishes from the breadth of Thailand: Peppercorn-spiked kua king with pork from the south can be ordered with a comforting bowl of kao soi from the north. Alongside gaeng rawaeng, golden and earthy with turmeric, and crab curry with vermicelli I disappear into a bottle of 1990 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Auslese. Its nearly dessert wine in its sweetness but ends up accentuating the layers of spice. Lamaii happens to be quiet during a Sunday dinner; it should be filled nightly with local and visiting wine geeks coming from anywhere in the city.

Aburiya Raku needs no encouraging words. Its reputation has arguably tractor-beamed more diners to Vegas Chinatown than any other restaurant. Chef-owner Mitsuo Endo opened his robata grill in 2008, wowing with his instincts for cooking skewered proteins and vegetables over oak binchotan charcoal with such precision that you can discern the deliberate nuances of char and smoke. He followed with dessert bar Sweets Raku in a separate building of the same strip mall in 2013. In the pandemic its squiggly, dramatically plated creations were dialed back, but it remains an indulgent midday stop for chocolate souffl baked with banana pudding and finished with cinnamon custard.

Chef Yoshida Tomori of Toridokoru Raku mans the grill at Toridokoro Raku.

(Maria Alejandra Cardona/Los Angeles Times)

Endos third Vegas restaurant, Toridokoro Raku, opened in July 2020; the emphasis is on a gamut of poultry cuts prepared with exacting precision. Behind a glass partition, flames surge from the grill as chef Yoshiya Tomori lines its grate with skewered chicken thighs, gizzards and hearts. Tsukune, ground chicken formed in the shape of a drumstick and served with an egg yolk for dipping, is exceptional. A $75 omakase makes for a decision-free tour of the menu, including an appetizer set with tastes of Endos cumulous homemade tofu, though you may want to add an order of chicken oysters, the prized oval pieces of dark meat cut from the back of the thigh.

If you miss foie gras in California, a trip to Toridokoro Raku for liver cloaked in camphire scents might be reason enough to visit Vegas.

One caveat: The restaurant resides in the Flamingo Arville Plaza, a walkable mile south of Chinatown Plaza. Chinatowns borders are not official, though they are ever-expanding, but no one would consider this location in the district. Not yet, anyway. So forgive me, as with Rainbow Kitchen, for occasionally coloring outside the lines. But when it comes to Vegas most exhilarating dining community, Im considering it permissible to expand its borders while stretching my waistline.

Rainbow Kitchen: 7537 S. Rainbow Blvd., Las Vegas, (702) 960-7577

Pho Ga Tony Tony: 3775 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, (725) 204-8084

Taiwan Deli: 4300 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, (702) 222-3435, taiwandeli.com

8 Oz Korean Steakhouse: 4545 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, (702) 909-3121, 8ozkbbq.com

Fukuburger: 3429 S. Jones Blvd., Las Vegas, fukuburger.com

China Mama: 3420 S. Jones Blvd., Las Vegas, (702) 873-1977, chinamamavegas.com

The Paleta Bar: 4258 Spring Mountain Road, (702) 330-0974, thepaletabar.com

SomiSomi: 4284 Spring Mountain Road, (702) 473-9628, somisomi.com

Lamaii: 4480 Spring Mountain Road, (702) 238-0567, lamaiilv.com

Aburiya Raku: 5030 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, (702) 367-3511, raku-grill.com

Sweets Raku: 5040 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, (702) 290-7181, raku-grill.com

Toridokoro Raku: 4439 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, (702) 337-6233, raku-grill.com

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The Untold Truth Of General Zod – Looper

Posted: at 6:22 pm

General Zod has humble origins. His first appearance wasn't even in "Action Comics" or "Superman," the two ongoing titles closely associated with the Man of Steel. Instead, it was in the pages of "Adventure Comics" #283. This was the title to feature the adventures of Superboy, and this issue marks his first encounter with the Phantom Zone. In an instance that would stretch the limits of plausibility if it wasn't occurring in a Silver Age DC story, aPhanton Zone projector falls from the sky and a fluke accident switches on its portal, causing an oblivious Superboy to stumble into the pocket dimension.

In this story, General Zod isn't even introduced as a character Superboy meets in the present. Instead, young Clark sees a flashback to the crime that got Zod locked up in the Phantom Zone in the first place. Turns out the general made an army of robotic duplicates of himself that looked and talked a lot like Bizarro in order to conquer Krypton.Zod almost escapes in "Adventure Comics" #293, thanks to extraterrestrial Brain-Globes mind-controlling the Legion of Super-Heroes. He successfully escapes in "Action Comics" #297, which is also his first appearance in one of the main "Superman" titles. However, instead of Superman, he's defeated by Supergirl in a backup story. Zod and his cronies might have overcome the strength and cunning of Kara Zor-El if only they hadn't decided to double-cross Lex Luthor.

From that point on, Zod frequently escapes the Phantom Zone, but his intentions aren't entirely evil ... only mostly evil. Zod helps Superman in "Action Comics"#549 with his "Zod Squad" in opposition to the murderous Kryptonian enemies the Vrangs. Zod's final appearance prior to being retconned away by "Crisis on Infinite Earths"was in "DC Comics Presents"#97.

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Donald Trump Jr. calls on Trump supporters to sign his father’s …

Posted: at 6:21 pm

Donald Trump Jr. says supporters must pay to sign his father's birthday card.

Trump's fundraising efforts have recently come under scrutiny in light of the Jan. 6 hearings.

His other donation offers include bestowing supporters with "Great MAGA King Status."

Donald Trump Jr. is offering his father's supporters a chance to sign the former president's "official" birthday card but only if they donate money to his fundraising committee.

"My father has done so much for this great Country, and I know it would mean so much to him to see YOUR NAME on his OFFICIAL Birthday Card," Trump Jr. wrote in an email Insider received Tuesday night.

A link in the email allows the recipient to write a message to the former president, but potential well-wishers must first pledge at least $1 to send in their online birthday greeting.

The website says the contribution will benefit Trump's "Save America Joint Fundraising Committee."Screenshot

Donald Trump was born on June 14, 1946. Despite the email being sent on the same date this year, the WinRed fundraising website says it allows contributors to get "EARLY ACCESS to leave a special birthday message before ANYONE ELSE."

"This is President Trump's ONLY Official Birthday Card," Trump Jr. wrote in his email. "So make sure you sign THIS ONE and not the other fake ones out there."

"HURRY there's not much time left. I can only save your spot for 20 MINUTES," the email continues.

The former president's fundraising efforts have come under renewed scrutiny after the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol suggested that Trump had raised millions on false claims that the presidency was stolen from him.

According to campaign filings, Trump raised more than $250 million in the two months after the 2020 election during which he aggressively touted his baseless claims of voter fraud.

The New York Times reported that Trump has since accumulated a total of $390 million in donations, which he said would help to overturn his election defeat, boost his allies' political campaigns, and "save America from Joe Biden and the radical left."

Story continues

However, the outlet reported that much of the money has actually gone to paying off expenses for Trump's 2020 presidential campaign and strengthening his political operation so he can run for president again in 2024. According to the Times, he still has $144 million of these contributions in the bank "as of a few months ago."

According to the January 6 committee, the Trump team would send up to 25 fundraising emails a day before the Capitol attack. Both Trumps would often send donation requests from the same email address, touting rewards such as a signed photo from the former president and a chance to win an "exclusive VIP" dinner with Trump.

An email sent on February 22 said donors could win a dinner with the former president.Screenshot

One email offered to bestow the title of "Great MAGA King Status" upon donors, whom the fundraising email described as Trump "most RELIABLE and DEDICATED supporters."

Another email urged supporters to send money before midnight to verify their "Great MAGA King Status."Screenshot

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University and an expert on authoritarian leaders, told Insider's Charles Davis that Trump has been "extremely disciplined in grifting and in trying to use the presidency to make money."

"His aims were autocratic in that he wanted to turn public office into a vessel of making money for himself; to have private profit off of public office," Ben-Ghiat said.

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Trump bet on 13 candidates in Tuesday’s primaries. Here’s who won. – POLITICO

Posted: at 6:21 pm

Mace survived, defeating Trump-backed Katie Arrington. But Rice cratered notching just a quarter of the vote on his way to primary defeat.

Rices loss was yet another example of Trumps taste for revenge against those who crossed him.

No Maine candidates got a Trump endorsement Biden won the state by around 9 percent in 2020.

Won with 83 percent of the vote.

In 2016, McMaster was the first statewide elected official to endorse Trump, and the then-presidents support was central to the governors campaign for a full term two years later. Trump endorsed McMaster again last March, meeting with the candidate at Mar-a-Lago in February. Trump called him a fabulous chief executive for his state in an endorsement statement.

Won with 66 percent of the vote.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) arrives at the Capitol in January 2020.|Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Won unopposed.

The only Black Senate Republican, Scott was able to criticize Trumps comments on race in the past while largely supporting many of his policies while the former president was in office. One of the highest fundraisers this election cycle, Scott faced an easy path to re-election this week for what will be his last term. Trump called him an outstanding senator and person who works tirelessly for the people of his great state in a statement.

Unopposed. He voted to overturn 2020 election results.

Unopposed. He voted to overturn 2020 election results.

Won with 53 percent of the vote. He voted to overturn 2020 election results.

Unopposed. He voted to overturn 2020 election results.

Won with 51 percent of the vote.

Fry claimed in a Facebook video earlier this year that the 2020 presidential election was rigged for the first time in his congressional race, and Trumps endorsement came soon after. Contrasting Rice, Fry has said that Jan. 6 protesters were exercising First Amendment rights, and that Democrats had weaponized that moment to excoriate an outgoing president. In his endorsement statement, Trump said, Russell Fry, who is all in for the Palmetto State, has my complete and total endorsement. VOTE TOM RICE OUT NOW!

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. questions Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas during a hearing in May.|AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

Won with 78 percent of the vote.

Unopposed.

Won with 56 percent of the vote.

Laxalt already had the former presidents ear when he ran for governor in 2018 with Trumps endorsement, eventually losing to Gov. Steve Sisolak in a close race. The former Nevada attorney general also served as a Trump campaign state co-chair and was a major voice in the attempts to overturn 2020 election results. He filed state and federal lawsuits before and after Nov. 2, claiming the entire process was rigged and filled with improper votes. Trump said Laxalt was running to defeat Harry Reids, Chuck Schumers and Nancy Pelosis handpicked successor and win an America First majority in the U.S. Senate.

Won with 38 percent of the vote.

The Clark County sheriff said he recognizes Biden as the duly elected president but would consider repealing the states universal mail voting system. While Lombardo had enjoyed high polling numbers in the race, the Trump endorsement boosted him in a crowded field of other candidates who vied for his approval. Trump praised Lombardos longtime police and military background, saying he would protect the under-siege Second Amendment in a statement.

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Trump bet on 13 candidates in Tuesday's primaries. Here's who won. - POLITICO

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Why Merrick Garland Is Unlikely to Indict Donald Trump – Newsweek

Posted: at 6:21 pm

Former U.S. President Donald Trump may still escape prosecution over his role in the January 6 attack even after the House Select Committee has presented all its evidence, experts have warned.

Even before the panel started laying out its findings in live televised hearings, there were calls for the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to indict the former president over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and the subsequent January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

Among the key moments from the first two televised hearings are the panel laying out how Trump continued to spread his false claims the 2020 election was rigged despite frequently being told this was not the case.

The panel alleged several GOP congressmen, including Scott Perry, sought pardons from the former president before he left office for their roles in attempting to overturn the election results.

The panel also said the far-right Proud Boys group, whose leading members have since been charged with sedition over January 6, were inspired to attack the Capitol by Trump's tweets.

With several more hearings still to take place, with the next one now set to be heard on Thursday, Thomas Gift, founding director of University College London's Centre on U.S. Politics, said the January 6 panel appears to be "methodically building the case" for an indictment against Trump.

However, Gift said he is still not convinced that Garland will ultimately take the unprecedented step of charging a former president with a crime due to the potentially significant, or even dangerous, backlash.

"Any moves by the Justice Department to prosecute the former president will be met with howls from the right alleging a partisan vendetta aimed at eliminating Biden's most likely opponent in 2024," Gift told Newsweek.

"Against that backdrop, there's every reason to expect Attorney General Merrick Garland to exercise extreme caution before pursuing a caseto the point where it seems like an unlikely scenario at this point.

"If he did, the surge of right-wing backlash that it would evoke across the MAGA-verse would be both enormous and with consequences that are impossible to predict," Gift added.

The panel has attempted to highlight just how prepared Trump was willing to ignore the truth being told to him about the election results.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat and panel member, accused the "Big Lie" of also being a "big-rip off," and alleged that Trump kept on pushing the false election fraud claims in order to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from his supporters under false pretenses.

Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek that the evidence presented so far is important with regards to showing Trump's state of mind in the days and weeks after the electionbut "knowledge and intent are just one part" of a criminal prosecution.

"The Department of Justice needs more, and these hearings may be for political ends. The House is focused on the 2022 midterms and even the 2024 presidential race," Rahmani said. "The Attorney General would also have to prove a causal connection between Trump's actions and the ensuing violence of January 6."

Rahmani also suggested that Garland is not the sort of "aggressive" prosecutor who is "willing to take on a difficult and highly political prosecution" and charge a former president.

Instead, Rahmani suggests the prosecutor more likely to bring charges against Trump is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the criminal investigation in Georgia where Trump is accused of trying to persuade Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" 11,780 votes to help him win the state.

A special grand jury has been hearing evidence from subpoenaed witnesses since June 1 as part of the investigation into whether Trump committed solicitation of election fraud with his phone call to Raffensperger. Trump has frequently denied any wrongdoing, describing the call as "perfect" and the investigation into him a "witch hunt."

Garland has given no real indication of whether the DOJ intends on charging Trump over January 6 or his attempts to overturn the election. On Monday, Garland assured that he and the other prosecutors are keeping up to date with the House committee's presentations.

"I am watching, and I will be watching all the hearings, although I may not be able to watch all of it live," he said. "And I can assure you that the January 6 prosecutors are watching all the hearings."

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Why Merrick Garland Is Unlikely to Indict Donald Trump - Newsweek

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The Two-Pronged Test That Could Put Trump in Prison – The New Yorker

Posted: at 6:21 pm

The House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, has begun to hold public hearings, laying out, in explicit detail, how Donald Trump was repeatedly told by key advisers that he fairly lost the 2020 election, among other revelations. Nevertheless, Trump continued to encourage protests against the elections certification, and expressed sympathy for the view that Vice-President Mike Pence deserved to be killed. The biggest question hanging over the hearings is whether they will contribute to a criminal case against the former President. The Justice Department is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into January 6th, but this is not the first time that Trump has appeared to be in the crosshairs of prosecutors.

If the former President is charged, what exactly would the charges be, and how tough would the case be to prosecute? To talk about this, I recently spoke by phone with Barbara McQuade, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and a former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. (She resigned from her position, which shed held since 2010, in the early days of the Trump Administration.) During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed why Trumps mind-set is so important to any criminal case, the arguments he might make to defend himself, and whether the Justice Department is too concerned about the optics of charging a former President.

If a case is made against Trump, what precisely would it be for?

It would require a full investigation to see if you can mount sufficient evidence. And the Justice Department will be the first to tell you that it investigates crimes and not people. But, with that in mind, it seems to me that some potential crimes here are: first, conspiracy to defraud the United States; and, second, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The first one is more broad. The second one is more specific.

What does that mean, conspiracy to defraud the United States?

The statutory citation is Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 371. It is sometimes referred to as the Klein Conspiracy, after a case named United States v. Klein. It is frequently used in cases of tax violations, but what it means is that someone with a fraudulent intent did something to obstruct or impede the official functioning of government. And so, in this instance, it would be something like, Trump and others conspired to defraud the American people and interfere with the proper transfer of Presidential power. And it could be as simple as getting Mike Pence to refuse to certify the vote when he had a duty to do so. Sometimes people think about the big picture, that you have to tie Trump to the physical attack on the Capitol. And that could do it, because that was one way that the certification was obstructed. But it could also simply be his efforts to pressure Mike Pence to refuse to certify the vote. And that would be an obstruction of an official proceeding.

Liz Cheney said there are seven different schemes that theyre going to try to prove in the next few weeks. It could be that theyve got seven different ways that theyre going to try to show conspiracy to defraud the United States, but any one of them is enough to obtain a conviction. Alternate slates of electors, or trying to persuade Georgia to change the outcome in that one state. Any of those things could suffice for conspiracy to defraud the United States.

And what about a conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding?

That would relate specifically to the certification effort on January 6th. Again, it could be proved by a number of different methods. It could be proved by inciting the mob. That would be one way, but I think thats much harder than you need. It could be proved, again, just by pressuring Mike Pence to refuse to certify. That could be an obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress. And, by interfering with that in a way that is fraudulent, that could be a violation of that obstruction statute.

There are two connected but separate things. The first is Trump trying to obstruct the certification of Biden as the next President. And the second is the law-breaking that occurred from the mob on January 6th. The mob may have been a tool to put the first scheme into effect, but there were also laws broken by the mob itself, such as invading the Capitol and assaulting police officers. Is your sense that the crimes we would likely see regarding Trump would be more related to the certification than the actual physical destruction of property and assault of police?

Yes. I suppose the committee has dangled the latter a little bit. I still havent seen any evidence of it, but if they could prove that someone close to Trump met with the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys on January 5th and said, Tomorrow, I want you to breach that Capital and whatever happens, come hell or high water. You must make sure that their proceeding does not continue, then you could link up the two as a conspiracy. It would still be to obstruct an official proceeding, not for the actual violence, unless you had a specific agreement: I want you to beat up cops. Youd have to show an agreement between those specific groups. And I dont think weve seen that yet. We may never get there, but I dont think we need to, because you can just show that he was trying to get alternate slates of electors, or that he was pressuring Pence to refuse to certify, or that he was pressuring Georgias secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to find him eleven thousand votes.

Is there any precedent for going after politicians or officeholders for these types of acts?

Im not familiar with any. The one thing that comes closest, but is probably not even the same, is a guy who was a county auditor in Cleveland who paid his opponent to run against him and deliberately lose. Thats corruption in an election, but a little different from what were talking about here.

That makes me wonder whether it is actually hard to prove that these laws were broken.

Well, I dont know that we have anybody whos ever tried who has this much power, the way a President does. Maybe it has been attempted at lower levels and Im just not aware of it. I think part of it is that this is an incredibly audacious scheme, if it is proven. And it requires someone who can marshal the resources and control the levers of government to be able to pull it off the way Trump may have.

But a prosecution would be for violating these broader laws rather than laws related to the functioning of elections specifically?

Yes. The problem is that we get statutes on the books based on what Congress can envision. And I dont think Congress ever imagined that a President would try to do what Trump is accused of doing. And so we dont have a specific statute on the books that says, You cant pressure the Vice-President to abuse his authority to throw out the electors and substitute false ones, because I think no one ever imagined that would happen. So, instead, you have things like obstructing an official proceeding or defrauding the United States out of the proper functioning of government. Those would be the closest things that would fit here. And they get used for lots of different things, but nothing like this that Ive ever heard of.

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The Two-Pronged Test That Could Put Trump in Prison - The New Yorker

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A Striking Contrast: Trump Officials Then and Now – The New York Times

Posted: at 6:21 pm

The letter was lavish.

When William P. Barr stepped down as attorney general in December 2020, he showered President Donald J. Trump with praise for his unprecedented achievements and vowed that the Justice Department would continue to pursue the presidents claims of voter fraud to ensure the integrity of elections.

A year and a half later, Mr. Barr sounds different. In videotaped testimony played at the first two public hearings held by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Americans have now learned what Mr. Barr avoided saying publicly about Mr. Trump at the time.

I was somewhat demoralized, Mr. Barr said in testimony played on Monday, describing his reaction to a monologue from Mr. Trump in December 2020 that the voting machines were rigged. Mr. Barrs thinking, he said, was that the president had become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff. On the other hand, when I went into this and would tell him how crazy some of these allegations were, there was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.

Mr. Barrs testimony and that of several aides played at the hearing were a candid, more brutal version of what they were saying in public shortly after the election.

Bill Stepien, Mr. Trumps campaign manager, and Jason Miller, a top adviser, testified to the committee that they failed to keep Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trumps personal lawyer, away from him on election night. Mr. Giuliani, whom Mr. Miller described as definitely intoxicated, told Mr. Trump that he should declare victory. It was far too early to be making any calls like that, Mr. Stepien testified.

Mr. Stepien also testified that it became clear after the election that Mr. Trump did not have any realistic avenue to overturn the election.

But in the days immediately after the vote, he did not publicly challenge Mr. Trump or Mr. Giuliani. And two days after Election Day, Mr. Miller raised the idea on a call with reporters that mysterious bags of ballots were showing up in states Mr. Trump was still contesting.

Both appeared to believe that there was an opportunity for challenges that passed in the middle of November. Both continued working with the campaign, but receded from the forefront as Mr. Trump put Mr. Giuliani in charge of the efforts to overturn the results.

The change for some of the aides reflects the legal consequences of lying to a congressional committee, and how much Mr. Trumps grip on his former aides has loosened in the 17 months he has been out of office.

The testimony so far reflects only what has been released publicly, and it is unclear what else the committee may have. In books written about the election in the last year, Mr. Trumps aides are portrayed as believing the data showed a likely victory until the afternoon of Nov. 5, when it changed.

Mr. Barr, who testified to the committee voluntarily, spoke on the record to Jonathan Karl of ABC News in 2021 about his exasperation with Mr. Trumps claims of fraud. Mr. Barr also recounted tense private conversations with Mr. Trump in his memoir this year.

In other cases, people such as Mr. Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and daughter Ivanka began to look toward a life after the White House in Florida, while staying inside the administration. They tried to solidify policy issues they had worked on and, according to their colleagues, said little to try to dissuade Mr. Trump from his bid to stay in power.

And yet they remained silent in public as the president, his advisers and political allies pushed the claims on Americans and used them for fund-raising for Mr. Trump.

After the election, hes advised by his own people not to go out and declare victory, that they needed time for the votes to come in, said Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, who led the questioning at the second committee hearing on Monday.

She added: They directly told the president over and over again, they were false. These were his people. This is Trump World, telling the president that what he was saying was false. And he continued to say the same thing.

Mr. Barrs testimony amounted to a beleaguered former top cabinet official contending with Mr. Trumps raft of unsubstantiated allegations about fraud that he wanted his government to run down.

It was like playing Whac-a-Mole because something would come out one day and then the next day it would be another issue, Mr. Barr said. He also detailed in his testimony how he told an Associated Press reporter on Dec. 1 that the department had found no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the elections outcome.

Still, his resignation letter underscored the degree to which officials appeared to believe they needed to tiptoe around Mr. Trump.

But the testimony of Mr. Stepien and Mr. Miller made clear that they had at least tried to warn Mr. Trump how election night was likely to go, with early returns in his favor but a potential wave of Democratic votes coming later when the mail-in ballots were counted.

I recounted back to that conversation with him in which I said just like I said in 2016 it was going to be a long night, Mr. Stepien recalled of speaking with the president. I told him in 2020 that, you know, there were it was going to be a process again. As you know, the early returns are going to be, you know, positive. Then were going to, you know, be watching the returns of ballots as, you know, they rolled in thereafter.

Mr. Miller said that when the campaign learned on election night that Fox News had called Arizona for Joseph R. Biden Jr., he and other campaign aides were angry and disappointed, but also concerned that maybe our data or our numbers werent accurate.

But on the call with reporters two days after Election Day, Mr. Stepien sound adamant. The media and the insiders in this city have been trying to count Donald Trump out for years, he said. Donald Trump is alive and well.

At another point, he said, Exactly what the president said would happen is happening.

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A Striking Contrast: Trump Officials Then and Now - The New York Times

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Trumps Truth Social Is Allegedly Banning People for Talking About the January 6 Hearings Because Of Course It Is – Vanity Fair

Posted: at 6:21 pm

Truth Social, the sad social media company not even Donald Trumps heart is in, was founded in response to the ex-presidents banishment from Twitter after he incited and then doubled down on a violent insurrection. According to the company itself, the network encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating on the basis of political ideology, and presumably, if an ex-president wanted to, say, provoke a riot over an election outcome he didnt like, that could be okay. What is apparently not okay? Making fun of Truth Socials CEO or breathing a word about the January 6 hearings, which, coincidentally, are making Trump look really, really bad.

Variety reports that a number of Truth Social users have found themselves suspended for posting about the proceedings, which kicked off last Thursday night with a prime-time event in which Trumps own daughter said she knew her father had lost the 2020 election. My Truth Social account was just permanently suspended for talking about the January 6th Committee hearings, Travis Allen, who describes himself as an information security analyst, wrote Thursday night, alongside a screenshot of the suspension message from the company. Jack Cocchiarella, another user, tweeted on Friday: I was suspended from Truth Social for posting about the January 6th hearing last night. Donald Trump is scared of free speech. As Max Burns, a staffer for Democratic New York State assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, wrote, Apparently free speech has its limits even in Trumpland.

Vanity Fair has reached out to Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Socials parent company, for comment, though, obviously, its in no way difficult to see why the social network whose name literally has the word truth in it would want to suppress exactly that. Despite the fact that the entire country lived through the events of January 6, the hearings, which continued on Monday, have been completely devastating for Trump. In addition to playing horrifying never-before-seen footage of the graphic violence that took place that day and featuring testimony from one of the police officers who was therewho described the scene as carnage and said she was slipping in peoples bloodthe proceedings have shown multiple members of Trumps inner circle testifying that there was absolutely no evidence that the election had been stolen and that Trump was told this many, many times.

Despite the insistence by the ex-president and his allies that the hearings are a partisan exercise that Americans should simply ignore, on Thursday evening Jason Millerwho is all in on Trump running in 2024said in a taped, under oath deposition that several days after the 2020 election, the campaigns lead data person told Trump in pretty blunt terms that he was going to lose. On Monday, we also heard former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepienwho was supposed to appear in person but reportedly canceled last minute due to his wife going into laborsay in a taped deposition that Trump had no business declaring victory on November 4 or at any other point. Chris Stirewalt, who worked for Fox News at the time of the electionand called Arizona for Joe Bidensaid the same.

But perhaps no one has gotten more airtime to date than former attorney general Bill Barrwho, as a reminder, was one of Trumps most loyal stooges during his time at the DOJ and has said he hates Democrats so much that hed vote for Trump again (!)when it comes to calling bullshit on the ex-presidents election-fraud claims.

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Trumps Truth Social Is Allegedly Banning People for Talking About the January 6 Hearings Because Of Course It Is - Vanity Fair

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Donald Trump Hits Back at Ivanka Trumps Account That She Accepted His Election Loss – The New York Times

Posted: at 6:21 pm

Follow live updates on the House committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

WASHINGTON Former President Donald J. Trump, long known for distancing himself from or tossing aside staff members who contradicted him while he was in the White House, discovered a new target on Friday: his elder daughter.

The morning after the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol played recorded video testimony of his daughter, Ivanka Trump, at its prime-time public hearing, Mr. Trump used his social media website to separate himself from what she had said and to say she was checked out during the final days of his administration.

In the testimony, Ms. Trump said she was influenced by a Dec. 1, 2020, statement by William P. Barr, then the attorney general, that there was no widespread fraud that had altered the outcome of the election. She testified that she respected Mr. Barr and accepted what he was saying.

Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying, Election results, Mr. Trump wrote on his social media website, Truth Social, in one of eight messages he posted there in response to the hearing. She had long since checked out and was, in my opinion, only trying to be respectful to Bill Barr and his position as Attorney General (he sucked!).

Ms. Trump was a senior adviser in the White House, and she continued to work in the administration until the end. Her colleagues have recalled her being among those urging White House staff members on election night to fight even as it became clear that her father would most likely lose. Her husband, Jared Kushner, who was also a senior adviser in the White House, attended several meetings about postelection strategy with a range of political and West Wing advisers, as well as lawyers like Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Pushing back on his daughters comments was only one way in which Mr. Trump assailed the hearing, the first in a series of sessions to be heldby the House committee this month.

He denied having responded approvingly to the Hang Mike Pence! chants bellowed about the vice president by some of the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, an account shared during the hearing by Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and the panels vice chairwoman.

I NEVER said, or even thought of saying, Hang Mike Pence, Mr. Trump wrote on the social media site. This is either a made up story by somebody looking to become a star, or FAKE NEWS!

Ms. Cheney did not say he had used those words, but she quoted testimony that Mr. Trump had responded to the chants by saying that maybe our supporters have the right idea and that Mr. Pence deserves it.

In another post on the site, Mr. Trump described the committee as a totally partisan, POLITICAL WITCH HUNT! And in two other posts, he attacked Mr. Barr, calling him a coward, weak and frightened, stupid and scared stiff of being impeached.

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Donald Trump Hits Back at Ivanka Trumps Account That She Accepted His Election Loss - The New York Times

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