February 4, 2021 3:49 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats have asked former President Donald Trump to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial. They are challenging the former president to explain why he and his lawyers have disputed key factual allegations at the center of their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. The request from House impeachment managers does not require Trump to appear, but it does warn that any refusal to testify could be used at trial to support arguments for a conviction. A Trump adviser did not immediately return a message Thursday seeking comment about the managers’ letter.
February 4, 2021 9:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to 779,000 last week, a historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people are still losing jobs to the viral pandemic. Last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday, and is the lowest in two months. Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession.
February 4, 2021 4:26 am
COLUMBUS, OHio (AP) – A white Ohio police officer has been indicted on murder charges in the December shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man. Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on Wednesday following an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Police bodycam footage showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy.
February 4, 2021 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Asserting a broad reset of American foreign policy, President Joe Biden says he will halt the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in Germany, end support for Saudi Arabia’s military offensive in Yemen and make support for LGBT rights a cornerstone of U.S. diplomacy. Aides outlined some of his plans for what Biden is calling a return to the “grounding wire of our global power” as the president makes his first visit to the State Department as president. The visit doubles as an opportunity to buck up a diplomatic corps, many of whom were discouraged by the policies and tone of former President Donald Trump.
February 4, 2021 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has been gathering with senators and working the phones to push for a giant COVID-19 relief package. But his team is increasingly focused on selling the plan directly to voters. His administration has done 60-plus interviews with national TV and radio shows. There have been spots on local TV news and briefings last week with more than 50 groups that ranged from General Motors to Meals on Wheels. One of the main goals is to stop people from getting bogged down in the tangle of partisan deal-making and start convincing them that every penny being proposed is needed.
February 4, 2021 4:22 am
MIAMI (AP) – A voting technology company is suing Fox News, three of its top hosts, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell for $2.7 billion, charging that the defendants conspired to spread false claims that the company helped steal the U.S. presidential election away from former President Donald Trump. The cable-news network and its hosts allegedly aired 13 reports falsely stating or implying that Smartmatic stole the 2020 vote in cahoots with Venezuela’s socialist government. A Smartmatic rival, Dominion Voting Systems, was also ensnared in Trump’s baseless effort to overturn the election, and on Jan. 25 sued former Trump lawyers Giuliani and Powell for $1.6 billion.
February 4, 2021 4:22 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer has defended his decision to impeach former President Donald Trump amid criticism from voters. Meijer, a freshman, was one of just 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the deadly attack on the Capitol. He said during a virtual town hall that Trump’s falsehoods and the resulting insurrection required a “significant response” from Congress. Two constituents who asked questions said they were deeply disappointed with Meijer, 33, who represents the 3rd Congressional District in western Michigan. One accused him of betrayal and said she would work to defeat him a 2022 primary.
February 4, 2021 4:15 am
(AP) – An Associated Press investigation has found that scores of Roman Catholic dioceses in the U.S. had more than $10 billion in cash and other readily available funds when they received at least $1.5 billion from the federal government’s small business emergency relief program. The Paycheck Protection Program was intended for employers who were badly battered by coronavirus lock downs. Instead of suffering financially, however, many dioceses are reporting in audited financial statements that these assets ended up growing amid the economic downturn. Overall, Catholic Church recipients were perhaps the paycheck program’s biggest beneficiaries. Church officials say they needed government relief to pay staff because donations from the faithful slowed when churches were ordered to close.
February 4, 2021 4:09 am
PITTSBURGH — For the first time since the U.S. Capitol riot, Pennsylvania Representative Guy Reschenthaler spoke about the events that unfolded on Jan. 6. “Clearly what happened was unacceptable. It was un-American. I condemned it, actually. I condemned it while it was going on in the building. So, I think it is time to move forward. I think we need to heal and unite the country,” said Rep. Reschenthaler. He spoke with our news partners at Channel 11 and says he was scared for his life, and “I’m just looking, I’m looking forward.” Reschenthaler says President Donald Trump is not to blame for the riot, even though many of his supporters participated.”The people that I think are responsible are the 300 some folks that broke into the capitol,” said Reschenthaler. The Pennsylvania congressman said impeaching the former president is not the answer. “We need to unite the country. If the Democrats impeach this president, they’re further dividing the nation, and by extension, they’re impeaching the 75 million Americans who voted for the President”. While several courts, both federal and state, along with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have said there was no widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, Reschenthaler is not convinced.”There were issues with the election on numerous issues,” said Reschenthaler. The congressman pointed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and its decision to modify mail-in-ballot deadlines.
February 4, 2021 4:00 am
Four people that led State Police in a car chase that ended in a crash in Somerset Township in July of 2020 were scheduled in plea court on Wednesday afternoon. China Moon Chambers, 19 of Leesburg, Virginia pleaded guilty in front of Judge Gary Gilman to felony criminal trespass for her part in the car chase that yielded drugs and weapons. In exchange for her plea of guilty she will cooperate with the district attorney in their cases against the driver of the car Dante James, Jr. of Washington, D.C. and another passenger, Charles Dutch, Jr. also of Washington, D.C. Moon’s plea is an open plea and she will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trials of James and Dutch. A fourth participant in the chase was a minor at the time of the incident and her case is being handled separately. In another plea court before Judge Valarie Costanzo, Terrell Jones of Chicago had his case continued because of new discovery evidence. Jones and his accomplice Tommie Holmes were arrested by county detectives for selling drugs to an informant.
