Conservative activist Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has agreed to sit down for a voluntary interview with the House Jan. 6 select committee, her lawyer confirmed to Axios on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Texts obtained by the Washington Post and CBS News show that she played an active role in encouraging then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to take steps to help overturn the 2020 election results. She has said she attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the deadly riot at the Capitol but left before the insurrection.
The White House will host key North Carolina leaders, including the mayors of Raleigh and Charlotte, as President Biden looks to expand on his argument that his administration is restoring American manufacturing.
Why it matters: North Carolina is a crucial political battleground where Democrats are hoping to win a close Senate race and pick up a few seats in the House, in part by capitalizing on the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, post-Roe momentum, and a growing population in urban and suburban Raleigh and Durham areas.
The House on Wednesday voted to pass legislation to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to make it more difficult to subvert presidential elections.
Why it matters: The Presidential Election Reform Act was introduced by Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), both members of the Jan. 6 select committee, as a response to the events that culminated with the U.S. Capitol riot.
New York Attorney General Letitia James' new civil lawsuit against Donald Trump lodges numerous accusations of fraud against him, three of his adult children and his business.
The big picture: James alleged the former president "falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars." The AG is seeking to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump — all named in the suit — from serving as an officer or director of a business registered in New York state. She is also seeking a $250 million judgment.
The former head of the Democratic National Committee harshly criticized a fellow Democratic congressperson on Wednesday, saying it was "shameful and dangerous" for Rep. Rashida Tlaib to say progressives shouldn't back the government of Israel.
Driving the news: "The outrageous progressive litmus test on Israel by [Tlaib] is nothing short of antisemitic," tweeted Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday accusing former President Trump and members of his family of financial fraud and referring them to federal prosecutors and the IRS for criminal investigation.
Why it matters: Trump now faces legal peril in at least three distinct cases, one in New York, one in Georgia and one regarding classified materials — right ahead of midterms and his decision on whether to announce a 2024 presidential campaign.
President Biden condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, saying it "is about extinguishing Ukraine's right to exist as a state — plain and simple."
Why it matters: Biden's remarks come after Putin doubled down on the invasion of Ukraine by ordering a "partial mobilization" of Russian reservists with military experience and issued a veiled threat about using nuclear weapons.
Christians could fall below 50% of the U.S. population by 2070 if recent trends continue, Pew Research Center projects.
Why it matters: In 2020, about 64% of Americans, including children, were Christian, Pew says. People who are religiously unaffiliated — sometimes called religious "nones" — accounted for 30% of the U.S. population.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said he's signed a decree on a "partial mobilization" of Russian citizens from Wednesday and vowed to use "all the means at our disposal" to protect Russia, nearly seven months into his invasion of Ukraine.
The latest: Putin's veiled nuclear threat was "dangerous and reckless" but also not new, "as he has done it many times before," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Reuters Wednesday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) may have an edge among voters in his own state over former President Trump, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll out Wednesday shows.
Why it matters: It's still early, but the new figures illustrate the potentially changing preferences among GOP voters in the Sunshine State in favor of rising conservative star DeSantis.
President Biden on Tuesday addressed comments he made during a "60 Minutes" interview this week in which he said "the pandemic is over," per a pool report.
Driving the news: Biden acknowledged at a New York City fundraiser that he was criticized for the remarks. "But it basically is not where it was," Biden added.
E. Jean Carroll, the author who alleges that former President Trump raped her in the mid-1990s, plans to sue him for battery under a new state law, according to court filings made public Tuesday.
Why it matters: Carroll, who is in the middle of a high-profile defamation suit against Trump, had been unable to pursue legal action for the actual alleged assault due to the state's statute of limitations. Now the Adult Survivors Act, which gives adult survivors of sexual misconduct a one-year window to sue their abusers regardless of when the incident occurred, could give her another chance against her alleged abuser.
The House is set to vote Wednesday on a bill to reform how Congress certifies presidential elections, but the involvement of the Jan. 6 committee — and in particular Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — has drawn GOP opposition.
Why it matters: The House and Senate have competing bills to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, but only the Senate bill currently has the necessary support from Senate Republicans to break a filibuster.
The special master tapped to review the documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago appeared deeply skeptical of the arguments put forth by former President Trump's legal team in an opening hearing Tuesday.
Why it matters: What initially looked like a legal victory for Trump — the appointment of a special master he requested, by a federal judge who stunned experts with her ruling — isn't panning out the way he had hoped.
