UK: Tory MP Chris Pincher suspended by party over 'drunken groping' claims

Chris Pincher has had the Conservative whip withdrawn at Westminster over the claims, forcing him to sit as an independent without the support of the parliamentary group.

The 52-year-old resigned from his role as deputy chief whip and apologised after admitting he had drunk "far too much" and "embarrassed myself and other people" on a night out.

A spokesperson for the Chief Whip said: "Having heard that a formal complaint has been made to the ICGS [Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme], the PM has agreed with the Chief Whip that the whip should be suspended from Chris Pincher while the investigation is ongoing.

"We will not pre-judge that investigation. We urge colleagues and the media to respect that process."

Former housing minister Kelly Tolhurst has been appointed as the new Tory deputy chief whip.





https://news.sky.com/story/tory-mp-chris-pincher-suspended-by-party-over-drunken-groping-claims-12643558

Police Are Harassing Mom Who Pulled Kids From Uvalde School Shooting, Lawyer Says

A Texas mother who said she ran into the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting to rescue her two young sons as law enforcement officers stood outside has been harassed by police and plans to take legal action, her attorney said.

“As far as we know there’s two definite instances,” Angeli Rose Gomez’s attorney, Mark Di Carlo, told HuffPost of the hostility he said she’s experienced after defying officers’ orders and running into Robb Elementary School during the May 24 massacre to save her children.

Gomez, who said she was briefly handcuffed by police outside the school, has publicly criticized officers for failing to immediately enter the building and confront the gunman who killed 19 children and two adults. Officers waited for 70 minutes before storming the classroom and killing the shooter — a response the Texas public safety chief has called an “abject failure.”

“She did act in a very brave manner,” said Di Carlo, who said he’s representing about 15 members of the Uvalde community. “I have it corroborated from at least two people that she did go into the school, she did jump the fence, she was handcuffed. I don’t believe that any officers were in that school until she went in and then they followed her in.”



https://www.huffpost.com/entry/angeli-rose-gomez-attorney-uvalde-police-harassment_n_62b9ce27e4b06594c1e7c72a

Tweet of the Week

Judge looks to Supreme Court gun ruling as he weighs whether to shoot down Chicago ban on laser sigh

Chicago’s little-known ban on possessing laser gun sights is coming under new court scrutiny after the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down a key provision of a New York concealed-carry law.

U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr. has asked lawyers involved in a Chicago gun-rights lawsuit to offer arguments on whether last month’s Supreme Court ruling applies to city ordinances that prohibit the possession of laser sights for firearms in Chicago.

Dow has given the lawyers until mid-July to respond in the case, Second Amendment Arms v. Chicago, which was filed in 2010 by a gun dealer in an effort overturn the city’s ban on gun stores operating in Chicago.

In a separate case, another federal judge in Chicago struck down that gun-store ban in 2014.

Because the ban was overturned, Dow ruled that Second Amendment Arms wasn’t entitled to compensatory damages from City Hall.



https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/7/1/23187900/laser-gun-sights-clarence-thomas-second-amendment-arms-robert-dow-supreme-court-chicago

The Sleeper 'Wire Fraud' Scheme That Could Nail Trumpworld

On Nov. 7, 2020—the day television networks called the election for Joe Biden—then-President Donald Trump’s campaign manager was trying his best to break through to his deluded boss: The election was over.

Specifically, as Bill Stepien, the Trump campaign manager, later said in his testimony to the Jan. 6 Committee, Trump’s chances had dwindled since the election to the point where they were “very, very, very bleak.” The campaign hadn’t been able to verify any claims of voter fraud, and Stepien placed little hope in any “realistic legal challenges.”

That same day, the Trump campaign sent a fundraising email claiming that “President Trump will easily WIN the Presidency of the United States with only legal votes cast.” The solicitation called on supporters to donate any dollar amount and join something called the “Election Defense Task Force.” The campaign, it said, was “counting on members to help [Trump] fight back and secure FOUR MORE YEARS.”



https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-sleeper-wire-fraud-scheme-that-could-nail-trumpworld-jan-6-committee

Cassidy Hutchinson testimony set audience record for a daytime Jan. 6 hearing

WASHINGTON — More than 13 million Americans tuned in to watch bombshell testimony from a former White House aide this week, making the Jan. 6 committee’s latest hearing its second-most-viewed thus far.

The Tuesday afternoon hearing, which the committee announced just a day ahead of time, featured 25-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Her dramatic testimony attracted 13,231,000 viewers across all major networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC, according to numbers from Nielsen, a ratings firm. This total topped the previous four hearings, which won audiences of about 10 million to 11 million people. The first Jan. 6 hearing, on June 9, drew about 20 million viewers, but it aired in prime time.

Although the numbers indicate that millions of people are watching the hearings, it’s not yet clear how many Americans will ultimately tune in — the hearings are slated to continue into July — or what conclusions they will form. In 1954, about 80 million Americans (out of a much smaller U.S. population of about 169 million people) followed the series of hearings that led to communist-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s downfall. About 3 in 4 American households watched at least part of the 1973 Watergate hearings, according to Nielsen estimates.




https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-30/television-ratings-jan-6-hearings-hutchinson

Hutchinson's testimony raises fresh questions about Secret Service's handling of Jan. 6

A former White House aide's stunning testimony before the House panel investigating the Capitol attack indicated that the U.S. Secret Service may have had advanced warning of the potential for violence at the Capitol, raising new questions about the agency's planning ahead of the riot and actions taken by agents on Jan. 6.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a top deputy to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the security team guarding then-President Donald Trump and senior White House officials were aware there was a serious threat posed by some descending on Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when Trump was planning to address a rally to support his baseless accusations that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

In Hutchinson's telling, the agency famous for its teams of bodyguards, sharpshooters and hyper-skilled drivers was aware that among the throngs headed to Washington were some who were planning to carry a variety of weapons and military gear, and were seeking to target members of Congress and breach the Capitol building.

If so, the Secret Service apparently failed to coordinate effectively with law enforcement partners, the public, or congressional leaders to strengthen the security posture -- and instead ferried a number of people under their protection to the Capitol complex with little more than their personal security details.

The Secret Service declined to answer questions from ABC News.




https://abcnews.go.com/US/hutchinsons-testimony-raises-fresh-questions-secret-services-handling/story?id=86022218

Arizona Senate president gets FBI subpoena for Trump-related records

PHOENIX — The FBI has subpoenaed records from the Republican leader of Arizona’s state Senate as well as another GOP senator, as part of a federal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on state-level officials after the 2020 election.

A spokeswoman for Senate President Karen Fann of Prescott confirmed the subpoena, which was first reported by the Yellow Sheet.

Fann initiated the months-long Republican review of the 2020 election results.

“I was not part of January 6, didn’t even know it was going on until after it happened,” Fann told the Yellow Sheet, a subscription-only publication of the Arizona Capitol Times.
“I saw it on the news like everybody else.”

Fann said she would cooperate with the documents request. She announced last November that she wouldn't seek re-election when her current term ends in January 2023.



https://www.12news.com/article/news/politics/arizona-senate-president-gets-fbi-subpoena-for-trump-related-records/75-b4c3206c-969a-485e-995c-5df1d26da442

Mass. College Fires Employee After FBI Helps Probe Racist Graffiti Spree

An employee at a college in Milton, Massachusetts, has been fired after school administrators concluded the person was behind a rash of racist and antisemitic graffiti across campus earlier this year. At the beginning of the spring semester, Curry College has said, the graffiti—including more than a dozen swastikas—was found in residence halls, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and athletic facilities. The defacement continued, and at least one message that specifically threatened the Black community on campus caused college officials to offer students the option to temporarily switch to remote learning. In an email sent to the school community on Wednesday, Curry College President Ken Quigley said a multi-agency effort, which included the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Milton Police Department, and the college’s public safety office, had identified a suspect in the spree. The former employee, who has not been identified, is not currently facing any criminal charges.



https://www.thedailybeast.com/massachusetts-curry-college-fires-employee-after-probing-racist-antisemitic-graffiti-spree?via=twitter_page

Sheriff's investigators used 'scare tactics' to grill Michigan clerks on election