Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Third Federal Indictment Made Against Trump
The third federal indictment of former President Donald Trump by special counsel Jack Smith was unsealed and announced late yesterday, charging Trump with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. The indictment reads in part: “the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the defendant knew that they were false.” In a statement released on his Truth Social platform shortly after the indictment was unsealed, Trump again repeated his claims of “election interference” and asked why it took two-and-a-half years for the government to bring the charges against him, suggesting that it was timed to happen during his “winning campaign for 2024?” The indictment revealed the testimony of former Vice-President Mike Pence, who allegedly told prosecutors that Trump said Pence was “too honest” after he refused to reject the Biden electors and give the 2020 victory to Trump. Former President Trump was the only person charged in the indictment, although six “co-conspirators” were mentioned without being named. Trump will appear before a judge tomorrow in the first step of the case.
2 California Politicians Ask Taylor Swift To Postpone Her L.A. Concerts Because Of Hotel Worker Strike
Elected officials in California, including Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, have signed an open letter to Taylor Swift asking her to postpone the six concerts scheduled to start tomorrow in Los Angeles to stand in solidarity with striking hotel workers. In the letter, the officials say that many housekeepers and hotel workers can’t afford to live close to their jobs and some sleep in their cars while some of the region’s hotels are “doubling and tripling what they charge because you are coming.” Others who signed the letter include the mayors of several cities and state senators.Swift’s six shows are sold out at SoFi Stadium, and her representatives didn’t immediately respond to an email for comment on the letter from ABC News. Unite Here Local 11, a union representing around 30,000 hotel workers, is negotiating for better wages, improved health care benefits and more. The contracts between union members and over 60 hotels in the area expired last month.
3 Fitch Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating Because Of Political "Deterioration"
For the first time in over a decade, Fitch Ratings downgraded the U.S. credit rating yesterday. Fitch dropped the nation’s rating from the top level, AAA, to AA+. In announcing the move, Fitch said yesterday that “there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters,” and also referred to “The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions.” Another area of concern for Fitch was the debt of the nation being 113% of the national economic output, well above the levels that existed pre-pandemic. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the new rating “arbitrary and based on outdated data,” and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the administration “strongly disagrees” with the decision, saying that the ratings model “declined under President Trump and then improved under President Biden.” The lower rating could lead the government to pay higher interest rates on Treasury notes, bills, and bonds. The last time the U.S. faced a reduction in its credit rating was in 2011 when Standard & Poors dropped the U.S. rating down one notch after political arguments risked a default on the national debt.