By Craig Silverman and Ruth Talbot – – In late 2021, the right-wing site Conservative Beaver published a story falsely claiming the FBI had arrested Pfizerâs CEO for fraud. It wasnât Conservative Beaverâs first brush with fabricated news. The site had falsely claimed Barack Obama was arrested for espionage, Pope Francis was and âhuman trafficking,â…
Senator Angus King of Maine Presses Biden Administration on ‘Inadequate’ Maintenance Budget and Staff Shortages at National Parks
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anyone who works in national parks, volunteers with the National Park Service or visits the parks can attest to the fact that staff shortages and maintenance backlogs have plagued the parks for years, through the administrations of Republicans and Democrats. If there is any truth to documentary filmmaker Ken…
Biden Administration Announces Tough New Pollution Standards for Trucks
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden Administration announced the strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut emissions from trucks, vans and buses beginning with model year 2027, the first update to clean air standards for trucks in more than 20 years. According to the announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency, the new standards…
Lame Duck Congress Plays Government Shutdown Funding Games Again
ANALYSIS – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Funding the government of the United States used to be a fairly routine affair, and for most of its history, Congress went home in recess before Thanksgiving and members didn’t come back to Washington until the new year. Not anymore. For the past 40 years or…
House Select Committee Unanimously Recommends Criminal Charges Against Donald Trump
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol held its final public meeting on Monday afternoon, Dec. 19, 2022, ending a historic 18-month investigation with the approval of its final report. The committee voted unanimously to recommend criminal charges of inciting an insurrection,…
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes: A Mental Health and Media Crisis Converge
“If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane.” – Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band, 1977 The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Here’s a Sunday challenge: Do a Google search for “mental health crisis.” There is no doubt a mental health crisis grips this country, and probably the…
A Faustian Bargain? Elon Musk’s Behavior Hints That His Time is Almost Up
The Twitter Files: The Removal of Donald Trump
Warnock Defeats Walker in Georgia Runoff – Democrats Take 51st Senate Seat
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock won re-election to the United States Senate Tuesday over Republican former star fullback Herschel Walker, handing Democrats a 51st seat and a clear majority in the upper chamber and insurance against a slim majority by Republicans in the House. With 95 percent of the votes…
Trump Real Estate Company Found Guilty in Tax Fraud Scheme
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Donald Trump’s real estate company was found guilty of tax fraud Tuesday for helping executives dodge taxes on lavish perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars, in a significant repudiation of financial practices at the former president’s family business in what New York state prosecutors called a “culture…
Biden Administration Announces $981 Million in Spending for Rural Infrastructure Investments
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Back during the height of news covering during the midterm election campaign, mainstream media pundits and commentators often blamed Democrats for ineffective messaging and failing to get the word out on how President Joe Biden’s legislative successes would help suffering people even in rural America, where working class people…
Biden Administration Announces the Release of $6 Million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Support Tribal Nations in Reducing Nutrient Pollution in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you were wondering how the administration was spending the money allocated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in November, 2021, the availability of $6 million in funds was announced Monday to support Tribal Nations across the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to reduce nutrient pollution in the third largest…
Belligerent Wild Turkey in D.C. Eludes Capture by the Federal Government
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s admittedly a few days late for a Thanksgiving turkey story. The White House turkeys were pardoned again this year by President Joe Biden in the annual American Thanksgiving tradition, while 46 million turkeys were consumed over the holiday weekend, according to the University…
Terrorism Threat Advisory Issued Across the United States
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, according to a terrorism advisory bulletin issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Lone offenders and small groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances continue to pose a persistent and lethal threat,” the advisory…
Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs Found Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy for Planning the Attack on the Capitol
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Finally after a trial that lasted more than two months and three days of jury deliberations, a guilty verdict was returned against Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs of the right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers on Tuesday for leading a seditious conspiracy to keep former President Donald Trump…
Thanksgiving Rebooted: Take a Break and Have Some Fun
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was with no small amount of trepidation that I hit the ON button to turn on the television Sunday morning. And with great relief, there was no immediate report of a mass shooting. So let’s reboot this Thanksgiving and start again. While some…
F.B.I. Headquarters Move Could be a Legacy Project for Greenbelt’s Congressman, Steny Hoyer
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Some people say you shouldn’t talk about politics at family gatherings on holidays like Thanksgiving, as incendiary as that can be these days. But as power is shifting in the nation’s capital city and the Capitol building, and with juicy political plums to be plucked after Christmas, you…
What To Say on Thanksgiving 2022? At Least It Ain’t 2020 Anymore
Liz Cheney Was Right – Attorney General Merrick Garland Punted
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Liz Cheney was right. Cheney Says Trump Faces ‘Multiple’ Criminal Referrals, and Hints the Justice Department Should Not Wait Merrick Garland didn’t listen. Pressure Mounts on Justice Department to Bring Charges Against Trump Now we are stuck with Trump for two more years, with…
Maryland Men Arrested on Felony Charges for Assaulting Police During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two Maryland men have been arrested on felony charges for assaulting law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and for disrupting a joint session of Congress to certify the electoral votes in the presidential election of 2020. Douglas Wyatt, 49, and his…