DOJ Officials Walk-Back Assertion That MAGA Rioters Wanted to ‘Capture and Assassinate Lawmakers’

Justice Department officials have formally walked back the outlandish assertion that claimed protesters sought to “capture and assassinate elected officials” during the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Michael Sherwin, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters during a press conference on Friday that there is no “direct evidence of efforts to capture or assassinate lawmakers” during the riot.

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Commentary: China Gets Biden

Joe Biden may be gearing up for January 20, but it was January 2012 when the Delaware Democrat got his big break. “Biden Gets China,” headlined the January 2, 2012 report in The Atlantic. As author Steve Clemons explained, “a senior White House official has confirmed that Vice President Joe Biden will take the lead on the administration’s next phase China policy.”

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Texas AG Launches Investigation into Big Tech’s ‘Biased Policies’ After Trump’s Twitter Ban

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into the content moderation policies of multiple Silicon Valley based tech companies after President Trump was permanently banned from Twitter last week.

Paxton’s office demanded four big tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Amazon and Google provide information relating to their censoring of conservative speech as well as their termination of the popular conservative social media app Parler from their platforms.

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Music Spotlight: Mira Goto

Singer/songwriter Mira Goto grew up in a musical family. Her grandmother played the organ at church for many years and she learned to play the violin as a child. She grew up with access to instruments and a family who loved to sing.

As a teen, she thought the guitar was a much cooler instrument so she put her efforts there. Her favorite artist was Alanis Morrisette. “If I ever have the opportunity to do CMT Crossroads, she will be my first pick,” she mused.

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Sports Betting Company Action 24/7 Says ‘When Tennesseans Win Big, They Want Their Money Fast . . .Our Digital Withdrawals Only Take 15 Seconds’

Sports Book Betting

This week officials with the Tennessee-based Action 24/7 online sports betting company said that they, unlike their competitors, do not delay withdrawals or offer bonuses for players to cancel withdrawals. New Jersey officials, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune, this week threatened to act against sports book operators who ask customers to cancel requests to cash out money.

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Senate Panel Releases 11 Interview Transcripts from Investigation of Crossfire Hurricane

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday released transcripts of 11 interviews conducted as part of an investigation into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane probe.

The interviews were conducted with current and former FBI and Justice Department officials between Mar. 3 and Oct. 29, 2020, according to a press release from Sen. Lindsey Graham, who chairs the committee.

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Trader Joe’s, Instacart, Dollar General Will Pay Workers to Get Vaccinated

Trader Joe’s is the latest business offering financial incentives to encourage their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The grocery chain said Thursday it will give employees two hours of pay per dose for getting the vaccine. The Monrovia, California based company said it will also shift around schedules to make sure employees have time to get vaccinated, according USA Today.

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Pelosi: Members of Congress May Need to be Prosecuted if They Helped Capitol Rioters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that congressional members may have to be prosecuted if they helped the Capitol rioters.

“If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that,” Pelosi said during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Friday.

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Georgia General Assembly Resolution Asks Congress Not to Increase Number of U.S. Supreme Court Justices

Members of the Georgia House of Representatives have submitted a resolution that asks the U.S. Congress “to reject any and all actions to increase the number of justices on the United States Supreme Court.” Staff for U.S. Sen.-elect Jon Ossoff and U.S. Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock, both Democrats scheduled to soon represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate, did not return The Georgia Star News’ requests for comment on the matter.

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Freshman Minnesota Rep. Working to End Governor’s Emergency Order

A freshman member of the state House of Representatives is working to pass legislation that would end the COVID-19 emergency order levied by Gov. Tim Walz (D). 

“Last week, as you may know, I again introduced a resolution to End Walz’ Emergency Powers,” Rep. Erik Mortensen (R-MN-55A) said in a Saturday press release. “The effort failed on a party-line vote which was disappointing given 6 Democrats had previously voted to end the peacetime emergency.”

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Gov. DeWine Quintuples Number of Ohio National Guard Troops Sent to D.C. for Presidential Inauguration

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) authorized 1,000 active Ohio National Guard (ONG) members Friday to assist federal authorities in Washington, D.C.  Earlier in the week DeWine signed an executive order to activate ONG troops – estimating 200 would go to America’s capital city.

“The activation of additional Guard members follows a request from the U.S. National Guard Bureau Thursday evening for extra support,” read a statement released by the Governor’s communications team.

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Georgia Lt. Gov. Duncan Urges GOP to Move Away from Trump

Georgia’s lieutenant governor appeared on CNN to bash President Donald J. Trump Thursday, and urge the GOP to move away from him.

“The quicker we can move past Donald Trump – President Donald Trump – and move on as a nation and as a party … you know, I’m encouraged that the movement’s starting to build, and the GOP 2.0 that’s – you know, we should never, as a party, let a person be more powerful than our party,” Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) told Poppy Harlow on “CNN Newsroom.” 

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Pro-Gun Rights Car Caravan Planned for Lobby Day

Lobby Day, the annual tradition where Virginians from across the state gather in Richmond to engage lawmakers on pressing issues, is going to look quite different this year.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) Lobby Day 2021 is set to take place on Monday in Richmond, but this year, instead of a massive gathering of mostly armed individuals at the Capitol, the gun-rights advocacy group is organizing a car caravan through the heart of the city.

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Additional Walgreens in Virginia to Offer Free COVID-19 Antigen Testing, Health Department Says

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced on Thursday that it is expanding its partnership with Walgreens to offer Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen COVID-19 testing for free at specific locations throughout the Commonwealth, according to a press release from the agency.

Before the expanded agreement only four Walgreens in the state were providing the drive-through tests, but now that number has increased to 15 select locations, the release said.

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Republican Party of Virginia Fails to Clarify Nomination Process

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) State Central Committee (SCC) failed to clarify the nominating method for its 2021 candidates in a meeting Saturday.

SCC members voted again to approve a convention, making it contingent on passing an amendment allowing an unassembled convention based on Governor Ralph Northam’s COVID-19 restrictions. The convention nomination method was first passed by the SCC on December 6 by a 42-30 majority. On Saturday, the amendment got a 41-30 majority but less than the three-fourths approval required by party rules. The SCC tabled the issue until a future meeting, tentatively planned for next Saturday.

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After Being Attacked for Attending Trump Rally, Virginia Doughnut Shop Receives Big Boost in Business

Chesapeake doughnut shop Amazing Glaze was flooded with negative reviews and threatening phone calls after owner Mary Jane Hamblin’s husband attended the January 6 Trump rally in D.C. Although her husband was not involved in the subsequent riot at the capitol, internet reviewers attacked her business. But after media picked up the story, Amazing Glaze was flooded with customers and supporters.

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Tennessee REALTORS® Bans ‘Hate Speech’ by Members

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) banned all “hate speech” by its members – not just in members’ professional capacity, but in every aspect of their lives. The policy changes were approved by the NAR Board of Directors during a meeting on November 13.

The policy on hate speech encompasses an array of broad issues: “harassing speech, epithets, or slurs based on race, color, religion sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” Collectively, these speech-related issues fall under what the NAR terms “public trust,” which also includes misappropriation of client or customer funds, or property and fraud that causes significant economic harm.

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